The
chief priests and the scribes heard it, and sought how they might destroy him. For they feared him, because all the multitude was astonished at his teaching.
Mark 11:18
Mark 11 [15.] They came to Jerusalem, and Jesus entered into the temple, and began to throw out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of those who sold the doves. He would not allow anyone to carry a container through the temple. He taught, saying to them, “Isn’t it written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations?’[d] But you have made it a den of robbers!”[e]
Mark 11 [18.] The chief priests and the scribes heard it, and sought how they might destroy him. For they feared him, because all the multitude was astonished at his teaching.
Mark 11 [19.] When evening came, he went out of the city. As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away from the roots. Peter, remembering, said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which you cursed has withered away.”
Meaning:
Jesus had just cleared the temple courts and declared that God’s house had become “a den of robbers” (Mark 11:15-17). This verse records the reaction of the men in charge. Opposition to Jesus had begun early in Mark’s Gospel, when Pharisees and Herodians plotted “how they might destroy him” (Mark 3:6). Now the leaders at the very centre of Israel’s religion join that plot. Jesus had foretold that he would be “rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed” (Mark 8:31), and that prediction now starts to come true.
- “The chief priests and the scribes heard it”
The chief priests were the high priest and the leading members of the priestly families, most of them Sadducees. They controlled the temple, its worship and its income, and they led the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council. The scribes were experts in the Law of Moses. Together they formed the religious establishment of Jerusalem. The trade Jesus had just disrupted operated under their authority, so his action was a direct challenge to their power, their reputation and their profits.
- “Sought how they might destroy him”
The men responsible for the worship of God began to plan the death of God’s Son. The Psalms had foreseen this: “The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together, against Yahweh, and against his Anointed” (Psalm 2:2). In the parable Jesus would soon tell in the temple, the tenants see the owner’s beloved son and say, “Come, let’s kill him” (Mark 12:7). Even the Roman governor later saw through their motives, for Pilate “knew that because of envy they had delivered him up” (Matthew 27:18).
- “For they feared him”
Their fear was not reverence. They feared what Jesus could do to their position. Because the crowds were on his side, the leaders could not arrest him openly in the temple without the risk of a riot during the feast, when Roman soldiers were watching for any trouble. So their plotting had to be careful and secret. Fear and envy together drove them to choose murder rather than repentance.
- “Because all the multitude was astonished at his teaching”
From the start of his ministry, people had been “astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as having authority, and not as the scribes” (Mark 1:22; compare Matthew 7:28-29). The scribes quoted earlier teachers; Jesus spoke with the authority of God himself. In the temple courts that week the crowds hung on his words. Yet astonishment is not the same as faith. Admiring Jesus is not the same as following him, and the same city would soon stand by while he was crucified.
The Significance of Mark 11:18
- When truth threatens power
The leaders responded to Jesus’ challenge not by examining their hearts but by protecting their position. Truth that exposes our sin calls for repentance, not resistance.
- The danger of envy and fear
Envy of Jesus’ influence and fear of losing control led religious men to plan murder. Unchecked sin in the heart can grow into terrible evil.
- From amazement to faith
The crowd was amazed but not changed. Hearing Jesus gladly must lead on to trusting and obeying him.
Cross-References:
Mark 3:6: "The Pharisees went out, and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him." The plot began early.
Psalm 2:2: "The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together, against Yahweh, and against his Anointed" Rulers conspire against God’s Anointed.
Matthew 7:28-29: "When Jesus had finished saying these things, the multitudes were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them with authority, and not like the scribes." The authority that amazed the crowds.
Matthew 27:18: "For he knew that because of envy they had delivered him up." The motive behind the plot.
Conclusion: When the chief priests and scribes heard what Jesus had done in the temple, they began to look for a way to destroy him. They feared him because the crowds were amazed at his teaching, and they could not move against him openly. This verse shows how envy and fear for their position turned the guardians of God’s house into enemies of God’s Son, and it reminds us that admiration for Jesus must grow into faith.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible