The final third of Mark's gospel is concerned with the last week or so of Jesus' time on earth. Everything had been prepared long ago for this crucial week, and this is illustrated here. Momentous events were about to happen, but even the mundane details like getting a donkey and rooms being ready were taken care of. God has all things in hand.
Jesus then makes His triumphal entry into Jerusalem with the cries of Hosanna. We see the crazy mixed up nature of us human beings. Here we are praising Jesus, then a few days later we will be shouting "crucify Him".
The entrance is followed by two events, the cursing of the fig tree and the clearing of the temple.
The fig tree incident could be taken as a parable about Israel or Israel's fruitless religion, but Jesus uses it as an illustration of the power of faith and prayer. Jesus brings out two key aspects of faith. We are to believe and we must not harbour unforgiveness against anyone.
Jesus also cleared the temple. The House of God is meant to be a place where the purposes of God are fulfilled, not the purposes of men. Notice also that Jesus refers to it being a house of prayer for all nations. It was always God's plan that all nations would be blessed through Abraham (Gen 12:3).
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