When
they came near to Jerusalem, to Bethsphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, and said to them, “Go your way into the village that is opposite you. Immediately as you enter into it, you will find a young donkey tied, on which no one has sat. Untie him, and bring him. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs him;’ and immediately he will send him back here.”
Mark 11:1-3
Mark 10 [52.] Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your faith has made you well.” Immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus on the way.
Mark 11 [1.] When they came near to Jerusalem, to Bethsphage[a] and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, and said to them, “Go your way into the village that is opposite you. Immediately as you enter into it, you will find a young donkey tied, on which no one has sat. Untie him, and bring him. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs him;’ and immediately he will send him back here.”
Mark 11 [4.] They went away, and found a young donkey tied at the door outside in the open street, and they untied him. Some of those who stood there asked them, “What are you doing, untying the young donkey?” They said to them just as Jesus had said, and they let them go.
Meaning:
Mark 10 ended with blind Bartimaeus receiving his sight and following Jesus “on the way” (Mark 10:52). Now that way reaches its goal. Jesus had told the twelve plainly what waited for him in the city: “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes” (Mark 10:33). Chapter 11 opens the final week of his earthly life, and Mark slows his fast-moving story to tell it almost day by day. The first scene is not a battle plan or a speech but a simple errand: two disciples are sent to fetch a young donkey. Yet every detail of this errand was chosen with care, and each one says something about the kind of King who was about to enter Jerusalem.
- “When they came near to Jerusalem, to Bethsphage and Bethany”
Jesus and the pilgrims with him had climbed the long road from Jericho, rising more than a thousand metres from the Jordan valley. The last villages before the city were Bethphage (the usual spelling, as the PIB footnote notes) and Bethany, both on the eastern slopes of the Mount of Olives. Bethany was the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus, where Jesus had wept at the tomb of his friend before raising him to life (John 11:32-36). It was a place of friendship and of resurrection power, and during this last week Jesus would return there each night.
It was the season of Passover, when the roads were crowded with families going up to the feast that remembered Israel’s rescue from Egypt. Expectation was high. Many hoped that the God who had freed his people once would soon send his Anointed One to free them again.
- “At the Mount of Olives”
The Mount of Olives is a ridge that rises just east of Jerusalem, across the Kidron valley, with a full view of the temple. The prophets had linked this hill with the day when God would come to save his people: “His feet will stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east” (Zechariah 14:4). For a teacher hailed as the son of David to approach the city from this hill was full of meaning. The same hill would see Jesus at the end of the week as well, when after the Last Supper “they went out to the Mount of Olives” (Mark 14:22-26), and Luke records that during these days he spent each night there (Luke 21:37).
- “You will find a young donkey tied, on which no one has sat”
Jesus had walked everywhere during his ministry. Now, for the last stretch into the city, he chose to ride, and he chose a donkey. This deliberately acted out the prophecy of Zechariah: “Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). Conquerors rode war horses; this King came in humility. Zechariah goes on to say that he will cut off the chariot and the horse and “he will speak peace to the nations” (Zechariah 9:10).
The detail that no one had ever sat on the animal also matters. In the Law of Moses an animal set apart for a sacred purpose had to be one “which was never yoked” (Numbers 19:2). An unridden colt was fit for a holy use, and it was fit for a King. Matthew, who also quotes Zechariah, mentions the mother donkey with her colt (Matthew 21:1-3).
- “The Lord needs him”
Jesus told the disciples exactly where the donkey would be, and what would be said to them. Whether he had arranged this beforehand with a friend in the village or knew it by divine insight, the point is the same: Jesus was not swept along by events. He was directing them. He was walking into Jerusalem by his own choice, knowing what it would cost.
The short phrase “The Lord needs him” is striking. Jesus had already called himself “lord even of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28). Here the Lord of all asks to borrow a young animal, and promises to send it straight back. He who owns everything chose to need things from his people. Paul describes this humility: Christ Jesus “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7). The Son of Man came “not to be served, but to serve” (Mark 10:45), and even his royal entry was made on borrowed goods.
The Significance of Mark 11:1-3
- Jesus went to the cross willingly
Jesus did not stumble into Jerusalem unaware. He planned his entry, fulfilled the Scriptures on purpose and set his face toward the suffering he had predicted. His death was an act of chosen love.
- A humble King
The King of Israel came on a donkey, not a war horse. His kingdom advances through humility and peace, and those who follow him are called to the same lowly spirit.
- When the Lord has need
The owner of the colt was asked to give up something useful. Jesus still asks his people for their time, gifts and possessions. What we lend to him is honoured, and it serves his purpose.
Cross-References:
Zechariah 9:9: "Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey." The prophecy Jesus acted out.
Matthew 21:2-3: "“Go into the village that is opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them, and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and immediately he will send them.”" Matthew’s account of the same instructions.
Mark 10:33: "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes." Jesus knew what awaited him in the city.
Philippians 2:7: "but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men." The humility of the Lord who came to serve.
Conclusion: As Jesus came near to Jerusalem at the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples to fetch a young donkey that had never been ridden, telling them exactly where to find it and what to say. By riding into the city on a donkey he would fulfil the prophecy of Zechariah about a righteous, lowly King who brings salvation and peace. The words “The Lord needs him” show both his authority and his humility, and they remind us that Jesus went to his death not by accident but by deliberate, loving choice.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible