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.
Mark 11:4-6
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.
Mark 11 [7.] They brought the young donkey to Jesus, and threw their garments on it, and Jesus sat on it. Many spread their garments on the way, and others were cutting down branches from the trees, and spreading them on the road. Those who went in front, and those who followed, cried out, “Hosanna! [b] Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord![c] Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
Meaning:
Jesus had sent two disciples into the village opposite them with precise instructions: they would find a young donkey tied, they were to untie it, and if questioned they were to say, “The Lord needs him” (Mark 11:1-3). These three verses tell what happened next. Mark takes care to show that everything turned out exactly as Jesus had said. It is a small scene, but it teaches a large lesson about the reliability of Jesus’ word and the blessing of simple obedience.
- “They went away”
The two disciples did not argue or ask for more details. Their instructions must have sounded strange: walk into a village, untie someone else’s animal and lead it away. Yet they went. They had seen Jesus’ word prove true many times before, and once before he had sent the twelve out “two by two” with only his authority and his instructions (Mark 6:7-11). Faith often begins with taking the next step that Jesus has made clear, even before we understand the whole plan. James puts it simply: “Be doers of the word, and not only hearers” (James 1:22).
- “Found a young donkey tied at the door outside in the open street”
Mark’s vivid detail, a donkey tied by a door where the house met the street, reads like an eyewitness memory, and early tradition links Mark’s Gospel with Peter’s preaching. The disciples found things exactly as described. Jesus’ word was not a vague hope but a precise and trustworthy statement.
This matters for the whole Passion story that follows. In the coming days Jesus would predict betrayal, denial, death and resurrection. If his word proved true in the small matter of a donkey, it could be trusted in the great matters too. Jesus said that whoever hears his words and does them is like a wise man who “built his house on a rock” (Matthew 7:24-25).
- “What are you doing, untying the young donkey?”
The question was natural. In a village where everyone knew everyone, two strangers walking off with a neighbour’s animal would look like theft. Donkeys were valuable working animals, used to carry loads, plough and travel. The bystanders, perhaps including the owners, had every right to ask.
The disciples needed some courage at this moment. They did not invent clever explanations or defend themselves at length. They simply repeated what Jesus had told them to say. Their confidence rested not on their own authority but on his.
- “They said to them just as Jesus had said, and they let them go”
The words “The Lord needs him” were enough. The owners let the animal go, trusting the promise that it would be returned. Perhaps they already knew and honoured Jesus, as many in the villages around Jerusalem did. Either way, they gave willingly, and their colt carried the King into the city.
God often meets needs through the generosity of ordinary people. Jesus taught his followers not to be anxious about provision, but to “seek first God’s Kingdom” (Matthew 6:33), and Paul assures believers, “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). Here the Lord’s need was supplied in exactly the way he had said.
The Significance of Mark 11:4-6
- Obedience in small things
Fetching a donkey seems a minor task, yet it became part of a great event. Faithfulness in ordinary instructions prepares us for larger callings.
- Jesus’ word can be trusted
Everything happened “just as Jesus had said”. When we face uncertainty, we can rest on his promises: “Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).
- Giving to the Lord
The owners released their animal at the simple words “The Lord needs him”. Believers are invited to hold their possessions with an open hand, ready to give when he asks.
Cross-References:
James 1:22: "Be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves." The disciples acted on Jesus’ word.
John 15:14: "You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you." Obedience is the mark of Jesus’ friends.
Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Trusting when the instructions seem strange.
Matthew 7:24: "“Everyone therefore who hears these words of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house on a rock." Hearing and doing go together.
Conclusion: The two disciples went as Jesus told them, found the young donkey exactly where he said it would be, and answered the bystanders with the very words he had given them. The owners let the animal go. This short scene shows the reliability of Jesus’ word, the value of simple obedience and the generosity of people who give what they have when the Lord has need of it. If Jesus can be trusted in such details, he can be trusted in everything he promises.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible