Mark 11:3, commentary and pictures

On the first day of the week Jesus sent two disciples from Bethany to bring a colt for Him to ride the short distance into Jerusalem for the Passover, though He had always traveled on foot. He told them beforehand that if anyone asked why they were taking it they were to say the Lord has need of it, and it was granted readily and at once exactly as He said, showing His foreknowledge and divinity. The animal provided was the foal of an ass on which no one had ever sat, upon which the disciples laid their garments and seated Him. By so riding He fulfilled prophecy and presented Himself to the people as Messiah their King, yet in lowliness dependent on a stranger's kindness and riding a humble beast unlike earth's conquerors. His need is sufficient reason to make what is required available for His work, so those questioned for acting for Him should answer with His need and carry on undeterred, and His need for a person is a call to full consecration with assurance that He will sustain those He calls.

The Errand for the Colt

On the first day of the week Jesus resumed His journey from Bethany to Jerusalem for the Passover feast with multitudes accompanying Him. For the short distance into the city He purposed to ride, and sent two disciples to bring a colt for Him, though He had always chosen to travel on foot.

He gave minute directions for the errand, that if anyone questioned why they were taking the colt they were to say the Lord has need of it. The ass and its colt were granted exactly as He said, readily and at once upon that word, and the colt would be sent at once to Him. Such exact fulfillment reveals His divinity and foreknowledge. The answer also conveyed that the colt would be sent back promptly.

The animal provided for His use was the foal of an ass, a colt on which no one had ever sat and which had never been ridden. The disciples brought it and in glad enthusiasm spread their garments upon it and seated Him upon it.

Christ Entering as King

Riding into Jerusalem was a royal entry according to Jewish custom, for the animal He rode was the animal ridden by the kings of Israel, and by riding it He fulfilled prophecy that the Messiah would come to His kingdom in this way and presented Himself to the people as Messiah, their King. The moment He was seated upon it the multitude hailed Him as Messiah and King in triumph, homage He now accepted.

His choice to ride puzzled the disciples, who took it as a sign He was about to enter the capital, proclaim Himself King of the Jews, and assert royal power. On their errand they told that expectation to the friends of Jesus, spreading excitement far and near and raising the expectations of the people to the highest pitch. They welcomed Him as a king who would take an earthly kingdom, but their expectation was mistaken, for His entry led to the cross, and their hopes revived only when He rose.

His need to depend on a stranger's kindness for the animal showed His lowliness, though all things are His, just as at His birth He was dependent on strangers' hospitality and lay in a borrowed manger. He rode a humble beast into Jerusalem in a triumphal procession unlike those of earth's conquerors, with no train of mourning captives but with the trophies of His love for sinful man around Him. Followers and onlookers celebrated His approach with raised leafy branches and foliage and garments spread in His path under the proclamation Thy King cometh. The blind to whom He restored sight led the way, the dumb whose tongues He loosed shouted the loudest hosannas, the cripples He healed broke palm branches and waved them before Him, widows and orphans exalted Him for mercy, the lepers He cleansed spread their garments in His path and hailed Him as the King of Glory, and those He raised from death were in the throng, with Lazarus, restored from corruption in the grave to full strength, guiding the beast He rode.

That triumphal entrance took place in the season when many people had gathered to see Him, drawn in part by His raising Lazarus from the dead. Together with the cleansing of the temple and the barrenness of the fig tree, it pointed to Jerusalem's doom.

Call to Serve the Need

The Lord may call for whatever is needed for His work, and His need itself is reason enough to make it available. When an action done for His purpose is questioned, that need is a sufficient answer. Gospel workers going out to reach people should therefore not be stopped by objections about why they are doing so, but should carry out the work and let their light shine where people need the truth. Believers distributing gospel literature likewise should not be deterred by questions about why they are doing it, but should press forward with that distribution.

The Lord's need for a person is a meaningful call to service. It urges full consecration to seek God's will and to give oneself wholly to Him. Where there is need for help in the Office, if God calls to that needed work He will sustain and strengthen for it, as urged upon Harriet.