Mark 11:1 - Meaning and Application

Here we have the story of Christ’s public entry into Jerusalem, four or five days before his death. He came into the city in this striking way for two main reasons. First, he showed that he was not afraid of the power or hatred of his enemies in Jerusalem. He did not slip in quietly, as if he were afraid to be seen. Second, he showed that he was not shaken by the thought of his coming sufferings. He entered openly, even with joyful praise around him. He was just beginning the conflict, but he knew the victory was sure, so he could already act like the triumph was won.

The outward appearance of this triumph was very humble. He rode on a colt, the young of a donkey, which seemed lowly and unimportant. Because it was a young animal, we can imagine it was rough, untrained, and hard to manage, which would have made the scene look even less royal. The colt was borrowed too. Christ went across the water in a borrowed boat, ate the Passover in a borrowed room, was buried in a borrowed tomb, and here rode on a borrowed donkey. Christians should not be ashamed to depend on one another when needed, because their Master was willing to do so. He had no rich decorations. The people laid their clothes on the colt, and he sat on them (Mark 11:7). His followers were ordinary people, and all the display they could make was to spread their garments on the road (Mark 11:8), as people did at the Feast of Tabernacles. All of this showed his humiliation. Even when he chose to be noticed, he was noticed in a lowly way. That teaches us not to chase honor, but to be willing to live with humble people. It looks badly out of place when Christians act grand, when Christ was so far from loving rank and display.

Yet the inward glory of this triumph was very great. This was more than the fulfillment of Scripture, though that is true. In the middle of all this lowliness, several bright signs of Christ’s glory shone through. He showed his knowledge of distant things and his power over human wills when he sent his disciples for the colt (Mark 11:1-3). That proves he can do all things, and no thought can be hidden from him. He also showed his rule over creation by riding on a colt that had never been sat on. Scripture speaks of the lower creation being under man, and it applies this to Christ (Psalm 8:5-6, compared with Hebrews 2:8). Through him, and through his mediation, which means his work as the one who brings God and man together, we still enjoy the good that God first gave to mankind in rule over this world (Genesis 1:28). Perhaps Christ also meant to hint at his power over the human spirit, which is born wild like a donkey’s colt (Job 11:12).

The colt came from a place where two roads met (Mark 11:4), as if Christ were showing that he came to guide people who stand at a fork in the road and may choose wrongly. He also received the joyful cries of the people, both their welcome and their prayers for the success of his kingdom (Mark 11:9). God put it into their hearts to cry, “Hosanna,” and they were not trained and managed into it the way the crowd later was when it cried, “Crucify him, crucify him.” Christ counts the faith and praise of the crowd as honor, and God is the one who leads people to give him that honor, even more than they understand.

They welcomed his person: “Blessed is he who comes.” This is the one who was promised, the one long expected, the one who should come. He comes in the name of the Lord, as God’s messenger to the world. So they say, “Blessed be he.” Let him have our praise and our deepest love. He is a blessed Savior, and he brings blessing to us. Blessed also be the one who sent him. Let him be blessed in the Lord’s name, and let all nations and ages call him blessed and speak honorably of him.

They also wished well for his kingdom (Mark 11:10). They believed that, for all his humble appearance, he had a kingdom that would soon be set up in the world. It was the kingdom of their father David, meaning the kingdom promised to David and his descendants forever. It came in the name of the Lord and rested on divine authority. So they prayed, “Blessed be this kingdom.” Let it take hold, let it spread, let it come in power, and let every opposing rule and authority be brought down. Let it keep conquering until it has won fully. Hosanna to this kingdom, let prosperity be with it, and let every good thing attend it. The proper meaning of “hosanna” is like the words in Revelation 7:10, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” It is a prayer for success to true religion, both what is known by nature and what is revealed in Scripture. It is praise to God, who is in the highest heaven above all, God blessed forever. Or it is praise joined with the angels in the highest heaven, so that our hosannas echo theirs.

Christ, with all this honor around him, came into the city and went straight to the temple. There was no feast waiting for him, and no refreshment for his body. He at once turned to his work, because that was his food and drink. He went to the temple so that Scripture might be fulfilled: “The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple,” without warning, like a sudden visit of judgment and cleansing, like a refiner’s fire and fullers soap (Malachi 3:1-3). He entered the temple and looked carefully at everything there (Mark 11:11). He saw many disorders, but he said nothing yet. Though he meant to put things right, he did not begin at once, so that it would not seem hurried or rash. He let things stand for that night and planned to begin the needed reform the next morning, taking the day before him. We can be sure that God sees all the evil in the world, even when he does not immediately settle accounts or remove it. After observing what was in the temple, Christ went in the evening to a friend’s house in Bethany, because there he would be farther from the noise of the city and less likely to be suspected of trying to stir up a party.