And some of those who stood there said to them, What are ye doing, loosing the colt?
Two disciples untie an animal that is not theirs, and bystanders challenge them. The Lord had already given them their answer, and one sentence about His need settled it.
A question already answered
The whole errand began with Jesus, not with the crowd or the disciples. He named the place, the animal, and the words to use before anyone had raised an objection.
The crowd did not bring an animal in rich harness. The disciples had not prepared the colt, nor asked the Lord to mount it. The Lord took the initiative by sending two of His disciples to the entrance of Bethphage to get it. Mark tells us the foal was tied at a door outside in the open street, or perhaps a crossway leading round the house. He told them where to find it, what to do, and what to say to the owners. Zechariah had foretold that the foal would be available for the King's use. The Lord made known where it was standing at that moment. It was there ready to bring in the King, as prophecy said.
Zechariah is the prophet who foretold this King's coming.
The reply that ends all questions
The disciples had no argument to make and no permission to produce. They had one sentence, and it was enough.
As they came near to Jerusalem, everything was made ready for the Lord to present Himself to Israel as the Son of David, fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah (Zech. 9:9)… Coming as the King He acts with kingly authority. If anyone asked why the disciples were untying the colt, one reply was enough: "that the Lord has need of him." At once every question would cease. So it happened. And so it will be in the coming day of glory, when it will be true of Zion: "Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power." (Ps. 110:3).
Whose colt was it?
Taking someone else's animal is theft — unless the one who sends you already owns it.
Only the Lord could give such instructions, because all things are His property. For anyone else to do this would be stealing. No difficulty presented itself, for the words, "the Lord has need of him" settled the matter even for the owners, who at first questioned the disciples.
Commentators differ on what the title "the Lord" meant to those listening. One reads the reply as the owner of all things claiming what is His by right. Another suspects the title is left vague on purpose.
Above all, this is a scene under the governing hand of God. He would and did control the feelings of those who saw the colt taken. In the same way He later directed the deeds and shouts of the crowd along the way. "The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD." This is so true here that I suspect "the Lord" is left vague on purpose, as in Mark 5:19. The Lord had need of the donkey's colt, whether they took the title to mean Jehovah or the king who came in His name. Only in the two closing verses of this Gospel can we be sure He is called "the Lord."
Untied so that He may ride
Mark notes where the colt stood and what it was tied to. Those details carry a picture.
They found the colt tied by a door in a place where two ways met. The colt of a donkey surely pictures Israel in her unbroken state of rebellion, yet held back by being tied (under bondage to law). The two ways meeting there show that Israel had now come to the crossroads: which way would she take?… They untie the colt (a picture of release from bondage to law), so that the Lord Jesus may take rightful control… He takes the reins, and the donkey becomes completely tame. How precious this picture is of what His grace can do in the heart of a stubborn person!
What the errand asks of us
The colt was set free for one use only. That has something to say to anyone who serves Christ today.
The Spirit of God has been careful to tell us that the disciples did just what the Lord told them. The result was the colt set free for the purpose the Lord needed it for. The Lord Himself has gone from the scene, but His Name and His interests are here. So we should care that all we do and say sets affections free and attaches them in loyalty to an absent Christ.
Summary
- He asks first. The errand starts with Christ. He names the place, the colt, and the reply before a single bystander speaks.
- He owns already. For anyone else this would be theft; the claim only stands because everything is His property.
- He needs anyway. The one who owns it all still says He has need of it — and that sentence, not a permit, settles the question.
- He is given willingly. God was governing hearts that day, so the bystanders let them go. It points ahead to Zion's people offering themselves freely on the day of His power.
- He is carried. The colt is untied only so the Lord may ride — the pattern for every service done in His Name while He is absent.