Pullus | Donkey

“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." - (Mark 11:2)

Photo by Rodrigo DelPer on Pexels.com

Mark 11:1-14 is firstly about Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem and secondly, Jesus curses the fig tree. Taking the spiritual meaning, Jesus knowing what is awaiting Him in Jerusalem, keeps His mission given by the Father as the objective – the mission of bringing salvation through His passion, death, and resurrection. 

He enters as the King of Peace on a donkey, as opposed to the Roman understanding of triumphant entry which is soldiers entering on horseback after winning a war. Even after more than two thousand years, the actions of this Jesus have made Him the King of Billions of believers in their hearts, including you and me.

Jesus asks two of His disciples, who are unnamed, to get THE donkey for Him. The words of Jesus "The Lord is in need of it" are of importance for us. These words give us a purpose, that the Lord needs us. To talk about the donkey: firstly, it was never been ridden – it was born for a purpose. Secondly, the donkey was tied down.

The instructions were to untie it and bring it to Jesus. Jesus by His passion, death, and resurrection has set us free. But time and again we are tied down by many things in this world namely, our families, careers, aspirations, struggles, guilt, past, addictions, and many other things. Jesus sends unnamed people, His disciples, to untie us and bring us to Him. It is for us to accept this invitation to be free gracefully just like the donkey in the Bible. Like the donkey, we too have a purpose in Jesus.

After setting the donkey free, Jesus sat on it and rode it. People greeted Jesus by laying down their garments and with palms in their hands sang, "Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord," and along with Jesus, the donkey too gained the honor of the people. It is because of this humility of the donkey, even after 2,000 years we are still talking about the donkey.

Am I willing to be the donkey for Jesus in this world, who gives me purpose and meaning? Am I willing to be untied? I will have honour among people only when Jesus is my King.

Reflecting on the Fig tree, it was a beautiful tree with green leaves all over. But the problem was that Jesus approached this tree seeing its beautiful leaves, thinking He would find fruits on it. Jesus found no fruits. It symbolizes Christian life without actions of faith; Christians without Christ. We are called to bear much fruit and we can do so only by abiding in Jesus (John 15:1-12). 

Let us ask for the grace to be a fruitful fig tree (Gal 5:22-23), and to be like the humble donkey on whom the humble King of Peace sat.

Reflection on Mark 11:1-14 by Fr Hanson D'Souza SVD

(Listen to the Podcast here)