Mark 11:1

Mark 11:1-11. The Triumphal Entry

1. And when The order of events at this point needs explanation. (1) The Saviour apparently reached Bethany on the evening of Friday, Nisan 8. There (2) in quiet retirement He spent His last earthly Sabbath; and (3) in the evening, sat down to a festal meal provided by the sisters of Lazarus at the house of one Simon, who had been a leper (Matthew 26:6; John 12:1). (4) At this feast He was anointed by Mary (John 12:3); and (5) during the night a council of the Jews was convened to consider the propriety of putting not Him only but Lazarus also to death (John 12:10).

they came Rather, when they draw near. The Evangelist, passing over for the present the peaceful scene at the festal meal (Mark 14:3-11), translates us at once to Palm Sunday, as to time; and, as to place, to the region between Bethany and the mount of Olives. Observe how he writes in the present tense.

unto Bethphage On the first day of the Holy Week the Saviour left Bethany and proceeded towards Bethphage = the house of unripe figs, a little hamlet on the road between Jericho and Jerusalem. As in a journey towards Jerusalem it is always mentioned before Bethany, it seems to have been to the east of that village.

he sendeth Note again the present tense.

two of his disciples The minuteness of the description that follows suggests that St Peter may have been one of these. If so, he was not improbably accompanied by St John.