What does Mark 11:3 mean?

"Lord" is from the Greek root word kyrios. It identifies the person who has the authority to make decisions. Jesus has been called "Lord" by the Syrophoenician woman (Mark 7:28), a leper (Matthew 8:2), a centurion concerned about his servant (Matthew 8:6), and the father of the mute, possessed boy (Matthew 17:15), but the word as used by Jews usually refers to God. It's unclear if the men watching over the donkeys know the disciples mean Jesus or if they think random men are using the donkeys for their unknown master. Some scholars suggest that "the Lord" refers to the owner of the donkeys, implying that he was with Jesus and had given his permission.

When we are new believers, we may see amazing things happen in our lives. A sinful addiction may disappear. We may be filled with a sense of peace we didn't expect. We may find God answering our prayers quickly and completely. Those signs are not necessarily going to stay with us. As we see answered prayer, our faith in God should develop. Before too long, God may shift the lesson from "God will provide what I ask Him" to "God will provide what I need, even if it's not what I ask." This is a deepening of our faith that must occur if we are to become mature spiritually. The disciples show some of this faith when they agree—in their limited understanding—to seemingly steal donkeys just because Jesus told them to.

The disciples have precedence for their faith, as Jesus has asked them to do extraordinary things. They have left their homes and successful businesses to follow Him (Mark 1:16–20; 2:13–14; 3:13–14), healed people and cast out demons (Mark 6:7–13), passed out two different miracle meals (Mark 6:33–44; 8:1–10), and walked through Samaria, a land that Jews despise (John 4:1–4). So when Jesus tells them to walk into a town and take possession of a donkey and her foal, they don't seem to be too worried about it.