Reprint: Daily Meditation 1993; Lutheran Digest 2009
There is only one animal that can claim the honor of having carried the messianic king upon its back. It is the lowly donkey. Somehow, it seems appropriate that the humblest of God’s creatures is present in Nativity scenes of His birth and that this same animal carried Him before His death.
First of all, it was the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, “Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass,” that Jesus fulfilled on his ride into Jerusalem.
In addition, the donkey has been one of the most useful animals since domestication started, soon after farming began. It is mentioned more than 100 times in the Scriptures. The lists of animals brought back to Jerusalem by the exiled Jews demonstrated the usefulness of the donkey. The asses (6,720) far outnumbered the horses (245). They were indeed regarded as a measure of wealth.
In Scripture, the donkey has been referred to as a riding and pack animal. It was the only riding animal used in Bible days. It was also ridden by distinguished persons or people of high rank. For example, in II Samuel, David’s servant met him with a couple of saddled asses “for the king’s household to ride on.” In Judges the thirty sons of the chief man of Israel, each a ruler of a city, rode ass colts, and Abdon’s forty sons and thirty grandsons all rode on asses. Again in Judges white asses were bred for the offices of judges: “Speak, ye that ride on white asses, yet that sit in judgment…”
Consequently, like other distinguished persons of rank who were involved in peaceful journeys, our King rode upon a donkey. Zechariah prophesied, “Your king will make peace upon the nations…” Since He was a Prince of Peace, not of war, He did not ride a war-horse, which was reserved for military purposes only.
Prior to Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the disciples acknowledged Jesus as Prince by preparing to saddle the donkey and colt for Jesus, they “threw their cloaks over them, and Jesus got on.”In those days a real saddle was not used in riding an ass; the saddle was merely a covering of thick cloth, sometimes with carpeting and straw beneath. Because of the special occasion, the disciples used their own garments as a saddle.
Women also used the donkey for riding. Achsah, daughter of Caleb (Joshua 15), Abigail, wife of wealthy Nabal (I Samuel 25), and the Shunammite woman (II Kings 4) all rode donkeys. Exodus 4 reveals that when nomadic families moved, the donkey carried women, sitting sideways, and children in open sacks on the side of the donkey. Other donkeys carried the household goods and food. Moses himself walked alongside of the donkey while his wife and sons rode on a donkey.
Not only on the journeys of the Palestinians but also as a beast of burden the donkey was of considerable value. Donkeys were used to pull plows, to turn the stone of the large millstones, and to do other tasks involved with agriculture. Heavy farm work was done by heifers, bullocks and oxen, as the Mosaic law forbade the harnessing of an ox and ass together.
Another Mosaic law pertaining to the ass was that it was an unclean animal because the ass does not divide the hoof or chew the cud and so was forbidden as food.
Job described wild asses as making their homes in the desert, in salt plains, scorning the tumult of the city. No one could tame the asses and make them work; they fed on mountain pasture, searching for anything green to eat.
Today, people might call a donkey obstinate and stupid, but actually donkeys get used to doing something and they refuse to change their minds. The donkey is slow, but sure-footed on difficult pathways; only the camel can go longer without water; the donkey can live on very poor food, such as grass, hay, even thistles. But he does love clean drinking water.
Donkeys are about four feet high, usually gray, reddish brown, or white. The ass, or donkey male, is called a jackass and a female a jenny. The foal is the young offspring of a donkey. The burro is a smaller breed of the ass. While the father of a mule is a jackass, the mother is a horse.
Another feature of the donkey is the dark stripe running down its back, crossed by another at the shoulders. According to tradition, this black cross was given to the donkey when Christ the King rode upon its back. What a fitting reward for the donkey, to be able to always bear the cross of our Lord.
Carole Christman Koch grew up in Berks County and has been published in numerous publications. She has a passion for writing and has many stories from growing up on a farm to raising children to humorous stories about her and her husband to everyday stories to season stories and more.
