A Donkey, of All Things!

I have always lived “in town.” Never in a big city, but in towns with population ranging from 1,700 to 20,000. Because of that, my exposure to the farm and farm animals has been quite limited. In-town parents need to be intentional about getting their children exposed to the farm, and mine weren’t.

As a child, the only pony rides I ever went on were the plastic variety on springs—the 60s version of a rocking horse, I suppose—and those going around in circles at the fair carousel. I rode my first real horse the summer between 6^th and 7^th grades. I was 12. Fifty years later, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve ridden a horse.

So, my exposure to horses has been quite limited. I probably learned more about these beautiful animals during a few years of working on a monthly publication, The Vermont Horseman’s Guide. I never actually read any articles, though. My job involved laying out ads and pages, preparing them for the printer. Nevertheless, the periodical introduced me to the wide variety of breeds. I had no idea there were so many!

A New Experience

Recently, our grandsons have taken an interest in the animal, the 7-year-old a bit more enthused with them, I believe. He gets riding lessons every couple of weeks at a nearby horse farm. He knows more about them than I do!

Well, capitalizing on that interest, his mom got tickets for us all to attend the Iowa State Horse Fair in Des Moines last weekend. The Friday night rodeo was a first. I enjoyed watching the bull riding competition, but all I could think about was 1) how I wouldn’t last 3 seconds, and 2) how badly I’d need to go the chiropractor afterwards. For a long time!

Calf-roping, barrel racing, steer-wrestling, bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, team roping….none of it was completely new to me, but I’ve never actually watched an entire competition. Fascinating.

But the horses! I have no idea how many different breeds were involved in the rodeo, but each was unique, powerful, and beautiful.

The next day, we attended the parade of breeds. Now that was intriguing. Some of the names I recalled from the Horseman’s Guide days: Icelandic, Morgan, Thoroughbred, Arabian, Percheron, Clydesdale, Appaloosa, Fjord, Friesian, Shetland, Peruvian Paso, Rocky Mountain, Pinto, Belgian Draft, Shire…. I know I’m missing some.

One that particularly caught my attention looked something like a zebra. It had stripes like a zebra, but the stripes were a dark brown against a tan background. I pointed it out to the grandson, and he insisted it was a kind of zebra. “Nah,” I thought. Well, I had to eat a bit of humble pie on that one. To be precise, the breed is a “Zdonk” or “Zonkey”—a cross between a zebra and a donkey. Later during lunch, we met the owner of said Zdonk, and she shared how the rare animal comes about. Interesting.

Horses of Old

Being impressed by so many of these magnificent animals got me wondering about the breeds available in the Middle East during the first century.

I discovered the Romans prized Berbers for chariot races. They also used Arabians, not only for competition, but in warfare. Friesians had the privilege of leading chariots into battle.

Supposedly, Incitatus, the horse that captured Emperor Caligula’s attention, was a Thoroughbred stallion.

As you can readily see from the photos, each of these breeds is a stately, beautiful, powerful horse. Fit for the emperor to ride, lifted high above the throngs, as he returns the victor from battle.

I really can’t imagine Caligula or Julius Caesar riding on the back of a donkey’s colt, can you? Certainly such a creature is unfit for a king to ride upon!

And yet….

We just celebrated Palm Sunday, and certainly, you know the story. When Jesus publicly presented Himself as Israel’s king, He didn’t ride gallantly into Jerusalem on the back of a white stallion, with rich, royal garments flowing in the breeze.

He wasn’t surrounded by the victory shouts of mighty warriors returning from a successful military campaign.

No, a diverse crowd of men, women, and even children cried out,

“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

What kind of King is this?!?

A humble King en route to making the supreme sacrifice—offering His life for the lives of His subjects.

A King authorized by the Lord God to bring the peace of heaven to the people who will receive Him, and bring those who do to the glory of the highest.

A King who will lie in a borrowed tomb—for a brief time.

A King who will conquer the ultimate enemy—not Rome, but death itself!

Just before He came into this world, in all likelihood Jesus in the womb rode on a donkey carrying Mary, His virgin mother. As He came into Jerusalem, again it was on a donkey’s back. Humble. Lowly. Meek.

When He comes the next time, the vision John sees of this King is not one of a lowly, humble man about to yield His life to a blood-thirsty mob. Not at all! He describes the scene in Revelation 19:11-16:

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Alas, the King who was largely rejected and despised, humiliated and crucified when He presented Himself on the donkey’s back will reign victorious! Universally…

“at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

– Philippians 2:10-11

Don’t wait until then. Bow the knee and confess now!