1 Kings 2:40 At this, he saddled his donkey and went to Achish at Gath in search of his slaves. So Shimei went away and brought the slaves back from Gath.
During this week of Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Resurrection Day, there are many things to draw out attention to the significance of what Jesus did for us. One of those small details has to do with transportation. The modes of travel have changed greatly over the millennia. They didn’t travel by airplane when the pyramids of Egypt were being built, at least we don’t have MP4 video files as evidence.
There are two places where donkeys seem to have showed up in the Scriptures. The first of significance is in the life of David and his son Solomon. We have read prior to time of the Judges that donkeys were primarily seen as animals of burden. They carried the heavy baggage. They were the pickup truck of the ancient world. Some people had them and they were very useful.
As wealth increased, so did possessions! Sound’s familiar, doesn’t it. So if people had to relocate, donkeys were the transportation of choice. Put it on the back of the donkey or carry it yourself. I pick the donkey.
Sometimes the donkey was the transporter of people, especially those who were in a hurry, or had physical limitations. But most people traveled on foot rather than on the back of a donkey. It would have been the exception to ride a donkey rather than walk. And thus it gets mentioned in the text.
And then Jesus comes to enter Jerusalem on that fateful morning. He doesn’t come riding on a military vehicle, a horse, he comes on the back of a beast of burden, a common man’s pickup truck. He comes humbly, no pretension, no planned fanfare. He fulfills a role foreseen hundreds of years before the ride.
Just as the normal cargo of a donkey was there to meet the needs of the owner, so Jesus came on the donkey, not to meet his own needs, but to serve the needs of others. He didn’t come to destroy the centers of power, but to transform the hearts of all the people. And he knew that when the hearts were transformed, the world would move toward fulfilling our original design as image bearers of the Creator.
So next time you see someone arriving in a vehicle that flashes “important,” remember Jesus’ ride on the donkey. He was the most important of all humanity’s progeny, and He came on a donkey. Maybe we should arrive on donkeys to church next time we gather. Just an idea!
The Arnold Journey 