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I have a thing for donkeys. I really like them. They have a maturity and a thoughtfulness that I find admirable, as well as a playfulness that I think is adorable. I’m even to the point of considering getting a rescue donkey and stabling him at a local equestrian center. I would like a saddle donkey – one that I can ride.
After remembering the connection donkeys have to the stories of Jesus and Mary, I am even more impressed with their history and heritage. It was a donkey, after all, that carried a very pregnant Mary into Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. (There is usually a donkey in every complete Nativity set.) And it was a donkey that carried Jesus into Jerusalem on what is now known as Palm Sunday.
Click here to read an interesting section of a blog post about the donkey’s role in Palm Sunday, by pastor James Jackson of Prattville, Alabama. He writes at jamesjackson.blog
My interest in donkeys started while I was walking on a trail that is frequented by horses and riders coming from a nearby stable. I came across a man who was walking both a horse and a donkey. He had stopped to let a group of children take a closer look and to pet the two equines. It was an interesting side-by-side comparison. I had been volunteering at an equine therapy center where horses are used to provide mental and physical therapy to both children and adults so I was learning more about horses. But to be honest, they scare me.
You can see the horizontal cross marking on the shoulder of this donkey. / Photo:@maryshandmaiden
While the horse on the trail, whose name was Target, got all the attention from most of the kids, the donkey stood by quietly and patiently, and was seemingly unfazed by it all.
Donkeys, I’ve found through my research, have a different temperament entirely. They don’t spook as easily as horses. They are more sure-footed. They have more endurance and can carry more weight than a pack-horse. They have a terrific memory. And they are very smart – a trait often confused with being stubborn. During those moments when they aren’t responding to a command they are, in fact, thinking through what they have been asked to do, determining if it is safe. (Something I often do!)
There, one can ride mules down steep trails and go deep into the canyon. / Photo: @maryshandmaiden
The man on the trail who was answering questions of the children about the horse and donkey told me that each Christmas, his donkey participates in the local “live” Nativity that a neighboring city hosts each year.
He pointed to the cross marking on the donkey’s back and told of how 2,000 years ago it was a donkey that Jesus chose to ride into Jerusalem. Jesus told his disciples to go into the nearby village and obtain a colt and its mother and to tell the owners of the donkeys that “The Master needs them.” (Matthew 21:3 / New American Bible)
He added that the colt would be one that had never been ridden. (Luke 19:30)
Jesus was to fulfill the prophesy of Zechariah who lived BEFORE Christ. The Old Testament prophet wrote in Zechariah 9:9-11…
Exult greatly, O daughter Zion!
Shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem!
Behold: your king is coming to you,
a just savior is he,
Humble, and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
That is why on virtually all donkeys we can see a cross on their backs.
According to britanica.com, the markings are genetic and are evidence of the tie between donkeys and zebras. Read further down the page, however, and you’ll see the same story of their role in Christianity.
My husband brought me this cute plastic donkey that succinctly shares the legend on its tag. (I think he was hoping that his little gift would satisfy me and that we wouldn’t have to get the real thing.) If you look closely, you can see the cross on its back.
If I ever do get my saddle donkey, each time I ride him I’ll be imagining what both Mary and Jesus felt during their historic rides on the backs of these wonderful animals.
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