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| Image from Catholic Courrier |
There are, in the Bible, two donkeys that have very important
roles.
The more familiar donkey is the one upon whom Jesus rode from
Mount of Olives into
In this episode we learn of the instruction Jesus gave to his
disciples to go fetch a “never before ridden” donkey. The disciples ask what I
surely would have asked…”Why in the world would someone lend such a very
important asset to a stranger?”
You see, I think this donkey was critical, or would be
critical in the livelihood of the family. I don’t think the donkey was a pet or
some incidental animal that they fed without any economic return. It was a big
deal that the owners released their asset because they were told “The Lord
needs it”.
So, our lesson from
this donkey is that we should be willing to release valuable assets for our
Lord’s use.
But what about that
other donkey?
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I refer you to Numbers 22: 21-31 in which Balaam is riding
his donkey until the donkey sees an angel of the Lord wielding a sword. The
donkey will go no further. Balaam beats his donkey. So the donkey goes on until
he sees an angel standing in a narrow path that led to vineyards. He stops
again. Balaam, trying to show who's boss, beats him again. And then a third
time this happened and the donkey says…“What have I done to you to make you
beat me these three times?”
Balaam, seemingly not surprised at the fact of a talking
donkey, responds “You have made a fool
of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.”
The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which
you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to
you?”
Well, there are a
lot of preaching perspectives regarding this episode such as:
1. The Lord opened the donkey’s mouth…not
the donkey of his own initiative.
2. And, the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes so
he could see what the donkey saw. Again, it was the prevenient grace of the
Lord that accommodated Balaam.
But my point in this essay is this…
God very often provides grace and
salvation in the most unexpected resources.
There…finally…Balaam’s donkey gets
his fair share of fame!
