From The Womb to The Cross
by Chuck Ness
The top left image is a powerful image when you consider who the boy is. The famous painter, Jacques Tissot, who painted this masterpiece, invoked the purpose of the boy’s existence in this World. It reminds me of the cross on the back of the donkey his mother rode to Bethlehem, and the one He rode into Jerusalem. His destination was the same from the beginning, and I am sure there are many moments He was reminded that He must be about His Fathers business. The story I offer is an embellished one, that offers Biblical truth along with what might have taken place but not shared in the Gospels.
This story is about The ONE Who rode a donkey in his mothers womb to Bethlehem to be born, and then years later into Jerusalem to be crucified. Only our LORD knows why HE created the donkey to have a cross on it’s back. I pray this story will make you pause and meditate on the importance of providence, or destiny, in God’s great plan to save mankind.
Once upon a time a man prepared his donkey with enough blankets to make his wife as comfortable as possible for a long trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem. She won’t be able to ride the whole way, since the donkey must also carry the items they need for the long journey. While he prepares the donkey, His wife collects the food and cloths she put together and heads out the door to join her husband for the long trip.
A few days or even a week later they arrive in Bethlehem, just to learn there is no room at the Inn. The innkeeper points to the stable and returns to his customers inside as Joseph leads the donkey with his wife towards a cave where shepherds keep their sheep. There are hayracks, mangers, sheep and cattle all cramped into the cave, with the strong smell of urine and manure lingering in the air. Joseph thinks to himself, surely this cannot be where the baby is to be born.
Mary trembles with deep pain as she knows the for the child’s arrival has come. Joseph helps her down from the burrow and gently leads her into the cave. He makes a bed of hay, and places the blanket from the donkey onto the straw for his young bride to lay down upon, and soon a child is born who’s destiny will be harsher and much more cruel than the one HE entered.
Fast forward about 33 years, and this child who was born in the manger, is now a man, and HE is about to complete His journey as He approaches Jerusalem. He sends a couple of disciples ahead to get a colt, which is a younger donkey fitting for a humble King. An old poor farmer cared for it until its time was ready for its purpose in life. We never will know if the man knew ahead of time that the donkeys moment had come, but we do know he tied it to a post awaiting the ONE he was destined to carry into Jerusalem.
As he began to walk away, two young men arrive for the donkey. The old man asked them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” They tell him, “The Lord has need of it”, and then man allows them to take it away. His heart may have felt a tinge of joy for that the young colt was needed. “Someone has a use for it” he may thought to himself.
The disciples brought the donkey to Jesus, and he rode it into Jerusalem resembling a humble king riding in peace to greet his subjects. Except this King, Jesus, was also the sacrifice who would soon suffer the punishment of death for the sins of the world. After Jesus finished riding the donkey, they let it go to where ever it wanted to wander to.
A week later the donkey was grazing in a pasture with the sun shining upon it’s back, when the man who rode him into Jerusalem was lifted to the sky, like a snake in the Desert. All of a sudden the shadow of a cross was cast upon the colt’s back. Then the skies darkened and the ground trembled, causing the donkey to scurry away in search of a safer place to graze.
Our Lord Jesus then entered the next phase of HIS journey, which will one day see HIM return. Not riding a humble donkey as HE did into Jerusalem, nor to speak gracious words, as HE did in Nazareth all those years ago. Instead, HE will be riding a fiery white horse to speak word’s of righteousness as He strikes the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips to slay the wicked. For HE will return to rule with a rod of iron, because HE is the KING of Kings, and the LORD of Lords.
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