The Donkey

I’m not clever enough to write poetry, but I do enjoy reading it.

When fishes flew and forests walked
And figs grew upon thorn,
Some moment when the moon was blood
Then surely I was born.

With monstrous head and sickening cry
And ears like errant wings,
The devil’s walking parody
On all four-footed things.

The tattered outlaw of the earth,
Of ancient crooked will;
Starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb,
I keep my secret still.
 
Fools! For I also had my hour;
One far fierce hour and sweet:
There was a shout about my ears,
And palms before my feet.

G.K. CHESTERTON

This poem appeals to me. For starters, it is short. Vivid imagery paints a portrait of a world gone wild. Lines such as ‘fishes flew and forests walked’ show that it is only in a disturbing and chaotic world that the creation of a donkey makes sense. The poem draws us to see the animal as ridiculous. Chesterton describes it as ‘the devil’s walking parody’. The donkey doubles as both subject and narrator, giving the poem a tone of bitterness. We pity the animal created with a ‘monstrous head’ and ‘ears like errant wings’.

Yet the donkey is imbued a stubborn pride, the source of which becomes clear in the last stanza. In what is a clear Biblical reference, we see the donkey’s vindication. It was he that was chosen to bring Jesus into Jerusalem.

We read that story in Matthew 21. The disciples are instructed by Jesus to find a donkey and bring it to him. They do this and Jesus rides the donkey into Jerusalem to unrestrained celebration. We read in verses 8-9.

8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!‘, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!‘ ‘Hosanna in the highest heaven!‘

After reading the poem ‘The Donkey’, it certainly seems like an odd choice.

Jesus enters the Holy city, Jerusalem, triumphantly as the long-promised Messiah. Many saw this as the culmination of Jesus’ life. The crowd calls him the ‘Son of David’, a recognised term for the true King who would come from the lineage of King David. They cry out ‘Hosanna’ exultantly, praising Jesus.

You can picture the scene. It is like the homecoming parade thrown for a triumphant sporting team after the victory. Except, instead of waiting for one year (for a Roosters fan), or even for a few years longer (insert other inferior teams here), the Jews had been waiting for centuries for their King to enter Jerusalem. It should have been like this entry of Prince Ali in Aladdin.

Instead, the Saviour of the world rode in on the lowly donkey.

Even more surprising is that it was planned. Zechariah 9:9 prophecies:

“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

What contrast! Righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey.

God uses the humblest of creatures to bring glory to himself. Even the donkey is given value and purpose by God.

Interestingly, this is not the only time that God uses a donkey in the scriptures. In Numbers 22 God uses a donkey to shame a wise man, again showing the extent of God’s sovereignty.

Balaam is a great seer and a man of visions. However, it is Balaam’s donkey that God uses for his purposes. When Balaam errs, the donkey speaks truth and sense. It rebukes Balaam, telling him of the folly of opposing the Lord. God uses the unexpected and the weak so his glory may be shown all the more.

There are many lessons in these scriptures. On one level it warns against pride. Our confidence should not be in ourselves, but in the God who gives dignity and purpose to all. His plans will never fail, as they are not dependant solely on the eloquent and worldly-wise.

One last lesson from Chesterton’s poem. Whilst crediting the donkey for finding his satisfaction in Jesus, I think the poem does not endorse the donkey’s view. We are to learn from the donkey in the poem, but not to be like it.

The last stanza uses the first-person perspective repetitively. The donkey asserts that this was ‘my hour… my ears… my feet’. Perversely, the donkey manages to wrestle the emphasis away from Jesus and onto himself. The poem warns against a self-centric view of the gospel. We must not plug ourselves into the middle of the gospel, as if the story was about us and not Jesus.

Learn from the biblical asses, but don’t be one.