‘Jesus did not ride a donkey because he couldn’t afford horses and chariot’

By Bishop Dave Chikosi

In June 2015 the Pontiff took time to pontificate on the subject of poverty. Speaking at St Peter’s Square, Pope Francis praised the poor of this world for their calling to “save society from barbarity.”

He urged his audience to therefore “kneel before these poor families” because of the sanity they bring to a world plagued by avarice and driven by greed.

Yes I do think that those of us who have been blessed with a relatively good life should be careful not to demonize the poor. But to canonize the poor just because they are poor? And to baptize poverty as a virtue before which we should all bend the knee? That is absurd.

Poor families are not schools of humanity to save modernity from barbarity. Barbarity is an equal opportunity vice that follows both the “haves” and the “have-nots”. There are good and evil people in both camps.

You are not virtuous because you are broke, any more than you are virtuous because you are rich.

Riches and wealth do not affect or change a man’s character that much. What riches and wealth do is simply magnify who you already are. If you are a nice person, wealth helps you leverage that niceness for the benefit of mankind and to the glory of God.

If you are mean and ugly . . . well, you get the picture.

Too often we erroneously think that a person is arrogant because he is rich. As a result we shrink from wealth creation because we really don’t want to end up like that rich and arrogant fool.

But the truth is that the fellow is not arrogant because of his wealth. Money didn’t make him that way. He was already that way before he ever got rich. Wealth merely amplified a pre-existing character flaw.

Not every rich person is arrogant and not every poor person is humble. I have seen arrogant poor folk. You can’t teach them anything. They know it all and have got it made – which itself is ironic. They want your handout but they don’t need your advice or anyone’s.

And oh what a sense of entitlement. Everybody owes them something. The only reason you would refuse to give them free stuff is because you yourself are such an arrogant b*****d who thinks he’s better than them.

I have met them. They refuse to take responsibility for their lives, choosing rather to blame everyone else for their bad fortune. They have created a whole identity around their penury, and are greedier for money than some rich folks.

Which goes to prove my earlier point that barbarity, greed and avarice are all equal opportunity vices.

No folks, poverty doesn’t make you virtuous. It makes you hungry. And cold. And sometimes naked. Think of the number of young girls who have been driven into prostitution by dire economic circumstances. Where is the virtue in that? Where is the redemption?

There is no gospel of prosperity

One of the silliest argument often made against the message of divine prosperity is that Jesus was poor.  (There is no gospel of prosperity, only a message of prosperity within the broader Gospel of the Kingdom).

Proponents say that Jesus was so poor He couldn’t afford a decent ride. He had to settle for a donkey as the most affordable means of transportation especially for His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.

But I sometimes wonder which Jesus these poverty preachers are referring to. Is it the One who fed over 15 000 people, including women and children, in the wilderness from two loaves and five fishes? How many poor people do you know who can do that? When was the last time you saw a guy breeze into town and announce to a crowd of that size that lunch was on him?

Are these critics talking about the One whose Father proudly declares, “The silver is mine the gold is mine” (Haggai 2:8)?

Are they making reference to the same One who created and gave to mankind the diamonds, gold and all the other precious metals that people have died for in places like Marange?

No, Jesus did not ride a donkey because He couldn’t afford a chariot and horses. Recall that before His Incarnation He was part of the Godhead that once sent chariots and horses of fire to the prophet Elijah. And now all of a sudden He can’t afford a decent chariot and some horses for Himself?

Why the King of kings chose to ride a donkey instead of a warhorse

First of all, it is culturally false to assume that in ancient Middle Eastern culture people rode on donkeys because they were poor. There is no Biblical support for this asssumption.

It was not uncommon in ancient days for royalty to ride donkeys, as is evident in this conversation between King David and a servant named Ziba:

“What are these for?” the king asked Ziba. Ziba replied, “The donkeys are for the king’s people to ride on, and the bread and summer fruit are for the young men to eat. The wine is for those who become exhausted in the wilderness” (2 Kings 16:2)

The same King David, on the day that his son Solomon was anointed and crowned king, gave the following instructions to the national priest, national prophet and to an army general:

“Take your lord’s servants with you and have Solomon my son mount my own mule and take him down to Gihon. There have Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel. Blow the trumpet and shout, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ (1 Kings 1:33-34). 

Solomon can hardly be described as poor even at this point in his life, because he rode a donkey. His father David was extremely wealthy and could afford any chariot and horses of his choice.

We also read, in a song by Deborah, one of Israel’s judges, that donkeys were not an unusual form of transportation even among the ruling class: 

My heart is with Israel’s princes, with the willing volunteers among the people . . . Consider this, you who ride on fine donkeys, you who sit on fancy saddle blankets, and you who walk along the road (Judges 5:9-10) 

Two other judges of Israel made use of donkeys:

“After Tola died, Jair from Gilead judged Israel for twenty-two years. He had thirty sons, who rode thirty donkeys. They controlled thirty towns in Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth Jair (Judges 10:3-4) 

“After Elon died, Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, judged Israel. He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He judged Israel for eight years” (Judges 12:13-14) 

And so when Jesus, as King, rode a donkey into Jerusalem, it was not incongruent with the cultural practice of royalty in those days.

But perhaps the real reason why Jesus opted for a donkey was because ancient people understood that a “horse is prepared for the day of battle” (Proverbs 21:31). In ancient Middle East kings rode horses when going to war, and donkeys if they come in peace.

This is why the King of kings did not come riding a charger like most kings. That would have been interpreted as an act of war by Rome, or at least a provocation thereof. Caesar would never have put up with that.

There was no need, at this point in time, for Jesus to antagonize the most powerful government on earth unnecessarily. The work he had come to do of teaching and deliverance, was far from being accomplished.

The time to stand up to Caesar would come later, but for now: “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work” (John 9:4).

[Bishop Dave Chikosi can be reached by email at [email protected]. You can watch his YouTube videos at https://www.youtube.com/user/faithcoach4u. He also blogs at http://davechikosi.blogspot.com]