Embrace the Offence
Did you know that you were born like a wild ass’s colt? Oh, thank you, you say. Why the insult? I’m just pointing out what the Bible says. For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass's colt. (Job 11:12) Donkeys (ass’s) are known to be stubborn, untamed and unsettled. So, when the Bible says that man is born like a wild ass’s colt, that’s a picturesque way of saying For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. (Rom 3:23)
But you know that the wild ass’s colt picture is so much bigger and prophetic when you compare scripture with scripture. In fact, that image established numerous places in the Old Testament is the most vivid in the true story of Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem on an ass’s colt. It’s so important that all four gospels talk about it.
I grew up in a church that covered this story every Easter. I can even tell you the two main points of those sermons. Jesus rode on an ass because it was prophesied to happen in Zech. 9:9. Jesus was fulfilling Scripture. Besides that, an ass is a more humble ride than a horse. And Jesus was humble. Be humble. End of sermon.
That church also taught “If the normal sense makes good sense, seek no other sense.” Translated, “Don’t look deeper. Don’t expect more. No more light is necessary. Move on.” That thinking, my friends, will starve a person spiritually. It did me. So, let’s look deeper.
Man is like a wild ass’s colt. Jesus rode on a wild ass. Could that picture Jesus subduing a sinner? Remember in the gospels that Jesus requested a specific wild ass colt: And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him. (Mark 11:2) What are the chances of a completely untamed wild ass letting someone ride on it? No chance, except this is Jesus, and He specializes in taming the wild ass. He’s all about transforming sinners into saints.
Now that we’ve established that, let’s go to the first reference in the Bible to an ass’s colt. It’s where I’m at in my study through Genesis. In chapter 49, Jacob is about to die, so it’s time for the prophetic family blessings. Each son appears before him to find out his future, near and end-times. It’s Judah’s turn. Remember that Jesus is from the tribe of Judah. The future Seed that’s been discussed over and over again in Genesis is going to come through the line of Judah, so you can expect some pretty amazing things in the prophetic blessing Jacob has for him. I’m just picking part of it: The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes. (Gen 49:10-11)
Who is the ass’s colt (Job 11:12) and who is the choice vine (John 15:5)? It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? When we are saved, we, as wild ass colts, are loosed from sin and bound to the vine. And the part of the story we can never lose sight of is that this salvation is not possible without the blood of Jesus. Notice it was the choice vine personified that washed his garments in wine (a type of his blood) and his clothes in the blood of grapes.
Yes, the historical sense of the triumphal entry makes good sense. Jesus was humble and lowly, riding on an ass in fulfillment of prophesy. The greater picture is that you and I were that ass’s colt now tamed and bound to the Vine. Hallelujah!
R&J Shee