The Legend of the Donkey’s Cross – How the donkey that carried Jesus now bares a cross on its back. #Donkey #DoneysCross
The Legend of the Donkey’s Cross
You hear about this more around Easter, but often you also hear about it during Christmas too.
A poor farmer near Jerusalem owned a donkey far too small to do much work at all. He felt that he couldn’t afford to feed a worthless animal like this, one that could do him no good whatsoever, so at the supper table he told his family that he was going to kill the donkey.
His children, who loved the little donkey, begged him to sell it rather than harm it. But the farmer said, “It’s wrong to sell an animal that can’t do a good day’s work.”
Then his oldest daughter suggested, “Father, tie the donkey to a tree on the road to town, and say whoever wants it may take it for nothing.” And the next morning, that’s what the farmer did.
Soon, two men approached and asked if they could have the donkey. “It can carry almost nothing,” the farmer warned them.
“Jesus of Nazareth has need of it,” replied one of the men. The farmer couldn’t imagine what a great teacher would want with such a worthless donkey, but he handed it over.
The men took the animal to Jesus, who stroked the grateful donkey’s face and then mounted it and rode away. So it was on the day we call Palm Sunday, Jesus led his followers into the city of Jerusalem riding on the back of a small, common donkey.
The donkey so loved his gentle master that he later followed him to Calvary. Grief-stricken by the sight of Jesus on the cross, the donkey turned away but couldn’t leave. It was then that the shadow of the cross fell upon the shoulders and back of the donkey, and there it stayed. All donkeys have borne the sign of the cross on their backs since that very day.
Excerpted from Sue Weaver, The Donkey Companion (Storey Publishing, 2008).
Learn about the Talking Donkey in the Bible!
First published December 12, 2020. Last updated or republished March 24, 2024.
Easter Blog Posts
Below is a list of blog posts that relate to Easter. Be sure to check them all out!
- 1 Cross, 3 Nails, 4 Given Church Sign
- 8 Things Jesus Accomplished on the Cross
- 20th anniversary of the powerful film, “The Passion of the Christ.”
- A-Z of Easter, The
- Amber Alert: Jesus Christ is Missing
- Arise My Love by Newsong
- Ascension
- Ash Wednesday, Day of Ashes
- Body of Christ
- Breakfast Pizza
- Broken Egg
- CEO Christians Church Sign
- Colors of Easter
- Cracking the Tradition of Hiding Easter Eggs
- Create and Hide Unbreakable Easter Eggs
- Cross Acronym
- Cross of Jesus
- Cross Tree
- Dogwood Tree
- Drive-Thru Easter Egg Hunt
- Dye Eggs with All Natural Ingredients
- Easter celebrations in the era of social distancing
- Easter Egg Trunk Hunt
- Easter Finger Puzzle Printable
- Easter is Canceled
- Easter Lilies Can Kill A Cat?
- Easter Monday
- Easter Story Snack Mix Printable
- Easter Sweet Treats Makes Easter Special
- Easter Symbols
- Easter Trees
- Easter Word Search Printable
- Egg Rolling
- Emoji Easter Story Printable
- Empty Egg
- Finished An Easter Spoken Word Videos by KB
- Forgiveness
- Free Easter Printables
- Good Friday
- Happy Easter “Resurrection Day”
- He is Risen Display
- Hiding Easter Eggs
- History of Easter Bonnets
- Holy Monday
- Holy Saturday
- Holy Thursday
- Holy Tuesday
- Holy Wednesday
- Hot Cross Buns
- If Jesus Had An Obituary
- Importance of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
- It’s Not About the Bunny Church Sign
- Jelly Bean Prayer Printable
- Jesus Shows His Scars
- KSBJ’s Cross Stops in Houston!
- Lazarus Saturday
- Legend of the Donkey’s Cross
- Legend of the Sand Dollar Printable
- Legend of the Three Trees
- Lent
- Let kites soar: A Lenten tradition takes flight
- Life Savers
- Make Easter Eggs Last
- Maundy Thursday
- Meaning Behind Easter Lilies
- No Bones About It – Jesus Is Alive!
- Palm Sunday
- Passover
- Resurrection Bracelet
- Resurrection Rolls
- Searching for Christ
- Shrove Tuesday
- Silly Rabbit, Easter is for Jesus
- Son of God Movie Review
- Spy Wednesday
- Stay-At-Home Spring Printables for Kids
- Stitching Easter delights with Sewing
- Sweating Blood Prayer
- Telelestai
- That’s My King Dr. S.M. Lockridge
- The Rock at UT Painted for Easter (2024)
- The University of Tennessee Rock painted with an Easter Messages (2022)
- Trail to the Empty Tomb
- Truth About Easter Bunny & Easter Eggs
- That Tomb Is Still Empty, Easter Story Told by Two Kids
- Unique Easter Traditions from Around the Globe
- University of Tennessee Rock painted with an Easter Message, The
- What if the Resurrection Happened Today
- What’s So Good About Good Friday?
- Why Did Jesus Fold the Napkin?
- Words of Forgiveness by Saving Darkness
- You, Sin, Christ – A Simple Illustration
- You’ve Been Egged Printable
Check out Courageous Christian Father’s Wish list on Amazon where you can purchase and this items sent directly to him and they will be used for the ministry.
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Thank you, this made me think of the time when the Temple was laid out, with all four gates, and if one could see this from the sky, they would have seen the cross of Christ then
Amazing