Commentary on Isaiah

Augustine of Hippo (354–430)

Therefore "Jesus found a donkey and sat upon it." … The donkey's colt upon which no one had sat (for this fact is found in the other Evangelists) we understand as the people of the nations which had not received the Lord's law. However, the donkey (because both beasts were led to the Lord) is his community which came from the people of Israel, clearly not unbroken, but which recognized the Master's manger.

He who fills the world found no room in an inn. Placed in a manger, he became our food. Let the two animals, symbolic of two races, approach the manger, for "the ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master's crib." Do not be ashamed to be God's beast of burden. Carrying Christ, you will not go astray; with him burdening you, you make your way through devious paths. May the Lord rest upon us; may he direct us where he wishes; may we be his beast of burden and thus may we come to Jerusalem. Though he presses upon us, we are not crushed but lifted up; when he leads us, we shall not go astray. Through the Lord may we come to the child so that we may rejoice forever with the child who was born today.

See also

• More works by Augustine of Hippo

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