The Borrowing King

As I have been contemplating the highlights of Holy Week as found in the Gospels, something caught my attention, something that I have never pondered before. Have you ever noticed that Jesus Christ, Lord of Lords, King of Kings, Creator of the universe, was in the habit of borrowing from others from the moment of His birth to the hour of His death?

Because Joseph and Mary were far from home when the time came for Jesus to be born, they had to make do with the only place left open for them in Bethlehem. Thus, the Incarnate Son of God was born in a borrowed maternity room, a stable, and laid in a borrowed crib, a manger from which animals were fed (Luke 2:6-7).

Later, during the years of His ministry, a man one day announced to Jesus his desire to follow Him. To that announcement Jesus replied, “The foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Luke 9:58). It appears that during those years, Jesus slept in borrowed beds.

When approaching Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday, Jesus sent his disciples to borrow a donkey’s colt on which He would ride triumphantly into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-5).

Finally, when Jesus dead body was removed from the cross, it was laid in a borrowed tomb (Matthew 27:57-60). This one brings a smile to my face. Why not a borrowed tomb? He would only need it for three days.