The Original Enterprise Rent-A-Car

Every year we go on a mission trip to help improve homes in the Appalachia Mountain region.   We normally end up with three or four teams of seven that go on the trip.  Each team needs their own van so we have to rent vans.  For the past three years we have rented those vans from Enterprise Rent-A-Car.  This is a company that allows us for the week to rent the vans from them and then return them.  These days a lot of people use rental cars for trips or when they have been in an accident and need a temporary car until their car is fixed.   It has become quite useful especially when someone is in need of transportation.  What a great modern day convenience.  However, Enterprise was not the original rental car provider.  The original rent a car was a donkey that carried the most important passenger of all, Jesus.  

When Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem he reached the Mount of Olives. From there he sent two of his disciples ahead of him and told them that in the village ahead they would find a donkey tied up that no one has ever ridden.  He tells them to bring the donkey to him and if anyone asks why they are taking the donkey tell them that the Lord needs it and will send it back shortly.  See, Jesus borrows a donkey and returns it to its rightful owner.  He doesn’t have to pay a rental fee, but after he rides it into Jerusalem, the donkey is returned. 

Jesus chose a donkey as the first rental car.  It didn’t come with cruise control or power brakes, it didn’t come with a compact disc player or a radio, it didn’t come with heat or air conditioning, although if he rode fast enough he would have had air of some sort.  It didn’t come with air bags or seats belts.  He didn’t have to worry about air pressure in the tires or gas in the tank.  The one thing about this donkey that made it better than most rental cars that you can get today is the fact that it had never been ridden.   That is a rare comity in today’s rental car market.  In fact, I have never known of anyone to drive a new rental car.

This donkey was by far the most important rental in the history of rentals.  It carried Jesus into Jerusalem and had a nice smooth ride, not because of its shocks or way it handled the road.  It was a smooth ride because people laid their cloaks and palm branches on the ground in front of it.  The people helped to provide a smooth ride for this rental donkey.  Jesus didn’t have to roll down a window or open a door to be revealed to the people.  The roomy open aired ride that the donkey provided exposed people to our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. 

Yes, a donkey was the first Enterprise Rent-A-Car.  It was not a well ridden or high mileage donkey.  It was a new rental donkey that carried the most important passenger of all. 

Hey, do you think it came with that new donkey smell?