The Parable of the Horse and the Mire

One Sunday afternoon, just outside a small country town, an old preacher was walking with his congregation. Although he wasn't exactly a happy-looking man, he was certainly a faithful one. He had been pastoring this small-town church for decades. On this day, the church congregation planned to have a picnic after the service. When church was over, they all walked out of town, heading towards the pond in the meadow. 

As they walked together, they came across a heartbreaking sight. When they saw it, the men of the church shook their heads sadly, the women gasped, and the children began to cry. What they saw...was a giant draft horse stuck in the mud beside the pond.

The horse looked as if it had once been a magnificent animal; strong, sleek, and powerful. But by the time the congregation came across it, it was obvious that it had been stuck for a while. It's giant body may have been intimidating once, but now the weight of it only pushed it deeper into the mire. It's strength also worked against it; the harder it struggled, the more hopelessly stuck it became.

By now it was completely swallowed up in the mud, nearly up to its shoulders. It couldn't move, it couldn't turn around, and it couldn't even lay on its side. The only evidence that the creature was even alive was the occasional lifting of its still-bridled head to look around. It was truly a miserable sight to see.

The Religious Man

After a pause, the preacher tightened his lips and slowly nodded his head as if he knew what was going on. He turned to his people and addressed them in a somber voice:

"Friends, let me tell you what has happened to this poor, dumb beast. I have no doubt that it was once a proud and rebellious animal. In fact, I know the rancher that owns this valley. I remember a conversation I had with him, when he told me about the problems one of his large draft horses was causing. If this is that same animal he spoke of, it would often break through its fence and race off into the countryside. The man would often have to go chase it down across the countryside and bring it back.

"I'll tell you, the rancher must've gotten very angry with this horse. He was patient with it for a long time, but the beast finally crossed the line, and its master decided to teach it a lesson. I'm sure the rancher knew the horse well, and he probably knew that it would stop here for a drink before galloping off into the countryside. So the rancher must've dug down into the bank of the pond, and mixed in water and dirt to make the mud that you see. Once the horse stopped to drink, it got stuck - just as its master had planned. Poor, miserable animal. I hope it learns its lesson from all of this."

One of the poor farmers in the congregation raised his hand for a question. As an owner of animals himself, he just didn't think the preacher's explanation seemed right. "But pastor, look at the horse. It's suffering...it's nearly dead. The owner of the animal wouldn't want it to die in the mud, would he?"

"Yes, but I know this man. He's a very wise master." replied the preacher. "Think about it, this land here belongs to him. In his wisdom, the owner of this horse would rather have it die on his land - belonging to him - than to run off and be killed by some predator. It may seem mysterious to us, but it was a wise thing for him to do."

The crowd was silent. They still didn't think any good owner would intentionally trap his horse in the mud. But the preacher said that he knew him, and he sounded so sure in his explanation. If the horse was truly a rebellious one, then maybe it did deserve this.

The Academic

At that time, another group of people arrived in the meadow. The professor of the tiny new university was taking his students out on a field trip to study the natural world. The professor was a very intelligent man, trained by the best academics from all the finest institutions. He had traveled to this small town as a type of "cultural missionary" - intending to bring at least a little education and refinement to the backwards people who lived there.

This group of students arrived just in time to hear the preacher's explanation of the horse in the mire. In response, the professor laughed and yelled out, "Why preacher, even that poor, uneducated farmer could see the problem with your theory! What kind of owner would do this to his own animal? You say you know this 'owner' - but I'd be willing to bet that you've never met the man...that is, if he even exists at all. You just want these followers of yours to feel better about the suffering they're seeing here. You've told them lies by saying there's some bigger purpose to it all!"

"Well," said someone from the church, "then what's your explanation, sir?"

"I'll tell you - but you must listen carefully. Obviously the horse is a wild one. If there were really an owner, he wouldn't just let it suffer like this.

"Now, I know that this creature is larger and stronger than the wild horses in the area - and that it appears to be a domesticated draft horse. But that's all genetics, you see? It's simply a larger specimen of the common wild horses that roam these hills.

"There is no owner of this beast. There is no ranch that it escaped from. And there is no greater purpose behind it: neither in its life, nor in its suffering. We just happened to come across a natural creature suffering a natural fate. Now doesn't that just make more sense?"

After a moment of thought, one of the professor's young students raised his hand. "Professor, then how do you explain the bridle on the horse's head?"

With a sour look on his face, the professor replied, "Ignorant young man, you don't understand what you're talking about. I guess that's why I'm the professor and you're the student. During my studies abroad, (Have YOU ever traveled the world? No, I suppose not...) I once saw an African zebra get tangled up in a thorn bush. As it struggled, it turned its head just so, and the branches wrapped around its muzzle just like that bridle. That's what you see on this horse: not a man-made device, but simply the tangled branches of some species of vine."

There were several other students that looked as if they wanted to say something, but they were cowed by the professor's sharp response. Once again, silence spread across the meadow as both crowds went back to watching the poor animal suffer in the mud.

The Master

As the day went on, the two crowds began to mingle together to watch the scene. As they spoke with each other, many church-goers changed their mind and agreed with the academics. A few students also changed their mind when they looked at bridle. Soon a few of them found themselves agreeing with the preacher.

When evening came, the horse was no longer moving. An occasional twitch of the tail, or turning of the ear revealed that it was still alive - but it wouldn't last much longer. It was clear to everyone there that this would be the last sunset the poor creature would ever see.

Suddenly shouts were heard ringing through the meadow. The crowds turned to see a man on a horse, galloping toward the pond. He was wearing the typical hat and boots of a rancher. And following behind the man, also in full gallop, was another big draft horse, just like the one stuck in the mud. In the rancher's right hand were a set of reigns, which attached to a bridle on the big animal behind him. (Immediately, the students noticed the bridle was identical to the one on the horse in the mud.)

As the man slowed down and rode past the crowd, his eyes were ablaze in anger. "What's wrong with you people? Why would you just stand here and watch my horse suffer like this?" Then he locked onto the preacher and said, "Friend, didn't you know that was my horse, the very one I told you about? How could you just stand by and watch this?" The preacher dropped his head, ashamed and with no good response.

Immediately, the rancher rode up to the mud and dismounted. Without a second thought, he took a rope from his saddlebag and tied one end to the draft horse that arrived with him. And then he belly-crawled through the mud to the horse. He made a make-shift halter from the other end of the rope and tied it to the trapped animal - which only watched him, un-moving, as he worked. Once the rope was secure, he gave a sharp command, and the second horse slowly began to pull backward.

As the second horse pulled back, the rancher stayed in the mud and started speaking encouragingly to the nearly lifeless horse: "Come on boy! You can do it! Get up, get up! Come on!" The tension of the rope, combined with the rousing words from the man, seemed to give the creature hope. It stirred and began fighting again...this time with help from the rope. A lengthy struggle followed, but the horse began making progress toward the edge of the mud pit.

After hours of work, the rancher and the horse both lay on the dry ground beside the mud. Both of them were filthy and both of them were exhausted and panting. The crowd cheered, but still seemed to be too ashamed to come near. At sunset, the rancher finally got to his feet, knelt beside the horse and began to calm and soothe it. He and his other horses helped it to its feet. And then, without stopping to acknowledge the small group of people that remained, the rancher mounted the smaller horse, and led the other two back to his ranch.

Can you interpret this story?
We're the rebellious horse, breaking God's law and doing things our own way.
The mud and mire is the suffering, sickness, pain and poverty that is caused by our sin.
Religion still tries to teach us that suffering is God's punishment for our sin.
The world still tries to tell us that no good God would allow His creation to suffer in this way.
But God is like that rancher, reaching down into that suffering to save us. Jesus endured that suffering for us - to save us out of it.