The long-awaited child in the makeshift nursery

“What do people know about Jesus’ birth? The manger–the Christmas crib. The most famous animal feeding-trough in all history…. Why has Luke mentioned [the manger] three times in this story? Because the feeding-trough, appropriately enough, was the sign to the shepherds. It told them which baby they were looking for….it was the shepherds who were told who this child was. This child is the saviour, the Messiah, the Lord. The manger isn’t important in itself. It’s a signpost, a pointing finger, to the identity and task of the baby boy who’s lying in it.”*

• More about the manger’s meaning (also be sure to read today’s Insights blog below): “Jesus… will be wrapped snugly, as any baby might, but lying in a manger, an unexpectedly low-status spot. As Mary predicted, God is ignoring rulers (Luke 2:1-2) and taking account of the lowly (Luke 1:52).”** And “Jesus comes into the world not in a palace or a temple in Jerusalem or Rome but rather is born in an animal shelter in humble Bethlehem. Jesus has no elaborate crib or carriage but is laid in a manger (a feeding trough)…. God desires to bring “wonderful, joyous news for all people” (2:10) to unlikely places through unlikely people.”*** How is it an advantage for people to view a church like Resurrection as respected and respectable? How can it tempt us to forget that we are unlikely people called to share the news of an unlikely savior to other unlikely people?

The Journey: A Season of Reflections

Today’s Insights blog was chapter 25, “The Meaning of the Manger,” from The Journey: A Season of Reflections, by Adam Hamilton. Copyright © 2011 by Abingdon Press, and available on our website for 24 hours by permission of Abingdon Press. If you’d like to buy the entire book of reflections, you can click here for a direct link to the Cokesbury sale page, as well as other Journey resources.