The Beauty of the Manger

Christmas Eve is when the reality of Christ’s birth hits me. I picture the scene, the dimness of a lamp in the darkness of the animal’s shelter. I picture the exhaustion in Mary’s face, and perhaps a bit of relief in Joseph’s as the tiny swaddled bundle lies peacefully sleeping in a feeding trough full of hay.

Though we like to romanticize the scene, there was not much of beauty in it for the casual observer. A wrinkled infant wrapped in rough cloths born in a dirty stable wouldn’t have struck the people of the time as particularly beautiful or significant.

And yet, the scene is beautiful. Its beauty flows from the heart and sacrifice of the baby lying in the manger.

Philippians 2:5-8 gives us just a glimpse of the heart behind Christ’s incarnation:

“Let this mind be also in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

Even as a newborn, Jesus had already humbled Himself by leaving the perfection of heaven and choosing to spend nine months growing as any human child inside Mary’s womb, the Creator of all choosing to dwell within one of His creations.

And then there was the humility of His birth, not in the grandest palace as was His due as King of Kings, but in a stable.

Over Christ’s birth looms the shadow of the cross, and Christ’s humility in so patiently enduring a life of persecution followed by a shameful execution –and all for the sake of the human race, whom He so dearly loves.

The beauty of the manger scene is rooted in humility and sacrifice, but for those of us who know the end of the story, the beauty of that first Christmas is also that of victory: of promises kept and promises yet to be fulfilled.

The same Jesus who humbled Himself unto the death of the cross also rose in victory from the dead, breaking the power of death and defeating Satan once and for all, just as God had promised from Genesis on through the Old Testament.

The promises kept in His first coming remind us that He will be just as faithful to fulfill all the promises of His second, including the glories of heaven which await all who accept the gift of forgiveness He so freely offers.

So as you celebrate Christmas, look at the manger scene with new eyes. Gaze upon the beauty of humility, sacrifice, and victory, letting the promises of Christmas fill your heart with hope as they remind you of the promises yet to come to pass.

Above all, spend this Christmas “Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith; Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2