Good Monday to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
If you had the chance to sit down with Joseph and Mary from the Christmas story, I wonder what questions you’d like to ask them? This year on our journey to Christmas 2024 we’re considering one Christmas question each day, and today let’s ask “WHY the MANGER”?
Yesterday we considered the question “WHY Bethlehem”, and of course you’ll remember Mary was very pregnant when she and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem to register for the census which Caesar Augustus had demanded of everyone in the Roman Empire! Bethlehem at the time was a small village of perhaps a few hundred people. It was about 6 miles south of Jerusalem and thus a normal stopping point for travelers heading into Jerusalem from the south of Israel, thus it likely had at least one home which had some extra rooms for travelers.
They would have called it an ‘inn’. We should presume Bethlehem was receiving thousands of people for census registration. We should also presume the census process was very inefficient in little Bethlehem, thus people likely waited many days for their opportunity to register. Can you envision an overcrowded village with thousands of frustrated people, none of whom want to pay this additional tax? The simple, humble infrastructure of little Bethlehem was overwhelmed with all these grumbling people, none of whom wanted to be there, at least not for a census and new tax.
It appears Joseph and Mary had no relatives in or near Bethlehem with whom they could stay those nights; thus, their only option was sleeping out under the stars in a field or finding a room which might be available to them. By the time Joseph and Mary arrived that day, the few rooms that little inn had were full to overflowing. Have you ever found yourself in that unfortunate dilemma of needing a place for the night in a place you’ve never been before and there are no rooms available?
The Biblical account of the birth of Jesus simply puts it this way: “While they (Joseph & Mary) were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger because there was no room in the inn.” (Luke 2:6,7)
A manger was a feeding trough for animals, found in those days where animals would be gathered for overnight or prolonged stays. Mangers would have been found in holding pens with animals waiting to be sold or adjacent to an inn so the travelers could keep their animals safe, fed and watered while they stayed in the inn overnight.
Sometimes mangers were made of wood like you’ve seen in Nativity scenes, but very often they were actually chiseled out niches in caves. Or sometimes mangers were chiseled out of a large rock thus immovable and sturdy. Into the manger the shepherds would place the food or water for their animals.
It appears Joseph was doing the best he could to provide something for Mary and her newborn baby. We presume Joseph filled the manger with straw or hay so when Mary laid her newborn son wrapped in cloths there in that manger, it would have been at least better than laying him on the open ground.
Perhaps you remember the Christmas story tells us angels appeared in the night sky over the fields outside Bethlehem that night. Shepherds of course led their flocks of sheep across the countryside to where they could find good pasture and water and on that night some shepherds were in those Bethlehem fields.
Luke describes it this way: “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the LORD appeared to them, and the glory of the LORD shown around them and they were terrified. But the angel said ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you, He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find the baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger...” (Luke 2:8-12)
Now pause a few seconds and ponder this. God, the Creator of the Universe, was planning a visit to planet earth and of course God had absolutely no restrictions regarding how elaborate or spectacular He might design His grand arrival. If you imagine the most spectacular fireworks display, you’ve ever seen, that is nothing compared to what God might have done for the birth of Jesus… if He had wanted a spectacle announcing the arrival of God on planet earth.
But a manger sends a very powerful, humble message, doesn’t it? No parade with marching bands, no fireworks display, no great crowd of world dignitaries, no media, no military. A quiet stable filled with animals and feeding trough, a manger for His first bed on earth. What’s the message God was sending to our human race?
Do you remember Jesus once dealt with the matter of significance by saying this: “You know the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many.” (Matt. 20:25-28)
Perhaps you also remember the apostle Paul gives us this remarkable description of the arrival of Jesus Christ: “Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness…” (Phil. 2:6,7) Jesus, God the Son, left the magnificent, holy, supreme glory which was HIS in heaven to take on human flesh and live among us in the mess we humans have made of this glorious creation of God, planet earth and humanity.
Easily God could have planned a grand entrance which would have overwhelmed our senses. But instead, God’s arrival, His incarnation into our human race, was, by His design quietly, with no awareness of any person other than Mary and Joseph, in an animal stable, in a small village in Israel. The manger has become the universal symbol of that magnificent, miraculous, humble arrival of Jesus!
The manger was also the only way the first humans would know how to find God in the flesh, Immanuel, Jesus. The angelic announcement about the manger and Bethlehem was the GPS of their day. These shepherds knew all about mangers and so they knew right where to look for the newborn baby.
And one last thought… remember I told you mangers were for feeding and watering the precious animals of shepherds and travelers? Jesus said once “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty…For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” (John 6:35,33)
The first visible evidence of Immanuel was laying in a manger bringing to humanity what we desperately need to live both now and for eternity, but we cannot attain without God’s provision…Jesus! And so, I urge us to spend some time at the manger today, understanding WHY God arranged for a Manger for His first night spent on planet earth! Here’s a song to help us reflect on this, my friends.
Today’s Scripture: Luke 2:1-6.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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