No one expected to find the King of Kings asleep in a manger.
The Old Testament prophets Isaiah, Micah, and Malachi all foretold that a Savior would come who would heal and restore Israel. Yet century after century passed as the Jewish nation waited in darkness for the prophets’ promised Savior-King. Worse yet, the noose of foreign governments tightened around their necks until they felt the iron grip of the Roman Empire, beginning in 63 B.C.
Desperation painted a fictitious picture of what the Messiah would come to do. Jews of the New Testament era believed Messiah would arrive in authority and power. He would rule forever—emphasis on rule. They gave little thought to the forever part; their focus was on escaping the tyranny of the Roman Empire right then, right now.
Not how a king should come
But Jesus did not come in splendor and power as the Jewish people expected. His mission was not to rescue the people from a foreign enemy; instead He came to rescue all nations from the tyranny of sin. So He entered the world as a baby born to an obscure couple traveling to Bethlehem to fulfill Rome’s arrogant desire to know how many people they controlled in tiny Palestine through a census. The baby’s first night was spent in an animal feeding trough.
Oh my friends. Pause to think about that. The Son of God—the One who created the universe—lay as a helpless baby in the straw and hay He Himself had formed. He slept in that manger, reliant on humans for everything from food to shelter to safety. His earliest and greatest fan club was a cluster of noisy shepherds. Foreign philosophers called Magi appreciated his earthly entry more than the Jewish scholars who should have known better. His tiny life was threatened by the sociopath puppet King Herod, causing Jesus’ parents to flee with the baby to a foreign country.
Why?
I’ve wondered so many times why Jesus came first as a baby—a helpless, dependent baby. I understand the need for the Son of God to take on flesh. Only a perfect life could serve as the sacrifice needed to atone for the world’s sinfulness. But you can’t kill God. Jesus had to become human and live a human life so He could lay down that life. So why not just appear as a man and skip the helpless dependent baby stage? Jesus had to show He was fully human. If He had merely appeared as a full-grown adult, theologians would have doubted his humanity for centuries.
Why a Manger?
Then why didn’t God place Jesus in a privileged and powerful family that would position him for fame? Think that through. If Jesus had been born to the rich and powerful, his road to the cross would have been quite different, even more difficult and unbelievable. Jesus needed to show from the beginning of His life that He came to give himself fully in every way. He needed to demonstrate the very essence of sacrificial love. That didn’t start at Calvary. It started in Bethlehem.
Jesus is not like a multi-billionaire who has no idea what it is like to wonder about the source of our next meal. Throughout His life, He experienced weakness, limits, dependency, obscurity, and injustice. The full extent of His love is poured out in His willingness to become like us in every way. He wants you to know that He understands what your life is like. (I wrote more about this in my Encouragement for Today devotion, “Jesus Knows What You Need.”
Philippians 2:5-8 says,
“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 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.And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
Jesus wasn’t born randomly to a poor family who didn’t have anywhere else to put their sleeping baby. He chose to be in that manger so He could show you the full extent of His love for you. When He emptied himself of His divine superiority, he went all the way, as low as He could go. He expressed that utter humility by His willingness to be born as a baby and placed in a manger. And then He went one step further, suffering the most demeaning, painful death mankind knew how to inflict—death on a cross.
Jesus’ humility from birth to death shows that He was willing to do whatever it took to release you from the death grip of sin. He loved you that much.
What part of the Christmas story is touching your heart this year? Tell us about it in the comments below.
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