Christmas is over and preparations for the New Year have
begun. I determined this year to enjoy
Christmas, so I have been a bit more contemplative regarding Christmas,
regardless of my desire to move into the New Year. I would be remiss to ignore the
significance of not only enjoying Christmas, but in keeping Christmas all year.
One iconic symbol of Christmas has resonated with me this year—the manger. There is more to this feeding trough than a
makeshift cradle. What is the significance of the manger? Why a manger?
It was a cold, dark night in Bethlehem. Four-hundred years
of brass heavens created a desperation for a Word from God…just one Word.
The silence from God’s Throne was deafening. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, and gave not only a word, but The Word
the world so desperately needed.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I
bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you
is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And
this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling
clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude
of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and
on earth peace, good will toward men (Luke 2: 10-14 KJV).
Easton Bible Dictionary defines Manger
(Luke 2:7, 12, 16): “The name (Gr. phatne, rendered
“stall” in Luke 13:15) given to the place where the infant Redeemer was
laid. It seems to have been a stall or crib for feeding cattle. Stables and
mangers in our modern sense were in ancient times unknown in the East. The word
here properly denotes “the ledge or projection in the end of the room used as a
stall on which the hay or other food of the animals of travelers was placed.”
The Lord included the manger as a sign so the shepherds
would know when they arrived, that they found the child of which God spoke.
This intrigues me. Why did God give the manger as a sign concerning the holy
Child? Why did the Lord include the
manger in this narrative?
He was laid in a manger to show that he was available to
all; born in a palace only a few could access Him. He came for all mankind. He
had to become a man to redeem man.
“He was laid in a manger to mark His identification with
human suffering and wretchedness. The One born was “The Son of Man.” He had
left the heights of Heaven’s glory and had descended to our level, and here we
behold Him entering the human condition at its lowest point. Thus did the Man
of Sorrows identify Himself with human suffering.” (A.W. Pink, Why Four
Gospels?)
I love the book of Isaiah; it is full of prophetic passages
concerning the Messiah. Jesus is the Man of Sorrows in chapter 53; God’s Suffering
Servant.
Servanthood is what resonates with me when I contemplate the
manger. Jesus came to serve mankind.
Imagine, the Creator of the Universe left the glory of heaven, and came to
earth to serve His creation; His ungrateful, fallen, sinful, rebellious
creation. We have lost all rights to be anything other than humble.
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. Mark 10:45
The church needs to return to serving. Not just serving inside
the four walls of the church, but serving mankind. Serving for us creatures does
not always come easily. We are pulled in many directions by people who need us.
We are needed by our spouses, our children, and friends. The thought of serving
more is daunting—whom else do I need to give myself to? We become drained and
weary of always helping others. It is easy to tire of helping everyone else, having
little time for ourselves; righteous indignation is tempting. Serving is not
only helping our own and others, but that we keep the right attitude and do
all things to the glory of God. Serving becomes wearisome when our
attitudes have turned sour; serving becomes a burden. We need a paradigm shift.
We need our hearts to be renewed by Him, and to hold His posture for serving.
He came to serve mankind, and we thanked Him by scourging, beating, and nailing
Him to tree, yet it did not sway Him from His purpose. Make it a priority to
pray every day and ask whom He needs you to serve, and like Christ take on the
nature of a servant; a humble servant.
Have this
attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name
(Philippians 2:5-9 NASB).
Christ came to serve mankind and to be all that we need. He
is all we need. His humble arrival in a stable made Him accessible to all
man-kind; to serve the broken, the discouraged, the discontented:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he
hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the
brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised (Luke 4:18 KJV).
I love this prose of who Christ is to man-kind. He is the
Great I AM; all we need He already is…
To the artist he is the One altogether lovely (Song of
Sol. 5:16); To the architect he is the chief Cornerstone (1 Pet. 2:6); To the
astronomer he is the Sun of righteousness (Mal. 4:2); To the baker he is the
Bread of life (Jn. 6:35); To the banker he is the hidden treasure (Mt. 13:44); To
the builder he is the sure foundation (Isa. 28:16); To the carpenter he is the
door (Jn. 10:7); To the doctor he is the great Physician (Jer. 8:22); To the
educator he is the new and living way (Heb. 10:20); To the farmer he is the
sower and the Lord of harvest (Lk. 10:2). (Wilmington’s Guide to the Bible).
Let’s purpose to remember the manger all year, not just at
Christmas. The mystery of the manger—that Christ came as a humble servant, and
would suffer to reconcile humanity to the Father. We do not have the sins of
the world on our shoulder as Christ did, but we need to take on the attitude of
Christ and pray for a servant’s heart. The hurting, and broken, and lost are
waiting for us. Many are looking to us for help, and we need to answer their
cries.
For the
anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of
God. Rom. 8:19
Remember, Jesus came as a humble servant and will
return soon as the King of Kings; His reward is with Him. Let Him find us
faithful.
My Scribbling....
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