Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
This is one of the oldest depictions of the Nativity and it is currently on view at the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens, Greece. It shows the swaddled baby Jesus, lying in a manger, attended to by an ox and a donkey.
Jesus is born - Circa 400 AD - Marble relief - Greece
Curious, I did a little research about what the word “manger” meant at the time of Jesus’ birth. For those of you interested in more of the story - here’s what I found. I can’t verify it - but it makes sense to me.
“Nowhere in the Gospel is it said that Jesus was born in a stable or a barn. Luke only says that He was placed in a manger and that there was no room in the inn.
When people hear manger, they immediately think of a barn, but many houses of the time were equipped with mangers inside of the house. Permanent stone mangers have been found by archaeologists inside of 1st-century dwellings for the purpose of feeding animals.
The New Testament specifically mentions a manger three different times in telling the story of Jesus’ birth. It even served as a sign from heaven. But that manger in Bethlehem was likely not the wooden feed box we have come to imagine. It was not used for hay. And it was probably not made of poles or planks, lashed together with cords, as so often portrayed in Christmas art. The temporary cradle in which the newborn Jesus was laid was more likely a manger cut from stone.
The Gospel of Luke, which records events of Jesus’ birth at Bethlehem, never once mentions a stable, or cattle, or even any hay or straw. But Luke did mention, three separate times, that manger in which the newborn baby Jesus was laid.
The first reference was a simple statement in Luke 2:7 about Mary and her newborn child.
She brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in blankets, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
The next reference occurs five verses later, in Luke 2:12, as a clue for shepherds who would come looking for the child.
And this shall be a sign unto you: You shall find the baby wrapped in blankets, lying in a manger.
Four verses further on, in Luke 2:16, those shepherds arrived at Bethlehem to conduct their midnight search.
And they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger.
It was common for homes of Jesus’ time to have guest rooms or an upper spare room, and as there was a census going on at the time, it seems reasonable that many family members had traveled to the area, which explains why there was no room for the Holy Family. It is likely that Mary and Joseph were in the stable area of the house, as the other rooms were already occupied.
The manger was probably a water trough carved from stone. In the ancient Land of Israel, animal troughs were not made of wooden planks or poles lashed together. Limestone was much more plentiful in ancient Israel than lumber - as it also is today in modern Israel. Everything that could be made of that limestone was made of it. Buildings, from the private house to the king’s palace, were built of the white stone.
Most furniture was fashioned, in whole or part, of such stone. And as far as archaeological research has been able to determine, animal troughs were almost exclusively carved out of Israel’s abundant white limestone.
They were usually block-like in shape, standing between twelve and thirty inches high. The shallow basin in the top of the trough was only about six to eight inches deep, generally carved as a neat rectangular depression with a flat or slightly concave bottom. These troughs were used for watering animals.
The manger in which Jesus was laid, and which served as a sign for the shepherds to find him, was almost surely such a trough for water. This is because in ancient Israel there was no need for a feed box filled with hay. Domestic animals were able to feed on the plentiful grass that grew in the rocky hills of Judea. Grass was available all year long.”
“She will give birth to a Son; and you shall name Him Jesus, for He will save his people from their sins.”
-Matthew 1:21
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
-John 3:16
As one of my favorite pastors said:
The mission of the incarnation was not just for one nation, it was for ALL nations - for God so loved the WORLD.
The mission of the incarnation was not for condemnation, but salvation. God didn’t send his son into the world to condemn it - but to save it. He came to rescue us and save us from our sins. We’re trapped in our sin, unable to save ourselves and in desperate need of rescue. The incarnation was a rescue mission.
That’s the beautiful truth of Christmas. When God saw us in our sins, he didn’t turn away. Instead, he sent his son to rescue us.
And that, my friends, is the really GOOD NEWS of Christmas! I love you all!
