Luke 2:6-7. 6And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.
In my house we have over 50 nativities. You might have one in your home too. A nativity is that little scene with Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus surrounded by shepherds, wise men, and of course, animals. Usually a donkey is there, and sheep with the shepherds, a cow, and maybe a camel for the wise men too.
But did you know that the Bible doesn’t mention any animals at Jesus’ birth? So why do we think all these animals were there when Jesus was born? Because of the manger. What is a manger? A manger was a box or trough used for feeding animals. The manger would normally be full of hay for the family cow, donkey, or goats to eat.
Where was this manger? Many of my nativity sets include a building called a crèche. The idea is that Jesus was born in some sort of a barn. But most likely, Jesus was born in a house. Joseph and Mary certainly stayed with his relatives in Bethlehem, anything less would be considered very bad. But the house was likely very crowded. Luke 2:7 literally says that “there was no space for them in the room.” So where did Joseph and Mary sleep? With the animals in their room – yes, the animals also lived in the house with the people. How do we know that Joseph and Mary stayed in the room with the animals? Because there was a manger in their room.
OK, so now we know why there are animals in our nativity sets, but why would God let Jesus be born in the same room as the animals?
We don’t know exactly why God wanted his only begotten son to be born in a manger. But I think it was to show us two important truths about Jesus.
First, Jesus is the creator of everything. He’s the creator of all the animals on Earth including the animals in that Bethlehem house. It would make sense that ALL of creation would surround their Creator and worship him at Christmas. Cows and people. Sheep and shepherds. The donkey and Mary. And soon, the camels and the wise men.
Second, Jesus shows us that he is willing to come down to our level. From Creator to creation. From God to man. From eternal to born as a baby. Jesus is the only god to ever do that, and he’s definitely the only god who ever chose to die for his creation. No other god loves us that much.
Questions: Have you gotten presents yet today? How do gifts show us that we are loved? How does the gift of Jesus show us how much God loves us?
TLICfamily 