The Birth of Jesus Christ In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
The Savior Born a Stable?
Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up. A stable? A manger? A feeding trough? Animals?
Put me in charge, and it would have been entirely different. Mary and Joseph would have had a penthouse room at the Hilton. They would have had complimentary room service, an on-call doctor, and a nurse who stayed with them around the clock. Think about it. He was the Savior.
Somebody’s got to cut the cord! Boiling water and lots of towels. You know the routine. I would have had the best neonatal people around if something didn’t go as planned. No stone would be unturned. It would have been perfect and certainly would not have been in a stable area.
After thinking about it…it was perfect.
Who would have thought that the Savior of the world would be born in a stable explicitly built for animals? There was no cradle. There was no bed. There was no real protection from the weather except perhaps a roof. No doctor. No nurse. No midwife. Mary never had a baby before, and as far as we know, Joseph never delivered a baby.
But it was perfect.
The Savior Laid in a Manger
What is imperfect for us is often perfect for God. God determined that a manger was the perfect place for Jesus to be born. Although it smelled of hay and unclean animals, God decided Mary would use it as a birthing room for the Savior of the world.
Away in a Manger is a favorite Christmas Eve song. In churches across the world, this familiar song will be sung in just a few days. It is a simple song with simple words but still describes the unassuming nature of Jesus’ birthplace.
Jesus was born in a manger with no crib and just hay.
The first verse of “Away in a Manger” says it best.
Away in a manger, no crib for His bed,
The little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head.
The stars in the sky looked down where He lay.
The little Lord Jesus, asleep on the hay.
The Savior Born as Our Lord
I also love the fact that Jesus is referred to as Lord. You know, sometimes we sing songs without considering the words.
The tune is familiar, and we memorize the words. We sing it and don’t even think about it. But the author had it right. This baby Jesus was Lord. He was Lord, is Lord, and always will be Lord.
The real question is whether we will recognize that and live like we believe it. Regardless of whether you acknowledge Jesus as Lord, He is still Lord. He was Lord as a baby, and He is Lord as the risen Savior who sits at the right hand of God the Father.
Who is your Lord?