Born in a Manger

Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday! I love everything about Christmas…the story of Christmas, giving, Christmas music, Christmas movies, Christmas parades, Christmas events, the glow of the Christmas lights…and my list could go on! I love how my sons’ faces light up on Christmas morning, I love how they share the real reason of Christmas with anyone who will listen, how giving their hearts are, how excited they get when we read our Advent book, and how animated & loudly they sing Happy Birthday to Jesus!

But Christmas is not only about the story of the birth of Jesus, but also a story of faith, love, and grace.

Although, it might have been hard for some people to believe that the Messiah would be born as a human baby to a virgin girl and would be born in a manger umongst the animals….many still trusted God and His Word, and anxiously awaited our Savior’s birth.

A virgin named Mary was visited by the angel, Gabriel, and was told..

“Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!” Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.” The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. For the word of God will never fail. ” Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.
{Luke 1:30‭-‬38}

Mary praised God & had great faith that God would bless her with a son, who would be the Messiah, the Lord. And Mary’s fiance, Joseph, also trusted God and His promise to him..even though he did not have sexual relations with Mary to conceive this special child, Joseph still had faith in God’s promise!

This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.
{Matthew 1:18‭-‬25}

And many others, such as shephards & wise men, had faith that their savior would be born and headed out on their long journeys to find & praise him where he was born in Bethlehem beneath the big, bright star. Even the evil, King Herod, believed that the Messiah would be born and plotted to have the baby Messiah killed after he was born.

Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!” After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.
{Matthew 2:7‭-‬12}

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger.
{Luke 2:8‭-‬16}

Yes, the Messiah would be born as a baby, and would not miraculously appear as a mighty man or entity and without fireworks or a big, grand entrance, but with only a star that rested above the stable where Mary gave birth to the Lord, Jesus! Our Savior would be born as a weak and frail human baby boy born in less than to be desired conditions, and would live a fully human life.

Why would God do this?

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.{John 3:16‭-‬17}

God wanted His son to live a human, but sinless life with temptations and pain, just as any other human, and he would heal, love deeply, share the Gospel, and would ultimately rescue the world from their sins.

Many scriptures prove that the story of the birth of Jesus was not only about Jesus’s birth, but also about faith, love, and grace. This special little baby boy that was born in a stable and was laying in a manger was the beginning of God’s great love & grace, just as God had promised!

For the Scriptures clearly state that the Messiah will be born of the royal line of David, in Bethlehem, the village where King David was born.”
{John 7:42}

In all of the chaos and busyness of this Christmas, take the time to BE STILL and remember the story of the birth of Jesus and God’s will for His children. Praise God for the gift of our Savior, Jesus Christ!

“Be still and know that I am God.” {Psalms 46:10}

May your Christmas be filled with love, blessings, and gratitude!