The Necessity of the Manger
8 minutes to read
Every year, to have the “best time of the year,” exorbitant amounts are spent during the season of Christmas. It is perhaps one of the most grandest festivals in the world. However, amidst the glory of external riches, many in the world would have missed the “reason for the season” — the birth of Christ, when God Himself stepped into the world by taking on flesh to save sinners.
The irony is that when that happened two thousand years ago there was no pomp and grandeur, no lights or decorations. The Saviour of the world was born in obscurity, in an insignificant town, in the most unfavourable circumstances, with a manger as His cradle.
The narrative in the gospel of Luke mentions, “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” (Lk 2:1-7)
God had perfectly ordained circumstances in such a way that the Saviour would come exactly in the manner in which He had revealed through the prophets beforehand.
The Manger was Ordained
It was no accident or “logistical glitch” in God’s design and purpose that there was no place found in the whole town of Bethlehem to welcome the newborn. God had perfectly ordained circumstances in such a way that the Saviour would come exactly in the manner in which He had revealed through the prophets beforehand. God moved the world to have His Messiah be born in Bethlehem as prophesied in Micah 5:2. Through the registration decreed by Caesar Augustus during the time of Governor Quirinius, Joseph had to go to Bethlehem and, thus, Jesus was born there.
Could the same God also not ordain a more cozy place for Christ to be born, if that was also in His purpose? But it wasn’t God’s purpose and so He ordained that there be no room for our Saviour except a manger to hold Him. And this was necessary for at least two reasons.
The Manger Reveals the Humanity of Christ
The manger firstly shows us that Jesus was completely human. The Son of Man, God incarnate, was truly God and truly man. He was born as a baby, unable to walk, unable to even straighten His neck and hold His head up, and had to be laid down in a manger when no room was found for Him. He, like all babies, was prone to hypothermia, and so had to be kept warm with swaddling clothes.
Jesus had to be made human like His brothers in every respect because it was humans He was saving (Heb 2:16-17). He could not be incarnate as a superhuman unacquainted with human weakness. But in order to be a fitting substitute for the redemption of mankind He had to be born in the likeness of sinful flesh (Rom 8:3). It was just and fitting in God’s eyes that Jesus should have a true human nature, having a true human body, in which He would truly live out a life of human obedience. This is to earn and offer up a righteousness to God as the substitute for those He saves (Heb 10:5, Heb 5:7-8, Rom 5:19).
Moreover, this true human nature and flesh that our Saviour put on would be the fitting receptacle on the cross for the scourges of God’s wrath and punishment that humans deserved for their sins. Justice would be satisfied in the courtrooms of God in saving sinners (Heb 2:17, Rom 8:3). Thus, the manger shows that no other way would have been just in God’s eyes in saving sinners except that our Saviour be made truly human. He was fully God and fully human, our perfect and appropriate Saviour.
The Manger Reveals the Humility of the Saviour
But the manger equally displays that greatest act of humility for all eternity. It was the first step taken in what is called the humiliation of the Son of God. The Son of God who is enthroned in all glories in the bosom of the Father and in the praises of myriads of angels, humbled Himself to be born as a man. But He did not choose to be born in an affluent family, in a palace with great luxuries and servants at His call. Instead, He was born silently and humbly, in a carpenter’s family, in the poverty of a shabby manger. In order to save those whom He loves, He did not despise the virgin’s womb and the unclean manger. For certainly, Christ came not to be served, not to be carried in a sedan, paraded and hailed throughout the world. But He came to be a servant and give His life as a ransom for us (Mt 20:28). Though He was the King of kings, He set aside a prince’s portion, not displaying a majesty that would make people desire Him throughout His life (Is 53:2). Though He was in the form of God, He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men (Phil 2:6-7). Although He never ceased to be God, He did not take advantage of it, but veiled His affluent divinity with His poor humanity. The Son of Man had no place to lay his head throughout His life (Lk 9:58), except a manger, when He was born.
The humiliation of the Son of God was the only way possible for us to be saved.
The humility of Christ in His nativity gives us a glimpse into the nature of God. Our God, who opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (Jas 4:6), also humbles Himself to behold the things in heaven and in the earth even though He is seated on high (Ps 113:5-6). God condescended to us in the incarnation, putting on humanity and being born in poverty, to help us humans. And Christ as a man displayed the perfect example of humility and meekness for us.
Christ did it not only as our model but also to earn righteousness for us as our substitute. Born in a manger, working as a carpenter, being despised by men, and finally suffering in the hands of men, Christ lived His life in the most unfavourable circumstances. He was acquainted with grief but not a word of complaint was found in His mouth. One may obey God in abundance and prosperity but Christ obeyed God and submitted to Him in His hardships.
In the background of His hardships and suffering, His obedience and righteousness shone like the moon in the night sky. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered, and He was made perfect. It was not that He was imperfect, but suffering and hardships served to display His obedience as tested and tried (Heb 5:8-9) And being deprived of a soft linen bed and being placed in the manger was perhaps His first suffering on earth.
The Beds of Christ: The Manger to the Tomb
The manger was Christ’s first step down the ladder of His humiliation. He laid His head in the manger at birth, but He laid His head on the cross in His death. Being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil 2:8). Christ went down to the uttermost depths of humiliation when He bore our sins on the cross, suffered our just punishment and died. And after His death, He again had nowhere to lay His head but was buried in a grave offered by a rich man. And this last step of His humiliation gave way to His exaltation. Scripture continues, “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,” (Phil 2:9-10).
Our Response to the Manger
Christ’s humility displayed in the manger must pierce our hearts and make us realise the depths to which our Lord condescended to love and save us. The humiliation of the Son of God was the only way possible for us to be saved. It was the only hope for our salvation, and God did not withhold and spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all. It must make us get down from our own thrones of pride and self righteousness, in humility and repentance, and trust Him as our Lord and Saviour. We ought to love Him because He loved us first. Even as we survey the wondrous crib, on which the Prince of glory was born, we ought to count our richest gain a loss and pour contempt on all our pride.
