Christmas Eve 2024
We picture a tiny infant resting calmly in a clean, cozy, wooden crib while Mary, Joseph, a few angels, some sharply dressed wise men, and some spotless animals look on.
What we sometimes fail to consider in this beautiful nativity scene is the dirt, the noises, the stench of animal droppings, and the utter humiliation undoubtedly felt by Jesus’ parents at this most humble of beginnings for their son.
That’s what we’re going to talk about this Christmas. The true meaning of baby Jesus in a manger.
In case you haven’t been with us this December, we’ve been doing a sermon series called “Miracle in a Manger,” looking at the rather shocking ways that Christ chose to become a human. Not just that he did, but how.
Being born in a human body, for one thing. But also choosing to be born to low-class peasants, and also coming into a nation dominated by the Roman Empire.
The humility - you might even call it the humiliation - of Christ’s birth is astounding to consider.
So, let's zoom all the way in to baby Jesus lying in a manger and let the reality of this familiar scene draw us into utter astonishment.
THE REALITY OF A MANGER
We’re going to be reading from Luke 2
Luke 2:1-7
At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child. And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She 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.
Ok, we’ve got to start by setting the scene. And to be honest, it may not be exactly the scene you’re imagining. We’ve got to talk for a moment about the world behind the text.
Christian tradition for a long time has pictured Jesus being born in either a cave or a barn. That’s what we were just describing with the whole nativity scene. And usually, we picture his parents being completely alone when he was born.
But that’s actually not what the text tells us. Look at verse 7. Traditionally, this verse says, “there was no room for them in the inn.”
And so immediately we picture a medieval tavern, people are clinking their beer steins, and it’s totally packed. And of course it’s packed, because Christmas is the worst time to travel.
But in the Greek, what Luke really says is that there was no room for them in the katalyma. katalyma - guest room, lodging
Which can mean inn, but usually just means a guest room in someone’s home. And scholars today think that is much more likely what Luke had in mind. A guest room.
Now, that may seem like a bit of a surprise, because we’re used to our nativity scenes. But think about it.
This is the famously hospitable Middle East. If Joseph is returning to the town of his extended family, it would have been filled with cousins and aunties and uncles. They aren’t going to let a pregnant woman give birth in a cave.
But the guest room is already packed with family in town for the census, so they try to make Mary and Joseph comfortable in the front or main room of the house, where the family ties up their animals at night.
Here, I drew a diagram to help you imagine this.
In ancient Judea, and even still today in rural Palestine, houses were built like this, with a main room, a guest room (katalyma), and sometimes an upper room.
In the entryway, the family would bring in their sheep, donkeys, etc. to keep them safe and out of the elements at night. Which makes sense. Animals are expensive, they’re your transportation…
Since the animals were inside the house, about 4 feet below the main floor, families would often carve a manger - a feeding trough - out of the stone foundation. That’s where they’d put the hay or the fodder for the animals. And this is likely the type of manger that Jesus was placed in.
Now, I know this is way different than what we’re used to imagining. But here’s why I’m telling you all of this. Because Jesus was still born among animals and hay and the smell - the most humble of possible beginnings for the savior of our world.
It is staggering to imagine the creator of the universe lying in an animal's food trough. The Son of God completely helpless and dependent on his mother to survive? No matter how you slice it, that’s a shocking truth to consider.
But what I think makes this all the more astounding and meaningful is that Jesus was also born surrounded by his extended family - Judean peasants for whom the smell and the dirt and the animals in their living room were a part of everyday life.
In other words, these people were the poorest of the poor. The lowest of the low. Living in a tiny backwater village in the middle of nowhere.
As far as the world was concerned, Jesus was born in the midst of nobodies.
SHOCKING HUMILITY
So, the scene is set. The king of the world has been born. Let’s keep reading, because now the aristocracy of his kingdom is about to be summoned to pay homage.
Luke 2:8-15
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.”
You’ve probably heard this story dozens of times before. And if you’re like me your mental image of these shepherds, based on countless nativity scenes, is of young men with spotless white tunics with a lamb over their shoulders.
But may I remind you that shepherds in that day were low class, even to low class peasants. They spent weeks at a time living rough, sleeping on the ground, walking through sheep droppings and covered in dust and grime.
These guys were nobodies to the nobodies, and yet this is who the angels appear to. It’s not an accident. And this is where things get really cool.
Just for a moment let’s imagine you are one of those shepherds and think about what just happened. You’re rough, you’re dirty, you’re poor. If the angels had summoned you to see the newborn king of Israel in a castle or a palace, how would that make you feel?
You’d be humiliated. You wouldn’t want to go.
But the front room of a peasant’s house where the manger is? Among the animals and dropping and hay? There you would feel perfectly at home, right? That’s a place where you would feel no shame.
Which is exactly why they leave right away.
Luke 2:16-20
They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.
The king is born. The king we've been waiting for. He comes to us not in a palace, but in a crowded home among the poorest of us. Not born to a king and queen, but to working-class peasants.
He is worshipped not by land-owning aristocrats but by rough and filthy shepherds as he lies in a manger. Suddenly the words of the angels take on a whole new meaning:
Luke 2:14
“Peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
Because who experienced God’s peace in this moment?
In every other culture on earth things like success, power, wealth, and fame were proof that the gods favored you. Now we see who the God of Israel really cherishes. The last, the lowest, the least.
Those are the ones - the outcasts, the poor, the nobodies - whom Jesus came to elevate. He said it himself many, many times:
Mark 10:31 (NRSV)
Many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.
Matthew 23:11
The greatest among you must be a servant.
Matthew 5:3-5
God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,
for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.
From the perspective of the world’s values, the kingdom of God is upside-down.
The humility - the humiliation - of Christ's birth tells us all we need to know about who God cares about: Who God wants to save and redeem: Those who have been crushed by the weight of a broken world, victimized by injustice and sin, and outcast by an uncaring society.
Does God love the rich and powerful? Of course! But his invitation to them is to practice self-giving love and to join Jesus in becoming a servant to all.
His crib is a manger. His throne is a cross. The kingdom of Christ is upside-down.
“Peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
We may look for a savior in gilded palaces, but it is in a peasant's home, among the forgotten of our world, that Jesus Christ chose to be born.
PART II
Each week in this series we’ve introduced a shocking concept about the birth of Jesus in Part I. And then we’ve come back in Part II to answer the question, “Does this even matter?”
Jesus was born to peasants and placed in a manger… so what? How does this affect my life?
Well, remember that this series is about the way that Christ came into our world. Not just that he did, but how.
It was not an accident that he came to us as a helpless baby in an animal’s food trough surrounded by peasants and outcasts.
I believe he did this to give hope to those who need it most. The last, the lost, the least. Why does this matter? Because in the broken world we live in today, that probably includes you.
Sure, you may not be a 1st century Judean peasant, but have you ever felt alone? Or humiliated by those with power over you? (Kids, have you dealt with bullies at school?) Have you felt crushed by the weight of this world?
Have you struggled with poverty, or grief, anxiety, depression, or pain? In other words, has this broken world ever broken you?
If so, then I want you to hear again the words declared by an army of angels to a group of outcast shepherds.
Luke 2:14
“Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
If you feel like a nobody this Christmas, hear this: God is pleased with you.
In your humiliation, in your brokenness, in your pain, Christ is with you. How do I know this? Because he willingly chose to become human in the most humble of ways so that you would know that his kingdom is for you.
Will you put your trust in Jesus? Will you surrender your life to him? Because a baby in a peasant’s manger may seem like the very definition of a nobody. But we know the truth.
That humble infant is the savior of our world. That baby in a manger is our king.