This is the second post in the Beautiful Jesus newsletter, an offering from the Friendly Neighbors. From here on out these devotional posts will be showing up in your inbox on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Today, we take a look at Luke’s telling of Jesus’ birth. For you non-farm types like myself, it will be helpful to know that the manger in the Christmas story is a feeding trough for animals. More on that below.
You can find today’s passage here:
As we peruse the story of Jesus’ birth, it is interesting to note that Luke’s narrative begins not with Jesus, but with Caesar Augustus, who has called for a census of the entire Roman world. In one sense, this moves the story along by prompting Joseph to take Mary to Bethlehem. Even Caesar, the most powerful man in the world, is not above playing a part in God’s providence. In another sense, highlighting Caesar Augustus at this point reminds us of the power of a man who was known as lord, savior, and bringer of peace in the Roman Empire. If those titles sound familiar, they should. They are the same titles applied to Jesus by the angel and heavenly host who appear to the shepherds later in the story. When it comes to Jesus, we’re not just talking about a religious figure. The child in the manger is the one who will be exalted to the highest place and receive the name above every name. When it comes to Jesus, we’re talking about a king greater than Caesar.
This being the case, it seems odd that the heavenly host should appear to shepherds in the backcountry of Bethlehem rather than the halls of power in Jerusalem or even Rome. Yet, we have already heard rumbles of a great reversal in Mary’s song, in which Jesus’ mother spoke of the proud being brought low and the humble being exalted, of the rich going away empty and the hungry being filled with good things. That reversal begins here as no-name shepherds near the bottom of the social ladder receive the announcement of Jesus’ birth. You’d think that news this great would go to the powerful and well-to-do, but it is a group of peasants who behold the glory of the heavenly host.
And then there is the king himself, lying in a feeding trough because his parents aren’t important enough to warrant a better room. I wonder what Mary thought of this lowly beginning for her son. Earlier in the story, she was visited by an angel. Now she is borrowing farm equipment to make a bed for her boy. What she doesn’t know is that this humble beginning is actually a sign that God is on the move. Actually, it is the sign that was given to the shepherds: “a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
At some point in the night, those same shepherds show up looking for their sign. What a racket they must have made in their search! Then, having found the child, these lowly peasants become heralds of the good news of Jesus’ birth.
When we talk about the birth of Jesus, we’re talking about the birth of the King of Kings. Yet, he isn’t a king like any we have known. He comes to the world in an upside-down way, favoring the lowly and ignoring the powerful. He comes to bring peace that is deeper than the peace of Caesar. Like Mary, we must treasure up these things and ponder them in our hearts. For, Jesus challenges and confounds the norms of the world. He, and not Caesar or any political authority, is truly Lord and Savior and commands our highest allegiance. If we are to follow him, we must see him for who he truly is rather than who we want or assume him to be.
Photo by Greyson Joralemon on Unsplash.
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