Contemplations on the Divine

The Manger

As the Christmas approaches we decorate our homes and neighborhood with lights and trees, hollies and wreaths. However one thing that is kept confined to the nativity scene is the manger. However it is the manger that is of the utmost importance. Jesus Christ was not born under a tree, not surrounded by floral wreaths, not presented with cakes and puddings. He was born in a stable, and he lay on a manger that held the food and water for the domestic animals. He was born in the filth and the mire and angels sang glory to him. Later throughout his life he fulfilled his role of one lying in a manger. He served as the food and the water for the lost sheep of Israel. So why do we not focus more on the manger and less on the angels.

Christmas is not really the birthday of Jesus Christ. Rather it is the day when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. For an individual who exists beyond time it is not a matter of concern as to when we celebrate his birth. What does matter however is how we celebrate it. Celebration is about grandeur, about living life King size. However the manger is a reminder that the King of the Universe forsook his throne and grandeur to offer himself as a sacrifice.

Suppose you are going to a grand feast held by some duke or prince. You are invited to the feast but you forget to dress for the occasion. You put on a tattered shirt and a shabby coat and saunter in a richly laid banquet. The guards of the banquet refuse to let you in because you look so out of place. You are something shameful at that pint of time. The prince somehow sees you from afar and is hurt that you can't get in because of the guards. He comes forward to ask the guards to let you in. The guards say that they can't allow it because their supervisor won't allow it. The prince can't seem to convince them that he is placed over and above their supervisors. So what the prince does is he takes off his royal robes and stands in a plain white shirt. Then he asks the guards what they would do to him now. The guards shake their heads and throw him out. The prince is thrown out of his own feast and stands on the road because of you while you are the silent spectator. That prince is Jesus Christ. Just to convince the guards to let you in he walked out of his own feast. Do you know what happens next?

The King arrives at the banquet and wants to introduce his son to some foreign dignitaries. He asks the banquet supervisor to fetch the prince. The supervisor searches for the prince everywhere but cannot find him. Meanwhile the prince is sitting in the parking lot with you because he doesn't have any money with him to fetch a ride back to the palace and you are to conscious about the size of your car to offer him a ride home.

Back at the banquet the supervisor finally comes to know that the prince walked out of his own banquet and that too without his robes. So he asks the supervisor to remove all dress instructions except one: the guests should at least be wearing what the prince walked out it.The door to the banquet hall opens and you along with a few of your drunk friends are all ushered in. However as soon as they start to misbehave they are again thrown out but you get a seat at the King's table.

This is exactly what Christmas is all about. It is the prince stripping down to the bare essentials and walking out of his own banquet so that you can find a place at the King's table. How often does that happen in the world that we know? But it happened in heaven.

The angels knew exactly who he was but they knew something more. They knew what he was doing. They glorified not just his birth but also his purpose. Sometimes when we walk out of our homes and we see an old lady crossing the road, we walk towards her to help her cross. Often out head is held high, our chest a little puffed up because we know that our intentions are good. Sometimes someone else beats us to our good-deed-a-day and we feel a bit of disappointment but the fact that our intentions were honorable still lingers with us. The angels knew the purpose of Jesus being born. They also knew that Jesus isn't ever likely to fail because of who he essentially is.

The miraculous star rested over him, shedding light to the light of the world. Everyone focused on the birth, on the purpose, on the salvation. No one focused on the dirty manger. Perhaps not twenty four hours ago it had been used by some horse or mule for feeding. They are all speechless creatures. Otherwise they would exclaimed at the King of Kings taking seat in their dinner plate, offering himself up.

When Jesus would later ask his followers to eat his flesh and drink his blood many would run and scamper fearing the implications of the words. But that is exactly what he was born to us as, our physical and spiritual sustenance. He healed us physically and redeemed us spiritually. In the Gospel of John Jesus is defined as word-becomes-flesh. Are we ready to feed on the flesh of Jesus, on the Word of God? Does the Bible fully satiate your hunger or are you still lusting after the food of the world?

The wise men of the east traveled to welcome a priest, a prophet and a King but they too failed to understand God's divine plan in providing a sacrifice. All the wisdom of the world failed to make an assumption of God's redemptive work. They went to Herod to seek the king of the Jews. They did not expect the King of the Universe. They expected a King to bring freedom, not God to bring salvation.

Salvation is not a family plan. When the death of the first born came to Egypt entire households were saved by the blood on the door post. That was the paschal lamb of Moses. Jesus is the paschal lamb of the new covenant. Jesus blood does not secure households but rather individuals. And that lamb was born in an animal shed. How apt is it?

Joseph and Mary did not leave in Bethlehem but simply to fulfill the prophecy that the savior would be born in Bethlehem God went to the elaborate design of arranging a nationwide census. Does it seem too much? Then he arranges for an animal shed for the birth of the final paschal lamb. Is it a sign or is it God's sense of humor? Whatever be it is the manger where we get the ultimate spiritual food. Are we ready then to humble ourselves to the point of domestication to go and feed from the manger?