The Great Mystery at the Manger

My oldest son was born while I was serving as a pastor in Oregon. Two doctors, a nurse, and the anesthetist were the only people in the room other than my wife and I. I was holding a glass of water in my hand for a Baptism because my son had gotten stuck, and they were working to free him from inside my wife. Hearing the first cries from him was an incredible joy after moments of panic.
My next two children were born in a St. Cloud hospital during scheduled surgeries. The St. Cloud hospital in Minnesota is a training hospital for nurses. I was shocked when each doctor had a nurse, that the baby had a nurse, my wife had a nurse, and I had a nurse. There must have been twenty people in the room! My first thought when walking into the room was, “What is this going to cost me?”
When we look at the conditions of our Savior’s birth, we see two distinct, yet amazing, truths.
The first one is this: Jesus was born in the worst of conditions. He was born among the filth of animals. He was laid in a manger for His bed. No doctor was there to take care of Him if something was to go wrong. There was no nurse to take care of each of the three members of the family. His first visitors were not wearing hospital gowns to protect Him from germs; in fact they also had been outside with other animals. Jesus was born this way so that He could take our place, to be fouled with the filth of sin. Jesus was born in the lowliest of conditions, born to be the Suffering Servant of all people.
The second truth is in great contrast with the first. In spite of the humble surroundings, the baby in the manger is the Lord God, the long-promised Messiah. The shepherds who gazed at the manger had been told that their Savior had finally come. Jesus is the One who came to make everything different. In the person of Christ, God and sinners are brought together. Our salvation begins with the Incarnation of Christ and is shown to the world at Christ’s birth.
How incredible it must have been for the shepherds to hear the angels sing and be present in that stable, yet see the Lord humbly lying in a manger! Is it any wonder that Mary, who had experienced all these things and heard the shepherds’ story, pondered all these things in her heart?
One of my favorite hymns at Christmastime focuses on this amazing event: the wonderful, yet humble beginning of our Lord.
O Jesus Christ, Thy manger is
My paradise at which my soul reclineth.
For there, O Lord, Doth lie the Word
Made flesh for us—herein Thy grace forth shineth.
Thou Christian heart, Whoe’er thou art,
Be of good cheer and let no sorrow move thee!
For God’s own Child, In mercy mild,
Joins thee to Him—how greatly God must love thee! (ELH 161:1, 4)
Cory Hahnke is pastor of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Cold Spring, Minnesota.