“While they were in Bethlehem, the time came for Mary to have her child. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger because there wasn’t any room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:6,7).
Kids can’t seem to close doors behind them. I never did when I was a kid either, and when I left the back door open, I’d occasionally get asked, “Were you born in a barn?” My mom obviously knew I wasn’t. We both knew the question meant, “We don’t live like animals. Please close the door.”
When Jesus decided the time was right, he was born in a barn, a place more suited for animals than babies. When you look in his manger, you see the one true God who loves you so much that he was willing to give up the glory of heaven to come live in our dirty, smelly world. He was willing to be connected to humans by being born of a human mom. He lived his whole life knowing that he would end his life on a cross, suffering the punishment we deserved. He was born in a barn, so he could prepare a mansion for us in heaven.
Dear Jesus, thank you for being born in a barn willingly. You are the God of all creation and yet you chose to be born in a room full of animals. When we forget how much you love us, help us look at your manger to remember just how good you are to us. Amen.
