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| Stone manger in Israel via huntsmansintheholyland.blogspot.com |
In the town of Greccio, Italy in 1223, St. Francis of Assisi created the first Nativity scene to help his parishioners understand the humble beginnings of Christ’s birth. He later told a friend, “I want to do something that will recall the memory of that Child who was born in Bethlehem, to see with bodily eyes the inconveniences of his infancy, how he lay in the manger.”
Since this time, the manger has been a symbol of the humble conditions of Christ’s birth. The song “Away in a Manger” focuses on the manger in the events that happened in Bethlehem more than 2000 years ago. As the song opens, we sing:
Away in a manger
No room for a bed
The little Lord Jesus
Lay down his sweet head
At the time of Christ’s birth, Mary and Joseph, along with many others, set off on a pilgrimage “to be taxed, every one into his own city.”(Luke 2:3) Joseph, being from the lineage of David went to Bethlehem. Mary, a devoted spouse, went with him even though she was approaching full term of her pregnancy. Since there were so many people in the city of Bethlehem at this time, there was not much space for privacy, especially to give birth. But a cave was found for them where the animals were housed. There, Christ was born in humble conditions then wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger.
The humble shepherds are also well known in the Christmas Nativity. However, they set an example for us. They were the first to focus on the manger and their king whom laid therein. The dedicated shepherds left their livelihood, their flocks (their 90 and 9 sheep) to come and see the One: the Lamb of God. As they came with haste to worship the babe lying in a manger, they “reverently approached the stable. "And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child." (Luke 2:17)
Just as St. Fransis recognized the humble beginnings of Christ's life, I also think on the manger. It symbolizes the way Christ lived his life. He was humble in all he did and said. He always went about doing good, never flaunting the miracles he performed. Rather they were done lovingly and usually in private, focusing on the one. And then still, with a difficult sacrifice ahead of him, he humbly, lovingly, and privately went into the garden for each one of us, individually. The greatest miracle of all was given to us as a gift: His Atonement.
This Christmas season, as we celebrate the coming of our Savior, remember the symbol of the manger. Instead of endless shopping, activites, and decorations strive be as the shepherds and come with haste to worship the one, the Holy One of Israel. Let us think of the babe lying in a manger who grew up and went about doing good. And let our hearts swell with gratitude as we ponder about the precious gift he gave to us in the garden. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotton Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved" (John 3:16 &17)
