Merry Christmas

Meditations for the Season of Christmas 

December 25, 2024

Merry Christmas

And you will recognize him by this sign:

You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

Luke 2:12

Read: Luke 2:1-20

Sometimes when I was throwing toys for my dogs to fetch, they would lose sight of the toy. I’ll try to point to the toy, but instead of looking where I am pointing, the dogs look at my finger. They get focused on the sign and miss where the sign is pointing.

Sometimes people make the same mistake. At Christmas time, as we look at all the signs, the symbols of Christmas, we may miss where the Lord is leading us. Consider the manger. Luke mentions the manger three times in this passage. Luke says Mary laid Jesus in a manger; the angels told the shepherds they would find the newborn Messiah in a manger; and the shepherds went to Bethlehem and found the baby Jesus lying in a manger, just as they had been told.

The manger, which was not made of wood but of carved stone, was a feeding trough. There is some symbolism at work here. Jesus begins his life in a feeding trough in Bethlehem. The name Bethlehem means city of bread. Jesus will be known as the bread of life. At the last supper, Jesus takes bread and breaks it and tells his followers the bread is his body.

Mary laid Jesus in a manger. The angels announce to the shepherds that the Messiah has been born, and if they go to Bethlehem, they will find the Messiah lying in a manger. That’s where they found him. When they knew they had found the Messiah, they shared the news of their encounter with the angels with Mary and Joseph – and any others who would listen. Mary and Joseph were blessed to receive yet another confirmation that God was at work in their lives.

My Takeaway: Thus, the manger is a sign pointing the way for the shepherds to find the Messiah. The manger, a feeding trough, is also a sign pointing to Jesus’ ultimate gift: “Take, eat, this is my body given for you. 

Sē’lah                                                                                         

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

 

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2024 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.