Come to the Manger

Every Christmas, my mother would set out an "Old World" Nativity set on the living room coffee table.  It was complete with Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, shepherds, 3 wise men, angel, sheep,  a cow, a donkey, camels and a stable. 

Unfortunately, as the years went by, existing in a household with two rambuctious boys and going through multiple family moves, some of the nativity pieces were broken or lost.

First, it was a missing sheep and then, I guess, the shepherd who went looking for it.  Then, one of the donkey's ears was broken off.  Next one of the wise men, lost his head. Can you set out a Nativity scene, with just two magi?  Then the angel broke her wing. And somehow the camels wandered off?  You get the picture.  Eventually, my mother would only set out the stable, Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.

Granted these are the focus personalities of the Nativity scene, but the message of Christmas is incomplete without the shepherds and wise men.  For they represent the recipients of God's redemptive plan for all mankind.  They were the first "invited guests" to meet Jesus, God's son, the Savior of the world. 

God sent an army of angels to announce the arrival of Jesus to a group of lowly shepherds, who were tending a flock of sheep in the hills outside of Bethlehem.  They were the very first to hear the Good News.
 

"Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.  Today in the town of David a Savior had been born to you, he is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, goodwill to all men.  When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."  (Luke 2:8-15)

 

That very same night, over a thousand miles east of Bethlehem, astronomers searching the stars were astounded by the appearance of a "new" star. According to their pagan culture, a new star was a sign of the birth of new king.   This was God's special invitation just for them to come to the manger. These wealthy stargazers sojourned to Jerusalem to pay homage to a newborn king, a journey that would eventually lead them to Bethlehem. 

 

 "After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?  We saw His star in the east and have come to worship him.  ...When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.  On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed and worshipped him.  Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and myrrh."  (Matthew 2:1-2)

 

Shepherds and magi from a foreign land.  Why were they chosen by God to receive invitations to the most significant event in the history of the world?  Why not Ceasar Augustus, the most powerful ruler on earth...or Herod the King of the Jews...or the high priest in the Temple? 

 

The shepherds and the magi represent the broad spectrum of mankind.  Whether you are poor or rich. Whether Jew or Gentile.  Educated or not. From the humble to the austentatious, from the meek to the mighty.   By extending invitations to the shepherds and the wise men, God was extending an invitation to one and all, to come to the manger. 

 

The nativity scene is incomplete without the shepherds and the wisemen. God wants them there.  That's why He came into the world to begin with. If they are not there, then you and I would never have felt welcome there, either.  He came into the world to be our Savior and Lord, who gives us the gift of eternal life.

 

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

 

Like the shepherds and the magi, God has extended a special invitation for you to come to the manger and meet Him.  It may not be an angelic choir or a new star in the sky, but you will recognize it when it comes to you.  God knows just how to get our attention right where we are.  Come to the manger, because He came for you.  When you meet Him, just like the shepherds and the wisemen, nothing will be the same again.

 

O Come, Let Us Adore Him, Christ the Lord...

Ellis & Jackie Hayden