WHY THE MANGER

Text: Luke 2:1-20

The truth is that Jesus was not born in an immaculate birthing suite. Jesus was born in a manger, a place where they feeds animal and the question is, why the manger of all places, He could have been born, why was Jesus born in a stable and a manger.

You might say it happens so that the scripture might be fulfilled. So Jesus was born in the manger to fulfill the prophesies in the old testament that’s why he was born in the manger. But I the old testament there are no such prophesies, none of the prophet foretold that Jesus would be born in a manger.

Why the manger?

You might say well, Jesus is the good shepherd, so he was born in a place for shepherd in a manger. It is true that shepherds rest in the manger in the field. But shepherd don’t live in this place neither do they give birth there too. Shepherds were treated as outcast. They were the poorest of the poor but not even a shepherd would be born in a manger, that is to say even shepherd had homes of their own that was safe and warm.

Then why the Manger. You may say Jesus was born in a manger because there was no room in the inn. It wasn't planned to be so, so it was just an accident. But in the life of Christ there were no accidents; everything was planned down to the last detail.

Why the Manger? Of all the places, Jesus could have been born, why the manger? To answer this question we have to look at a real manger and see what it is like.

1.       a manger is cold.

2.       A manger is dark, so even when sun is shinny, the manger remain dark.

3.       A manger is dirty – it is full of mud, dust, cobwebs and it smells.

So the truth is Jesus was born in a place that was cold, dark and dirty and it smells. Why was Jesus born in a manger that was cold, dark and dirty? The truth is that Jesus is always born in the manger. Every time Jesus comes into our lives, He is born in the manger because the human heart is like the manger, cold, dark and dirty. The human heart is cold because, we do not know the love of God. It is dark because we do not have the Light of Christ or the hope of salvation in us.

The human heart is dirty because we are sinners and our hearts are stained with sin. But the miracle of Christmas is that Jesus is willing to be born into a heart that is like that. So no matter how cold your heart is, Jesus is willing to be born there no matter how dark and dirty your heart may be, Jesus is willing to be born inside there. All we need to do (on our part) is to confess that we need him and invite him to come into our heart and lives. When we do that, Jesus will be born in the manger of our heart; He will take away the cold, the dark and the dirty and give us a new heart of righteousness, a heart of God, a heart sprinkled by the blood of Jesus.    

When we invite him into or heart, He will be born in that hopeless and helpless situation of our life. He will be born in the darkness of our grief and sorrow and give us peace and freedom from all kinds of satanic bondage; Christmas is a period where Jesus was born in a manger. Can He be born in the manger of your heart right now?

PRAYER

Invite Jesus to be born in your cold, dark and dirty heart today.