Good morning. As I have mentioned in our most recent thoughts for the day, I am directing this week’s thoughts to Luke 2.
And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. Luke 2:6-7
Yesterday’s thought asked that we question whether or not each of us personally can say that we are making room for Jesus. Today, I ask that we consider that all too brief description of the birth of our Messiah, Jesus.
And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. Anyone who has been a part of the birth of a child knows that when it is time…it is TIME! It isn’t a matter of convenience, or safety, or modesty, or appropriate health care. When it is time…it is TIME! We hope for all of those other things, but when the time is at hand everything else is pushed aside, because…it is TIME! In a stable, actually a cave carved in the side of a hill, with animals almost certainly present, with no doctor, or mid-wife, or help of any kind…it was TIME!
…she gave birth to her firstborn son… There would be others, and they most likely had the benefit of trained women to help Mary in the time of their birth. But not Jesus, not for Her first born. The little baby of whom the angel spoke to both Joseph and Mary, the firstborn who would have legally inherited the carpenter shop from Joseph, His birth was unique.
…and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger… Please allow your mind to see Joseph in that stable/cave. Crouched in front of his beloved Mary, hearing her cries, ready to receive the newborn Son of God. What could he have been thinking? Perhaps, “Please God, PLEASE, don’t let me mess this up!” Allow your mind’s eye to see Mary, terrified and in pain, screaming while she begged God for the birth to be accomplished. What screams passed through her lips? Perhaps, “Please God, PLEASE! Let this baby be born now and without complications.” Let’s use that same vision to see the little baby Jesus, born in poverty, wrapped in rags, placed in a feed trough. Did He cry? Of course He did. Did Jesus do everything newborn little babies do? Of course He did. That was the point, God Almighty, Creator of all, was Immanuel, “God with us”. And God came all the way, the little newborn baby was just as human as every other newborn babe.
There is incredible wonder in these few verses. There is awesome power. They are a revelation of God’s intention, revealed in the manner in which He was born. Please think about these things.
Vern