What Jesus Taught Us from the Manger
Timothy Gunnells
I love Christmas time. I enjoy the decorations. I enjoy the music. I love observing the giving spirit that overtakes so many people. I enjoy giving gifts. And I enjoy receiving them too because of the thoughtfulness behind each one. However, the main reason I enjoy this time of the year is because people slow down and think more about Jesus. While so many hearts and minds are turned toward Jesus, I want to briefly discuss three lessons that Jesus taught us from the manger. (For the full account, read Luke 2:1-20)
The One through whom the entire universe was created (John 1:1-3) took on flesh (John 1:14), and shortly after birth, was wrapped in old rags and put in a feeding trough. Few people have had such humble beginnings (as a human being) than Jesus experienced on the day of his physical incarnation as a baby.
This was the plan before God formed man out of dust from the ground. One day, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the divine builder of the world, would empty himself of his power and glory and become an infant. He would grow up physically like any other man. The Creator would in fact become like the creation (Philippians 2:3-8).
So many of the problems that plague our lives are because we are not humble. The late Mac Davis sang facetiously “Oh Lord it’s hard to be humble when you’re perfect in every way.” Jesus is the only one who has ever been perfect, and he is also the humblest person who ever lived. His humility was demonstrated plainly in his birth.
If we want to be like Jesus, we will practice humility with all people at all times in all situations. Jesus taught us humility from the manger.
No one is at more risk or more dependent on others than a precious infant. Babies require enormous care and concern. Jesus knew this well, He knows all about babies, yet he was willing to become a helpless baby and be at the mercy of two young newlyweds. His well-being was in their hands.
His whole life, however, was spent depending on another. Jesus was always dependent on His Heavenly Father, and so are we. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He showed His dependence on the Father (Luke 22:41-43).
Our independent spirit should never prevail over our spirit’s dependence on God. In the manger, Jesus taught us to be dependent.
Jesus became like us in every way when he came into the world as a newborn baby. He experienced hunger, fatigue, rejection, affection, disappointment, and temptation (Hebrews 4:14-15). No person can ever rightfully sing, “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen” because Jesus Christ has seen and experienced it all.
No one has ever been more maligned. No one has ever known more poverty. No one has ever known more emotional distress. No one has ever known greater temptation. No one has ever been beaten more brutally. No one has ever been tortured more ruthlessly. No one has ever suffered more needlessly. No one has ever been killed more hideously. No one else has seen the trouble that Jesus saw while He was on the earth. No one else can sympathize more earnestly with us than Jesus!
Jesus coming into the world as a baby, lying humbly and dependently in a manger is a great show of sympathy for all humanity. He sympathized with our need for a savior and he was willing to be our savior at any cost.
While the most of humankind pauses for a few fleeting moments this month to think about Jesus as a child, I pray that we will see him plainly as one who taught us humility, dependence and sympathy. More importantly, I hope we will we practice humility, become more dependent on God, and cultivate a heart of sympathy for those who are lost in sin. If so, we will have learned the lessons he taught us from the manger.
Merry Christmas!
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