The Child in the Manger

A decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of the whole empire. Luke identifies it as the first census while Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone went to his own town to register. The order reached into Mary and Joseph’s life in Nazareth and sent them south.

Joseph belonged to the house and line of David, so he went to Bethlehem, David’s city in Judea. Mary went with him to register. She was expecting a child. Luke gives no incidents from the road; he brings them to Bethlehem, and while they are there, the time comes for her to give birth.

She gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. The account stays close to those few actions. Mary bore the child, wrapped Him, and found a place to lay Him.

Nearby, shepherds were living in the fields and keeping watch over their flocks by night. An angel of the Lord stood before them, and the Lord’s glory shone around them. They were terrified. The announcement of the birth began beyond the place where Mary had laid her son.

The angel said, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord! And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

The sign named the things Mary had just done. The cloths and the manger would tell the shepherds which child they had come to find. Then a great multitude of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests!”

When the angels had gone into heaven, the shepherds spoke to one another. “Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” They hurried away from the fields. In Bethlehem they found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger.

The shepherds had been told what to look for, and what they found matched the message. After seeing the child, they spread what they had heard about Him. Everyone who heard their account was amazed. News that began with an angel among the flocks was now being repeated by the men who had kept watch there.

Mary’s response is given separately from the amazement around her. She treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The account does not give her a speech to the shepherds or a second song. It tells what she kept and what she continued to consider.

There was much to hold together: Gabriel’s announcement, the birth in Bethlehem, the child in the manger, and now the shepherds’ report. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for what they had heard and seen. Their part in the night ended in praise as they went back. Mary remained with the child whose arrival they had announced to others.

The birth had happened, and the days after it began to pass. At eight days the child would receive the name given before His conception; afterward His parents would bring Him to Jerusalem. There, a man named Simeon was waiting to see the Lord’s Christ before he died. Mary had yet to hear what he would say with her son in his arms.