In A Manger

“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him. . . in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” In a manger: in a lonely stable: somewhere on the outskirts of tiny Bethlehem! In a manger?! He the Christ of God, the long-awaited Deliverer of Israel?! At first impulse we would say: How shameful! How inconsistent with the being and purpose of him who was laid therein! What a reception for that babe of all babes, the living God...