Born in a barn – how many of us have been told by our parents, “Hey, close that door! What’s wrong with you, were you born in a barn?” Jesus could say, “Yeah, Mom, yeah, I was!” Far from home, in a strange and crowded city, Mary gave birth to her firstborn Son outside an inn, because there was no room inside. The stable area would have been a kind of lean-to, and the manger that cradled the Lord of glory was probably hollowed out stone. She rubbed Him with salt, wrapped Him in strips of cloth, and put Him to sleep in a cattle trough, padded with hay. And Joseph, her husband, gives the Child the name: Jesus, which means, “God saves.”
Exhausted from their day, they settle in to get some sleep, but after a while some shepherds just show up, telling the young parents that they have seen an angelic vision, telling them to seek out a baby born in Bethlehem, lying in a manger. The shepherds return praising and glorifying God. When Jesus is taken to the Temple to be circumcised on the eighth day, two old saints, Simon and Anna, show up and prophesy over the Baby as the Savior of Israel. Some time later wise men show up, wealthy astronomers, and they offer not only extravagant gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh, they fall down and worship the Child. Over and over evidence piles up that Jesus is the Savior, inspiring worship from others.
Look at all these different kinds of people who miraculously show up! Poor Judean shepherds, revered elders, foreign magi – everyone who is looking for salvation finds it in this tiny Child, born far from home. How did they even find the holy family? Not by any normal means, but by angels and a star and meetings pre-arranged by God, encounters giving assurance to Joseph and Mary and telling everyone who would listen the good news, the great news, that the time was fulfilled and salvation was at hand, small enough to fit into their arms. Nothing normal about this birth, but it was, after all, a stable birth. God was about to remake our world, and the foundation would be His Son, Jesus. The stable foundation built on a stable birth.
Prayer: Thank You, Father God, for the many evidences we have that prove that Your Son Jesus is our Savior King. Open our eyes to faith encounters we see every day that always reveal Your love and grace. In Jesus’ name, amen.