18th December 2023

Away in a manger

…and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
Luke 2:7 (NIVUK)

The Christmas period is a time when many Christians reflect on the mystery and miracle of the incarnation. The carol Away in a Manger begins by reminding Christians of the humble beginnings of Jesus’s birth. Despite these lowly surroundings ‘A Way’ or more precisely ‘The Way’ had been born.

At his birth God initially called only a small group of lowly shepherds to the manger but there would come a time when God would call all peoples to ‘The Way’. As Jesus predicted of himself, ‘…when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ (John 12:32)

In the past many attributed the words of Away in a Manger to Martin Luther but most now acknowledge that they were written at a later date. However, Martin Luther made a more general point that seems relevant at this time when he said, ‘The Bible is the manger in which Christ is laid.’ If we want to know more about Jesus then we need to come to the place where he is laid: the scriptures contained in The Bible.

The apostle John wrote about certain aspects of his gospel: ‘But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.’ (John 20:31).

Although the exact time of Jesus’s birth is currently lost in the mists of time, Christmas is the period when Christians are reminded in the scriptures that God became a human child so that humanity might become children of God: ‘Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.’ (John 1:12-13).

Prayer
Father, we thank you that Jesus willingly gave up his glory to become a human being so that, by grace through him, we can become adopted children of God. In Jesus’s name, Amen.

Study by Eddie Marsh 

About the writer:
Eddie Marsh attends the Sheffield congregation of Grace Communion International.

Local congregation:
Please email the local congregational contact (see below) for information about the Sheffield congregation’s meeting venue and time. 

Local congregational contact:
Email: sheffield@gracecom.church

Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church