Mary and Joseph Beside the Baby Jesus in the Mangerby CBPepper
2:12Luke 2:12
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
The angel gave the shepherds watching their flocks by night around Bethlehem a sign by which to recognize the newborn Saviour, Christ the Lord: they would find Him as a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. They found the infant exactly as testified, with Mary and Joseph, which confirmed the heavenly announcement of good tidings of great joy for all people. Though outwardly frail and helpless like other infants, the child was the Son of God whose divine glory and majesty were veiled by humanity and clothed in lowliness, with no worldly grandeur to attract by earthly status. The glad news was sent to humble shepherds longing for the promised Saviour rather than to priests, rulers and the learned, who expected a mighty earthly king and were too proud to receive the Messiah as a helpless child. The manger and swaddling clothes show how fully God shares the condition of the lowliest, becoming poor and meek so that no lowly station is beneath His sympathy.
Meaning of the Sign
And this shall be a sign unto you was the identifying mark given to the shepherds by which to recognize the newborn Saviour, Christ the Lord born that day in the city of David in Bethlehem, that they would find Him as a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. The swaddling clothes and the placement in a manger were the sign confirming the angelic announcement that the promised Saviour had been born, marking the helpless child as Christ the Lord. His humble birth in a stable and among animals contrasts the arrival of the Messiah in humility with expectation of an earthly prince.
The shepherds hastened to Bethlehem and found the infant exactly as the angel had testified, including Mary and Joseph, and this exact fulfillment confirmed the heavenly announcement of Christ's birth. Having seen, they made the saying concerning the child known abroad to the wonder of all who heard it, while Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
The sign was spoken at night on the plains and hills around Bethlehem to shepherds keeping watch over their flocks, amid brightness and glory shining round about them. Because none among men heralded the Messiah, angels did that honored work, with a leading angel and the angel host appearing to bear glad tidings of great joy for all people. The proclamation announced that a Saviour who is Christ the Lord was born that day in the city of David, that Jesus had come bringing the light of heaven as the Redeemer of mankind to limit the power of Satan and set the captive free, with glory to God in the highest and peace on earth and good will toward men. While the shepherds were sore afraid at the brightness, the leading angel quieted their fears with those good tidings and pointed them to the newborn wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Angels thus talked with the shepherds watching their flocks on the hills of Palestine to announce the Babe of Bethlehem and that the Messiah had come.
The sign prepared the shepherds to recognize their Saviour and Deliverer of Israel in poverty and humiliation, though they associated His coming with power, exaltation and triumph. It was given with tender regard for their human weakness, quieting their fears and giving them time to become accustomed to the divine radiance before the hosts of God lighted the plain with glory.
The manger setting was a stable and shelter for cattle, a feeding trough among animals, where the Saviour of the world was born and laid. The newborn King had no royal guard or honored visitors, and His only guardians were His parents, uneducated peasants.
Humility Veiling Divine Glory
Though outwardly frail and helpless like other infants, the child in the manger was the Son of God. His divine glory and majesty and splendor were veiled by humanity and clothed in lowliness, with no outward display to attract people by earthly status. His birth in a stable and among animals showed great humiliation, in contrast to the glory and majesty belonging to Him, marking the Messiah's arrival in humility rather than as an earthly prince. This lowly appearance fulfilled the prophecies of His first advent, contrary to those who expected a mighty earthly prince.
Though His birth had no worldly grandeur, it was honored by God. Angels announced His advent to shepherds, heralded Him and worshiped Him as their divine Commander, and the heavenly host praised God. They heralded the Son of God's coming to accomplish redemption through His death and to bring peace and happiness and everlasting life to humanity.
The lowly birth was itself the sign, bearing witness to His mission rather than to worldly status. He was to be accepted on the testimony of God's prophetic word, not drawn by splendor. The manger and swaddling clothes show how fully God shares the condition of the lowliest, becoming poor and meek rather than imitating the rich or seeking outward display. He chose a life of humility so that the poor could not say He did not understand their difficulties and trials, and no lowly station is beneath His sympathy.
The newborn King was of poor parentage, with divinity clothed with humanity and majesty and lowliness combined, coming just as prophecy declared He would come. He had no royal guard or honored visitors, and His only guardians were His parents, uneducated peasants. This lowly setting stood in striking contrast to the work foretold for Him as Israel's restorer and a light to the Gentiles.
Shepherds Chosen Over Leaders
Heaven's embassy came to only a few who were longing to behold the Unseen. They were good men keeping their flocks by night on the hills around Bethlehem, who talked together about the promised Saviour and prayed earnestly for His coming, who watched to receive light and were ready to receive the message and go with joy to worship Him. Angels had wondered at the glorious plan of redemption and watched to see how God's people would receive His Son clothed in humanity. They came unseen to the land of the chosen people where God's glory had been revealed and prophecy had shone, to Jerusalem, to the appointed expositors of the Sacred Oracles and ministers of God's house. The shepherds gave heed to the light they had received and were among those to whom God revealed truth, while the people of Jerusalem were not looking for Him, yet the birth they announced was an event of joy for all people even though He came in humility.
The glad tidings were sent to humble shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night rather than to priests, rulers and the learned who professed to expound prophecy. Because none among men heralded the Messiah, angels did that honored work, sent as bright messengers from His own throne of light to teach them. Because the learned who professed to expound prophecy had no heart to receive the news, and because the Jews had separated themselves far from God by wicked works so that angels could not communicate to them the tidings of the infant Redeemer, the heavenly host heralded His advent to humble shepherds on Bethlehem's plains. God's message came to people humble enough to receive it, not to the great and powerful satisfied with their status or spiritual standing, and while humble people received it those content with their standing remained in darkness.
The priests, rulers, teachers and ministers knew the Saviour was soon to come, for nearness of His coming had already been announced to Zacharias the priest as he ministered before the altar, and the forerunner was already born with his mission attested by miracle and prophecy and the tidings spread abroad, and prophecy had shone, yet Jerusalem was not preparing to welcome her Redeemer. The Jewish nation had been preserved as a witness that Christ was to be born of the seed of Abraham and of David's line, yet they knew not His coming was at hand. They expected a mighty earthly king who would make them rich and great and were too proud to think of the Messiah as a helpless child, so they were not ready to welcome Him. In the temple the morning and evening sacrifice daily pointed to the Lamb of God, yet there was no preparation to receive Him.
With amazement the messengers beheld the indifference of the people called to communicate sacred truth to the world. Priests and teachers rehearsed meaningless prayers and performed rites to be seen by men while in strife for riches and worldly honor they were not prepared for the revelation of the Messiah. The same indifference pervaded Israel, with selfish world-engrossed hearts untouched by the joy that thrilled all heaven. Rulers and other prominent people remained unaware, for being satisfied with status and spiritual standing they remained in darkness.
When the report of the manger sign was brought to Jerusalem, the priests, elders and rabbis heard it but pretended ignorance and treated it as unworthy of notice, and refused to go to Bethlehem to see whether these things were so. They claimed God could not pass them by to speak to ignorant shepherds or uncircumcised Gentiles, and refused to stoop to be instructed by those they called heathen. They could have found Jesus by it and been ready to lead the wise men to His birthplace, but pride and envy closed the door against the light. They led the people to regard interest in Jesus as fanatical excitement, and here began the rejection of Christ by the priests and rabbis, growing into settled hatred, while God was opening the way and the door to the Gentiles and the Jewish leaders were closing the door to themselves.
Prophecy Cosmos and Connections
The helpless infant wrapped and laid in a manger came exactly as prophecy had declared He would come for His first advent, with divinity clothed in humanity and majesty and lowliness combined. That lowly appearance concealed divine glory yet fulfilled the prophecies, while those who clung to delusive hope for a temporal prince failed to discern Him and rejected Him because He did not meet their ambitious expectations. They mistook prophecies of His glorious second appearing in the clouds for His first coming, but the humble shepherds believed, received, and worshiped the newborn King as angel messengers veiled their glory and the heavenly chorus rang over the hills of Bethlehem.
When the host announced the birth to the shepherds on the plains of Bethlehem the heavens were brilliantly illuminated with enshrouding light, and wise men in the East watching for Messiah saw that illumination from afar. After the brightness faded and the angels returned to heaven, a luminous star never before seen remained lingering in the sky, which was in reality a distant cluster of flaming angels appearing like a star. The shepherds heard the proclamation and saw the angels face to face, while the wise men were not privileged to hear it directly but were moved by the Spirit of God to regard the beautiful new star as the sign of His advent. The King of glory had stooped low to take humanity in great humiliation that disappointed the angels who had worshiped Him in splendor, and because wicked works had separated the Jews far from God the tidings of the infant Redeemer could not be communicated to them but were heralded to humble shepherds.
That humble infant was the divinely commissioned One whose authority Satan had recognized and sought to overthrow from the beginning. The announcement bearing glad tidings of great joy declared that Jesus had come bringing the light of heaven as Redeemer to limit Satan's power and set the captive free, with glory to God in the highest and peace on earth and good will toward men. That same announcement alerted Satan to Christ's coming and prompted him to plan to destroy the Prince of life.
His birth and laying in a manger drew the intense attention of the created worlds, with the humble manger marking His reception on earth while angels proclaimed the Redeemer's arrival in Bethlehem. His birth was announced by signs and wonders in the heavens and by the appearing of the angel host to shepherds keeping flocks on the hills of Bethlehem, proving that all heaven recognized His advent.
The proclamation on the plains and hills of Bethlehem was given by a mighty heavenly angel. That angel was the same one who later descended to the tomb at the resurrection to roll away the stone and call the Son of God to come forth.
This heavenly recognition at His humble first coming guarantees His second coming will not be wanting in glory. As creation shrouded itself in darkness in sympathy at His sorrow and humiliation, nature will openly testify her triumph at His return to execute judgment.
Joseph and Mary were honored by God in being entrusted with the responsible care and charge of the infant Saviour. God directed Joseph's course to preserve Jesus' infant life.
Living the Manger Lesson
Heaven is near to ordinary people in their everyday work, and humanity was the object of heaven's care then as it is now. The shepherds were watching their flocks near Bethlehem at night when they heard the angels' song and met heavenly messengers, and their ordinary work did not prevent them from receiving a heavenly message. Christ's humble birth and life, with His years of ordinary work in Nazareth, show that heaven is near in common life.
God's message came to people humble enough to receive it, not to those satisfied with their status or spiritual standing. The glad tidings were given over Bethlehem's plains to humble shepherds rather than to the great and powerful, to rulers and other prominent people, who remained unaware and in darkness. He reveals Christ in the way He can best reach people, to shepherds on the plains of Bethlehem by angels and to the Magi by a wonderful star, for in every place He works after the manner He can best reach the people. Those shepherds gave heed to the light they had received and were among those to whom God revealed truth. Likewise angels stand beside humble workers for God, observing how they speak and work as they are considered for greater responsibilities.
The manger and swaddling clothes belong to a Saviour who became poor and meek, not one who imitated the rich or sought outward display, and no lowly station is beneath His sympathy. His passage through human needs sanctifies every department of life and teaches people to serve God in humble work. Greatness in God's sight comes through humble goodness and faithful service, not prominence. His birth and laying in a manger drew the intense attention of the created worlds, while the humble manger marked His reception on earth. That birth is God's immeasurable gift to the world, and gifts offered in response should honor God and support making Christ and His salvation known. It belongs to the precious story of the Babe of Bethlehem, whom children are to be taught is the hope of the world.
The angel gave the shepherds watching their flocks by night around Bethlehem a sign by which to recognize the newborn Saviour, Christ the Lord: they would find Him as a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. They found the infant exactly as testified, with Mary and Joseph, which confirmed the heavenly announcement of good tidings of great joy for all people. Though outwardly frail and helpless like other infants, the child was the Son of God whose divine glory and majesty were veiled by humanity and clothed in lowliness, with no worldly grandeur to attract by earthly status. The glad news was sent to humble shepherds longing for the promised Saviour rather than to priests, rulers and the learned, who expected a mighty earthly king and were too proud to receive the Messiah as a helpless child. The manger and swaddling clothes show how fully God shares the condition of the lowliest, becoming poor and meek so that no lowly station is beneath His sympathy.
Meaning of the Sign
And this shall be a sign unto you was the identifying mark given to the shepherds by which to recognize the newborn Saviour, Christ the Lord born that day in the city of David in Bethlehem, that they would find Him as a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. The swaddling clothes and the placement in a manger were the sign confirming the angelic announcement that the promised Saviour had been born, marking the helpless child as Christ the Lord. His humble birth in a stable and among animals contrasts the arrival of the Messiah in humility with expectation of an earthly prince.
The shepherds hastened to Bethlehem and found the infant exactly as the angel had testified, including Mary and Joseph, and this exact fulfillment confirmed the heavenly announcement of Christ's birth. Having seen, they made the saying concerning the child known abroad to the wonder of all who heard it, while Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
The sign was spoken at night on the plains and hills around Bethlehem to shepherds keeping watch over their flocks, amid brightness and glory shining round about them. Because none among men heralded the Messiah, angels did that honored work, with a leading angel and the angel host appearing to bear glad tidings of great joy for all people. The proclamation announced that a Saviour who is Christ the Lord was born that day in the city of David, that Jesus had come bringing the light of heaven as the Redeemer of mankind to limit the power of Satan and set the captive free, with glory to God in the highest and peace on earth and good will toward men. While the shepherds were sore afraid at the brightness, the leading angel quieted their fears with those good tidings and pointed them to the newborn wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Angels thus talked with the shepherds watching their flocks on the hills of Palestine to announce the Babe of Bethlehem and that the Messiah had come.
The sign prepared the shepherds to recognize their Saviour and Deliverer of Israel in poverty and humiliation, though they associated His coming with power, exaltation and triumph. It was given with tender regard for their human weakness, quieting their fears and giving them time to become accustomed to the divine radiance before the hosts of God lighted the plain with glory.
The manger setting was a stable and shelter for cattle, a feeding trough among animals, where the Saviour of the world was born and laid. The newborn King had no royal guard or honored visitors, and His only guardians were His parents, uneducated peasants.
Humility Veiling Divine Glory
Though outwardly frail and helpless like other infants, the child in the manger was the Son of God. His divine glory and majesty and splendor were veiled by humanity and clothed in lowliness, with no outward display to attract people by earthly status. His birth in a stable and among animals showed great humiliation, in contrast to the glory and majesty belonging to Him, marking the Messiah's arrival in humility rather than as an earthly prince. This lowly appearance fulfilled the prophecies of His first advent, contrary to those who expected a mighty earthly prince.
Though His birth had no worldly grandeur, it was honored by God. Angels announced His advent to shepherds, heralded Him and worshiped Him as their divine Commander, and the heavenly host praised God. They heralded the Son of God's coming to accomplish redemption through His death and to bring peace and happiness and everlasting life to humanity.
The lowly birth was itself the sign, bearing witness to His mission rather than to worldly status. He was to be accepted on the testimony of God's prophetic word, not drawn by splendor. The manger and swaddling clothes show how fully God shares the condition of the lowliest, becoming poor and meek rather than imitating the rich or seeking outward display. He chose a life of humility so that the poor could not say He did not understand their difficulties and trials, and no lowly station is beneath His sympathy.
The newborn King was of poor parentage, with divinity clothed with humanity and majesty and lowliness combined, coming just as prophecy declared He would come. He had no royal guard or honored visitors, and His only guardians were His parents, uneducated peasants. This lowly setting stood in striking contrast to the work foretold for Him as Israel's restorer and a light to the Gentiles.
Shepherds Chosen Over Leaders
Heaven's embassy came to only a few who were longing to behold the Unseen. They were good men keeping their flocks by night on the hills around Bethlehem, who talked together about the promised Saviour and prayed earnestly for His coming, who watched to receive light and were ready to receive the message and go with joy to worship Him. Angels had wondered at the glorious plan of redemption and watched to see how God's people would receive His Son clothed in humanity. They came unseen to the land of the chosen people where God's glory had been revealed and prophecy had shone, to Jerusalem, to the appointed expositors of the Sacred Oracles and ministers of God's house. The shepherds gave heed to the light they had received and were among those to whom God revealed truth, while the people of Jerusalem were not looking for Him, yet the birth they announced was an event of joy for all people even though He came in humility.
The glad tidings were sent to humble shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night rather than to priests, rulers and the learned who professed to expound prophecy. Because none among men heralded the Messiah, angels did that honored work, sent as bright messengers from His own throne of light to teach them. Because the learned who professed to expound prophecy had no heart to receive the news, and because the Jews had separated themselves far from God by wicked works so that angels could not communicate to them the tidings of the infant Redeemer, the heavenly host heralded His advent to humble shepherds on Bethlehem's plains. God's message came to people humble enough to receive it, not to the great and powerful satisfied with their status or spiritual standing, and while humble people received it those content with their standing remained in darkness.
The priests, rulers, teachers and ministers knew the Saviour was soon to come, for nearness of His coming had already been announced to Zacharias the priest as he ministered before the altar, and the forerunner was already born with his mission attested by miracle and prophecy and the tidings spread abroad, and prophecy had shone, yet Jerusalem was not preparing to welcome her Redeemer. The Jewish nation had been preserved as a witness that Christ was to be born of the seed of Abraham and of David's line, yet they knew not His coming was at hand. They expected a mighty earthly king who would make them rich and great and were too proud to think of the Messiah as a helpless child, so they were not ready to welcome Him. In the temple the morning and evening sacrifice daily pointed to the Lamb of God, yet there was no preparation to receive Him.
With amazement the messengers beheld the indifference of the people called to communicate sacred truth to the world. Priests and teachers rehearsed meaningless prayers and performed rites to be seen by men while in strife for riches and worldly honor they were not prepared for the revelation of the Messiah. The same indifference pervaded Israel, with selfish world-engrossed hearts untouched by the joy that thrilled all heaven. Rulers and other prominent people remained unaware, for being satisfied with status and spiritual standing they remained in darkness.
When the report of the manger sign was brought to Jerusalem, the priests, elders and rabbis heard it but pretended ignorance and treated it as unworthy of notice, and refused to go to Bethlehem to see whether these things were so. They claimed God could not pass them by to speak to ignorant shepherds or uncircumcised Gentiles, and refused to stoop to be instructed by those they called heathen. They could have found Jesus by it and been ready to lead the wise men to His birthplace, but pride and envy closed the door against the light. They led the people to regard interest in Jesus as fanatical excitement, and here began the rejection of Christ by the priests and rabbis, growing into settled hatred, while God was opening the way and the door to the Gentiles and the Jewish leaders were closing the door to themselves.
Prophecy Cosmos and Connections
The helpless infant wrapped and laid in a manger came exactly as prophecy had declared He would come for His first advent, with divinity clothed in humanity and majesty and lowliness combined. That lowly appearance concealed divine glory yet fulfilled the prophecies, while those who clung to delusive hope for a temporal prince failed to discern Him and rejected Him because He did not meet their ambitious expectations. They mistook prophecies of His glorious second appearing in the clouds for His first coming, but the humble shepherds believed, received, and worshiped the newborn King as angel messengers veiled their glory and the heavenly chorus rang over the hills of Bethlehem.
When the host announced the birth to the shepherds on the plains of Bethlehem the heavens were brilliantly illuminated with enshrouding light, and wise men in the East watching for Messiah saw that illumination from afar. After the brightness faded and the angels returned to heaven, a luminous star never before seen remained lingering in the sky, which was in reality a distant cluster of flaming angels appearing like a star. The shepherds heard the proclamation and saw the angels face to face, while the wise men were not privileged to hear it directly but were moved by the Spirit of God to regard the beautiful new star as the sign of His advent. The King of glory had stooped low to take humanity in great humiliation that disappointed the angels who had worshiped Him in splendor, and because wicked works had separated the Jews far from God the tidings of the infant Redeemer could not be communicated to them but were heralded to humble shepherds.
That humble infant was the divinely commissioned One whose authority Satan had recognized and sought to overthrow from the beginning. The announcement bearing glad tidings of great joy declared that Jesus had come bringing the light of heaven as Redeemer to limit Satan's power and set the captive free, with glory to God in the highest and peace on earth and good will toward men. That same announcement alerted Satan to Christ's coming and prompted him to plan to destroy the Prince of life.
His birth and laying in a manger drew the intense attention of the created worlds, with the humble manger marking His reception on earth while angels proclaimed the Redeemer's arrival in Bethlehem. His birth was announced by signs and wonders in the heavens and by the appearing of the angel host to shepherds keeping flocks on the hills of Bethlehem, proving that all heaven recognized His advent.
The proclamation on the plains and hills of Bethlehem was given by a mighty heavenly angel. That angel was the same one who later descended to the tomb at the resurrection to roll away the stone and call the Son of God to come forth.
This heavenly recognition at His humble first coming guarantees His second coming will not be wanting in glory. As creation shrouded itself in darkness in sympathy at His sorrow and humiliation, nature will openly testify her triumph at His return to execute judgment.
Joseph and Mary were honored by God in being entrusted with the responsible care and charge of the infant Saviour. God directed Joseph's course to preserve Jesus' infant life.
Living the Manger Lesson
Heaven is near to ordinary people in their everyday work, and humanity was the object of heaven's care then as it is now. The shepherds were watching their flocks near Bethlehem at night when they heard the angels' song and met heavenly messengers, and their ordinary work did not prevent them from receiving a heavenly message. Christ's humble birth and life, with His years of ordinary work in Nazareth, show that heaven is near in common life.
God's message came to people humble enough to receive it, not to those satisfied with their status or spiritual standing. The glad tidings were given over Bethlehem's plains to humble shepherds rather than to the great and powerful, to rulers and other prominent people, who remained unaware and in darkness. He reveals Christ in the way He can best reach people, to shepherds on the plains of Bethlehem by angels and to the Magi by a wonderful star, for in every place He works after the manner He can best reach the people. Those shepherds gave heed to the light they had received and were among those to whom God revealed truth. Likewise angels stand beside humble workers for God, observing how they speak and work as they are considered for greater responsibilities.
The manger and swaddling clothes belong to a Saviour who became poor and meek, not one who imitated the rich or sought outward display, and no lowly station is beneath His sympathy. His passage through human needs sanctifies every department of life and teaches people to serve God in humble work. Greatness in God's sight comes through humble goodness and faithful service, not prominence. His birth and laying in a manger drew the intense attention of the created worlds, while the humble manger marked His reception on earth. That birth is God's immeasurable gift to the world, and gifts offered in response should honor God and support making Christ and His salvation known. It belongs to the precious story of the Babe of Bethlehem, whom children are to be taught is the hope of the world.