Away in a Manger

Christmas time is near! We may celebrate differently in 2020. Yet, the truth of  Jesus’ birth has not changed.

The carols speak to us the rich history of Christ’s birth. “Away in a Manger” is based upon Luke’s passage: “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 (Luke 2:7).

This familiar Christmas lullaby has been commonly known as “Luther’s Cradle Hymn” and supposedly composed by him for his children. But upon further examination, that is not certain. In 1945 Richard Hill found it in a songbook written by German Lutherans in Pennsylvania, but no record of this Christmas carol in Luther’s works.

Yet the carol is based on scriptural evidence for Jesus’ birth. But why be born in a manger? Wasn’t that just poor planning? Why not in a hospital or in a home with a midwife? We know Mary and Joseph faced an unexpected wrinkle in their plans—the census issued by Caesar Augustus, that sent everyone to their place of birth for taxation. This sent Joseph and Mary on a road trip to Bethlehem at just the ‘wrong’ time in Mary’s pregnancy. Poor planning? Or God’s exquisite planning?

The timing of Christ’s birth was so exactly arranged in every detail fulfilling all the previous prophecies given hundreds of years earlier about the Messiah’s coming. These prophecies are like signposts pointing the way to Jesus Christ so we can be certain He is the one.

If you calculate the probability of even 20 of the 109 prophecies of Messiah’s life being fulfilled in just one man you will come up with odds of: One in one quadrillion, one hundred and twenty-five trillion! Pretty compelling evidence!

If God arranged every detail of the birth of His Son so there is no possibility any other person in history could have fulfilled the prophecies, he wants you and I to know exactly who Jesus is. And if He identifies with the common in his birth, certainly He knows all about you and I and our concerns. The things we see around us may appear to be accidental, frustrating, and not making any sense, but remember God is behind the scenes working out His plans and purposes for your life and for this world. So, join me in singing:

Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay

close by me forever, and love me, I pray.

Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care,

and take us to heaven to live with Thee there.

Written by Campus Pastor Sherree Lane