One of our favorite Christmas rituals is the setting out of a manger scene that has been in our family for generations. All of the children in our extended family are eager to help arrange the manger’s many pieces. It’s a joy to see those little fingers meticulously work on the placement of every angel and shepherd and watch as they repeatedly step back and evaluate their work.
Our manger scene tradition seems to always prompt questions. “Did the baby Jesus get cold in the manger?” “Did Mary and Joseph have a blanket to cover him, or were the swaddling clothes warm enough?” One recent Christmas, one of my nieces asked the most profound question yet: “Uncle Alex, why did Jesus come?”
“That’s a great question,” I said. “A really great question.” Because when you think about the reasons why Jesus came, Christmas becomes all the more meaningful. A number of important realities converged in Christ’s arrival on Earth. In the birth of Christ, prophecy was fulfilled, the Person of God was displayed and our sin debt has been paid. Not only those things, but we have victory over death, and Satan is defeated!
Scripture teaches that the manger held not just another baby, but God Himself clothed in human flesh. It has been said, “Many men have sought to be God, but only one God sought to be man.” Much of the world now opts for an undefined observance called “the holidays,” but Christians celebrate Christ—a specific Person who was born for a definite purpose.
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