Dirty start, white as snow

My intent was not to start December with Christmas themes but it just so difficult to ignore when Starbucks peppermint mocha has already bloomed in full force. John MacAthur wrote an article entitled “The Truth of the Nativity” which is basically about the reality of the nativity scene and the way we currently tend to see it. This post is based from the article and personal experience.

When I was growing up christmas decorations with my grandmother was a highlight of the year for me.
I'm not really sure why that was. Regardless, the nativity scene was one thing that I loved putting up. It was a hand painted ceramic set that my grandmother had made. It had 3 camels, an angel, shepherds, a mule, Mary, Joseph, the 3 wise men, and baby Jesus. It was so clean and I loved organizing it into the perfect position to make it look as real as possible.

How realistic is our view of this clean cut image of a baby in a manger? The mighty King was born in a foul smelling stable! The thought of my wife being pregnant, us being in a strange town and even more so being told that there is no place to stay would be a very big deal to me. So the manger was a relief, I'm sure, to even have that. But the very fact that this was not a household room even. Giving birth to a baby without any mention of someone to aid in Luke 2: 6-8 had to have been a humbling miserable experience. And yet the glory still came to God.

My mind is so set on the happiness of the angels that I over look the fact that Christ came into the world with nothing. Yet thats easy to do with the angels rejoicing at His coming. The savior to the world was born in circumstances that by todays standards would be horrific, in those days it was still a barn. Nativity scenes have forever been changed for me as I now see a clean figurine that is but a taste of the hay on the ground, barn yard animals surrounding, and shepherds being the first visitors the night of the appearance of our Savior. What a glorious, messy, humbling, life giving night when the Word became flesh.

John 1:1-5, 14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.