Why the Manger Instead of a Mansion?
By Pastor David Kuntz

“And she brought forth her firstborn Son and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn”  (Luke 2:6-7). 
In a straightforward manner, Luke presents to us the Christmas story.  There are no Christmas trees, lights or decorations set up.  Instead, there was just over crowded inns and stables with animals in them. The Scripture states that when Jesus was born, Mary laid Him in a manger.  A more literal translation of the Greek word for “manger” is a feeding trough.  All that was available to Mary and Joseph was a smelly feeding trough.  These conditions hardly seem fit for a King to be born?  Have you ever wondered why Christ was laid in a manger and not a mansion?  This was not a simple oversight of our Heavenly Father!  Believe it or not, there was a lesson for mankind in that object called a manger!  I’d like to share with you three reasons why Christ was laid in a manger instead of a mansion.  I pray that this message will help all of us put the birth of Christ in its proper perspective for Christmas this year.
           

The first reason why Jesus was laid in a manger was because it pictured His Rejection.  Jesus was born in a stable because there was no room for Him in the inn.  The rejection in the inn depicted what would happen to Him throughout His life.  Not only would the world reject Christ, but His own people Israel would reject Him.  But even more shocking and tragic would be His own brothers who would reject Him (John 7:5).  Matthew 8:20 states that Jesus had nowhere to lay His head.  The only place the Scriptures tell us that Jesus laid His head was on the cross (John 19:30).  The manger perfectly foreshadowed the rejection of Christ in the world.  This same blunder of rejecting Christ still takes place in the hearts of men today.  Many lost sinners reject His claim that He is the way, the truth, and the life.  They reject the overwhelming evidence of Christ’s birth, death and resurrection.  They deny they are sinners, that they need a Savior and that there is an afterlife!  Instead of making room for Christ in their hearts, they set up their own gods there.

The second reason Christ was laid in manager is because it pictures His Redemption.  In Luke 2:11 the angel told the shepherds that the Savior was born in the city of David.  Bethlehem, “the house of bread”, what an ideal birthplace for the Bread of Life!  It wasn’t an accident that Mary laid the bread of life in a feeding trough in a town named “the house of bread.”  So the shepherds ran to the city of Bethlehem to find a Savior in a manger.  Why a manger?  Because that manger pictured our hope of eternal life!  It was also fitting that Jesus the Lamb of God would be laid in a manger.  This was the once and for all sacrifice that would take away our sins forever.   The birth and death of this Lamb would end the futile attempts of sacrifices. 
The third reason Jesus was laid in a manger is because it pictures His Reachability.  Out of a whole Jewish society, God picked shepherds to hear the good news.  Why shepherds?  Why not the chief priests or scribes?  This decision of God is very intriguing for shepherds were outcasts and despised!  What this shows us is that Jesus came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.  The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is about grace – unmerited favor.  This is also seen in the fact the second group Christ’s birth reached was the distant ones in far off lands.  For whosoever comes to the Lord in repentance from sin and faith in Christ will be saved!

To conclude my opening question, “why a manger instead a cradle in a mansion?”  The answer is because the manger perfectly pictured our Savior’s rejection, our Savior’s redemption and our Savior’s reachability.  God chose a manger to simply identify with the least of us.   The picture of our Savior tolerating the stable’s dirt is a fitting metaphor of our Savior bearing the stench of our sin as he died at Calvary!  Thank our Father for the gift that came in a manger.