The Empty Manger

Where did Jesus Go – It is an easy thing to find Christ in Christmas. It has gotten a little more difficult to find him in the public square with political correctness taking hold and Santa Claus, or modern society’s version of the original saint, taking center stage. It’s easy because that baby is just so loveable. Certainly, Jesus would have avoided much of the trouble he encountered later in life if he just would have stayed in that manger.

It is when Jesus leaves the manger that trouble starts. He grows up and starts to say things that make people uncomfortable. Herod was the only one who wanted Jesus dead in the days that followed his birth, but by the time of his crucifixion it seems that there was only a handful that wanted him alive.

We don’t think of babies as challenging the established order of things. They are little bundles of joy to be cuddled and tickled and have much fuss made over them. It is always the adults that cause the trouble.

Jesus grew up and began to expect things of people. He began to proclaim and call for the world to change, but the world is made up of people – We are the ones who make the world the way it is with all its hurts and wrongs and injustices. That means we must change in order for the world to change. That means things must be different first and foremost in our own lives before we can expect anything or anyone else to be different.

Those who showed up in the days after the birth looking for the child in the manger would have to go find him somewhere else. In the years that followed, especially Jesus’ adult years, we hear nothing about his miraculous birth. All of that has been overshadowed by his eating with sinners and fellowship with tax collectors and condemnation of religious hypocrites.

There is a big difference between that cuddly babe in the manger and the adult Jesus who, from some people’s point of view, went a little overboard when he cleansed the temple. But, Jesus must leave the manger behind if he is to save us from our sins, and we must leave it behind as well if we are to grow up into his disciples.

Pastor Craig