by Pastor Douglas Brauner

God’s Promise Fulfilled

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

 ^“And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.” 
Luke 2:16 English Standard Version

No, the next gazillion devotions that I write will not feature my grandsons, but since we’re celebrating the birth of our Savior, it seemed good to write a devotion for the Second Day of Christmas about babies and the places we lay them to rest.

My grandson had a Cadillac of a “manger” in which to rest after the trauma of his birth. I don’t want to know its cost, but it was quite a comfortable bed. Not only was the bed warm and comforting, the nurses displayed their skill in wrapping him, making him believe he was back in the womb.

We may too often think how crude it was for Jesus, the Savior of the world, to make his first bed a manger. I can’t imagine Mary or the midwives not making that manger the most comfortable manger in the world. Though possibly made of stone, it would have been prepared for a king. I have a feeling that Mary and the midwives wrapped this baby so tight he believed he was in his mother’s womb.

The manger is more about God fulfilling his promise than a crude bed for the world’s king. Three times Luke tells us about the manger. It was the place of his first bed, it was the promised fulfillment to shepherds, and it was evidence that what the angel spoke was the truth of God’s gift.

More than likely, you have a manger in your Christmas crèche holding the infant child. Let that manger remind you that God’s word is sure. As the angel promised the shepherds that they would find a baby in a manger, may you also know with certainty that this baby is your savior, the One who would one day hang on a cross only to burst from the womb of the grave, the first born not just of Mary, but the firstborn from the dead.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado