The cries of a newborn were heard from an animal feeding trough in a little town called Bethlehem. God had come to earth as a baby, utterly dependent on the care of Mary and Joseph. The God who created the sun was wrapped in swaddling cloths to keep Him warm. The omnipresent God who cannot be confined by human temples was contained in the temple of a human child. The Lord exalted above the heavens was born as an infant and laid in a dirty and unsanitary manger: “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7).

No doctors or nurses attended Him. He received no medical tests or vaccines. Furthermore, there was no aroma of gingerbread or apple cider in the air—only the stench of manure and the smell of birth. This was not a bright and starry night as depicted by Christmas cards and carols. The Lord Jesus entered the world in the most humiliating manner imaginable. 

Considering that Jesus is the “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, [and] Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6-7), you might expect a more glorious and unforgettable entrance into the world. But instead of a breathtaking and royal arrival displayed to the whole world, Jesus was humbly born in the presence of only Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the company of dirty animals. No red carpet or triumphal band accompanied the arrival of the King of Kings. And this is the way God ordained it.

Jesus was demonstrating what kind of Savior He was from the moment He took His first breath. He had not come to overthrow the Romans. He would not dominate Israel’s opponents by consuming them with wrath from heaven. He would allow Himself to be consumed by wrath from heaven. And being born in the lowliest of places embodies His humility. The apostle Paul summed it up perfectly when he said:

“Though he [Jesus] was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:5-8).

And He did it for you. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.