CHRISTMAS II

December 24, 2022, 11 pm

Christ Church, Woodbury, N. J.

 

St. Luke 2:15-20

 

“And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:12)

 

Earlier this evening, if all went according to schedule, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem celebrated Christmas Midnight Mass at Saint Catherine’s Church in Bethlehem. In addition to the congregation present within the church, vast crowds were gathered outside to watch the liturgy broadcast live on large screens set up in Manger Square. Some of the local families who were present in the church claim descent from the earliest Christians in the vicinity, who from the first and second centuries kept alive and handed down the memory of the exact location of Christ’s birth—a cave among trees at the end of a ridge, so it was said.

 

Saint Justin Martyr wrote of this cave in the mid-second century, as did Origen of Alexandria in the third—even though the Emperor Hadrian had turned the site into a pagan shrine of Adonis in a vain effort to wipe out all vestiges of Judaism and Christianity in the region. Then, in the fourth century, the Emperor Constantine constructed on the site a Christian church, the Basilica of the Nativity, rebuilt by the Emperor Justinian in the sixth century, and still standing, restored and renovated many times, to this day.

 

Throughout the year, pilgrims wait in the basilica, sometimes for hours, to descend a stone staircase to visit the Grotto of the Nativity, located directly underneath the high altar. Set in the stone floor, a fourteen-pointed silver star marks the spot with the inscription in Latin: “Here Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary.” Close by, a small side chapel marks the location of the manger.

 

Saint Luke’s Gospel tells us that Mary wrapped her newborn in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger “because there was no place for them in the inn.” Recent studies suggest, however, that “inn” is a misleading translation. Bethlehem at that time was a small village, far from any main roads where commercial inns for travelers were located. In this case, then, the word translated as “inn” is more accurately rendered “guest room.” 

 

When Mary and Joseph arrived in Joseph’s ancestral home of Bethlehem to be counted in the census, one of the villagers—perhaps a relative of Joseph’s—would have given them lodgings. The customs of hospitality demanded no less. But since many others had come to Bethlehem, all the available guest rooms were taken. Family dwellings in that area were often built against hillsides and included natural or man-made caves, used to shelter animals during the night. So, Mary and Joseph were probably given lodgings in just such a cave.

In Luke’s Gospel, the Greek word translated “manger” is derived from the verb “to eat,” and denotes a stone feeding trough for animals. The English word “manger” has a similar derivation, coming from the French verb manger, to eat. The cave in which Mary and Joseph stayed would have been furnished with such a feeding trough, ready to serve as a makeshift cradle for the newborn Jesus. 

 

Early Christian writers such as Saint Ambrose and Saint Augustine point out that this image of Jesus at his birth, wrapped in swaddling cloths and placed in a stone manger in a cave foreshadows Jesus at his death, taken down from the cross, wrapped in a linen shroud, and placed on a stone slab in another cave. The parallel symbolism suggests that the Lord’s death fulfills the purpose for which he was born into the world in the first place. Other writers note that the name Bethlehem means “house of bread,” so that in the manger we see the one who has come down to be for us the true Bread from Heaven. When we go to the Altar Rail for Holy Communion, we make a cradle of our hands to receive Him.

 

We don’t know exactly at what time of year Jesus was born, but Mary’s bundling him in swaddling cloths does suggest that it was cold. In any case, the sight of a newborn swaddled and lying in a manger was sufficiently unusual that the shepherds would have recognized instantly that they’d found exactly what they were looking for.

 

For in the fields outside the village, the angel had told them: “This will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” For the shepherds, then, the sign’s purpose was to confirm the truth of the angelic announcement: “Behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” 

 

Without the angelic announcement, the sight of a swaddled newborn lying in a manger wouldn’t have been that much out of the ordinary. And without the sign, the angelic proclamation of the Savior’s birth would have gone without verification. The shepherds’ unique calling is to put the two together, the announcement and the sign, and then bear witness to what they’ve heard and seen.

 

The shepherds fulfill this calling admirably. Their immediate response to the angel’s message is to go as quickly as they can into Bethlehem to see this thing that the Lord has made known to them. And when they find Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger, they relate what the angel has told them concerning this child. All who hear their testimony are filled with awe. The shepherds thus become the first human preachers of the Gospel. Finally, they return to the fields, glorifying and praising God. For the true preaching of the Gospel always leads to worship and adoration.

 

But Mary’s reaction is unique. Luke tells us that she kept all these things in her heart, pondering them. As we celebrate Christmas, a temptation for us may be to join in the seasonal festivities, sing the carols, exchange greetings, and give gifts—and then forget all about it until the same time next year, and then again the year after that. Perhaps that’s what the shepherds did—carry on with the rest of their lives just as before, save for occasionally remembering the strange proceedings of a winter’s night and wondering whatever became of that couple and their newborn son in the manger …

 

But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Here she holds up an example for us. If some aspect of our celebration of Christmas touches you this evening, even if you don’t understand all at once what it all means—nonetheless, don’t let it go. Hold on to it. Ponder it in your heart. Who knows how it may grow, and where it might lead?