And this shall be a sign unto you: ye shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Luke 2:12
What do you find most striking about this verse? Perhaps it’s the fact that the very first place that the Son of God had to lay His head in this world was in a feed box, most likely in a cattle shed. Or perhaps that the first garments that He wore on His entry into this world were the swaddling clothes in which the poor wrapped their newborns in those days. These are all amazing in themselves, for sure. But the words that touch my heart as I consider this verse on another Christmas day are these: ‘Ye shall find the Babe’.
As the Bethlehem shepherds approached the manger, they had no doubts as to Who was lying on the hay. The angels had told them that the Babe was none other than ‘a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord’. Like all of Israel, they had waited long and prayed for the Messiah to come. And He was here! They worshipped. And they rejoiced. They had found the Babe. And in Him they found the answer to their hopes and prayers. They had seen and heard the angels praising God over this very birth, and they joined in the praise. And so should we.
What do we discover when we find the Babe? Firstly, we discover that God keeps His promises. All of the Old Testament foretold the Promised One, and even though many might weary of seeing that promise fulfilled, ‘when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem those who were under the law’ (Galatians 4:4-5). We discover the fulfillment of God’s greatest promise when we find the Babe.
Secondly, we find that God’s great love for us was such that He gave His only begotten Son to take upon Himself humanity. Jesus Christ not only came into the world, but He also entered it with the full experience of humanity, from infancy, to adolescence, to manhood. In his willing humility, He ‘made himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men’ (Philippians 2:7). We discover something of the greatness of God’s love for us when we find the Babe.
Thirdly, we find the wonder of God’s grace. Why would the angels have selected those shepherds to be the ones to visit the manger scene that first Christmas day? I don’t know the answer, any more than I know why God’s saving grace was ever extended to me. Or to you. We discover something of the grace of God when we find the Babe.
Oh that we might find the Babe today, and all that He brought to us in His humble manger bed! – Jim MacIntosh