MARY PLACES JESUS IN A MANGER

LUKE 2:7, 12, 16

Only Luke’s Gospel provides us with images of the events surrounding the initial hours of the birth of Jesus in which God came to dwell with us. It is not by coincidence that Luke repeats three times that on this special day Jesus was placed in a manger. As a practical matter, we may find Jesus in the manger because it was convenient. Far more important was the powerful message sent to Israel when Jesus was placed in a manger.

Because the guest rooms in the Bethlehem homes were not available, Joseph and Mary lodged in the next best shelter under the circumstances. In those days, family homes usually had a small collection of animals that provided them with meat, milk, labor, and fertilizer. Because predators prowled the fields during the night, families brought their animals in to a shelter for safekeeping. In Bethlehem that shelter was often a natural cave that either was incorporated into the home as its basement or was close enough to the family’s home to make it a safe haven.30 It was in just such a humble setting that Mary gave birth to Jesus. Because the animals were fed in the cave, feeding troughs known as mangers were placed in the shelter. Thus a manger made of mud or stone was in the animal shelter and could be used as a bed for the newborn King.

Cow feeding at a feeding trough (manger) constructed of mud.

Thatched feeding trough in a basement-cave.

When Mary wrapped her infant son in swaddling cloths and placed him in a manger, she sent the Lord’s message to Israel about the nation’s relationship with God. That is why Luke mentions the manger not once but three times in relating the events of this special day (Luke 2:7, 12, 16). Gabriel had told Mary that her son would be great, would be called the “Son of the Most High,” and would sit on the throne of David (Luke 1:32). Normally such a monarch was born in a royal setting, yet we find the Rescuer of the world lying in a feeding trough.

Although mangers were a common feature of first-century Bethlehem, they were not ordinarily used as a bed for an infant, and certainly not for an infant with royal blood flowing in his veins. Mangers, however, were used in the prophetic imagery of Isaiah to describe Israel’s ignorance in their understanding of God: “Hear O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: . . . ‘The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand’” (Isa. 1:2–3).

Fourth-century sarcophagus of the infant Jesus wrapped in a swaddling cloth and placed in a manger.

In accordance with Isaiah’s message, Luke records the birth of our Savior as unattended by kings, priests, prophets, rabbis, or scribes. Yet Israel was called to come to the Messiah, signified by Mary as she laid her baby in the manger. Jesus in the manger—like the food in the feeding trough—would be Israel’s nourishment. Yet would Israel understand well enough to recognize the Anointed One?

Stone feeding trough (eighth century BC) from the stables of Megiddo.