A Thought Regarding Jesus and Christmas

Consider the fact that when God came to earth and became a human baby that the place they put the Almighty was in a Manger. Now in our modern era we may forget that the a manger was the place were the farmer put the hay and oats for the animals to eat. At once we can see that this was the first of many prophetic pictures of WHO Jesus was and is. Do you see it? The baby Jesus is in the manger - the feeding trough for all the animals. God deposits Himself on earth and immediately and creatively draws a picture for us to see. He puts himself in the place where all the animals come to feed. He is our very food - that which makes us live and grow. (Luke 2:7)

And remember that Jesus told us this very fact later in His 3 &1/2 year public ministry:

"I am the bread of life...." John 6:35 and 6:48

Jesus was so much more than another 'enlightened' teacher and more than another prophet! We don't realize WHO he really was. When you compare Him to mere men and world leaders like Mohammad (The Muslims claim he is a prophet) or Buddha (The Buddhists claim he was an enlightened teacher) or Gandhi (A political leader and peaceful reformist) you begin to see WHO He really was! Not only was He THE true Prophet, THE true Teacher and THE ultimate Leader but He was God who became a Man! He is the very FOOD of mankind... the very forgiveness that reunites us to God! No one compares to Jesus!

Consider also that in addition to the above items He also demonstrated His control over sickness, demons, storms of nature, the laws of physics and ultimately death. He healed scores of people from all ranges of sickness from leprosy to blindness, from crippled hands and backs to people paralyzed. Jesus drove out demons that caused young boys to try to drown themselves (Mark 9:22) and old men to cut themselves and harm themselves (Mark 5:5). Jesus took control over the raging storm on the Sea of Galilee (a furious squall - Mark 4:39) and took control of nature to subdue it. He controls the laws of physics and walks on the water of the Lake (Mark 6:48). Jesus raises the dead son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:13) and Lazarus who had been dead four days (John 11:39). Then ultimately He allows Himself to be killed as the real sacrifice - the one of which all the Old Testament animal sacrifices pointed to - and in doing so God punished Jesus instead of us for all of the sins that we will ever commit and opened the door to true communion and relationship with God Almighty.... for any who are willing!

Jesus wasn't just another man. He was and is a mystery.... the infinite all-powerful and all-loving God who came down into the world that He made by His own power and became one of the people!

So as Jesus feeds the multitude of 5,000 He takes the bread and breaks it as He thanks His Father for it. It is another picture of Jesus the Bread of Life being broken for all the people of the world - to feed us! When our teeth crush the communion bread we are receiving the 'Bread of Life' that is nothing less than Jesus.

"I am the living bread that came down from Heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." (John 6:51)

Conclusion

Therefore when we engage with Christmas let us remember that God put himself in the manger to be FOOD and Life for all of us! That is exactly who Jesus is! Glory to God!