Our Nativity Scenes Need To Be Corrected

If we were to update the nativity scene this is what we would use for a manger.  The animals reach in through the steel to eat the hay.  I learned a couple years ago from my pastor that just about all of the manger scenes are inaccurate, and since our family was studying ancient history at the time, it didn’t surprise me.  When people read scripture they tend to interject their own definitions and experiences into the text, but to gain a better understanding, study how the people of that time understood what was being talked about.

Wood was scarce in the land of Israel, so it was very expensive.  Most of the wood existed north of Israel and would have to be delivered over much terrain.  A little inconsequential town like Bethlehem could not afford it, let alone poor farmers that lived in the town.  And if someone could afford it, they were not going to use if for their animals.  What was abundant in the area was stone, and that is what was used to make feeding troughs or mangers.  They would carve out a depression for the hay or feed to reside in.

“And this will be a sign for you:  you will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12).  This verse tells us that Jesus wrapped in cloths and lying in that cold stone manger is a sign.  When I typically thought of this as being a sign, I thought that it was what the shepherds were to look for when they reached the town.  But I have learned it is still a sign for us today.  The signs in scripture reveal purpose and meaning of who Christ is and what he came to do.  The sign gives a beautiful picture of the Gospel.

We know of another place Christ was laid in stone and wrapped in cloths.  “And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away” (Matthew 28:59-60).  The same way the Christ child came into the world is the same way that he left the world.  It reveals the reason he came: while we were sinners, Christ died for us.  The perfect, helpless baby grew into a humble sinless man for the purpose of dying a wretched death, taking the penalty of our sin on the cross, so we can live free from the punishment and be clothed in his righteousness.  Only God’s begotten son, God himself, could accomplish this.  Peace came to man, peace between man and God, but the peace was complete after that stone tomb rolled away and Christ rose from the dead to life.

We should update our nativity scenes.  Not only will our hearts be lifted with a reminder of why Christ came, but our neighbors will wonder why we don’t have the “traditional” wooden feed trough.  We will have an opportunity to share the Gospel, the reason for Christ’s birth.