One of my most favorite hymns is “Christmas Has Its Cradle, Easter Has Its Cross” by Rae E. Whitney.  The first few lines link the “cradle” or manger with the Cross of Christ.

"Christmas has its cradle, where a Baby cried;
did the lantern's shadow show him crucified?
Did he foresee darkly His life's willing loss?
Christmas has its cradle and Easter has its cross."

We read in the Gospel of Luke the precious story of the Birth of Jesus.  We know the Bible story by heart: of Mary, great with child, and her husband, Joseph traveling to Bethlehem so they can be numbered in an empire-wide census.  Finding no room to house them for the night except for a stable, Mary gives birth to our Saviour, and Luke tells us that she laid him in something called a manger. (Luke 2:7)

The word used for manger is the Latin word munducare, which means “to chew or eat”. 

Think about that.

Our Lord’s first bed on earth was a feeding trough for animals. Usually filled to overflowing with fodder for beasts of burden, The Christ Child, is swaddled and laid in a manger, a foretold sign to the shepherds then, and to us now, that we are invited to a Birthday feast, the likes we have never seen before!

The Son of God, asleep in a feeding trough, in the little town of Bethlehem, which means “the house of bread” in Hebrew.  Jesus, who will one day say these words: “I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”  (John 6:35) 

It is a divine metaphor to be sure. 

We turn our attention to the idyllic Nativity. Artists have painted, sculpted, and re-created the manger scene throughout the ages. Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and animals are gathered around the manger, staring with Holy Reverence at the Baby Jesus. Several Nativity depictions even place the Wise Men on the same stage, even though their appearance in Scripture doesn’t occur until Jesus is a toddler. The scene is peaceful, serene, and beautiful, but we tend to want to clean up the stable, especially the manger. We want to drape a silk blanket over the fresh straw, and even ensure the swaddling clothes are soft and white. With the brilliant Christmas Star beaming above, and the Heavenly Host in the sky declaring, “Glory to God in the highest!” (Luke 2:13-14) We want to create a kingly cradle for the Christ Child, not lay Him in a smelly, rough-hewn feeding trough for animals.

But the manger is meant to shock, even to offend our sensibilities. We don’t want to believe that the God of the Universe, would allow His only begotten Son to enter this world in such a lowly estate.

But that was God’s Plan.

Just as much as the manger is shocking, how much more is the Cross?  The rough wood, like the manger, with its sharp splinters and blood.  The Christ Child still bloody from the after birth, lying in a manger; The Son of God, tortured and bloodied hanging on a wooden Cross. 

The scene is no longer as serene and peaceful as we once thought.  The Nativity reminds us that Jesus’ earthly ministry may have started in a manger, but His Life’s Blood was shed once for all on the Cross.

Jesus Christ, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!  Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:6-11)

We know how this Christmas story ends, and indeed for all those who believe in the Resurrection, it is too wonderful for comprehension! 

Which brings me back to the hymn:

"Christmas has its cradle, where that Baby cried;
In the Easter garden, Christ lay, crucified;
When death's power was conquered, God's life through Him poured;
Christmas has its cradle and Easter has its Lord!"

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16-17)

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”  (Luke 2:10-12)

Hallelujah!