#The redeemer concert i am jesus christ free

God introduces Himself to us amidst the most crude surroundings. Predictable.īut Jesus, Israel’s infant King, heir to an eternal throne, was laid in a donkey trough, smack in the middle of a fly-infested, smelly barn.

#The redeemer concert i am jesus christ free

The barn built for Henry Ford’s herd of cattle was located a long way off from Edsel’s nursery, free from flies and waste. The wealthy ensure that their children enjoy luxurious care. Predictable.įairlane, Henry Ford’s mansion in Dearborn, Michigan, has an entire section and kitchen dedicated exclusively to the culinary care of Edsel, Henry and Clara’s first-born son. I visited the Dodge Mansion in Pontiac, Michigan, and discovered an entire wing of the mansion dedicated to one child, replete with its own kitchen. Astonishing, yes, but humble and, therefore, very credible. His infant head rests where donkeys have fed. Despite being called the Son of the Most High with claim to King David’s throne (Luke 1:33), despite being the living embodiment of the Lord God of Israel (Luke 1:43), King Jesus, ironically, was born in a stinking barn and placed in an animal’s dish for a crib. Luke is accenting the humble condition of Jesus’ birthplace. A humble God is a credible God, a God worthy of our worship and trust. No audience or applause, except for the braying of donkeys instead, in silence, we all kneel in worship. But a humble God introduces Himself to us in a barn and laid in a hay-filled trough. Desired applause would surely follow, and then the CD sales would begin. Ī proud deity would introduce Himself on a well-lit stage with show-business glitz, complete with multiple seats for an audience of fans. God discloses the message of Jesus in humility. His dead body was also placed in a stone tomb by another Joseph (Luke 23:50-54). Jesus’ newborn body was placed in a stone manger by Joseph and Mary. The story of how God introduces Himself to us is part of Luke’s strategy of credibility. Luke is attempting to persuade us that the story of the Savior Jesus is credible and legit (Luke 1:1-4). It wasn’t the imaginary innkeeper’s fault. God purposely revealed Himself to humanity with a humble approach. The barnyard birth was part of God’s plan of self-disclosure to us. By the time they arrived on foot in the south, all that was left for Joseph and Mary was the area where livestock were kept at night.īut the crude lodging was no mistake.

Traveling upward in elevation, 90 miles from the north (from Nazareth) with a pregnant woman in tow, would naturally put Joseph and Mary in last place on the list for accommodations. The guestroom for visitors was naturally overcrowded during a season for a world-wide census.

After all the angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest,” not, “Glory to Joseph and Mary.” He planned for Jesus’ birth in a smelly, fly-filled barn. In the matter of God’s humble self-disclosure, Scripture refuses to feed our lust for celebrity worship. Despite misleading lyrics of Christmas songs by musicians who invent a frantic but fruitless hunt for accommodations, Joseph and Mary are not rejected heroes. The search for a room by Joseph and Mary and rejection by a heartless innkeeper is pure fiction. Well, there was no heartless innkeeper because there was no inn. Was this a mistake for an infant king to be placed in a stinky barn? Who was to blame for this crude nursery? The heartless innkeeper? Jesus’ first nursery wouldn’t make a feature in Southern Living, and it didn’t smell like Chanel No.5. And while it may offend white, middle-class sensibilities, where we find livestock we also find swarms of flies, rats, waste, and unpleasant odors. In today’s terminology, Jesus was born in a barn and placed in a donkey dish, probably made of stone (see the picture of a stone manger I observed in Israel). Jesus was born in crude quarters relegated for donkeys and then placed in their feeding dish. Donkeys may not know a lot but they do know their own feeding trough. I’m familiar with donkeys from my third-world upbringing. “The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s feeding trough (φάτνῃ), but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” Isaiah 1:3 The prophet Isaiah uses the same exact word but brings the crudeness of Jesus’ first crib into focus. “Manger” is a correct but unappreciated translation of φάτνῃ, an animal’s feeding trough.