The Bread of Life

Luke 2: 6-7

“6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.”

Arriving in Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph found it to be crowded with people who had traveled there for the same purpose, to be counted so that they could be taxed.  They were all compelled to be there by Rome.   

And, probably to their dismay, Mary and Joseph found that private rooms for guests were in short supply. So they slept in a place where the overflow of people stayed and where animals were kept at night.

While they were there, Mary went into labor; a young girl, as far from home as she had ever been, giving birth to her first child, in a strange place, under unfamiliar circumstances.   

The Bible is silent about her labor.  Was it difficult?  Was it lengthy?  Was Joseph there holding her hand?  Was there a midwife?  All it says is… “and she gave birth…”.  And just like that, the promised Messiah entered the world.

All of the things they had been told by the Angel of the Lord must have come flooding back to Mary and Joseph as they watched and experienced his birth, as they held him and swaddled him.   

And they lay him in a feeding trough; the bread of life.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)