“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” (Matthew 1:23 NKJV)
When our daughter was a toddler, we made the mistake of putting our wooden Nativity set under the Christmas tree where she could easily reach it. One day I noticed that Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, and the wise men were all looking lovingly down at an empty manger. Baby Jesus was missing! I started looking all over the house for the Messiah. The King of Kings was nowhere to be found.
I noticed our daughter’s little yellow Fisher Price school bus in the corner. Looking inside, I could see that the bus had the usual passengers -- the bald Fischer Price doctor, the construction worker with his little hardhat, a policeman, a mommy pushing a baby carriage, and the bus driver. They were all smiling in their places; but there in the third seat back was Baby Jesus with a big smile on His face, too. I was struck with the realization that my tiny child had solved the mystery of the Incarnation in her own special way. She seemed to know that Baby Jesus did not come to stay in a manger, but belonged on the bus, hanging out with all the people. Come to think of it, putting the Nativity set under the tree was not a mistake at all.
You want a great exercise for Advent? Take the baby Jesus out of your Nativity set, carry Him to work or school or the coffee shop with you today. People might be whispering about your apparent weirdness, but you will know the real secret. After all, that is where Jesus belongs -- God with us.
-- Excerpted and adapted from “Come to the Manger” by Robert Kaylor
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