Humble Barn

My favorite part of the Christmas story is probably when the angels appear to the shepherds. They are told that the king is born! How exciting! They are to go find Him! The angels come and sing their beautiful songs, and tell them how to get to where the king is staying - in a stable. A stable, in case you were wondering, is a nice word for a barn. That’s right, the shepherds were told to go find the king in a smelly, noisy, barn.

When they got there, they saw Jesus, the king, lying in a manger, which is a nice way to say animal feeding box. He was wrapped in a cloth, probably not even as nice as the pictures that we look at portray. Probably thin, torn, and rugged, it was just a covering. The hay was probably what actually kept Him decently warm.

No, they were not led to a palace, with gold walls and hundreds of guards. No, they did not see a beautiful crib for Him to lay in, or a warm, comfortable blanket to keep Him warm. They saw the humble abode of animals.

Why was Jesus there in the first place? Well, pregnant Mary had been traveling with Joseph, and she was very tired, as expected. So they had tried to find a place to stay. So many people had come before them, that when they asked for a room the answer was, “No room”. They asked many people, only to always receive the same response. Finally, someone pointed to the barn, and said, “There, go there.” They didn’t care that a king was about to be born. They were indifferent.

Back to the shepherds meeting Jesus. Shepherds aren’t the richest people on earth, and so they probably were accustomed to the poverty in the stable. Also, they were used to the smelly animals; they took care of sheep. If a worldy king were to be born, most likely, shepherds would not be the first to meet him. But God wanted people to know that money, riches, and honor - those don’t matter. It doesn’t matter if you're poor, or live in a barn. He wanted the world to know that you do not have to be born in the spotlight to be a king.

Most kings in the world are proud, rich, and selfish. The Roman rulers fit that description perfectly. God didn’t want Jesus to have temptations to be like them. He wanted Jesus to be humble, meek, and unselfish. And so Jesus was born in a humble barn, away from the wicket popularity and selfish greed that the rulers of that day had. Jesus was born a true king. In a humble barn.

~Alice