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I’m a fan of the Christian parody band ApologetiX, and they have a song from years ago called “Manger,” which is a parody of the song “Angel” by Shaggy from a number of years ago. The song starts out with the lines: “Girl, use my manger for your darling angel / Cozier than my sheep you ought to be, Mary.” There are some funny lines later in the lyrics, but essentially the song discusses how there was no room for Mary and Joseph when she was about to give birth to Jesus, so they stayed in a stable and she laid the baby Jesus in a manger.

I would guess that for most of us, “manger” isn’t a word we tend to use in our everyday lives. So what is it? A manger is a feeding trough for animals, often made of wood. It’s a pretty lowly, humble wood structure, considering that it’s probably usually covered with the food and spit of animals.

Many people back in the time Jesus was born were expecting the Savior to come in a very grandiose way - probably in a royal palace surrounded by rich possessions. But that’s the opposite of what happened. Luke 2:6-7 says, “While they [Joseph and Mary] were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 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.”

Jesus was born into the most humble of beginnings. The King of the Universe came to earth as a helpless baby boy, who didn’t even have a proper bed in which to lay his head. Jesus continued this humility as He went on with His ministry as an adult. In Mark 10:45, Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Similarly, in Philippians 2:6-11, the apostle Paul writes this about Jesus: “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!”

Jesus came to earth with humble beginnings so that He could be humble even unto death, which was His purpose in coming here in the first place. Jesus was born humble, lived a humble life, and died a humble death. We are called to imitate Jesus in our own lives; how are you at being humble? As humans we want the best for ourselves, but we are called to be humble as Jesus Christ was humble, from the beginning of our life until the very end.