Be Still And Know

READ: Luke 2:5-7 NLT 'Mary gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.' In a few brief verses Luke summarizes the birth of Jesus. Brief as they are, Luke offers us more details than any of the other gospel writers. That means that we need to treasure every detail that he gives us, and they are all amazing. After placing the birth of Jesus within Roman and Jewish history we are given some very specific details about the birth. With the town crammed full for the census there was, not surprisingly, nowhere for the family to stay and after his birth Jesus was placed in a manger, a cattle feeding trough. The manger has been dolled up over the years and on many Christmas cards it looks like an idyllic place to be put straight after birth. But it wasn’t. It was just the only place that was available. It would have been smelly and unhygienic and the last place that anyone would want to use for a newborn. The idea