We can linger at the manger. We don’t have to dash off and contemplate the Cross. Or rush to meditate on the victory of Christ. We can stay and ponder the humble manger.
In the Western Church, the manger tends to be wooden and full of straw. An inappropriate bed for a new born babe.
There was another wooden box, which wended its way through the wilderness and then rested in a temple. The Ark of Covenent contained Manna. The manger held the Bread of Heaven, Jesus, who now feeds His own people with His Body.
The manger reminds us of the basket that carried Moses to the Egyptian princess. Moses grew up to became the ‘hope of a nation’, and Christ became the Hope of All Nations.
And as Noah climbed aboard the Ark, with His family, saving them from God’s judgement. Similarly, the manger leads us to remember how the Firstborn of Many, has come to save His family at the Judgement Day.
Traditionally, in Orthodoxy, the manger is sometimes thought to be made from stone. We see this in the Sacred Icons.
The stone manger can remind us of the Tomb, which hid His body. It was the place of Jesus’ Resurrection.
This feeding trough draws our thoughts to the Eucharist, where we feed on Christ; His Body and Blood.
It points us to the Mountain in the Book of Daniel. From where the Uncut Stone rolls down and subdues all empires of this World.
Daniel 2 v 34
While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them.
These six types help us to understand the meaning of the manger in the nativity story. Something so small and inconsequential becomes holy through holding Christ.
And likewise, we become holy by carrying Christ within us too.
Happy Christmas
Merry Christmas, Brother Alexander!
Merry Christmas! Great reflection. I’ve recently been intrigued by the Eucharistic symbolism of the manger and the significance of Christ being placed into a food trough. It’s especially potent in the Eastern iconographic tradition you mentioned which depicts the manger as a tomb which obviously ties the Eucharistic imagery together with Christ’s death.