The sign, given by an
angel, of the Messiah’s coming was underwhelming and ill-fitting at first glance:
a rag-wrapped newborn, laid to cry in a trough.[1]
Yet this was the signal sent from God and declared by heavenly messengers: You
will find the Son of God in, of all places, a manger, on the outskirts of an
already backwater town.
Thousands of years
later, many, like the wise men, still seek the Christ. Others, like the
shepherds, perhaps unknowingly await Him, humbly going about their daily work. To
them, the natal sign remains instructive: You will find the Son of God on the
periphery of society. He lives and works among lepers and those possessed of
demons, with publicans and adulterers, alongside Samaritans and shepherds. Indeed, He identifies with the impoverished,
infirm, isolated, and incarcerated (Matthew 25:34-40).
If we would find the
Messiah, we too must journey to the periphery of society. “And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe
wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12).
