How God presents the Royal Savior to us—in crude, abject humility--is a striking contrast and major indictment of how the church presents Jesus to the world, especially at Christmas: Disney-like performance, expensive staging, Las Vegas showmanship, snappy images on a screen, dazzling lights, artificial smoke, a Six-Flags-over-Jesus atmosphere, performers who advertise THEIR talents, and hero worship. Wait a minute. What ever happened to God’s method of presenting His Son and our Savior?

Two Trees in Jesus' Life

If the death of Jesus occurred on a tree, and that death provided new access to the Tree of Life, then isn’t reasonable to expect that the birth of Jesus—to consistently maintain the unifying tree theme--also occurred at a tree of some variation? In other words, Jesus started his life at a tree and also ended his life at a tree. Sounds consistent and reasonable. But is there any textual evidence? There is indeed.

Away in a Feeding Trough: Luke 2:7

No one this Christmas, I suggest, would be willing to sing, “Away in a feeding trough.” “Way too crude, coarse, and inelegant,” you might say. But Luke would sing it for sure. Crude and coarse is his precise message. The traditional wording, “she laid him in a manger” masks humility and the smells of Jesus’ birth.