make false accusations about him , slander his reputation , seize him , arrest him , judge him and murder him by nailing him to a wooden cross .
And just as he was born as a Saviour in rejection , so he will die rejected .
Here is yet another dimension to the curious sign that is the manger . In a very real sense this birth in a barn and his placement within an animals ’ feeding trough is a foretelling , a foreshadowing if you will , of the greater rejection that this child will suffer in his adult death . It is a rejection that he was destined to suffer . It is difficult for many people to understand this part of the plan and purpose of God , but the reason for Jesus ’ birth is not simply the stable image of Christmas . Rather it is his endurance of the cross on Good Friday and his absence from the empty tomb on Easter Sunday .
This child is born for one reason , and for one reason only : to die in your place for the forgiveness of your sins .
But if this is the case , you must ask yourself : “ What took him to that humiliating death and what kept him so resolutely determined to walk
THE MANGER 47
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