The meal in a manger

John 1:14 The Word became flesh and dwelled among us.

Over the years, I have talked to lots of pastors and people about the benefits and blessings of celebrating the Lord’s Supper every Sunday. I tell people that at Epiphany we celebrate communion not just on Sundays, but also festival services like Epiphany, Ascension, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.

At one point I was asked why we receive the Lord’s Supper on Christmas morning This dear person felt it was a little strange for a service celebrating the birth of Jesus to transition into receiving this baby’s body and blood. And I get it — the juxtaposition is a bit jarring.

Christmas is a celebration of life. The very Word of God “became flesh and dwelled among us” (John 1:14). Our hymns this morning are filled with hope and joy. We exchange gifts with those we love in remembrance of God giving us the gift of himself in the Christchild. We have nativities set up with angels, Mary, Joseph, humble shepherds, and wise travelers all gathered around this infant-God lying in a manger. That’s right — in a manger.

A manger is a feeding trough. It comes from the Latin word “manducare” meaning “to eat.” And the town where this particular manger was located was Bethlehem, which means “House of Bread.” Jesus later refers to himself by saying, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35) and “I am the bread that came down from heaven” (John 6:41).

The Bread of Life comes down to the House of Bread to be placed in a manger. So yes, the Creator of all things makes himself lowly, to the point of being placed in a feeding trough where dirty animals come to eat.

Those animals do not come to prepare a meal, but rather to receive what has been prepared for them. They come there to be fed. The poor shepherds are there, too. And hosts of angels are there. All gathered around the humblest of tables where the Bread of Life, come down from heaven, has been laid out.

The same body that will be broken in crucifixion for the forgiveness of our sins is first laid in a manger. The Holy God of all that is, laying in a wooden box like a meal for sheep. A feast for sinners. A banquet for beggars. The image is striking and admittedly scandalous.

People were utterly scandalized when Jesus later said, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood will live forever” (John 6:52-58). Thankfully he did not misspeak. He was making us a promise — a promise that has been hinted at since that very first Christmas night. A promise on display in each nativity scene we set up. And it’s a promise he makes good on every time we receive his holy Supper.

We come to the Lord’s altar every week and every festival service to be fed. We come to receive what has been prepared for us. We are sheep coming to eat from what our Good Shepherd has laid out for us. We are sinners waiting for the feast of salvation. We are hungry beggars awaiting the banquet set before us.

It is a mystery that the Word became flesh. It is a mystery that Christ’s flesh and blood are hidden in, with and under the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper! What a mystery! What an honor! Every time you receive the Sacrament, you have a personal, physical encounter with the Son of God. You have forgiveness on your lips. Salvation on your tongue. Taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8).

Whether we kneel together at the communion rail or receive communion through continuous distribution, we eat and drink this Sacrament together. When we commune with our brothers and sisters in Christ, we are not condoning their sins any more than they are condoning ours. Jesus gives us his body and blood for the remission of sins, not for the defense of them. The forgiveness we receive from the body and blood of Jesus is the same forgiveness our brothers and sisters in Christ receive. At the altar, God joins us together as one – bound to each other by sharing the same body and blood, the same forgiveness of sins, the same peace with God that surpasses all understanding.

The truth is everything about Jesus’ birth quietly points to the extraordinary and humble way he intends to keep coming to us. In a very real way, every time we receive the Lord’s Supper, we are experiencing Christmas all over again. The Word became flesh for us, this bread from heaven gifting himself to us sinners again and again. He is the reason why we keep the “mass” in Christmas.

When we recall the harmony of the Word becoming flesh and being placed in a manger and the flesh and blood Son of God being placed on the altar, why wouldn’t we want to receive the Sacrament on Christmas morning? This is a meal that is prepared for us. It is a meal we share with our brothers and sisters in the faith. It is a meal of forgiveness through the Christchild laid in a manger, so he could be the Christ laid on the cross, so he could be the Christ risen from the grave, so he could be the Christ laid on the altar.  

The Bread of Life laid in manger in the House of Bread.

The Bread of Life laid on the altar in the House of the Lord.

Eat, drink, and be forgiven — and Merry Christmas! Amen.