Monday Motivation: Donkey & Lamb

Friends

Do you have a nativity set at your house? If you are like me, you might have several. What characters are in your Nativity scene? I bet you have Wise Men, those three Kings of Orient are. How about shepherds? An angel? Of course, there must be joseph and Mary beside the manger where baby Jesus lay. But what about the animals? It all happened in a stable, after all. There must have been animals there, right?

 

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“And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judæa, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.”

Luke 2:4-6 – KJV

 

Every year, I carefully place my eight-piece porcelain Nativity set on my dining room buffet. While decorating the other day, I took a moment to examine each tiny piece. There are the three wise men, each with a tiny crown, two standing, one kneeling, all bearing gifts. There is a tall Joseph and a kneeling Mary. Baby Jesus lies in a manger laden with hay. As I fingered each tiny piece and placed them just so, I paused to consider the remaining two figurines in the set, a donkey and a lamb.

 

But why a donkey and a lamb? There would be lots of animals near a stable. A barnyard might house cows, horses, chickens or pigs. But none of those animals appear in my Nativity set, only a donkey and a lamb. Why?

 

As I placed the tiny donkey next to the figure of Joseph, I answered my own question. Of course, there would be a donkey at the scene of Jesus’ birth. The scriptures tell us that Joseph went up from Nazereth to Bethlehem with Mary, his pregnant fiance. It was more than 90 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem, quite a long journey on foot. The King James version states that mary was “great with child.” I remember well what it was like to be “great with child.” There’s no way Mary walked to Bethlehem, and she, “great with child.” In my ninth month of pregnancy, I could barely waddle through the grocery store, let alone walk over 90 miles through rough terrain. I am sure all the mothers out there would agree that Mary definitely rode a donkey to Bethlehem. If she rode a donkey on her arduous journey, then certainly, there would be a donkey with them in the stable that night.

 

Still, what about the lamb? The one in my Nativity set is lying down, curled up snugly, watching baby Jesus. But why a lamb? Well, we know there were shepherds nearby on the night of Jesus’ birth, so it stands to reason that there would also be some sheep roaming about. Luke 2:8 describes the scene on the hills of Bethlehem this way: “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night” (Luke 2:8, NIV).

 

When I did a little digging on lambs and shepherds, I uncovered some interesting food for thought. The fact that shepherds were in the fields at night suggests that the timing of Jesus’ birth coincided with lambing season. When pregnant yews were nearing their birthing time, shepherds would stay with their flocks both day and night. Because yews are prone to have multiple births, frequently birthing two or three lambs in a single delivery, shepherds would need to be close by to monitor the health and safety of the birthing mothers and their baby lambs.

 

But here’s something interesting to ponder. In the first century , sheep were kept in the wilderness, well away from towns and villages. According to the Law of Moses, only sheep being raised for use in temple sacrifices could graze on land near populated areas. Every morning and evening in the Jerusalem temple, lambs were sacrificed on the altar as an atonement for the remission of Israel’s sins. These daily sacrifices required a steady supply of unblemished lambs, and since Bethlehem was only five miles from Jerusalem, its grazing fields likely provided the temple with a  local supply source.

 

Another edict from the Law of Moses reserves firstborn lambs for a special sacrificial offering. Because of the yews’ tendency toward multiple births, shepherds would need to attend each birth and mark the firstborn lamb, often with a red cloth tied around its neck. Several sources indicate that newborn lambs were wrapped in swaddling cloths to keep them unblemished. It is even a suggestion by some historians that the shepherds watching their flocks on the night of Jesus’ birth were temple or rabbinical shepherds, their primary occupational focus being to raise the sacrificial lambs for the Jerusalem temple.

 

Throughout all the years I spent teaching adult Sunday School, I was struck again and again by God’s love of symbolism. All through the Bible, God uses signs, symbols, and analogies to weave connections, to make us think, to remind us of who He is and what He has done. Staring at the characters in my Nativity set, I began to make some powerful connections.

 

As I fingered that tiny lamb in my Nativity set, I was reminded of those lambs born in the fields near Bethlehem and carried to the altar in Jerusalem, firstborn lambs marked with a red cloth, set apart from the others, intended for special sacrifice, lambs protected from blemish by swaddling cloths to keep them pure and white. That tiny lamb made me ponder another lamb, a lamb lying in a stable attending the birth of a baby boy born in a manger, a firstborn child born to become a sacrifice, born to be a ransom for many,born to be Heaven’s perfect lamb..

 

I thought about a baby boy wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger filled with hay, swaddling cloths used for protection, to keep a lamb unblemished now wrapped around a tiny frame of a child who would become the salvation of the world. I thought about a baby boy born in Bethlehem, the City of David, so named for the shepherd boy whom centuries before had been plucked from his flocks in the fields near Bethlehem and crowned by the prophet Samuel as God’s chosen King of Israel. I couldn’t miss the symbolism as I contemplated the baby boy descended from the house and lineage of David who would call himself the Good Shepherd and become the King of Kings and Lord of Lords forevermore.

 

Yes, it is fitting that a lamb should be there in my Nativity scene, and also a donkey. A donkey delivered Mary to Bethlehem. A donkey delivered Jesus in His mother’s womb to the site of His birth. Fast forward 33 years to the day when the palm branches were waving, when the cloaks lined the street and the joyful Hosannas rang in the air, a donkey carried Jesus down that cloak-covered street into Jerusalem, a donkey delivered Jesus to the site of His death.

 

The donkey, a sign of deliverance, the lamb, a sign of atonement, both witnessing the birth of salvation, the coming of the Christ Child, the advent of the promised Messiah. Signs, connections, God wastes nothing to remind us of His presence, His good purposes, his promises. God showed up in a stable to give us a gift we don’t deserve. John 3:16 tells us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

John 3:16 NIV

 

That, dear friends, is the gift of Christmas, the reason for the season. That’s our promise for all who would believe. That’s our hope.

 

God wastes nothing. He can use a stable, a manger, even a lowly donkey and a tender lamb to remind us of His presence and His promises. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I will ever look at my Nativity set in quite the same way again.

 

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“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”

Luke 2:7 KJV

 

PRAYER

 

O Gracious Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your Son to us, thank You for His gift of salvation. We could never earn it or deserve it, but You graciously give it because You love us so deeply. Thank You for using anything, and everything, to remind us of Your presence and Your promises, even a lowly donkey and a tender lamb.

In the Powerful Name of Jesus, we offer our thanks and praise,

Amen

 

Advent Blessings,

Anita

 

-APS 12/18/2023