Daily Devotion

“Ah, Lord, who hast created all, / How hast Thou made Thee weak and small, / That Thou must choose Thy infant bed / Where ass and ox but lately fed! … Ah dearest Jesus, Holy Child, / Make Thee a bed, soft, undefiled, / Within my heart, that it may be / A quiet chamber kept for Thee.”

Martin Luther · "Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her" (1535), tr. Catherine Winkworth, Lyra Germanica, first series

Scripture

Luke 2:7 So she gave birth to her firstborn son, wrapped him in cloths and put him in a manger, because there was no room in the inn.

Reflection

We often believe that through effort, piety, and planning, we can eventually draw closer to God; but in his Christmas hymn Luther marvels that the Lord who created all made Himself weak and small and lay in a manger. Salvation is never about man climbing upwards, but about God condescending downwards. The manger in Luke's Gospel reveals the busyness and rejection of the human heart, but also demonstrates God's choice and humility. The inn had no room, yet it could not stop God from coming. Ultimately, what truly needs to be emptied is not the world, but our hearts, so that Christ may enter.