“An ox knows its owner, and a donkey its master’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” Isaiah 1:3

“Why lies He in such mean estate, where ox and ass are feeding?”

The passage in Isaiah isn’t well known to many, but it is appropriate for Christmas. It is believed that it is the reason for the ox and donkey in the Nativity scenes. The point is that the animals seem to know their Creator when His own “knew him not.”

John wrote that Jesus was in the world, and the world was made by him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

The Nativity Scene is among the most popular art work in the world. There is no doubt that it staged more than any other theatrical production in history. Little boys in bathrobes, and little girls with a scarf on their head and a doll in their arms have found their way to the manger for ages.

Jesus rejoiced that His Father chose the simple things to communicate the Gospel. Children’s Christmas programs have gotten people into the church that no preacher could. Parents stretch to see, cameras point the direction of a cardboard star; shepherds walk with sticks, and Wise Men carry gifts.

The story is told in a heartfelt way, because children, like the Ox and donkey, are usually better believers than adults. We like to know about God; we study Him, dissect His story, and choose from the Gospel Table as if it were `a la carte.

Children simply see Him as a baby who is God, and they believe. They easily answer the question from the hymn: “What Child is this who laid to rest on Mary’s lap is sleeping? Whom Angels greet with anthems sweet, while shepherds watch are keeping?”

“This is Christ the King!”