Advent 20: Smart Oxen

Where there are mangers, there are usually animals. That's the simple logical deduction that has created all sorts of tradition around the animals that welcomed Jesus at his birth.

And if there were in fact animals present to greet their Lord, I love what it does to the very first thing Isaiah has to tell us:

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;
for the LORD has spoken:
"Children have I reared and brought up,
but they have rebelled against me.
The ox knows its owner,
and the donkey its master’s crib,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand."
Isaiah 1:2-3

His being born into manger not only allows oxen and donkeys to be the first to recognize him, but it serves as the sign for those with eyes to see to recognize him as well, in contrast to Israel's ignorance.

And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.
Luke 2:12

He's a man born differently, humbly. He enters the world among the most poor, and his first visitors are the only ones poor and smelly enough to feel comfortable visiting a baby that's laying in a manger. The upside-down kingdom gets it start on the very first day.

And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger....and the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Luke 2:16, 20