Today I saw a cattleshed and, of course, in this Christmas season I can't help but think of the shed that Joseph and Mary were reduced to sheltering in, in order to give birth to their first born son who they wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in a feeding manger ( Luke 2:7). Perfect lambs were sometimes similarly placed in the stone feeding troughs for protection, before they were sacrificed by the High Priest. Therefore it is of great significance that whilst the Gospel of John does not give details of Jesus's birth, in the first chapter John the Baptist is recounted as saying of Jesus: "Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29). Jesus does not appear as a typical hero who fights adversity in his own life and moves from rags to riches. He is first laid in a feeding trough as a lamb ready for sacrifice, and He continued to sacrifice Himself throughout His earthly life, right up to his gruesome death on the cross. Somehow, for me, Jesus's total humility and love, representing His unherolike life, actually make His teachings and truths more credible. He came to save us.
