Why I Love My Historically Inaccurate Nativities

I finally had to stop collecting them. Each year during my holiday shopping, I would see a new Nativity set that called my name, and before long I had more sets than I had surfaces to display them. There is this classic one with a stable that I bought after the holidays at Meijer one year:
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There's the one I bought while shopping with my aunt the day my uncle unexpectedly passed away:

There is the miniature one that is technically a set of tree ornaments, but I display them in our bathroom:

My sisters and I made a hanging wall Nativity when we were all newly married, and when our kids were growing up, we would read the nativity story in small increments and hang one character or object from the Christmas story each night before bed.

​After my grandmother died, I inherited the ceramic Nativity my mom gifted her many years ago. And I've passed along a couple of other sets to our adult daughters. ​

I think what I love most about Nativities are their purpose--they tell a story. Not just any story, but the greatest, central story about who God is and who we are and just how far He has gone to save, redeem, and restore us to Himself. 

It has been interesting to explore some of the history--much of which is heavily debated--surrounding the birth of Christ. Was He actually born in a barn? Or was it a stable, a cave, or a guest house? Were Mary and Joseph all alone, or were there midwives there to help? Was He really born in December or was it in early Spring, like some speculate? And why are the Wise Men included when they likely didn't visit the newborn King until He was not so newly born anymore?

While these details are interesting and significant to a lot of folks, for me, they really don't matter. They do not alter or take away from the beauty and mystery surrounding that holy night so long ago. 

Here is what speaks to me:

1. Mary's surrendered heart: Mary was not perfect--she was human. She was waiting and praying for the Messiah along with everyone else (Luke 1:46-55). Yet, the angel Gabriel says she is highly favored by God. Her response to his astounding message reveals her heart, beautifully submitted to God and to His plan to bring the Messiah into the world through her. "I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me according to your word." Her posture was humble as she welcomed her son and Savior.

2. Joseph's obedience: Joseph was an upright man, but he knew there could be only one natural explanation for why his fiancé was pregnant. That is, until an angel visited him in a dream, offering a supernatural explanation and instructions to not go through with the quiet divorce he was planning. (It seems that when something humanly impossible is happening, the best way to deliver the news is through an angel!) Joseph believed the angel, believed Mary, obeyed his commands, and chose a life of obedience and trust. Exactly the kind of earthly dad and fatherly example Jesus would need.

3. The Shepherds: Again, the angels delivered the incredible news of Christ's birth, and to shepherds of all people! The shepherds, who stood on the bottom rung of the social ladder, were the first to hear that the Savior had been born for them. And they, too, believed (these angels were very convincing) and hurried off to find the babe exactly how the angels had described. The lowly shepherds worshipped the perfect lamb of God, the One who one day would be called the Good Shepherd. 

4. The Wise Men: Prominent men from afar, following a star, in search of a new King. And when they came to the place where the child was (whether Jesus was sucking his thumb, crawling, or toddling around the house really makes no difference to me), they worshipped Him and offered their gifts. Three kings bowing before the King of Kings.

5. The Angels: They are the heavenly messengers delivering messages that would otherwise be unbelievable. 

6. Jesus: Creator God enters creation as a baby: tiny feet, beating heart, blood pumping through veins. He walked in our shoes, suffered as we did, yet He was without sin. Perfect, and then broken, for us. Feet nailed to the cross, heart of love poured out, blood spilled to forgive our sin. And guess who was at the empty tomb to announce His resurrection? You guessed it, an angel!

Each scene and each character in the story reinforces the supernatural events, abounding love, and amazing grace of God. Each person's unique experience corroborates the truth about who this baby was and their belief that what God had said was absolutely true. A baby in a manger, the Savior, born for you and for me. It truly is the very best story ever told. The story of the ages. The hope and fears of all the years, met in Him that night.