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Listen while you read: "Child In The Manger"1
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Mark 12:1-8 – A man planted a vineyard. … Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. … He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed. He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, "They will respect my son." But the tenants said to one another, "This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours." So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. (NIV)
While we were looking at this parable of Jesus at a Bible study, I was asked the question, "Do you think Santa Claus is God?" I said, "No, I do not." The person then asked me if I had anything of Santa in my home. I gave a negative response to this question as well. My miniature Christmas village has only nativity scenes in the house yards.
The question, though, made me realize that I had never before thought of this parable in terms of Christmas. The servants represent the prophets, the landlord is God, and the son represents Jesus Christ.
John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV)
How incredible it is to think that God the Father sent His only Son, Jesus, through Whom the universe was created, as a helpless baby born of the Virgin Mary in the little town of Bethlehem! The angel Gabriel told Mary to call her baby "Jesus", which means, "God saves". How much more inconceivable to think that God would love mankind so much that He was willing to send His Son to save us from our sins! In the parable, we are represented by the tenants who caused Jesus to be killed and thrown out of the vineyard, so to speak. Jesus came to earth to be the Lamb of God Who died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sin.
The baby Jesus grew up to be a man Who lived among the people. He went about doing good and showing kindness and compassion. He did miracles of healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and raising the dead to life. He gave sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and the ability to walk to the lame. Everywhere he went, Jesus preached the good news of God's salvation. St. Nicholas was a man who practiced charity, goodness, and love, inspired by the kindness and compassion of Jesus. We should emulate these qualities, too.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank You that Jesus Christ came to earth to be our Saviour. We ask that the Holy Spirit would be our guide as we live day by day. Help us to show kindness, goodness, and love to our families and neighbours, not just at this time, but all year round. Amen.
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About the author:
Ruth Rowe <ruthjohn.rowe@gmail.com>
Elliot Lake, Ontario, Canada
Send your feedback to the author
Thanks for the encouraging words, Ruth. Have a Merry Christmas.
Thank you for your beautiful devotional.
Keep writing.
Thank you, Ruth. I had never looked at it that way either!
Blessings.
Thank you, Ruth, for this new look at one of the parables. Very thought-provoking.
Morning Ruth:
Well you fooled me this time. I usually can tell when a PresbyCan is written by you in the way you begin. However that was not the case today and I didn’t even clue in until I read your name. Enjoyed it, nonetheless.
Thank you, Ruth, for today’s beautiful devotion.
This connection is excellent way to learn about Jesus.
I never thought of it that way.
Tanks again, and many blessings to you,
(Québec)
Dear Ruth,
First, merci for a stimulating devotional. Secondly, apt analogy that the servants are the prophets in Jesus’ provocative parable of the Tenant farmers.
Good day.
Good to see another devotional from you Ruth. Yes, the love and care shown by Jesus surely needs to be shown more these days to get the world back to a better place. It is so sad to hear of the crimes every day and we need strive to spread the word of our Lord by showing His ways to those around us.
Blessings for writing and may you enjoy a blessed Christmas.
Good morning, Ruth,
I had not looked at the parable in that light before. A few years ago I studied Jesus in Genesis with a friend from an older book of her uncle’s. It was eye opening for me. Truly there is so much to learn from the Bible, and it is wonderful when others share their insight and faith.
Blessings and Merry Christmas.
Hi Ruth,
Thank-you for writing this. I feel like I have been convicted by this.
We do have a lovely nativity scene outside, but we also have an old-fashioned Santa out there too, plus a picture in the house and a doorstop. I feel like I must get rid of them immediately.
Thank-you.
Hello Ruth,
I wanted to let you know how much I appreciated the insight that you showed in your devotional this morning about The Parable of The Vineyard, Santa, and Christmas. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts through this devotional.
(ON)
Good morning, Ruth,
Thank you for your good words this morning. Re Santa Claus, I am with you. We have a nativity scene in the room, a stable I built myself years ago, and the people and animals our daughter and I painted in 1992.
For years I have bought little plaster of Paris ornaments and painted them for my grandchildren, now I am doing it for their children. But they are harder and harder to get. In the past I have found some stars and that sort of thing, but this year all I could find was Santa Clauses, 4 in a kit. I painted 8 of them for the local great grandchildren. They look nice, but the thought about the real meaning of Christmas went through my mind several times while I was painting them. But one little fellow asked his mom if Opa was going to paint something for him again. I did not want to disappoint him/them, so I got them done.
Blessings.
The key to Jesus his birth, his life, his death is GIVE.