How did all of that fit in there?!

People do the oddest things to entertain themselves.

Take, for example, how in the late 1950’s there suddenly arose a fad among youth and college students to see how many people could be stuffed into a telephone booth (see photo above).

That craze lasted only about a year, when it as replaced by a new mania of seeing how many people could be stuffed into a Volkswagen Beetle.

Later some would try to see how many people could be squeezed into an elevator, but that didn’t last long.

Stuffing a lot into a little is something most of us have experienced in some way, like when packing for a vacation, stuffing your suitcase full of what you insist you will need, and having to sit on the bag and battle to get it to zip shut (just be careful opening it!).

In America on any given day, there are many who push back from the dinner table and wonder how they got all that food into their belly!

Whether for entertainment, desire, or necessity, sometimes a lot of things have to go into a small space. When it comes to that, the first Christmas is the single greatest act of putting something immense into something small, which happened when Mary laid her baby in a manger.

The initial image in your mind might not make you think, “How did all of that fit in there?!” but it would if you think a little more deeply about just who it was Mary was placing in that manger.

Look the awesomeness and immensity of the pre-incarnate Jesus:

“In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone,” John 1:1-4.

“Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven,” Hebrews 1:1-3.

“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see — such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross,” Colossians 1:15-20.

How could One so awesome, so amazing be laid into a manger? This is how:

“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men,” Philippians 2:5-7 (NASB).

That, my friends, is Christmas.

From myself and the Board of Directors for Scott Free Clinic, merry Christmas!

Scotty