The Cradle and the Cross

This past Sunday, I shared these devotional thoughts prior to our church observing the Lord's Supper.  Jesus came into this world to die.  We can’t celebrate Christmas without celebrating the reason He came - the cross.  Let’s look at some of the events that were common to both:

	The Cradle	The Cross
Darkness	Jesus was born at night	When Jesus died it became as dark as midnight even though it was afternoon
Swaddling clothes	Jesus was wrapped as a babe in swaddling clothes	Jesus’ body was wrapped in cloth in preparation for burial
Mother’s presence	Mary was present at His birth with great joy	Mary was present at His death with great sorrow
Angels	Angels were visible expressing good news at His birth	Angels were invisible ready to rescue Him
King controversy	At His birth, Herod killed all the boys under the age of two only after seemingly wanting to go and worship the new born King	In His death, the title was put above the cross “King of the Jews” and it brought great division and anger
Theme of the outcast	Shepherds were outcast and unwanted in the Temple; yet angels appeared to them sharing the good news	Every man who was crucified was condemned and cast out by both man and God; rejected both in this life and the world to come
Wood	The manger was made of wood	The cross was made of wood
Shedding of blood	He was circumcised eight days old which meant His blood was shed	His side was pierced from which came blood and water
Announcement of His person	Simeon announced when he held him that “he was Your salvation” and “the light to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel.”	The Roman soldier said, “Surely He was the Son of God.”
Left empty	Jesus did not remain in the cradle, but grew in favor with both God and man	Jesus did not remain on the cross, but was placed in a grave.  Jesus did not remain in the grave but rose in order to prove His favor with God and to bring favor to man.