If you go to my sister’s house at Christmas, you’ll see nativities everywhere! Her love for nativity scenes has led her to collect quite an assortment, featuring a variety of ethnicities, cartoon characters, whimsical figures…you name it! Maybe you have a cherished nativity at your house. Maybe you’re even fortunate to live in a city that actually has a “living nativity” on display for Christmas Eve.

When you read the account in scripture, the people in the Christmas story said very little the night Jesus was born.

Of course months earlier, before she became pregnant, the angel Gabriel had surprised Mary with a visit and announced that she was highly favored and would bring the Savior into the world, who would rule His kingdom on the throne of David. And once Mary understood just how she, a virgin, would be able to give birth to the Savior, her words had been few: “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word”. Later, as she visited her cousin Elizabeth she praised the Lord. Her words give us a glimpse into the humility, trust, hope, and wonder she felt at being chosen by God to be the mother of the Savior of the World. You can read her “magnificat” here.

When the night came that Jesus was born, it was again an angel whose words we read, followed by a chorus sung by a choir of angels. The shepherds who saw them simply said, “Let’s go see for ourselves what the Lord has revealed!” They went to Bethlehem and searched until they found a baby in a manger. All Luke, the writer, tells us about the encounter is that the shepherds made known what the angel had told them about the child. Mary didn’t say much. She was too busy pondering. Webster describes pondering this way: “To think or consider especially quietly, soberly, and deeply.” I love that! 

For me, the Christmas season is all about pondering! At Christmas time I love to ponder just who this God is whom I serve, who even before speaking His first “Let there be…”, had a plan in mind for saving us from our sin! I think about how that plan reveals to us the depth of God’s love. I realize how before God created man, He saw that we would become one huge, dysfunctional family made up of prideful, selfish, angry, self-pitying, disloyal people. I’m amazed that, even so, God had so much love to offer that He chose to create us anyway, knowing that over time He would introduce to us His plan for a better way, His way! Christmas would set us on the path of redemption.

It was probably many months after Jesus had been born that the wise men from the East found Mary and Joseph, and the young child, Jesus. Scripture tells us they delivered their treasures and worshipped Jesus. Once again, no words are recorded. 

Nativities set out on display are, of course, silent. They are figurines, after all. But what about the “living” ones? When actual people are used to portray Mary, Joseph, Shepherds, and the Wise Men, it brings the story of Jesus’ birth to life, helping us get a better grasp on the reality that lives were forever changed when God “took on flesh” and came to earth. But have you ever noticed that though you might get close enough to a living nativity to smell the real animals and see the doll in the manger (or sometimes, a real baby in “Mary’s” arms), you won’t hear anyone speaking? I think there’s a good reason for that. What could anyone possibly speak in the presence of the Savior of the world? What words could even begin to describe the wonder you’d feel as you gazed at the Messiah, knowing that the child you saw was the one promised by God centuries before! Mary had the right idea. She “kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.” 

The next time you see a nativity, join the silence of the shepherds in the stable that night! Let your words be few as you ponder what they witnessed on the hillside: The brilliant light of the Lord’s glory shining on them! An angel instructing them that their Savior had been born. Try to imagine what they felt–what YOU would have felt–listening to the most amazing choir of all time: Not people, but angels singing “Glory to God in the highest”! 

As you look at the nativity figures, take your cue from Mary. Take time to ponder. She took it all in, and pondered the shepherds’ account of the angelic encounter. I’ll bet their bottom line was, “This isn’t just any baby. He is the Lord! He is our Messiah! This tiny baby is God Almighty!” I’m absolutely certain that once they’d delivered their message, they gazed in awe at Who they were seeing, and pondered silently the peace on earth that He would bring.