hold<\/em> Him.\u00a0 To study and meditate on God\u2019s Word is like unwrapping swaddling clothes and finding a baby!\u00a0 And the poverty of the baby Jesus\u2013that he had to be laid in a manger, an animals\u2019 trough\u2013makes us realize that we ought not despise \u201cthe lowliest and the most needy.\u201d\u00a0 Indeed, that Christ can be found in the lowliest and the most needy and in all of our neighbors.\u00a0 (Think how radical that would sound in Luther\u2019s day, in the radically hierarchical and stratified medieval society.)<\/p>\nHe is applying this to the two kinds of life that were often spoken of in that day:\u00a0 the active and the contemplative.\u00a0 Scholars and clerics devote themselves to thinking, to contemplation.\u00a0 They have the \u201cswaddling clothes\u201d of Scripture.\u00a0 Farmers, craftsmen, traders, officials, in their \u201clife of work\u201d \u201cdeal with the needy\u201d and have the manger.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe stands before us in every purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Illustration:\u00a0 \u201cAdoration of the Shepherds\u201d (1622) by Gerard van Honthorst \u2013 Google Art Project, Public Domain, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=45542035<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Concordia Publishing House has a good blog going, with sections titled worship, read, study, teach, and serve. I came across a post by Mason Vieth (no relation!), who quoted Luther\u2019s commentary on the Christmas text in Luke.\u00a0 He considers this verse:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAnd\u00a0this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby\u00a0wrapped in swaddling cloths […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":39475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,10,21,48],"tags":[8005,7999,8002,464,546,1386],"class_list":["post-39469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible","category-christ","category-holidays","category-vocation","tag-active-and-contemplative-life","tag-christ-and-vocation","tag-christ-child","tag-christmas","tag-concordia-publishing-house","tag-martin-luther"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n