What Child is This?
A Meditation at the Manger
“What Child is this, who, laid to rest,
On Mary's lap is sleeping?”
Who are you, little one,
wrapped in rags,
whose birth was heralded by angels,
and visited by the lowly and the mighty,
by shepherds and by kings?
Who are you, little one?
It is a question that will be asked again and again down through the centuries . . .
A question posed by a voice crying out in the wilderness . . .
By kinsmen and neighbors in a Nazareth synagogue . . .
By those who will choose to follow you . . .
By those who will reject you . . .
By pharisee and scribe . . .
By royal governor . . .
And by me.
Who are you, little one?
It is the most profound question that will ever be asked in the history of the world;
for it is a question whose answer will not only define you,
but us,
but me.
You are innocence, purity and promise,
and your face radiates all that is beautiful, holy and good
to the sinful world you came to save.
You, who now are dependent, will become
the one on whom the whole world depends.
You, powerless babe, threat to Herod,
will forever be a threat to kings and rulers,
to all those who grasp for the power of the world.
You, who now rests in a bed of hay,
will someday have nowhere to lay his head.
You are the one whose infant coos mask, for now,
the words of eternal life,
and whose tearful cry pierces the silent night
and already sobs God's compassion for those who hurt . . .
all those whose prayers you already hear,
echoing to you from past, present and future.
You are the one whose tiny hand, wrapped around your mother's finger,
is the one whose hand created the world,
the hand that will reach out and touch and heal and feed and bless;
the hand that will one day be pierced by nails . . .
by the sins of humanity.
You are the one whose feet kick the straw in the manger in which you lay,
the same feet that will kick up the dust from the dirt-covered roads
of Galilee and Judea;
feet that will walk up a hill called Calvary and out of a sepulcher;
feet that still walk our earth today.
Who are you, newborn child
to whom shepherds stare in awe and Kings kneel to adore?
You are the Son of the Living God.
You are the Savior of the World.
You are Mighty God and Prince of Peace.
You are Resurrection and Life, Light and Way,
Shepherd of Souls, Gate to the Father,
True Vine who feeds us by your fruit of word and sacrament.
Come, then, Lord,
this hour, this day, this year, this lifetime.
Come, Lord, with your presence, with your love, with your compassion,
with your graciousness, with your mercy, with your peace.
Come, Lord Jesus, fill me with light, with life, with truth, with grace.
Come, Lord Jesus, and bless me with the right hand of your righteousness
and grant me the holiness, virtue and purity I seek.
Who are you?
You are the Word Made Flesh,
flesh that becomes the Bread of Life.
You are Emmanuel,
God With Us,
the God who stays,
born that we might never be alone.
“So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh
Come peasant, king to own Him
The King of Kings salvation brings
Let loving hearts enthrone Him”
Deacon Bruce Olsen: 2023
