| Luke 2:7
| And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him up in swaddling-clothes, and laid him in a manger: because there was no room for them in the inn.
| In a manger within a stable, or place where beasts were sheltered. And it is the common opinion that an ox and an ass were there at that time. See Baronius, Tillemont, etc. (Witham) --- O wonderful mystery! O astonishing condescension of a God-man! From his birth he takes upon himself poverty. Had such been his pleasure, Christ might, at his birth, have shaken the heavens by his power, and terrified all nature by his majesty. But these were not the attendants of his coming; for he came not to destroy, but to save; not to display riches, but to teach us a contempt of human grandeur. He therefore condescended not only to become man, but even the vilest of men. (Metaphrastes)
|