The Most Important Baby--by Linden Malki

                                                           
Back in the day when my kids were in Sunday School at then-Calvary Baptist Church, there was a tradition of giving each child a figure for a Christmas Nativity scene, starting with an angel for the kindergarten and followed by the Baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, shepherds, and wisemen,  until by sixth grade they had the whole set. (At that time, there were local stores that carried the figures open stock in a common size that had been around for many years--they were similar in size and design to the set my folks had that was older than me.)  The parents were encouraged to make a background for the growing scene.  By the time my youngest was in grade school, the individual figures were getting hard to get, and I happened to find a close-out with just enough odd pieces to complete most of the older kids' sets.  Later, one of my daughters suggested that I find similar sets, and give each of my grandkids one piece each year, in the same order that they had gotten.  The small sets were getting harder to find, and were more varied designs than the older one, which meant that each of the grandkids' sets were each somewhat different. The real challenge came in 2003, when the Old Fire burned out my older daughter's house and the only thing she found left of their  Christmas decorations was one scarred baby Jesus figure.  I found myself shopping ebay for more Nativity sets for three bereft grandchildren, and managed to find appropriate ones to fill the need. Somehow, for those of us who grew up in the church, the Nativity scenes were a common part of the Christmas decor that had been around forever. 
There is a story behind them, however.  The idea goes back to St Francis of Assisi, who lived in Italy in the 1200's and was known for his tireless evangelism and his love for the poor, and for animals. He travelled through an amazing number of the countries then in the throes of the Crusades, and not only managed to see most of the Christian Holy Land, including Bethlehem, but even managed to get to Egypt and have conversations with the Sultan on the other side of the conflict.  When he returned, he had been so moved by having visited the cave under the Church of the Nativity, which is said to be

the actual birthplace of Jesus, that he wanted to illustrate the setting to the local people. In a cave in the village of Grecio, Italy, in the year 1223, he got permission to bring in a manger with hay, an ox and an ass, which grew into full-scale depictions of the Christmas story-- not only live drama, but artistic displays and paintings, which soon became popular all over Europe.  St Francis himself commented that the "Christmas Crib" was the most effective evangelism in the mostly non-literate societies of that day.
People have often commented that they are not historically accurate, in that the shepherds and wisemen were not there at the same time--but the image of the little family in the rough setting of a stable has become one of the most widely known pictures not only in Christian churches but in the general culture of many parts of the world. We are reminded that God sent a baby--born like every other creature in the world--that became the most powerful Person in the world to those of us who know Him, and admired by almost everyone who knows anything about Him.