The Kotatsu and the Manger
By Joey Zorina
(This reflection was previously published in 2021 and republished here).
Last October, we moved from our dilapidated apartment to a newer traditional Japanese house—minus the kotatsu table. In many Japanese houses, there’s the genkan (entrance), and a room with a kotatsu table. The kotatsu table is a symbol of warmth, comfort, and fellowship in icy wintry nights, as family members tuck their feet under warm electric blankets. Christmas takes our eyes away to that manger, where a baby leaves the comforts of a “heavenly kotatsu” to be born into our harsh world.
Amid the Christmas rush, lights and decorations, it is easy to overlook that obscure familiar place. Familiarity can blur the wonder! The manger, an unlikely and unsuitable place even for an ordinary baby, was where God came looking for us.
Human history is an arduous and endless journey of searching for functional saviours. We look for them among the politically powerful, among the marketplace leaders, among the rich, the famous and the financial investors; among public intellectuals, religious leaders, gurus and philosophers; among medical and technological experts. They may provide temporal solutions to our most pressing needs. But who can provide answers to our deepest and greatest maladies?
Christmas means Jesus is God with us in the seemingly boring, cold, overlooked, lowly and obscure places—in ordinary moments of everyday life. The angelic choir did not appear at the synagogues or temples, but to ordinary shepherds— out in the field (Lk. 2: 8). He was born to identify with the overlooked, sidelined, harassed and the helpless. He came to the outcasts, the weakest and most ignored members of His society.
Jesus left the comforts of His kotatsu table in His Father’s house. He came as a vulnerable baby into our cold world. Wrapped in swaddling clothes, not in royal robes. No place for Him at the inn (Lk. 2: 7). Yet He tells us: “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” (Jn 14: 2). Born in a manger, not in Herod’s palace. He came from the house of David, not Caesar’s household. No armchair theologians, no religious leaders or priests in the manger. Only Jesus.
Caesar rose to power to oppress others. Jesus gave up power to rescue us. Caesar rose to a throne, but Jesus came to a manger. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (Jn. 1: 14). From the manger to a wooden cross, we find our Saviour with a crown of thorns— in the company of sinners. “For to us a son is given” (Is. 9: 6)). Jesus is a gift to us. We bring our sins, He gives us forgiveness. We bring our pain, He gives us healing. We bring our sorrows, He gives us joy. We bring our troubles, He gives us peace. We bring our filthy rags, He gives us robes of righteousness. He is with us in the manger. He is with us on the cross. He is with us inside the grave. He is with us in the loneliest, darkest and most painful moments. He is God with us even to the remotest ends of the age.
Will He find room in the chambers of our hearts? Will He occupy our inmost thoughts and imaginations? Will He find a place in our calendar beyond Christmas Day? Will outsiders find Him in our fellowship? Will we come to His table of grace? Held and protected in the tender care of His affectionate mother—there lay baby Jesus. That’s how He deals with us. Gently and tenderly He cares for us, like a nursing mother who will never forsake her only child. He hears our silent tears trickle. He feels our heartbeats. He is near. There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother (Pr. 18: 24). Only Jesus.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION |
As you look at your calendar for 2024, is there space to spend time with Jesus in your schedule? (Recommended free online Daily Light on The Daily Path Classic Devotion).
If Jesus who had no place in the guest room has a place for you in His Father’s house, what closed and hidden areas in your heart do you need to welcome Jesus?
Who are the people in your homes, neighborhoods, workplaces or church you can bless with acts of kindness, words of affirmation, generous gift, encouragement, prayers and helping hand this Christmas?
All copyrighted | Advent Reflections, Joey Zorina, previously published on 11th Dec. 2021