The substance of a talk I gave at the New Hope carol service on 12 December 2025.
Christmas brings food to the centre of things. We swap recipes, plan meals weeks ahead, and compare home made mince pies like it’s a competitive sport. So let me start with a question: What’s your favourite Christmas food?
Whatever came to mind, it probably wasn’t milk. Yet that was Jesus’ first food. His mother’s milk. It’s a small detail, but it makes the story real. The first Christmas wasn’t wrapped in glitter. It was human and ordinary.
The first “Christmas” up close
Another question: What was Jesus laid in? Most people know the word manger, but we rarely stop to picture it. A manger was an animal feeding trough. In some homes, the stable sat about half a metre below the family’s living space. Sometimes the “stable” was a cave carved under or next to the house.
The troughs themselves were often practical stone boxes pushed against the wall, or a hollowed rock that jutted into the room. At Megiddo, archaeologists found limestone troughs about three feet long and deep enough that you could easily fit a newborn inside.
The word itself carries the meaning. Our English word manger comes from Old French mangier — “to eat.” it has the same root as modern French manger. A manger is not sentimental. It’s a place where animals put their mouths. Not a pretty sight.
If you’ve ever cleaned one, you know the truth. When I worked on a turkey farm, part of my job was scrubbing out the troughs. Turkeys are messy, stubborn creatures, and the chemicals we used to cut through the grime were so strong they stripped the skin from my hands. A feeding trough is not a place you’d ever choose to place a baby.
Yet that’s exactly what God did.
Jesus as our food
Jesus wasn’t too proud to be touched by the dirt, the smell, the noise and the mess. He was laid where animals ate. And later he spoke about himself as food for us:
“The one who feeds on me will live because of me… whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”
(John 6:57–58)
He once lay in a feeding place. Now he offers himself as the one who feeds our hungry hearts.
A closing thought for Christmas
The first Christmas didn’t start with a sumptuous meal. It began with discomfort, dirt and humility. God still comes close to people who feel hungry, cold, addicted or forgotten.
Many of you at New Hope work with people who have nothing left to give. And yet, that’s often where Jesus shows up most clearly. He isn’t afraid of the dirt. He began his life lying in it.
So as you serve others this Christmas, remember: The child in the manger is the same Christ who invites every one of us — whether confident or unsure, wealthy or struggling — to come and be filled.
If you don’t yet know this humble Jesus, let him be your food this Christmas.
Your brother, Malcolm
