I have always been intrigued by manger scenes, ever since my childhood.  I like to imagine what each participant was thinking, and wonder if the song of the angels was still humming and vibrating in the night sky.  Where did the concept of re-producing a manger scene originate?  Tradition says that it was St. Francis of Assisi who created the first creche for a mountain village, Greccio, Italy.  In the year 1223 he arranged a live  nativity featuring the Holy Family,  shepherds, sheep, and wise men.  He also included an ox and a donkey!

 The custom quickly spread throughout Italy, and then throughout all Europe.  Wherever it was re-created, the presence of an ox and a donkey were required.  Remember, the Nativity  narrative in St. Matthew and St. Luke don’t say anything about an ox and a donkey being  present at the birth of Jesus.  Nevertheless, they are always there, a mandatory requirement. Why?  Because St. Francis offered them a role?  Yes, of course.  But the question is why Francis bothered to include them at all.

 He did it because he wasn’t making a reference  to the New Testament, but to the Old Testament.  Notice the opening verses of Isaiah, chapter 1.  The Lord is speaking and says, “I reared children and brought them up {the people of Israel}, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” (Isaiah 1:2-3 NIV)

 The Lord is saying to all of us, “even the ox and the donkey see who their master is, but you folks casually glance, and miss seeing Me.”  We look askance at these animals.  We derisively call someone we regard as stupid…”dumb as an ox.”  We call someone we regard as foolish…a “jackass”.  Yet we are the ones who still miss seeing God. When we look into the manger, all we see is a little baby.