The Crying Baby Jesus

Each year we sing the popular Christmas carol Away in the Manger which in verse two says,

“The cattle are lowing
The poor Baby wakes
But little Lord Jesus
No crying He makes.”

Here is a delightful icon of Jesus crying on the laps of Mary and Joseph. He has just skinned his knee, which is enough to cause any little boy to cry. He was a real boy, God yes, but he came down to share our humanity, our skinned knees, our mosquito bites, our hunger and thirst.

We too often suspect that the Holy Family walked three feet off the ground, but we are told in Scripture that even Jesus was made like us in all things but without sin (Heb 2:17; 4:15). We fervently defend his divinity, but we must remember his humanity as well.

We don’t see images like this one very often and I in particular are very fond of it.

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