Why the “Baby” in Baby Jesus Matters

Mary’s pregnant ride on a donkey, an inn with no room, swaddling clothes in a manger: Christmas is all about the birth of Jesus. It’s the time of year our family affectionately refers to the Savior of the world and Creator of the universe as simply (and excitedly) “Baby Jesus!”

My toddler loves to list each figure in our plastic nativity set by name (or animal sound), ending each time with “Baby Jesus.” At the same time, he recognizes and names another “baby”—his little brother who grew in Mama’s belly, arrived home from the hospital, and needs to be cared for constantly.

The use of the same words in such different contexts makes me wonder: is my toddler confused by associating the mighty Son of God with his fragile, newborn brother? As our children grow up, what do we want them to understand about the Savior of the World in infant form?

“Baby Jesus” Comforts Us in Our Suffering

God became man. He didn’t appear in a puff of smoke as a middle-aged man; he experienced life—womb to tomb—as a human being. Fully God and fully man, Jesus “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:6-7). 

The Son of God, lifted high, became a baby who couldn’t lift his head.

The same Jesus who told a disabled man of thirty-eight years to “Get up, take up your bed, and walk” (John 5:8) had to crawl before his own first steps as a toddler. 

The same Jesus who swept through cities “healing every disease and every affliction” (Matthew 9:35) probably experienced teething pain, tummy aches, and ear infections.

The mighty, all-powerful God humbled himself to a helpless physical state: a newborn baby. And every moment he experienced from conception through death allowed him, the world’s Savior, to understand us, weary sufferers. 

Jesus had firsthand experience with physical pain, exhaustion, and death. The Gospels depict a few excruciating periods of suffering, but in his humanity, Jesus likely faced many moments of disappointment, hunger, and otherwise trivial pain. He understands our children’s growing pains, physically and emotionally, because he grew from infancy too. He was “made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest” (Hebrews 2:17). We see this in the tender way Jesus cared for children—that surprised adults around him.[1] On this earth, being human is marked by suffering, but there is comfort in a God who understands stubbed toes and skinned knees as much as he understands terminal illness and death.

“Baby Jesus” Understands Us in Our Temptations

Jesus not only experienced suffering—he experienced temptation too.

We don’t always react with graceful understanding to our children’s sin. We’re sometimes quick to dismiss their difficult emotions. But as our little ones begin to communicate, identify their feelings, and obey instructions, they learn about their own proclivity to sin. Like us, they can find comfort in the One who is able to sympathize with our temptations.[2] 

When my toddler throws a tantrum because he wants a yellow plate instead of a blue one, Jesus is gentle. When my sons go through adolescence and I can’t understand anything they’re thinking, Jesus is sympathetic. He offers mercy for sins—big and small—while still pointing us to God’s perfect, holy standard.

“Baby Jesus” Redeems Us in His Resurrection

A humble God who understands us brings comfort, and a powerful God who saves us brings peace.

Jesus became like us in every respect, except that he did not have a sin nature and he overcame temptation in every way.

The Bible tells us our sins must be paid for and yet, we are unable to clear our own debt through works. So, God sent his Son to share in human flesh, “born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law” (Galatians 4:4-5). Jesus had to become man and live a perfect life to save man as a perfect sacrifice. We are made righteous through the body of Christ[3]—a body that grew from infancy.

Jesus wasn’t a mystical genie; he was born as a baby and crucified as a man, his human blood spilled to defeat sin and death. Our eternal salvation is only possible because of “Baby Jesus.”

As our kids grow up, will they outgrow the excitement of “Baby Jesus,” or will they understand the magnitude of God becoming a baby? When they have an earache or a heartbreak, will they find comfort in knowing that Jesus grew up to experience similar things? When they disappoint their parents and themselves by falling into sin, will they turn to the One who can personally sympathize with their temptations? And finally, when they realize they can never be good enough on their own, will they joyfully and gratefully accept the grace that Jesus pours out on us—because he was a human in each stage of his life on earth? 

As my toddler holds his baby brother, I pray he grasps the mind-blowing wonder of God—who created the universe—becoming a delicate newborn. I pray he ultimately believes and treasures the Baby Jesus who came to comfort us in suffering, understand us in temptation, and redeem us fully in our sin.

[1] Mark 10:13-16

[2] Hebrews 4:15-16

[3] Hebrews 10:10