For God So Loved the World

In this nativity depiction I wanted to portray the Christ child being held under His arms so that He resembles the position He would later have while dying on the cross. The fact that Jesus would come down to this mortal world and willingly experience hardship, pain, and loss; to give freely of Himself for our benefit is amazing to me and a great pattern and example to be followed. Likewise, the adversity we experience here is perhaps the very reason we come to this world and if born properly it can become a benefit to others.

I wanted to create a heart shape around the infant with the figures of Mary and Joseph to resemble the love and acceptance that we might have as we allow Christ to enter into our lives and homes, as broken and imperfect as they might be. And as Joseph has set down his tools to admire the infant it is a reminder to intentionally set aside distractions to focus our attention on the Savior.