The Wonder of the Cross – 40 Days with the Music of Vicky Beeching

Day 20 – Thursday after Lent 3 – He Made A Way in a Manger

To Read: 

From the Scriptures:

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. ⁸ But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. ⁹ Much more surely, therefore, since we have now been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. ¹⁰ For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. ¹¹ But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

(Romans 5v6-11)

From Vicky Beeching:

He Made A Way in a Manger 

Longing for a Saviour
A hopeless world would wait
Sin demanded justice
At a price we could not pay
But God displayed His mercy
The greatest gift of love
When we could not reach Heaven
Heaven came to us

He made a way in a manger
A way through the Son
Messiah the Promised
Before time had begun
For God so loved this world
Though He knew what love would cost
He made a way in a manger
To make a way to the cross

In Bethlehem a stable
Became a throne of grace
As God Himself our Saviour
Drew near to take our place
His mother smiled in wonder
As shepherds stood in awe
The Sacrifice of Heaven
Lay sleeping in the straw

Chorus

He is the life who died our death
The precious Lord Jesus
Laid down His sweet head

Away in a manger
No crib for a bed
The little Lord Jesus
Laid down His sweet head
The stars in the sky
Looked down where He lay
The little Lord Jesus
Asleep on the hay

Chorus

He made a way in a manger
He made a way in a manger
To make a way to the cross
He made a way

To Listen:     He Made A Way in a Manger by Vicky Beeching

To Reflect:

Vicky has a wonderful, even holy, way of working with the story of our Beloved from the Cradle to the Cross and beyond.

She sees how our salvation moves from adoring Madonna & Child to sorrowful  Pietà^[1] and to joy-filled Resurrection.  Weaving them together she remind us that we have always been loved.  Just as Mary laid the babe in the manger so the grown Christ ‘lays down His sweet head’ at Calvary, breathing out the words ‘It is finished’ as a cry of victory.  And later in a garden calls out ‘Mary’ to the faithful one from Magdala turning her, and our, tears of grief into the joy of new life.

Down the years, to remind myself how constant and consistent that Love is, I try to mould this story in clay.  Taking three lumps of clay of the same size and weight I go on a journey.  A way to the manger with the new born babe, a way to the Cross with the grieving mother, and way to the garden with a devoted disciple.  

I am no great potter but, each time I make them, these three figures remind me that we are loved with an unchanging love that is complete from birth, through death, and on to the life after life.

The One Who Loves us Best loves us with the same all-encompassing love at Bethlehem as in Galilee, In Jerusalem as on Calvary, at the Garden Tomb and on to the Mount of Olives.  It does not matter where we first meet that love.  Christmas is as overflowing with salvation as Calvary.  Good Friday is as much about new birth as Bethlehem.

Too often, in our own passion for how we first met that Love, we are tempted to look down on, and even despise, others who meet that same Love in different ways.  We belittle ‘Christmas only’Christians.  We look down on those who at the end of Lent think more of Easter Alleluias than words from the Good Friday Cross.  And, saddest of all, too many of God’s Beloved have met their death at the hands of fellow members of the Household of Faith because they see Christmas and the Cross from a different perspective to that of others.

It does not matter where we, or those close to us, have met the generous love of our Beloved, it only matters that with us He may find a place where he can ‘Lay down His sweet head…..’

To Pray:

(Gerald Manley Hopkins)

To Do: 

Early in Lent I suggested that each of us try to worship in an unfamiliar place.

Now might be a good time to ensure that this has happened…

oooOOOooo

If you would like to find out more about Vicky and her work here is a link to her Wikipedia entry.  For a fuller picture her autobiography ‘Undivided’ is highly recommended

Please Note:  These reflections are also published on my blog: suffolkvicarhomes.com  on Bluesky as @suffolkvicar.bsky.social, and on my public Facebook page  Suffolk Vicar – Rev Andrew Dotchin. 

If you would like them as a daily email please send a request to revdotchin@gmail.com

If you have enjoyed reading them please make a donation to The Clergy Support Trust  who provide generous grants to help clergy.

Acknowledgements:

These Reflections, ‘The Wonder of the Cross – 40 Days with the Music of Vicky Beaching’ are copyright © Andrew Dotchin 2026 and may be reproduced without charge on condition that their source is acknowledged.

All of the music on the video clips are from YouTube and are © Vicky Beeching.  

If you enjoy listening to her songs please consider buying her recordings.  A full discography and other information about Vicky can be found on her website vickybeeching.com.

Scripture quotations are from The New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition.  Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Prayers are from A Diary of Prayer compiled by Elizabeth Goudge and are copyright © 1966 The Estate of Elizabeth Goudge.

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^[1] A short essay on the significance of the Pietà can be found here: https://www.portraitsocietygallery.com/the-pieta-a-story-in-five-parts