LOGOS TRADING POST - HOLY LAND OLIVE WOOD NATIVITY SETS

The Nativity: A Defining Scene of Faith & Humility

Paul writes in Philippians 2:3-11, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,[c] being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

We often consider the beauty of the nativity and celebrate it, and this is a great thing! After all, it is our pleasure to help fellow brothers and sisters in Christ decorate their homes with the nativity scene, so we are more than happy to offer you an olive wood hand carved nativity set, made from genuine Holy Land Olive Wood in Bethlehem, the birthplace of the Savior and the backdrop for the nativity! Still, one thing it does us good to remember is that the nativity is not only a beautiful scene, but it is one we can learn an important lesson from.

Namely, we can learn the lesson of humility. As Philippians tells us, we can find it in ourselves to have humility toward one another with Christ as our example. After all, isn’t Christ worthy of all praise, and wasn’t He entering into the world as the one and only Son of God? Didn’t Isaiah the prophet say of Him hundreds of years before in Isaiah 9:6-7, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”

The birth of this King of all Kings and Prince of Peace was and shall be the most important birth to ever take place in this world, but the humble circumstances surrounding His birth would not make it seem so. Indeed, despite His worthiness, His “equality with God” as Paul so eloquently put it, Jesus was born not only as a human child, but he was not even born in what would be his hometown or in an inn. Luke chronicles this in Luke 2:4-7, which says, “And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” He is worthy of it all, but He was born into a world that felt it had no room for Him. Still, the humility of His circumstances is befitting of the Savior who would go on to humble Himself on a cross. We can be inspired knowing that we have a God who wanted so deeply to be close to us and to know us that He was willing to be born as one of us.

The Richness of the Nativity & Holy Land Olive Wood

All of that said, we believe it is fitting that the humility of the nativity be celebrated with a humble art form. There are much more complicated processes out there for making nativities, but also much higher price tags to compensate. If you would like to celebrate the Saviors birth within your own décor, consider a hand-carved olive wood nativity set made of genuine Holy Land Olive Wood! Our artisans in Bethlehem, the birthplace of the Savior, are some of the finest in the craft of olive wood carving, but at the end of the day, these products are the simple result of an artist, his or her tools, and a piece of olive wood. There is a profound beauty in this simplicity, just as there is something profoundly beautiful about Jesus, the Savior of the world and the King of Kings, being placed in a manger by his mother.

Just as in these humble circumstances we find the foundation of the world’s salvation and redemption, we think you will be able to see for yourself the deep beauty in these hand carved olive wood nativity sets. Olive wood is a hardy wood, which allows a great degree of detail to be achieved when carving it by hand, and of course, as a wood products, these nativity sets will have completely unique wood grain patterns found within them. Even if there are others carved in a similar fashion, the nature of hand-carving and the nature of wood itself means that every single piece will be especially unique.

All in all, we hope we can provide a quality olive wood nativity set for you, and we especially hope that whenever you look upon it, you would be reminded of the true meaning of Christmas, all that Jesus has done for you, and the humility He was willing to live out on your behalf. He loves you dearly, and it is our great joy to provide products to remind you of that!