1 vein.
2 arteries.
This is what’s contained in an umbilical cord. One vein delivering oxygen and nutrients to the baby in the womb; two arteries carrying waste and low-oxygen blood away.
Somewhere between week 4 and week 8 of pregnancy, the umbilical cord forms and begins its vital work.
Then, for the remainder of the pregnancy, the cord simply does what it was designed to do—eight months or so of life-giving, life-sustaining support. But built into its purpose is a kind of planned obsolescence. Birth instantly ends the usefulness of this lifeline.
And once severed, a permanent mark remains at the center of every body—a reminder of our frailty and dependence from the very beginning. A “scar” with a legacy: our belly button. Our navel.
Good mother or bad, this physical feature reminds us that we saw the light of day because of the woman whose womb we occupied. Our oxygen, our nutrition, even our earliest defenses against disease came through her.
All of that is context. All of that biology sets the stage for this: Jesus, the Son of God; Jesus the Alpha and Omega; Jesus the Creator of the universe; Jesus the Light of the World; Jesus the all-powerful One…
Emptied.
Fragile.
Vulnerable.
Dependent.
Jesus… experiencing the very design He authored.
Jesus… cloaked in darkness.
Jesus… the Almighty now submitting to the rhythms of human life.
Jesus… a member of the Godhead moving through the stages of cranial development.
Jesus… with an umbilical cord, and then a navel. All to remind us of what He did—and how He chose to do it.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14, ESV)
But before He dwelt among us, He dwelt within a teenage mother. Before He overcame death, He clung to life inside a womb. Before He showed us the way, He showed us His love and His sacrifice.
Perhaps no symbol more quietly but profoundly reveals the meaning of Christmas than the shared mark carried by all humanity.
Indeed, a navel tells the story.
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