Swaddling Cloths


Luke 2:8-20
8And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” 15When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Luke has masterfully set Jesus into human history by giving us enough information to determine that Jesus was an actual person born into human history by setting the historical context for the birth of Jesus. Yesterday we discussed the quiet simplicity of Jesus’ birth but today will be the opposite story. The birth of Christ is announced with great fanfare, shouting, and proclamation by heavenly angels. Interestingly enough though, is that this loud declaration is made in the quietest of settings – to the shepherds in the field at night. God reveals himself to the least expected in Israel.

The angel’s first words to the shepherds are “Fear not”. If I had been one of those shepherds I would have thought “are you kidding me. Of course I’m afraid. You’re an angel!” But those words carry far more weight than just an admonition to calm down because they weren’t in any danger. This phrase has theological implications as the Apostle John tells us in his doctrinal work in 1 John. For the faithful, the birth of the Christ brings an end to all fear. God’s salvation promise, made back in the Garden of Eden to Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:15) has finally been realized.

1 John 4:18–19
18There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19We love because he first loved us.

I would suggest that these theological thoughts were probably not at the top of the shepherds’ minds, but that’s okay. We have the gift of hindsight and mediation and can see that truth as we study the Word.

If given the time, I always try to spend some time in research as I write these devotional blog posts. Today was a glorious time of discovery over this well-worn text. While I’m certain I’ve heard this idea before, I must say, this morning it rather blew me away. It has to do with the “swaddling cloths and lying in a manger”. I will never be able to read these words again without remembering the death and burial of Jesus Christ as He completes the work of dying for our sins.

He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities (Is 53:5). It should be carefully noted that the sign given of the Savior’s birth is not a child enfolded in Tyrian purple, but one wrapped round with rough pieces of cloth; he is not to be found in an ornate golden bed, but in a manger. The meaning of this is that he did not merely take upon himself our lowly mortality, but for our sake took upon himself the clothing of the poor. Though he was rich, yet for our sake he became poor, so that by his poverty we might become rich (2 Cor 8:9); though he was Lord of heaven, he became a poor man on earth, to teach those who lived on earth that by poverty of spirit they might win the kingdom of heaven.
The Venerable Bede as translated by J. McHugh, The Mother of Jesus, 89, from In Lucam I, (Corpus Christianoruḿ Series Latina 120.51–2).

“Can the threefold, deliberate phrasing in the Greek of, ‘wrapped him in cloth strip, placed him in a manger, because there was no place’ perhaps anticipate the same threefold rhythm of ‘wrapped him in linen cloth, placed him in a rock-hewn tomb, where no one had yet been laid’ (23:53) so that birth and burial mirror each other?”
L. T. Johnson, The Gospel of Luke, 53

In His very birth, Jesus foreshadows His own death. This infant came for a reason that was never forgotten or lost by God. While the fanfare over His birth is great, it also leads us to His death for our sins. The Christmas story rings with His crucifixion and we are saved.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv
Read more

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl
Read more