“This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger (Lk.2:12).
“Loose him and let him go (John 11: 44).
One of the joys of Christmas is finding the right gift and then just the right wrapping for that special person. ‘Tis the season to remember the greatest gift the world has ever known came to us through Mary, who gently wrapped the Baby Jesus in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger. Reflecting on this led me to research the custom of swaddling and I found it was a practice dating back to 4,000 B.C. requiring wrapping pieces of cloth (usually linen) tightly around newborns from shoulders to feet, believing it helped them develop a strong, straight back before they were able to walk. Many cultures continued the practice for the first two or three months of the baby’s life for soothing the child, controlling the startle reflex and providing warmth.
In Jesus’s case, swaddling symbolized His submission to the role of a humble human, becoming subject to impoverished parents’ oversight and earthly practices that would ultimately lead to subjecting Himself to death on a cross. How amazing that the Son of God, wrapping Himself in love, “…did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Phil.2:5-6). But He grew, as children do, leaving the swaddling cloths behind for tween and teen years, during which he remained obedient to His parents, “[growing] in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Lk.2:51-52) while asserting His need to be in his Father’s house (Lk. 2:49).
My thoughts now turn to another use of swaddling –this time for burial. Particularly in the time of Jesus, grave clothes were typically linen strips used to prepare a body for burial by binding the body from shoulders to feet, with a separate cloth covering the face. Such clothing is an appropriate symbol for human bondage to sin, death, and the old life, while their removal represents liberation and new life. This is the joyful news that accompanies Jesus’s resurrection: As Conqueror of Sin and Death, He needed no help freeing Himself from the grave. His grave clothes were found neatly folded in the empty tomb when disciples came looking!
By contrast, John describes the moment when Jesus called forth Lazarus from the grave, saying the dead man emerged still swaddled in grave clothes (Jn. 11:43-44). His new life only came about through the aid of others whom Jesus ordered to “Take off the grave clothes and let him go” (Jn. 11:44b). What a solemn reminder that no human can remove his own grave clothes! We as believers are tasked with helping others out of old habits and walking alongside them offering encouragement, rebuke, and correction as needed to help them grow in their new life in Christ. Pastor Joe Wittwer (lifecenter.net) presents a compelling sermon on being thankful to God for the gift of new life and the gift of friends who help us walk in righteous living. This is a lifelong process (Eph.4:22; (Col.3:9), and the Apostle Paul grieved over the lack of maturity among brethren in the church at Corinth who remained on milk as babes in Christ because they were not ready for solid food from God’s Word (1Cor.3:2).
The Christmas story is only the beginning of God’s plan to bring redemption to our fallen world. From cradle to grave, from milk to meat, from darkness to light, Christ is our only Hope for restoring His image in us. Thanks be to God that both as babies and adults, we are swathed (swaddled) in the Father’s love, light, mercy and grace.