While Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem, the time came for her to have the baby. She gave birth to her first son. She wrapped him up well and laid him in a box where cattle are fed. She put him there because the guest room was full. ” This passage from the nativity story is well-known by Christians generally. In the King James Version of the passage, the more familiar language informs us that Mary "wrapped [Jesus] in swaddling clothes." Some have taken this to simply mean that he was bundled up, much like how we might tightly wrap a baby today. However, there may be something more intended here.
Unlike Matthew, Luke (the physician) is the one who informs us that Mary wrapped Jesus in "swaddling" clothes. These bands consisted of strips of cloth tied together so as to be wrapped around an individual like one would wrap a wound in a gauze bandage. Indeed, the Hebrew word, of which "swaddling" is the English translation, denotes cloths used in the binding of broken limbs. The significance of this symbol, as it relates to Christ's ministry of healing the spiritually broken, seems obvious.
Additionally, these strips of cloth seem reminiscent of the clothing of the deceased, such as mummies. Luke's emphasis on the fact that Christ was wrapped in these strips (commonplace in the world of a physician) may have been for the sake of emphasizing the fact that this child was born to die. Matthew Henry noted, "the bonds uniting life with death, where man is concerned, are represented by swaddling clothes (echoed by the bandages that swaddle a corpse)." The language used to describe the scene of Jesus' birth seems deliberate and it calculates to foreshadow His death. Jesus is said to be wrapped in cloth strips and placed in a manger (or feeding trough) because there was no room for Him in the inn. But, upon His death, we are told that he was wrapped in linen cloth, placed in a rock-hewn tomb, where no one had yet been laid. Clearly the language of His birth mirrors or foreshadows the language of His death.
In his homily on Luke 2:41-42, Saint Ambrose wrote: "He was wrapped in swaddling clothes, so that you may be freed from the snares of death. He was in a manger, so that you may be in the altar. He was on earth that you may be in the stars. He has no other place in the inn, so that you may have mansions in the heavens. 'He, being rich, became poor for your sakes, that through his poverty you might be rich' (2 Cor.8:9)."
The beauty of our verse for today is that it bears witness that Jesus can heal all of our wounds, and Jesus came to die for our sins. Everything about His birth reminds us of our spiritual death. Just as we have spiritually died because of sin, Christ physically died to destroy the influence of sin. And just as this mortal experience seems to bruise and batter us, Jesus knows how to heal every wound, every sickness, every spiritual disease we may incur. As the only hymn declares, "What a friend we have in Jesus!"
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. ” In the book of Jeremiah, the prophet Jeremiah is speaking to the Israelites at a time of great despair. They were exiled, living in Babylon, far from their homeland. Jeremiah's words were meant to offer hope and assurance during this period of upheaval. His message was not just for their immediate comfort but also to give them a perspective of a hopeful future planned by God.
This passage in Jeremiah speaks directly to the heart of encouragement, especially in the face of uncertainty and difficulty. It's a reminder that even when our current circumstances seem bleak or disheartening, there is a broader plan for good, for hope, and for a future. This can be particularly resonant for us when we face our own periods of doubt or when our path seems unclear. It's a call to trust in a greater plan that we might not fully understand yet.
