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Verse:“And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths.” —Luke 2:12, NKJV
The shepherds watching their flocks on the hills between Jerusalem and Bethlehem were most likely watching temple sheep. Suddenly, a brilliantly shining angel appeared to announce the Savior was born. The first sign they were given was finding a Baby wrapped in swaddling cloths. Swaddling cloths. Would they find the Baby unusually swaddled? Today babies are swaddled (wrapped tightly) in a small square of cloth.
The Greek word sparganoō means “to strap or wrap in strips of cloth.” Did the strips of cloth swaddle the baby like a blanket? Or, as some suggest, did they wrap around each limb to encourage the growth of straight arms and legs? If so, Baby Jesus would be found lying with arms and legs outstretched, foreshadowing the way He was nailed to the cross. It is said Jews were required, when traveling, to carry with them strips of cloth for burial in case of accidental death. Finding enough spare cloth for burial was an undue burden for others. It is possible Baby Jesus was wrapped in the grave clothes of His earthly father, Joseph, pointing to His heavenly Father’s redemption story: Baby Jesus was born to die so that we might live. If I had been a shepherd that night, I probably would have protested.
“Excuse me, glorious angel, did you just say that I will find a Savior who has emptied Himself of every power He had in heaven to become a helpless newborn? Are you saying that He entrusted His creatures with the care and protection of their Creator, even binding up and restricting natural movement? This is good news? To me, this sounds extremely risky, ill advised, and even life threatening. This is not my idea of a conquering Messiah!” These shepherds carefully wrapped the temple’s newborn lambs in strips of cloth to protect them against blemish. They clearly understood the sign of swaddling cloths. Did they recognize Baby Jesus as the Savior, the unblemished Paschal Lamb, the symbol of deliverance? When I accept Jesus’ unblemished life, death, and resurrection as my way to salvation, His swaddling and grave clothes prefigure my “robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10, KJV).
Rebecca Turner