Wrapped In His Destiny

It’s probably the one verse many know so well around the Christmas season– Luke 2:7. The words of this verse are read and recognized by many wherever there’s a holiday church event:

And she [Mary] brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

(Luke 2:7)

Whenever the words of this verse are read, people’s minds envision the whole scene. Mary gently laying her newborn Son–wrapped in swaddling cloths–into a little manger, probably lined with soft straw, to be the newborn King’s first place of rest.

During this season when all of Christendom celebrate Christ’s first advent, the manger seems to be the central focus as Christians tell and retell the Biblical tale “when Love was born.” In fact, there’s even a hymn that talks all about the manger!

While it’s true that it was in the manger the newborn Messiah was laid to rest, I must point out another detail in Luke 2:7 that is just as important–and maybe even more so– as the manger.

“In Swaddling Cloths”

Before we read the famous part of Jesus being laid in the manger, Luke first writes about Mary wrapping her firstborn Son “in swaddling cloths.”

What were those swaddling cloths?

In the original Greek, one of the root words for “swaddling cloths” is the word sparassō (σπαράσσω). It means “to tear, rend; to mangle.”

What does “mangle” mean?

Well, here’s one little definition of it: “To injure severely, disfigure, or mutilate by cutting, slashing, or crushing.”

What do such horrific-sounding words have to do with sweet Baby Jesus sleeping “so soundly ” in that old little manger in the “little town of Bethlehem?”

A Reality Check From Isaiah

Apparently we as Christians become so caught up in the hubbub of “Christ is born in Bethlehem,” we forget WHY He was born in the first place!

I remember some time ago an old teacher once told me and my fellow seventh grade biology classmates that the best question we should always ask is “why.” So, putting my seventh grade biology teacher’s advice into play, WHY was Christ born?

The prophet Isaiah gives us a pretty raw answer in Isaiah 53:

He is despised and rejected by men,

A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;

He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

 Surely He has borne our griefs

And carried our sorrows;

Yet we esteemed Him stricken,

Smitten by God, and afflicted.

 But He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities;

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,

And by His stripes we are healed.

(Isaiah 53:3-5)

How does all this relate to each other–as well as how does it relate to our day and age?

A Solemn Fact

When Mary wrapped Baby Jesus in those swaddling cloths, she probably never pondered the deep significance of such an action.

With the newborn Messiah’s little body nestled in something that meant “to mangle” in Greek, His destiny was sealed. From birth, Jesus was “wrapped” into a destiny of being torn.

Of being rent.
Of being severely injured.
Of being disfigured.
Of being cut.
Of being slashed.
Of being crushed.

Not only physically by His crucifixion–but also emotionally by the sorrows, griefs, heartaches, and rejections He’d face as He walked about this world of ours.

Yet, the beautiful part of this solemn fact was that He went through all that out of LOVE for you and me so we can be saved from our sins.

Now that’s something that brings “joy to the world!”

Amen! Maranatha!