In Luke 2:1-20 we find the Christmas Story of the birth of Christ. it begins simply enough in that Joseph and Mary had to go to Bethlehem to be counted in the tax roles that the Romans were keeping. They were required to go to Bethlehem because Joseph was originally from there and his family was from there. The name Bethlehem, means house of bread in the modern literal translation. It is fitting that Jesus be born there, as in John 6:35 we see Jesus proclaiming to the crowd that He IS the “BREAD OF LIFE”, and whoever eats of Him will “never hunger”.
While they were there in Bethlehem, the time came for Mary to give birth to Jesus, as was foretold to everyone by the prophets of old. After Jesus was born they wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger. Now why do you think they did this? Well, first it was a practice with new mothers dating back several hundred years to wrap the newborn up tightly so that his bones would form correctly and so they would feel secure as they did in their mother’s womb. At that time mothers would often coat the baby’s skin with salt and wrap them up in swaddling clothes to protect them and to keep them from getting anything on them that could cause them to get an infection, as the umbilical cord was freshly cut and had not had time to heal. Also , because it helped the skin to toughen up and keep it’s moisture in. Salt was a natural preservative and disinfectant.
After Mary and Joseph wrapped Jesus in Swaddling Clothes, they put Jesus in a manger, not just to give them a rest from holding the child, but so that if He wiggled around enough to get out of the swaddling clothes, He would still be in a place that kept him in a position to help His bones to form correctly. Many of the practices of the parents from that time would almost be considered child abuse now days, but they had far less problems such as SIDS, or others to deal with. Even with what they knew, the child mortality rate was very high, as they lacked the medical knowledge we have today and as we see in Luke 2:21, after the Birth of Christ and all that accompanied it was over, they still waited for the prescribed eight days before naming Him JESUS. This was because, almost all parents waited for eight days to make sure the child would live before giving it a name.
Shortly after the child Jesus was born, shepherds, considered the lowest people in that society, came to see the baby Jesus, and told the parents of them seeing Angels that told them of the child’s birth and that they should go worship Him as the Messiah of Israel. He came to a stable, was put in a manger, and was visited by shepherds to show the world and the Jewish people, that God was willing to stoop so far down to show His love for mankind and be an example to people of how we should humble ourselves, both to each other and to God Himself.
All of this was so we could see how Jesus would come to this world and how He would leave it. Just as He was born in a cave hewn from the rock to be a stable, His body would be laid in a Tomb hewn from the rock. Just as His body was wrapped in swaddling clothes made of strips of cloth at His birth, His body was wrapped in grave clothes and put in the Tomb at His death. Jesus was the perfect lamb born to be the offering for all mankind because of how much God loved US!
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