Luke 2:1-7
Introduction
Like many of you, I have many memories of Christmas celebrations of the past. There are all sorts of things that come to mind but one is what I would do, usually on Christmas Eve. I would go through the various shopping bags of items in my closet, presents that I bought for various people, and begin the wrapping process. I will confess that I have never been good at wrapping. My cutting was jagged, my taping uneven, and the paper was rarely tight around the box. But presents were expected to be wrapped and so wrapped they were.
Some people put a lot of effort into wrapping, seeing the presentation as almost as important as the contents within. Others see wrapping simply as providing some obstacle to the recipient immediately know what the present will be. If the view is hidden, the job is successful. Why do we wrap presents at all? We value the impact on a person when they have the sudden understanding of what has actually been given to them. Our elaborate gift wrapping with the colourfully designed paper is relatively recent. Before that, presents were wrapped in simple tissue paper or brown packing paper. Before that, presents were often wrapped in cloth, as cloth was widely available and paper was expensive.
This actually brings us to the Christmas story. One of the enduring images is that of Mary wrapping the baby Jesus in cloths. It is worth us taking some time to reflect on that image.
Wrapping Jesus the First Time
Luke in his Gospel, refers to Jesus being wrapped in cloths three times. The first two are in chapter two. We are told that Mary wrapped baby Jesus in cloths and placed him in the manger. This was a detail that was also shared with the shepherds so that they would recognize who they were looking for. Now wrapping a baby in cloths is not overly remarkable. No one would look at that reference and see it as a divine sign o things to come, although perhaps it was. The most unusual part was the manger. This is such an interesting part of the Christmas story. If you were to mention the phrase “manger scene”, most people would know exactly what you were referring to. I think that there would be many people who would define a manger as a place where you put a baby Jesus. But the point of all of this is that you would not expect to put a baby in a manger. A manger is a structure from which domestic animals feed from. A modern equivalent might be placing a newborn baby in a large dog feeding bowl. There should be a level of surprise when we picture baby Jesus in the manger. In the Bible, we are not normally told where a baby is put unless the circumstances are unusual. For example, one of the other rare cases is baby Moses who is placed in a papyrus basket. Normally one wouldn’t do that, much less explicitly describe it. But the Egyptians were trying to kill the first born Hebrew males and so floating him down the Nile is meant to highlight the unusual origins of the great prophet.
In the case of Jesus, we are told that this is not just another baby being born. This is not the perfect story of a couple welcoming their baby in exactly the way they had hoped. The detail of the manger is meant to grab us by the shoulders and remind us that none of what is happening is normal.
We wrap presents in paper and place them under a tree. Mary wrapped Jesus in cloths and placed him in a manger. Presents are meant to be a surprise. Jesus came into this world with much mystery. No one, not even Mary who had heard from the angel, could fully anticipate what would happen to and through this beautiful present wrapped in cloths, lying in a manger.
Wrapping Jesus the Last Time
I said that Luke talks about Jesus being wrapped in cloths three times. What was that other time? We read this taking place immediately after the crucifixion.
Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. (Luke 22:50-53)
I have found Luke to be a careful writer who chooses his words for precision. It is interesting to note that he talks about Jesus being wrapped in cloths and then placed into something at the beginning and the end of Jesus’ earthly life. Again, like the birth, it was not unusual that a dead person would be wrapped in cloths. That is exactly what we would expect. It is such a common detail that it is rarely explicitly mentioned. The only other example that I can think of is the unwrapping of Lazarus in John’s Gospel, which is also a detail meant to be compared to what happens to Jesus.
Jesus wrapped in cloths and placed in a tomb. Also like the birth, it is not the cloth that is shocking but the location of where the body is placed. Like the birth, we are meant to be shocked by how this differs from what we expect. At the death of a loved one, the family would wrap the body and place the body in the family tomb. But Joseph of Arimathea was not family and Jesus was not placed in the family tomb. Jesus was placed in a tomb owned by Joseph and no family seemed to be involved at all at this stage. Something strange was going on here. Just as his birth was no ordinary birth, the death was no ordinary death. Something strange was going on here. As Christians, we understand that the death of Jesus was a necessary part of how we would be reconciled to God. There was more to this story than just the execution of an innocent man.
Wrapping is sign that something may be more than what it appears to be by what you see on the outside. There is something deeper on the inside. The adult Jesus was wrapped in cloths by Joseph and placed in a new tomb. People were grieving and it looked outwardly that Jesus had failed. And yet in a surprising way, the death of Jesus provided the mean of eternal life for all who are willing to believe.
Conclusion
Jesus is described by Luke as being wrapped twice in cloths. The first is as a baby and Mary placed him in a manger. The second is as a deceased adult and Joseph placed him in a non-family tomb. Countless Jewish people in the first century were wrapped at the beginning and end of their lives. It was so common that it was rarely mentioned. But Luke mentions it and he mentions it with intent.
If we think of picking up a Christmas present with our name on it from under the tree, we can look at that wrapped box and ask: “What could this be?” It is full of potential that only time will reveal. Baby Jesus wrapped in cloths. What could this be? Adult Jesus, recently deceased, wrapped in cloths. What could this be? The story of Jesus from cradle to the grave and beyond invites us into deeper reflection. This is no ordinary baby. This is no ordinary victim of crucifixion. Something deeper is happening and it is all wrapped up in cloth.
