During Biblical times
babies were swaddled, that doesn't mean they were simply wrapped in a blanket. Swaddling was a ritual done for all legitimate babies born to married parents and included several steps including the salting of the baby. An illegitimate baby could not be salted or swaddled.
The swaddling was
done by first placing the washed baby diagonally on a swaddle cloth. The infant
was then rubbed with a small amount of finely powdered salt mixed with olive oil. The cloth was then brought
up and over the baby’s arms, legs, and torso. Next the end of the swaddle band,
made by tying together strips of linen cloth about four or five inches wide and up to
six yards long, was held under the baby’s chin, then wrapped up over the
forehead and then around and around the infant all the way down to the feet keeping the limbs straight.
During their betrothal time women made the swaddle bands out of fine linen and embroidered them with emblems of the tribe of Israel they belonged to. After the baby was salted and swaddled the parents would pray that the child would grow to be upright and
righteous and that he or she would never walk in crooked paths, but
would serve God. There is some debate about the reason swaddling was done, but according to the law of Moses all sacrifices were accompanied by salt and therefore salt is a symbol of covenants. The explanation I like best for swaddling is that the baby was salted and swaddled as a reminder that the child was a covenant child born into the House of Israel.
Whatever the reason in another place in the Bible a
swaddled baby is a metaphor for a legitimate child that is loved and properly
cared for. Ezekiel says, when chastising Israel, “Thy birth and thy
nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an
Hittite. And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not
cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee: thou was not salted
at all, nor swaddled at all” (Ezekiel 16:4).
In
other words, Israel
is so wicked they have become illegitimate children. They have chosen to
be children of the Hittites and the Amorites (children of the world)
rather than be legitimate
children of their God who would have swaddled and loved and
cared for
them.
I love this small
detail about Mary swaddling her baby because it tells us so much. First of all
it gives us a glimpse into the heart of Mary who cared for her child in the
best possible way. To us Jesus Christ is our Master, our Savior, our
Protector, but for a time to Mary He was a dependent child. That is a
relationship no one else will ever share with Him.
But there is
something else. Of all people, Mary and Joseph knew the significance of this child and the
circumstances concerning His conception. They knew that despite the rumors and
hatemongers this child was legitimate and so by swaddling Him they proclaim to the
entire world that this baby is God’s legitimate Son.
One can only imagine
what Mary thought as she wrapped Him. From the moment of the miraculous conception,
if not before, Mary must have sought for any information about the fate of this
child. There were many prophecies, and Mary must have hung on every word the
rabbis and others said about the coming Messiah. She must have asked questions
and in the answers would have discovered the terrible fate that awaited her son.
Therefore, as she salted the baby did she think of the fact that this child would be the sacrifice for all sin? Did seeing
him wrapped tightly in the bands of birth make her think of the shroud of death
that would some day cover Him?
Whether she thought about
any of these things or not, the bands Mary swaddled her Son in remind us of
the day He was wrapped in burial linens and placed in a tomb. He was born to die for us, and by so
doing He “swaddled” us, proclaiming us His legitimate children and providing a
way to take away our “crookedness.” But most important, Jesus Christ has changed our burial linens into the swaddling
bands of new birth.
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