Swaddling Clothes

I shared this reflection on Facebook on Christmas day back in 2021.

Swaddling Clothes December 25, 2021

Ever wonder why Shepherds were the first to see the new born infant Jesus (Luke 2:1-20)?

Recently I’ve been reading a lot about this and came across some interesting details about the town of Bethlehem, King David, and the Shepherds. I don’t know how true or accurate this information is, but either way, I find it to be very interesting, enlightening, and something worthwhile contemplating.

King David, who is also from the town of Bethlehem, which means house of bread, was also a Shepherd boy who tended sheep just outside the surrounding area of Bethlehem. It is said that the sheep raised in this area were specifically raised for the purpose of being used as sacrificial lambs. When a new born male lamb was born without blemish the Shepherds would wrap the lamb in swaddling clothes and lay him in a manger (feeding trough) or on the manger floor to keep him calm and not hurt himself until he could be inspected.

At the time of Jesus’ birth the Angel of the Lord appeared to Shepherds told them that in the city of David, Bethlehem, was born the Messiah and that they would find him wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. So they went off in haste to see for themselves what the Angel had proclaimed and found the Lord Jesus just as the Angel had proclaimed.

The Shepherds understood what they had heard and seen. They recognized this child wrapped in swaddling clothes laying in a manger to be the Messianic King from the House of David, born to be our salvation as the sacrificial unblemished Lamb of God. And so they returned glorifying and praising God.