In contrast to Matthew, Luke the physician informs us that Mary wrapped Jesus in «swaddling» clothes. These clothes consisted of strips of cloth tied together in order to be wrapped around a person as one would wrap a wound in a gauze bandage. Indeed, the Hebrew phrase, of which «swaddling» is the English translation, denotes cloths used within the binding of broken limbs (Ezekiel 30:21). This symbolically relates to Christ’s ministry of healing the spiritually damaged (Ezekiel 34:15-16; D&C 138:42). The use of swaddling clothes evokes two photos.

First is the illustration of parental care and compassion. These bands supplied the little one with warmth, safety from extremes of temperature, and a sense of security. As this pertains to Christ, certainly the Father was ever watching over His Firstborn Son. Ultimately, nevertheless, it’s Christ who warms, protects, and offers security to us. It is Christ to whom quite a few nurturing emblems are applied (Luke 13:34; Three Nephi 10:6; D&C 10:65). It is Christ who’s the Father of our salvation and who entered Gethsemane that He might «know in line with the flesh tips on how to succor his individuals based on their infirmities» (Alma 7:12). Numerous commentators, historical and trendy, have seen significance in the Savior’s first clothing. For example, Gregory Thaumaturgus, a 3rd-century Alexandrian Father, wrote: «She wrapped in swaddling-clothes Him who’s covered with mild as with a garment (Psalm 104:2). She wrapped in swaddling-clothes Him who made every creature. . . . She wrapped Him in swaddling-clothes who binds the entire creation fast with his word.» 29 Presbyterian commentator Matthew Henry wrote: «He was wrapped in cloths . . . as if he might be bound, or needed to be stored straight.»30

Second is the resemblance of swaddling clothes to the clothes of the deceased. Luke’s emphasis on Christ’s having been wrapped in these strips (commonplace on the planet of a physician) might have been to emphasise that this child was born to die. One supply famous, «The bonds uniting life with demise, the place man is anxious, are represented by swaddling clothes (echoed by the bandages that swaddle a corpse).»31 The language used to describe the scene of Jesus’ start appears deliberate and calculated to foreshadow His demise. Jesus is claimed to be wrapped in cloth strips and placed in a manger (or in a cave) as a result of there was no room for Him within the inn. But upon His loss of life we’re instructed that He was wrapped in linen cloths and positioned in a rock-hewn tomb, 安眠おくるみ where nobody had but been laid. Clearly, the language of His delivery mirrors or foreshadows the language of His demise.

In his homily on Luke 2:41-42, Ambrose, the fourth- century bishop of Milan, wrote: «He was wrapped in swaddling clothes, so that you could also be freed from the snares of death. He was in a manger, so that you simply could also be in the [temple]. He was on earth that you simply could also be in the stars. He has no other place in the inn, so that you might have many mansions within the heavens. ‘He, being wealthy, turned poor for your sakes, that by means of his poverty you may be rich’ (2 Cor.