The Shroud

Cloths

“…And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:7)

At Christmas, the manger is central. The manger represents the humility with which Jesus, the Son of God, came down to us humans. There was no room for Him in the inn. What else do we know about the circumstances of Jesus’ birth?

Due to the census decree of Emperor Augustus, Joseph had to travel approximately 100 miles with his pregnant Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem. To make matters worse, the destination was extremely crowded. The inn was packed. Consequently, there was no crib or bed for Him, and no shelter for His parents. Only  a manger. Humanly speaking, His arrival was inconvenient. However, due to the circumstances surrounding his birth, Jesus was born in the exact place that the Prophet Micah had foretold 700 years earlier.

A nativity scene often has a nostalgic roof, but Eastern nativity scenes are usually nothing more than stone-fenced plots of land. Jesus was born under the starry sky. That is why the cloths were important, to keep him warm in the low night temperatures.

Historically, cloths were also used to keep bread fresh. Jesus is the bread of life. After feeding the 5,000, he said this:

“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst… I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (John 6:35)

Jesus is the bread that gives eternal life. In Bethlehem, this bread of life was wrapped in cloths. “Bethlehem” means “house of bread.” Bethlehem was the place where the living bread came down from heaven and from where it went out to give life to everyone who believes, who “eats” the living bread.

Jesus said:
“Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in Me, and I in Him. As the living Father has sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats Me will live because of Me." (John 6:53)

Jesus contrasts the daily bread with the bread of life:
"Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness and died. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.’ (John 6:49)

Jesus also shows what ‘eating’ the bread of life entails:
‘For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.’ (John 6:40)

The heart of the message is: believe in Jesus and you will be raised from the dead by Jesus on the ‘last day’. That is the ‘last day’ of the age that began with His humble coming to earth. It is the day of the ‘last trumpet’, when all who have believed in Him will rise and, together with the believers living at that time, be caught up in clouds to meat the Lord in the air. It is the last day of the time that began with His descent into this world and ends with the gathering from this world of all who have believed in Him.

The linen cloths not only played an important role at His birth. They were also present at His burial. After Jesus was crucified and died, Joseph of Arimathea bought a piece of linen cloth, took Jesus' body down from the cross, wrapped it in the linen cloth, and laid it in His own, newly hewn tomb in the rock.  (Mark 15:46). The bread of life came and went "wrapped in cloths." The bread of life is still available, for everyone. It is almost time. Then the last trumpet will blow. Then the last day will dawn. Then the dead in Christ will experience what He promised:

"I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live" (John 11:25)