Swaddling God
[His swaddling cloths] are a mark of the commonness of his newborn humanity. God himself embodied the same frailty and helplessness that every single one of us did at birth.
“The arrival of the incarnated Son of God,” comments Bock, “is a study in contrast between how God did it and how we might have done it” (p 86). This indeed is the Christmas we didn’t expect. From the virgin conception, to the parents of lowly estate, to the little town, the undignified visitors, and now the manger, God does it like no human would have planned.
Father in heaven, what humility, what condescension your Son embraced to take our humanity! From the beginning, one humbling restriction after another formed and shaped his human life, as they do for ours. So, Father, here at Christmas, in remembering his infant binding, we also look to his adult binding at the cross, and we glory that he endured the chains and nails, and shed his grave cloths, for our sake. We are his, and he is ours. Draw us all the nearer to our Lord as we draw near the end of Advent and the arrival of Christmas Day. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Quotes from Day 22 in The Christmas We Didn't Expect
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