Advent Devotional: Day 17

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.  Luke 2:1-7. ESV

No place for them to stay, to give birth, no family to assist them but a barn of animals.

Imagine having no real place to give birth. Alone with your soon to be husband , whom you did not know intimately, and you’re going into labor. Mary’s song in Luke 1 describes her faith in God. I would imagine she relied heavily on God for what was about to happen.

I am struck by the words, “there was no place for them.”  There have been times in my life that I have connected with those words, mostly when I shift my eyes away from God.  “No place” is isolating, it screams no one cares. It unsettles the peace by showing you that division has taken place and you are not included.   But Mary shows us God’s love in the same sentence, “wrapped Him in saddling clothes”. The body was washed and cleansed with salt and then wrapped up, similarly to how they would later prepare His body after the cross.  It is a symbolic nod to his lineage – Jewish Royality practiced swaddling – and to the tomb.  This was not a blanket as most think of and practice using today.  The entire body was wrapped except the face as a protection from the outside world.

Wrapping up in the love of God protects us from the outside world, our chaotic world.  It provides security and gives us a place of our own.  When feeling overwhelmed by your circumstances, how do you feel the love of God?  Swaddling may not make sense to us as adults, but the feeling of a snuggle under a blanket or a hug can bring that feeling.