REMINDER THAT DEATH COULD NOT HOLD HIM
Wrapping paper is not only pretty, it also builds excitement and covers surprises. Wrapping paper can also be a decoration. Some people cover their doors and pictures with wrapping paper. Sometimes, people wrap empty boxes and place them around their homes as decorations.
As you wrap gifts this Christmas, remember that Jesus was wrapped up three different ways for you.
Jesus is God wrapped in human nature:
God’s Son has existed forever and is fully God. When He became Mary’s child, Jesus, He took to Himself a human nature like ours. He clothed, or wrapped, Himself in human nature. The Bible says that although Jesus “existed in the form of God, (He) did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men” (New American Standard Bible 1995 Edition)
Jesus did not stop being God the Son when He became like us. He is fully God and fully man. As fully God, He can teach us about God. As fully man, Jesus can go to God in our behalf. As someone who is like us but without sin, He can understand our struggles and give us grace and mercy in our time of need.
Jesus, as a new-born baby, was wrapped up in swaddling cloths:
The angels announced Jesus’ birth to the shepherds: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:10–12).
Swaddling cloths were how people dressed their babies in Jesus time. Swaddling cloths were strips of cloths that people wrapped around their babies to keep them warm and feeling safe. Since Jesus is God, you would expect that when He was made in the likeness of people, He would come as a king dressed in the best clothes.
Many people overlooked Jesus because He wasn’t dressed in royal clothes. This is like confusing the wrapping paper for the gift. Sometimes young children are more interested in the wrapping paper and box than they are the gift within them! So too, Jesus’ humble clothes don’t compare to the value of what is within them. Don’t miss Jesus, God’s gift to you because He doesn’t appear like you think He should.
Jesus came as a baby and not as a king in royal robes so that He could serve us and deliver us from our sin. This leads us to another time the Bible says Jesus was wrapped.
Jesus’ body was wrapped up in linen when He was buried:
After He died on the cross, two of Jesus’ friends prepared His body for burial by wrapping it: “the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen” (John 19:40 New International Version, 1984 Edition). Jesus’ parents wrapped him in strips of linen when He was born. His friends also wrapped His lifeless body with strips of linen for burial. This wrapping of Jesus made His friends very sad.
Jesus changed His friends’ sadness to great happiness three days later. With greater ease than you tearing
through wrapping paper to get your gifts, Jesus burst from the grave alive!
Just as angels announced the Good News of Jesus’ birth, angels declared that Jesus rose from the dead! He is alive! After hearing that Jesus rose from the dead, some of His friends ran to His tomb. They found the burial cloths in which he had been wrapped lying there empty. Jesus’ burial clothes wrapped around Him, the tomb that sealed Him in the grave, and death itself could not hold Him. Jesus rose and conquered death for us!