Now this is the part of the Christmas Story that we don’t like to hear…
as we move away from the manager and
travel to the Cross.
The cries of the sweet Baby, turn into cries from a cross…
But this is the Christmas Story,
so stay with me here…
“Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.” Luke 2:10
“Good Tidings of Great
Joy”
The swaddled Baby in a Manger…
bringing Hope
The Man Robed in Righteousness…
wrapping you in Peace
The King of the Cross…
Good tidings of
Great
Joy.
This Baby took a walk to the manger to make a way to the Cross.
The Cross was just the beginning of the story
because after Jesus was crucified
He got off the Cross
to be swaddled again,
but in burial cloth.
“Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. " (John 19:40)
“Swathed", another word for “wrapped”…
to wrap someone completely ..
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
Swaddled in birth and now in death.
Is this the joy that you are rejoicing in?
No, it is just the beginning..
Jesus was wrapped to be laid a tomb for three days,
But He took off this swaddle…
as scripture tells us what Simon Peter saw in the tomb…
“He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.” John 20:6-7
The power of the “Folded” swaddle…
that Jesus left behind in the tomb..
The “folded cloth", also referred to as the “napkin”,
has great significance,
as the story doesn’t end here.
The folded napkin, in Hebrew tradition, had to do with the Master and his servant.
The servant would wait before clearing his master’s meal,
by first looking at the napkin….
A “wadded” napkin, meant
I am finished,
A “folded” napkin meant
I AM COMING BACK.
Jesus folded His swaddled cloth
& left it behind
as a sign that…
He is coming back..
Now that is
Great
Joy.
You see…
He is coming back to remove our burial cloths, and to take us with Him.
Wrapping yourself in the promise of the
swaddled Cloth,
Joy...
“(That) gives you true spiritual happiness; peace in your own hearts, and unity among yourselves; in believing not only the promises which he has given you, but believing in Christ Jesus, in whom all the promises are yea and amen." (Barnes Commentary)
“… I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to ALL people.”
For all people…
ALL that are waiting for and looking for redemption...
ALL sinners who carry the swaddled Baby,...
and
ALL who are wrapped in His Robe.
For ALL…
To be clothed with
Joy...
No Fear…
Because
He took off the robe...and
folded the cloth...
Because He is coming back.
We follow Jesus on earth, to follow Him to heaven.
Have you moved the Baby from His manger
To the Cross
To the Tomb
so that He could swaddle you with the great
Promises
of
Hope,
Peace
and
Joy?
Embrace the Risen Man this Christmas Season...
Who once upon a time was born to a little girl named Mary
so
that you will
experience the
Good tidings of
Great
Joy
that The Baby was born to bring
beyond
December 25!