Prophetic Symbolism of Jesus’ Swaddling Clothes: His Mission as the Lamb of God Revealed!

The words “swaddling clothes” are from a Greek word that describes the bandages or strips of material used for wrapping infants.

But the original word was also used to depict wrapping the little legs of newborn lambs, and as such, these strips of cloth would have been available in the cave where Jesus was born.

Caves of that kind were the primary barns and stables of Bethlehem — even the caves in the countryside were used by shepherds as a shelter for themselves and their flocks. So having such materials on hand would have been expected in those particular caves.

In typical caves near Bethlehem, animals would have been sheltered inside on the night Jesus was born. Most likely, little lambs were among them too. Because Jesus was born in a cave that could have also sheltered little lambs, it is probable that strips of cloth, or “swaddling clothes,” were available for Mary to wrap Jesus with that were normally used to wrap the legs of those lambs.

But Mary would have used them to bundle up baby Jesus — the Lamb of God!

This means that Jesus’ first appearance on the earth symbolically foreshadowed the purpose of His coming — that He was born to be the Lamb of God and to take away the sins of the world. In fact, John the Baptist prophetically declared Jesus to be “…the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

First Peter 1:19 also calls Christ “…a lamb without blemish and without spot.” And Revelation 5:12 refers to this Lamb as “…the Lamb that was slain to receive…honour, and glory, and blessing.” Also, Revelation 13:8 speaks of Jesus as “…the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

This signature title of our Savior as the “Lamb of God” makes the term “swaddling clothes” extremely significant in the Christmas story because He, as the little Lamb of God, was placed in a lamb’s “swaddling clothes” at His birth.

What Is a ‘Manger’?

That same night after the shepherds had been alerted by a heavenly host that Christ had been born in Bethlehem, they came to see this sight and witnessed an infant wrapped in “swaddling clothes” like a little lamb, and He was lying in a manger. This was a special sign, especially to them, as you will see in the pages to come.

The Bible says Mary laid Jesus in a manger. Because of artistic renderings in paintings and illustrations on greeting cards and in other media, what people imagine in their minds about this holy event is not based on reality, but rather on those sources. So I want to ask you, Do you know what a manger is or what Jesus’ manger looked like?

The word “manger” in the original text depicts an animal’s feeding trough. In 248 AD, the theologian Origen wrote about the cave in Bethlehem where Christ was born, saying, “…There is shown at Bethlehem the cave where He [Christ] was born, and the manger in the cave where He was wrapped in swaddling-clothes. And this sight is greatly talked of in surrounding places….”

Origen wrote that many Christians still visited this holy site in his day and could witness the “manger” where Christ was laid in swaddling clothes. It was amazingly still visible in the cave in 248 AD.

But if the manger had been fashioned of wood, as most people think, it would be hard to imagine that it would have still existed almost approximately 250 years later, as it surely would have rotted or been carried away by that time.

So in the typical style of mangers in Judean caves, the manger Luke wrote about was not made of wood, as most people imagine. In caves used as stables and barns at that time, mangers were typically hollowed spaces carved from the cave itself.

Amazingly, when one walks down the steps into the cave just below the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, even today there is an ancient stone feeding trough. If it is not the very one in which Jesus was laid, it is at least similar to it.

Why ‘No Room in the Inn’?

When Mary and Joseph came to Bethlehem, the Bible says, “…There was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7). Religious traditions imply the reason Mary and Joseph ended up in the cave with animals is, they were too poor to pay for a room. However, that is not true.

Chapter Three shows that, contrary to what religious tradition says, Joseph was not poor. He was likely well compensated for his employment, and he probably had financial resources available. So why was there “no room for them in the inn” when they arrived in Bethlehem?

The reason there was no room in Bethlehem is that they were late arriving there. Because of the multitude of travelers that were crowding the city for the Roman census, by the time Joseph and Mary arrived in town, all the rooms had already been taken. Bethlehem was a very small town, and the “inns” at that time were the second floors of larger homes, which must have already been occupied when Joseph and Mary arrived.

But we know that Mary was “great with child” and about to give birth, so Joseph probably searched for a place that would serve as a warm and dry shelter. Then he retreated with Mary into the very back of a cave that was normally used as a stable or barn — because that was all that was available.

I’ve been in many of the caves in the Judean countryside that were used as a place of refuge for shepherds and their flocks. Seeing them makes it easy to understand why one of them would have been an ideal refuge for Joseph, Mary, and Jesus.

Today people love to sing the song “Silent Night,” but in reality, the holy moment of Christ’s birth was probably not as silent as the song claims. Jesus was born in a cave filled with noisy animals and possibly other travelers who were also seeking refuge. It was probably downright noisy in that cave because there were animals all around, along with shepherds, and possibly other weary travelers.

As we saw earlier, the place where Jesus was born is located just below the present-day Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. It can still be accessed by visitors who must descend a flight of stairs from either side of the cathedral’s main level. A bronze star is inset in the ground to mark the place where the birth of Jesus took place about 2,000 years ago.

Although the site seems ostentatiously religiously decorated by the church and by worshipers who have come there over the past two millennia to see this special place, it is well documented by Christian writers from the earliest times that Christ really was born there.