My clothes were in style when I was a teenager – in the style of the previous decade. When I got married, my wife became my haberdasher. She buys my apparel at Goodwill Dior.
But what about the clothes that Jesus wore? They say, what you wear says something about you. So, what can we learn about Jesus from His wardrobe?
Luke 2:7 describes His first ensemble, “And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes.” – KJV
The shivering baby Jesus was wrapped in swaddling clothes. Why would Luke include a detail like this? Why not tell us if He was a small baby or a big bruiser? Or what was His Apgar score? Uh huh – I know what that is.
What color was his hair? Tell me it was red – please? Was he jaundiced? Did He look like his momma?
Why focus on swaddling clothes? And what are they anyway? In those days, when a child was born, the child’s arms were laid at its side, and the child was snugly wrapped in strips of linen or cotton.
The strips were 5 inches wide by 6 yards long. A band was also placed under the chin and across the forehead of the child. The wrapping completely immobilized the child.
It was believed that by doing this, it would straighten the posture of the child who had been cramped within his mother’s womb. There was no miniature Dallas Cowboys jersey for Jesus.
The swaddling clothes spoke of Christ’s incarnation. As God, Jesus descended to earth to wrap Himself in the flesh of a man. And just as the swaddling clothes restricted the movement of the baby, the humanity in which Christ was wrapped, restricted his movement as God.
He was required to lay down the independent use of His divine attributes. He was tightly wrapped in human flesh as He lived out His life as a man.
That was His first outfit, but the NT mentions Christ’s clothing about 31 times. Many of the references tell us something unique about Him.
A woman touched the fringe of his cloak and was healed (Luke 8:44). His cloak spoke of His incredible power. At the transfiguration, His garments radiated a glorious light which attested to His majesty (Matthew 17:2).
He was girded with a towel as He washed the feet of the disciples. It was a symbol of His servanthood (John 13:4).
Herod dressed Him in a robe to mock His claim as King (Luke 23:11) and the soldiers cast lots over His garments at cross (Matthew 27:35) pointing to His complete humiliation.
After He was crucified, “then they took the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes – John 19:40. – KJV
His lifeless body was tenderly covered – wound tightly with linen wrappings, much like a mummy. The wrappings were imbedded with a mixture of myrrh and aloes. They were so tight it was impossible to escape them. They affirmed the certainty of His death.
But wait a minute! The man wrapped in His burial clothes looked much like the infant, tightly wrapped in His swaddling clothes. One seems to have foreshadowed the other. It was like a linen thread that ran through Christ’s life.
So, Luke deliberately focused on the infant’s swaddling clothes to help us understand that the Christ child was born to die.
And we are so very grateful that Jesus did that for us. But we’re also thrilled that He wore those grave clothes for only three days.
John put it this way, “Then Simon Peter, who had been following him, arrived and went right into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen cloth lying there, and the face cloth, which had been around Jesus’ head, not lying with the strips of linen cloth but rolled up in a place by itself” John 20:6-7. NETBible®
The empty wrappings spoke of the certainty of His resurrection. What a truly amazing story His clothing tells!
A PRAYER: Thank You Jesus for telling the Gospel through your wardrobe.
This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com
May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with You
Pickle Heaven Press-James R. Johnson 