Baby Jesus swaddled and lying in a manger. Mary and Joseph standing nearby. This is the typical Christmas scene. After giving birth, Mary wrapped Jesus in swaddling clothes and laid him in a wooden manger. The fact that Mary had gone into labor in a barn rather than an inn room should be a heartbreaking scene, but instead, is a rather peaceful one.
There is another scene that completely contrasts this peaceful one. The one of Christ 33 years later. God strips Jesus of his clothes and lays him on another piece of wood, the cross. The body that was once carefully and tenderly wrapped in swaddling clothes by his mother Mary was completely stripped bare by his Heavenly Father.
No vacancies in the inn, manger in the barn, swaddling clothes¡¦ These show how the rich Jesus became poor for our sake (2 Corinthians 8:9). The Calvary road begins with a ¡°No Vacancy¡± sign in Bethlehem and ends with the cross in Jerusalem (John Piper-Solid Joy), begins with a manger and ends with a grave. 3 days later, Christ came out of the grave, dressed in clothes of glory, and later re-entered Heaven, his home. And he will one day come back to this earth. And His long journey will then be complete.