We have probably all sung ‘Hark the herald angels sing’ and it is impressive the angel packed so much into a short speech: reassurance followed by the identity and purpose of this baby, the outcome for all people, a bit hazy on directions, but included specific details about a manger and swaddling cloths.
Swaddling cloths and mangers? Why? Here’s an angel, so fresh from God’s presence that His glory is spilling over the shepherds, and he is talking about mundane aspects of baby clothes and sleeping arrangements? Surely there must be more significance to ‘swaddling cloths’ other than as comfort for a newborn?
One possible reason is the Bethlehem fields were farmed by shepherds who were specialist providers of the sacrificial and thanksgiving lambs for the temple in Jerusalem.
The fields had dedicated sheep-towers where the ewes gave birth. The shepherds would wrap up any unblemished lamb so it remained clean and unmarked then place it in a manger to keep it out of harm’s way until it was taken to the temple - so there was a familiarity with the wrappings and their significance. And perhaps that’s why the angel didn’t give directions – a sheep-tower was nearby but not currently in use; the shepherds made the association and so knew where to go.
The shepherds’ meeting with a sky-full of singing angels certainly took them out of their comfort zone but there was enough familiarity in what the angel said for them to recognise and act upon.
The shepherds may not have understood that the Lamb of God, placed in a manger, was marked out for future sacrifice but that’s where we know the story leads: to death on a cross and resurrection from a garden tomb.
“Behold, the lamb of God who
takes away the sins of the world”
