"And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn."
Luke 2:6-7
“And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.”
Mary had been living in the wrong place for the Messiah’s birth (Micah 5:2). But the LORD had all things planned and prepared. A foreign ruler made a decree that had moved Mary and Joseph into the right place for the Messiah’s birth, and just in time as Mary’s time drew close. Only Jehovah could make centuries of prophecies, woven through the tapestry of time, work out to the right place and the right time in His plan. The little stable became a wondrous place on that glorious night.
“And she brought forth her firstborn son,”
The miracle of miracles, the Virgin gave birth to a son, her firstborn. This was a simple birth. Simple in the sense of lowly, quiet, no one present other than Mary and probably Joseph. Mary “brought forth her firstborn son.” No glamor or flash here.
As the ancient text reads, “her son, the firstborn.” The meaning is clear, Mary had more than one child, Had Jesus been an “only child” the sacred authors would have stated this differently. The New Testament writers give His siblings names. Mary and Joseph had several children together. Those teachers who claim the “perpetual virginity of Mary” are clearly false. The Bible never claims such a thing. “And she brought forth her firstborn son,” with other children to come.
“And wrapped him in swaddling clothes,”
This was a simple birth, but it was also a lonely birth. Mary was with her new husband, far away from home, with no family, no friends, and evidently, no ladies to help her for she “wrapped him in swaddling clothes” herself. Something a helper would usually have done while mom rested after the birth.
“When a child among the Hebrews was born, it was washed in water, rubbed in salt, and then wrapped in swaddling clothes; that is, not garments regularly made, as with us, but bands or blankets that confined the limbs closely, [see] Ezekiel 16:4,” (Barnes).
The term “swaddling clothes” comes from the verb “to swathe” or to wrap up the baby after it is born. No fancy baby clothes here. Just the snuggly wrapped swaddling bands.
“And laid him in a manger;”
No fancy bed to lay the Messiah in, just the crude feed box where the animals were tied and fed.
“Because there was no room for them in the inn.”
“No room.” How sad. “No room” for the One who came from glory to give Himself as a sacrifice for man’s sin. “No room” for the Savior and the King of kings. May the Lord never say this of us, that we have “no room” for Him!
He arrived, just as the ancient prophets said He would! The God-man, born of a virgin, in human flesh came to save us!
“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost,” (Luke 19:10).