Laid down
And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn (Luke 2:7).
Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby (John 19:41-42).
Luke uniquely records the birth of Jesus Christ. He beautifully describes the coming of the Saviour into the world. Mary, after giving birth, wrapped her child and laid Him in a manger. When we read of that tender moment, it is easy for us to overlook the immense power of God at work. A few verses later, heaven responds to the birth of Jesus Christ. The angel speaks of the all-powerful Saviour being born: “Christ the Lord”. But he presents this glorious person as a “babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12). There is nothing more helpless or dependent than a newborn baby. We should never cease to wonder at the incarnation. God reveals the immensity of His eternal love and power in the tininess of Immanuel.
In John 10 the Lord Jesus speaks of Himself as the Good Shepherd and of laying down His life for the sheep. That laying down was to mean crucifixion. This means of execution slowly ended the lives of those who endured such awful suffering, while enemies mocked and loved ones were left broken hearted. The world sought to take everything away from the Lord, even His clothes. But Calvary is not only about what man, energised by Satan, takes away. It is about what the Lord Jesus holds: “I have power to lay it down” (John 10:18).
Joseph of Arimathea asked for the body of Jesus and “he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before” (Luke 23:53). Death and the grave appear at this time to display their sting and victory over the Lord of life. But Jesus destroys the power of death: “I have power to take it again” (John 10:18). As the Apostle Paul writes: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).
The Lord’s birth, life, death and consequently His resurrection are characterised by the wonder of His “laying down”, the love displayed in the giving of Himself.
It was this love that caused the people of God to experience being of “one heart and one soul” and to lay down their resources in sacrifice to God as the Church of Christ began to grow (Acts 4:32-37). It is the same love that stimulates our worship and sacrificial service for the Lord: “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16).
