"Riches To Rags To Riches: The Story Of Christmas”

There really wasn’t anything special about the swaddling cloths that wrapped baby Jesus. It was the normal practice of the day to wrap newborns in swaddling cloths. The cloths used to wrap babies in Jesus day normally consisted of a square piece of cloth with a long strip of cloth coming off of it. A newborn would first be wrapped up in the square cloth and then the long strip of cloth would be wound round and round the baby. This was done because it was believed it would help the baby to develop strong limbs. I was both interested and concerned to learn that newborns were rubbed with oil and then sprinkled with salt. I don’t know I guess its because that oil and salt thing sounded more like a recipe for a roast that a welcome to our world! In any case, the sign the angels told the shepherds about wasn’t a baby wrapped in cloths---that was a normal thing---no, the sign was a combination of finding a newborn baby boy wrapped in cloths who was lying in a manger. And of course, that’s what the shepherds found when they found Jesus.

Jesus riches to rags story takes Him from the glory and power of God to take on a human form so that as a baby He can be placed in a manger after being wrapped in cloths the way most newborns were wrapped. The swaddling cloths were traded for a toddlers attire which gave way to a teenager‘s threads then to a carpenter‘s apron and eventually to a prophet‘s robe. But you see, Jesus rags included the whole of His human experience. His rags included first steps, belly aches, bumps, bruises and boo-boos. His rags included coughs and head colds, sore throats and skinned knees. Raised as the son of a carpenter Jesus no doubt had to deal with splinters, cuts and mashed fingers. In the role of prophet and priest Jesus put on a servant’s towel and taught us much about humility and what it means to be great in the eyes of God. Jesus also put on a scarlet robe and a crown of thorns. And within a few hours these things gave way to Jesus being wrapped once again in strips of cloth---only this time they were the dying kind, not the birthing kind.

Anthony Robbins in his book Unlimited Power (pp. 184-185. New York: Ballantine Books, copyright 1986) relates a story told by [Richard] Bandler. Bandler tells about visiting a mental institution and dealing with a man who insisted he was Jesus Christ - not metaphorically, not in spirit, but in the flesh. One day Bandler walked in to meet this man. "Are you Jesus?" he said. "Yes, my son," the man replied. Bandler said, "I’ll be back in a minute." This left the man a little bit confused. Within three or four minutes, Bandler came back, holding a measuring tape. Asking the man to hold out his arms, Bandler measured the length of his arms and his height from head to toe. After that, Bandler left. The man claiming to be Christ became a little concerned. A little while later, Bandler came back with a hammer, some large spiked nails, and a long set of boards. He began to pound them into the form of a cross. The man asked, "What are you doing?" As Richard put the last nails in the cross, he asked, "Are you Jesus?" Again the man said, "Yes my son." Bandler said, "Then you know why I’m here." Somehow, the man suddenly recalled who he really was. His old pattern didn’t seem like such a good idea. "I’m not Jesus. I’m not Jesus!" the man started yelling.