11/14/2025
Like most of us, Lynde Mott had always assumed swaddling clothes were used out of necessity. Perhaps Mary had nothing else, so she wrapped her newborn in swaddling, but Lynde recently taught us the reality is quite different.
Swaddling clothes were long bands of usually linen or wool that were intricately and lovingly embroidered by the young bride with great care in anticipation of her wedding day. Then, under the wedding canopy, these decorated bands would be tied around the clasped right hands of the bride and groom; hence the saying, ‘they tied the knot.”
This consecrated swaddling was then wrapped around the parents’ infant for special occasions.
When Mary wrapped Jesus in swaddling bands, it sent a recognizable signal to all in her culture that this baby, who has come down as a creation of God, is wanted, owned, embraced, loved, and is being cared for. And is further connected to a vast family of devoted followers of the One True God, the creator of Heaven and Earth.
🎨Swathed in Glory by Lynde Mott