Luke 2:12 read with care: 'this shall be a sign unto you, you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes.' The babe is not the thing that happened - it is the sign that it happened. The event took place that day in eternity and is invisible to mortal eye; the shepherds were told what sign to look for, went, and found exactly that, but they could not find the event. Neville's analogy is protocol: if the presidential flag is flying you tell your friends he is in residence. The flag is not the president; it signifies his presence. So the babe on the floor signifies that God has succeeded in bringing himself out of man, individualised as you. He adds a correction from his own experience - not lying in a manger but lying on the floor - and notes that no one saw him during the event itself, though he could see the witnesses and read their thoughts.
Kind
Formula
Interpretive layers
Biblical typology
Experiential narrative
Collections
Lectures
Bible wordings
Luke 2:12 | shall be a sign unto you, you will find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying on the floor
Own wordings
The babe is not the thing that happened, the babe is a sign
It doesn’t mean the flag is the president, it only signifies his presence
The child is no more the event than the flag flying over the White House is the President
Occurrences
Span from: -1
to: -1
Passage revision:
624963
Span from: -1
to: -1
Passage revision:
626600
Span from: -1
to: -1
Passage revision:
600049
Span from: -1
to: -1
Passage revision:
623729
Span from: -1
to: -1
Passage revision:
689784
Span from: -1
to: -1
Passage revision:
607783
Span from: -1
to: -1
Passage revision:
627293
Span from: -1
to: -1
Passage revision:
627380
The child is not the event. The child is no more the event than the flag flying over the White House is the President. It signifies his presence; it is not the President.
Span from: 847
to: 1017
Passage revision:
627293
Span from: -1
to: -1
Passage revision:
611880
Span from: -1
to: -1
Passage revision:
614383
LectureMoses Elijah Jesus
At the Nativity, the angel gave a sign through the shepherds, and people have completely misunderstood the sign and think it is the event.
Span from: 243
to: 381
Passage revision:
614626
LectureMoses Elijah Jesus
Simeon comes into the temple and sees the Child and makes the prophecy: “This is a sign that will be spoken against.”
Span from: 452
to: 569
Passage revision:
614627
LectureGod's Promise to Man
here is a sign he has succeeded in bringing himself out, individualized as you. It’s a little sign, the sign is that of “a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying on the floor.”
Span from: 104
to: 285
Passage revision:
625519
LectureGod's Promise to Man
If you understood this protocol you will look to see a displaying sign, and if the presidential flag is flying you will say to your friends: “He is in residence.”
Span from: 199
to: 361
Passage revision:
614753
LectureGod's Promise to Man
The babe is not the thing that happened, the babe is a sign: “This shall be a sign unto you.”
Span from: 325
to: 418
Passage revision:
629218
Span from: -1
to: -1
Passage revision:
615429
Span from: -1
to: -1
Passage revision:
616094
Span from: -1
to: -1
Passage revision:
619129
Span from: -1
to: -1
Passage revision:
688114
Span from: -1
to: -1
Passage revision:
620003
Span from: -1
to: -1
Passage revision:
620004
Span from: -1
to: -1
Passage revision:
715104