Background Passages: Luke 2:1-20; Matthew 2:1-12
We often get caught up in the extraordinary events of that first Christmas.
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- An angel’s visit to a chosen, teenage girl.
- A promised and pristine conception.
- The birth of the Christ-child.
- A choir of angels proclaiming “peace and goodwill” to everyone.
- The shepherds’ worship of a Messiah.
- The wise men’s gifts to a newborn king.
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Yet, the Almighty God focused all the extraordinary acts of his perfect plan for the salvation of the world on the obscure, insignificant village of Bethlehem. Chosen from the beginning of creation as the place of the Messiah’s birth, God maneuvered the events of history and enabled the lives of his obedient people to open the gate of a stall and fill its manger with the perfect image of himself.
Sure. Prophecy told us it would be Bethlehem. Israel’s favorite king was born in the little hamlet and herded his sheep in the hills surrounding it. For hundreds of years it slept a few miles from Jerusalem and its Temple Mount. Until the day when Joseph, a direct descendant of David, obediently followed the governor’s law and made a five-day journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem to fill out his census and pay his Roman required tax.
Why Bethlehem?
God could have used any number of better-known cities in Israel to call his king and send his son. Instead, he chose Bethlehem.
If you pay enough attention to God’s work in history, he seldom used the magnificent to achieve his purposes. Far more often, God chose the humble and insignificant. The ordinary and mundane. When it came time to sing the final stanza of salvation that would one day hang on a cross and be raised from the dead, God pointed the world to a tiny village using a star bright enough so all who were willing to follow would find the baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes.
God didn’t send a king. He sent a servant.
God didn’t send a conqueror. He sent a carpenter.
God didn’t choose the temple city of Jerusalem or the royal city of Tiberias. He chose Bethlehem.
Why Bethlehem?
Here’s my thought.
For most of the people of the world, the coming of Jesus to Bethlehem was, and is, a curiosity. A Nativity scene in the courthouse. A painting on a Christmas card. A phrase in a Christmas carol. A tidbit of trivia that changes nothing.
For Mary and Joseph…for the shepherds and the wise men…for me…the coming of Jesus to Bethlehem was, and is, personal and powerful. A God-purposed encounter that changed everything.
God, through his son, Jesus Christ, will never force his way into our lives. Rather, he hangs a star above a stable and invites us to come to Bethlehem. He lets his angels sing and invites us to come to Bethlehem.
We must come to Bethlehem, not for the cold glitter and gold of a palace or cathedral, but for the chance to feel the warmth of a child held in our embrace…God in human form…a child to be adored and loved and worshiped. You see, the where is not nearly as crucial as the why.
Why Bethlehem?
Because Bethlehem is a place where God becomes personal…and powerful. A place where you can find the answer to your greatest longings of heart and soul. A place to see Jesus as God’s gift to you…God’s gift to a hurting world. A chance to embrace Jesus as savior and be forever changed.
Why Bethlehem?
Perhaps its time to come to Bethlehem and see for yourself.
Amen