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Insignificant Bethlehem? Jesus LORD at thy birth!
Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, had a seemingly young and insignificant mother, was born in a seemingly insignificant tiny town in Judah (Bethlehem Ephrathah), in an insignificant manger as there was no room in the insignificant inn for the highly significant King of Kings and Lord of Lords who voluntarily laid aside His omnipotent majesty, because He loves us, died for us and wants us to follow Him!
Most scholars affirm Mary was probably aged around 14 or slightly older. We have no recollection of any outstanding events in her earlier life yet she is the most privileged among women. Do you ever feel insignificant in God's eyes? Mary might have done, certainly in her earlier years yet God delights in using the humble and the meek for His glory!
What about Bethlehem? There are two Bethlehem's but the seemingly insignificant one that is in fact highly significant is located 5 miles South Of Jerusalem and has a history to go with it also. Rachel was buried there and David was born there! Joshua 15 lists over 100 cities in the Judean region that were inherited yet Bethlehem it didn't get a mention! Why? Not because there's a typo but because it's seemingly insignificant! Yet out of Bethlehem Ephrathah came the One whose origins are of old from everlasting (Micah 5v2) and yes in the Hebrew olam means eternal without beginning or end!
David was born there and in his earlier life David was seemingly insignificant! David was a shepherd and a sandwich boy deliverer to his brothers when Goliath was kicking off against them! In the middle east a shepherd is considered a very lowly occupation and I'll have to take a guess on this one but a sandwich boy is probably the same!
David was born in lowly Bethlehem and started out as a shepherd and became a great king. David would also have a great Son who would rule forever! David is a type of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ who was also born in Bethlehem. Jesus is the Good Shepherd and His sheep hear His voice! Jesus is also King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Bethlehem means "house of bread" and Ephrathah "fruitfulness". Jesus fed both the four and the five thousand, and no it wasn't a case of everyone sharing their supplies so that everyone had enough, as they had been following Jesus for three days and were just a little bit hungry! Jesus also said I am the Bread of Life. God provided heavenly manna to the Israelites in the wilderness as man cannot live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God!
Ephrathah means fruitfulness. Jesus is the true vine. We need to abide (rest, dwell, be connected) to the true vine. A bad tree cannot bear good fruit and evidence of being connected to the true vine is the outworking of the fruits of the Spirit in our lives! We can't do that without Him because Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by Me. (John 14v6)
What about the Magi bearing gifts from afar? They bore gold, frankincense and myrrh, prophetic gifts speaking of His Kingship, deity and His suffering and His death in that He would die in our place, for our sins when it should have been us! They put themselves out to journey from the east, dropping in on Herod to worship and pay tribute to the Messiah.
Herod's religious adviser's, scribes and pharisees knew the Scriptures inside out and knew and confirmed to Herod that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, but they couldn't be bothered to take the small journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, just 5 miles which they could have walked in 1 hour, ran in less than that, as maybe it wasn't significant enough for them and they were more bothered about not upsetting the Romans who they hated anyway!
Friends never make the same mistake! You are highly significant in God's eyes. God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but receive everlasting life! Jesus birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension were all acts of love, completely and utterly selfless directed toward us when we don't deserve Him, yet He is gracious. Never, never consider that Jesus being born into this world is insignificant because it happened a little over two thousand years ago and you weren't there. Never have an attitude of indifference like Herod's scribes who knew the prophecies about the Messiah, but they were cold and it was simply knowledge and it hadn't convicted them and they hadn't been cut to the heart with the truth of God's love for them!
Jesus is the only way and He seeks those who will worship Him in Spirit and in truth. He seeks followers, not just converts and He calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him. If you want to follow Him then...
Repent of your sins. Repent means more than being truly sorry it involves turning away from our sins. We need to confess our sins to Jesus who will forgive us if we truly repent.
We must believe in Him. This means more than believing in His existence. Even the devil believes that! We must be fully convinced and choose to love and obey Him.
Thirdly we must receive Him into our life. He will do this by the Holy Spirit and will never leave or forsake us.
Is the story of Jesus born in a lowly manger in Bethlehem insignificant? God forbid! Jesus LORD at thy birth! Amen! |
