How do you get to Bethlehem? Why did so many find themselves there that first Christmas?
Luke 2:1-7- Natural events led Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem.
God was at work in and through natural processes, in and through human history, in and through the decree that Caesar Augustus sent out to get Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, to the prophesied place, so that she could deliver Jesus there. God does work in and through natural events to draw people to the Christ-child. Caesar Augustus was participating in a miracle even though he didn’t do anything supernatural. He just thought it would be a good time to count the people who were part of the Roman empire. He didn’t know his decree was part of God’s plan to move Joseph and Mary into a foretold, preplanned spot for the delivery of their baby.
God uses ordinary means to accomplish extraordinary measures. In this case, a census wasn’t merely a census. It was a fulfillment of prophecy that was being worked out through natural means. There was a natural journey that Joseph and Mary made that led them to experience something quite supernatural as Jesus was born that Bethlehem night. Don’t discount the inconveniences, the decrees, the extra need to be flexibility at someone’s request because often God is moving us in and out of places where we can see Him at work more clearly and where we can also be part of His plan in a special way.
Luke 2:8-16–A supernatural event led the shepherds to Bethlehem.
A sky filled with flying, talking, singing angels is a supernatural event. It was a miracle that prompted the shepherds to go to Bethlehem. A miracle moved them to the manager. A miracle led them to the Christ-child. No doubt, too, that the miracle gave them a measure of faith that what they witnessed when they got to Bethlehem was the stuff of Heaven.
Sometimes a person’s faith journey involves personal experience with a miracle to lead them to open their hearts to the reality of God’s existence and plan for their lives. I also know people, however, who have begged God for a miracle and when one was obviously delivered, their hearts were just as hardened to the things of God after the miracle as they were before. Look at Pharaoh in the book of Exodus who saw miracle after miracle after miracle, but yet still refused to surrender to God. Miracles in and of themselves aren’t enough to make people believers, but miracles can prompt people to journey closer to Christ.
They shepherds weren’t satisfied with a mere miracle. They wanted a Messiah. They needed a Savior. The shepherds wouldn’t allow a miracle be a substitution for an encounter with Jesus, and they made the journey to Bethlehem to see the Christ-child for themselves.
Matthew 2:1-2–Human curiosity led the Wise Men to Bethlehem.
These Wise Men were into the science of astronomy. They were also learned men who were trying to make scientific observations while putting those observations together with learned prophetic wisdom. It is widely believed that the prophesies about a King being born in Bethlehem had made their way to Babylon and Persia during the time of Daniel and the exile. So, it is likely that the Wise Men were adding what they had learned to what they were seeing, to what they studied, which piqued their curiosity about the whole thing.
They didn’t just wonder about the Bible prophecy and the bright star. They believed God was at work. They believed the Bible prophecy they had heard. In other words, they received the truth and in doing so, they were able to continue to explore that truth when the star appeared in the sky. They wanted to be where God was at work. They wanted to see what God was revealing. They made the trip because they had a basic belief and wanted to see more.
I encourage you to ask questions, but not with a desire to debate and not with a desire to doubt. If you do, you will never take the leap of faith that is required to see God for yourself. Ask questions from a desire to believe. When you do, God adds to your faith an understanding which cements your faith.
Philippians 2:5-8-God’s redemptive plan led Him to Bethlehem.
God’s plan to redeem the world, to free the world from the slavery and consequences of sin, was that God would become a man. This Philippians 2 passage is one of several that help us understand that Jesus didn’t cease to be God when He became a baby, but He willingly laid aside His Divine privileges and rights. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit so that He wasn’t born with a sin nature as we are. He was placed in a virgin’s womb so that His perfect nature was not tainted. He experienced life in every way that we do including every temptation we face, and He lived sinless and died sinless in order to accomplish the will of the Heavenly Father. It was all God’s plan. I love the quote I heard this past week at a David Phelps concert when he sang, “Many babies grow up to be Kings, but only one King became a baby.”
You talk about a journey! Jesus left the splendor of heaven and became like us. Imagine trading the glory of heaven for the brokenness of earth. Jesus willingly accepted certain limitations and weaknesses. He left a place without limits and a place without time to enter into the confinement that is humanity and time. Scripture tells us that God is omnipresent which means He is everywhere, but when Jesus descended to earth, he was bound to a one place at a time experience. He who was the Source of everything became a person who needed to replenish himself with food and rest. He who created the winds and waves had to find shelter from the elements.
William Dyer wrote, “Christ uncrowned himself. To crown us, He put off His robes and put on our rags.” We often think of the cross as the place of sacrifice, and rightly so, however, we must understand that the entire incarnation, the entire experience of God becoming flesh was a huge sacrifice. Love isn’t always defined by what we give, but it is often more appropriately defined by what we give up. Jesus gave up a lot to journey to Bethlehem. Jesus, God Himself, took on the nature of a servant, became human. He didn’t claim any special privilege. He lived a selfless and obedient life only to die a selfless and obedient death. In other words, He came to Bethlehem knowing it was the beginning of a life of sacrifice and a death as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. But He still came.
It isn’t about where you start, but it’s about where you end up. Where will you end up? You need to get to Bethlehem in your heart, and you need to get to Calvary where Jesus died because the baby who journeyed from heaven to earth paid the price we could never pay to enable us to journey with Him to our Heavenly Home one day. The greatest gift you could receive this Christmas comes from journeying with Jesus. However, you need to get to Bethlehem, however you need to get to Calvary, get there as fast as you can.
