We have arrived once again at Christmas! What a blessed time to celebrate and remember the birth of the world’s Savior and the giving of the best Gift ever!
Luke tells us that Jesus was born in Bethlehem fulfilling Micah’s 700 year old prophecy. His mom and stepdad made their trip down from Nazareth to pay their taxes in the town of Joseph’s ancestors.
Luke also explains how Jesus was laid in a manger because there was no room in the inn. Although he doesn’t describe exactly where this manger was located, it was obviously where animals were kept which at the time was usually a cave.
Early tradition began to recognize a particular cavern in Bethlehem as the birthplace of the Messiah and later the Church of the Holy Nativity was built over top of it. Because this tradition for the location goes back to almost the time of Jesus, there is good reason to believe it is, in fact, the place where the Word became flesh.
Attempting to stamp out all evidence of Jesus, the Roman Emperor Hadrian built a shrine to a pagan goddess above this grotto a little over a hundred years after Jesus’ birth. In so doing, he actually preserved the location until another Roman Emperor, Constantine, could build a church there in the early AD300s.
The first church was burned around 530AD but Emperor Justinian rebuilt it shortly thereafter. That church still stands 1500 years later and is one of the holiest sites in the world.
Today tourists enter the church and normally stand in line for hours to see the fourteen pointed silver star designated as the exact spot of the Incarnation. We were fortunate to visit that church in 2018 and enter the cave beneath although we did not have hours to wait in line.
There is normally also a lengthy line in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to see where Jesus died as well as His empty tomb. Although the site of the crucifixion is crowded and a short wait is not uncommon, visitors must again schedule hours if they want to go inside the tomb. (Since COVID struck in 2020, tourism has been slim and there are virtually no lines for those brave enough to travel.)
It seems ironic that although there are usually lengthy lines today, twenty centuries ago there were none either at His birthplace, His cross, nor His tomb. Even though the Jewish leaders knew where to tell the Wise Men the Messiah would be born, they didn’t reserve Him a room or wait for Him there. Apparently no one except Mary and Joseph welcomed the Christ child while a few smelly shepherds arrived shortly thereafter.
In a similar way, when Jesus was crucified, even most of His closest friends scattered fearing they might be next, and only a handful of brave women returned to His tomb to anoint His body a few days later.
Although we might like to think we’d be different, I seriously doubt it. Even today, many are so ashamed to be connected with Jesus that they rarely if ever mention His name or speak to Him in public. Apathy keeps many others from regular worship where they might encounter the Risen Christ in fresh and unique ways.
In Matthew 25, Jesus explained how He is present in poor, homeless, suffering people but once again, no one is lining up to see or serve Him. We often consider these folks undeserving of our minutes, much less our hours.
Since none of us were there to welcome Him in Bethlehem, and since most of us can’t line up outside Jesus’ birthplace today, let’s seek Him in those around us. Let’s not just throw money at them, but love them with time and relationship. There are never any lines for that.
Merry Christmas, George