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WITH JESUS AROUND
JERUSALEM
JESUS, BORN IN
BETHLEHEM
Jesus was born
in the little Judean town of Bethlehem.
Even in ancient times it was almost a
suburb of Jerusalem, being only five
miles (8 kilometers) away, and it
certainly is much like a suburb today,
although it is now part of the
Palestinian Authority. Jesus’ birth in
Bethlehem was in answer to a prophecy
made some seven hundred years before by
Micah. It is one of the most astounding
prophecies in the Bible. Micah 5:2 says:
"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of
Judah, out of you will come for me one
who will be ruler over Israel, whose
origins are from of old, from ancient
times" (cf. Mt. 2:1-2; Lk.
2:4-7). This prophecy assures us that
the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem
and that his origins were ancient and
unsearchable. How appropriate that the
Messiah, the miraculous and eternal
spiritual food for his people, was born
in Bethlehem, whose Hebrew name means
"house of bread."
BETHLEHEM - THE BIBLICAL HERITAGE
The little
town of Bethlehem has a biblical
heritage reflecting both great sorrow
and great joy. We read in Genesis 35:19
that Jacob lost his beloved wife,
Rachel, as she died giving birth to
Benjamin. The place of her death was on
the outskirts of Bethlehem (Gen. 48:7).
Her tomb has stood beside the Bethlehem
Road for many centuries and is a
favorite place of prayer to this day for
the women of Israel.
Rachel’s Tomb just outside
Bethlehem as it appeared in 1910
In 1
Chronicles 4:4, we see that Ephrathah or
Ephrath was the wife of Caleb, mother of
Hur and great ancestor of many of
Bethlehem’s early residents. As we
observe in Micah’s prophecy, her name
has become attached to the city. The
blessed story of Ruth and Boaz also has
its setting in the fields of Bethlehem.
In the Book of Ruth we learn that she
and Boaz were in fact the great
grandparents of King David. So Bethlehem
became his home as well and the place
where Samuel anointed him as the future
king of Israel (1 Sam. 16:13). Bethlehem
is actually called the "City of
David" in Luke 2:4. A couple of
David’s mighty men, Elhanan and Asahel
were from Bethlehem as well (2 Sam.
23:24; 2:32).
Of course the
crowning event in all of Bethlehem’s
history was the birth of Jesus. Mary and
Joseph had traveled from Galilee back to
their home country in order to register
for taxation according to Roman decree
and while they were there Jesus was
born. He was born in a stable because
there was no room in the local inn. On
that night the angel announced the glad
tidings found in Luke 2:10-11: "Do
not be afraid. I bring you good news of
great joy that will be for all the
people. Today in the town of David a
Savior has been born to you; he is
Christ the Lord."
Long
tradition, all the way back to the
second century, has it that the manger
where the baby lay was actually situated
in a cave. Today under the Church of the
Nativity there is a cave which is
revered as the very spot where Jesus was
born. In fact, there is a network of
caves under the church.
Bethlehem
suffered a tragic and sad event after
Jesus was born. In his mad attempt to
kill the baby Jesus, King Herod had all
the young male children of the area
murdered (Matt. 2:16). In a deep
spiritual sense Mother Rachel was left
weeping for her children because they
were no more (Jer. 31:15; Matt.2:18).
BETHLEHEM THROUGH HISTORY
In the early
fourth century the Roman Empire became
officially ‘Christian’ with the
conversion of Constantine and his rise
to power. Almost immediately Constantine’s
mother, Helena, came to the Holy Land
and began to construct great churches
marking spots of the major biblical
events. By 330 the Church of the
Nativity in Bethlehem was built. Later,
the great Bible scholar Jerome with some
assistance from local Rabbis translated
the Bible which became known as the
Latin Vulgate. Tradition says that after
thirty years of laboring on his project
he was buried in the vicinity of the
church.
In its early
stages the Bethlehem church was fairly
small and was later damaged seriously in
an uprising. In 529 the Emperor
Justinian expanded the building to its
present form. The church miraculously
survived the devastating Persian
invasion of 614 and was likewise spared
destruction by the Moslems as the
Crusaders took over the Holy Land in
1099. The old church, perhaps the oldest
continuing Christian church in the
world, has survived war, earthquake and
fire and still stands today. She even
survived the humiliating and nationally
televised takeover by Islamic radicals
in 2002.
Church of the Nativity in
Bethlehem
Through all
these centuries the church has remained
an important Christian shrine. For most
of the last two millennia the residents
of Bethlehem have been predominately
Christian. Many made their living in the
numerous olive wood shops and other
curio shops and restaurants around
Manger Square.
Today because
of the bewildering and confusing
politics of Middle East, Bethlehem,
which came under Israeli administration
in1967, was given to the Moslem
Palestinian Authority in 1995. All this
was part of the Oslo Peace Accords. Due
to the resulting rise in Moslem
persecution there is a sudden and
drastic decline in the Christian Arab
population, which has now shrunk to less
than 20 percent.
IS RACHEL STILL WEEPING?
It appears
that the days of Rachel’s weeping are
not ended. The same can be said of
Bethlehem’s weeping. Her nativity
celebrations are now muted as thousands
of Christian residents have fled the
land. Due to the ugly and vicious Middle
East politics the Jewish people are
certainly not welcome in the city
either. Rachel must still be weeping for
them as well.
Several years
ago a number of us from Jerusalem were
part of a singing group. One of our
performances was on Christmas Eve at
Bethlehem. As a part of the Christmas
season the Israeli government had
encouraged choirs from the area and from
other parts of the world to join in the
program. It was a blessed opportunity of
a lifetime. One of our performers was
Liz Kopp, who is the pastor’s wife and
pianist at Narkis Street Congregation in
Jerusalem. Liz wrote and sang this
beautiful, sorrowful but at the same
time hopeful arrangement.
O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Mid broken dreams and silent
screams
Carried through the night
Pain shatters your peaceful skies
Tears fill up your streams
Love is lost when your heart no longer
believes
O little town of Bethlehem
How still you are tonight
Behind your walls you bury hope
And lose site of that star
That would lighten your darkened path
And show you the way
To the One who can set your spirit free
O little town of Bethlehem
Chosen village foreseen
O little town of Bethlehem
City of the King
We wait for you
We pray for you
To let Him in again
****
Article publication
date, December 2007 -Jim Gerrish
Photo credits
Wikimedia
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