“But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.”
~ Matthew 2:6
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you know what it was like when and where you were born? Did your dad and ma have to travel for days right before you were born? Jesus’ dad and ma had to travel by foot for a number of days right before Jesus was born. Jesus probably was born in a cavern that is located near the town of Bethlehem. At the time that Jesus was born, caverns were used to store hay and to stable animals such as donkeys, cows, sheep and goats. There were no doctors or nurses around to help Jesus’ ma when Jesus was born. Luke explains in his Luke Book why Jesus’ dad and ma needed to walk for a number of days right before Jesus was born. To get from their hometown – which was Nazareth, to the town of Bethlehem, Jesus’ dad and ma had to use a route that was teeming with highway robbers. Jesus may have been born sometime in January versus having been born on December 25. January in the region of the town of Bethlehem is one of the rainiest times of the year as well as one of the coldest months of the year. Jesus was born during the time when a guy by the name of Herod the Great – who was a Roman client king, was ruling over the guys and gals who were living in the land area of Judea. Judea was the land area where God’s specially chosen guys and gals – who were the Israelite people groups guys and gals, were living. The town of Bethlehem was located in the land area of Judea. Herod the Great – or King Herod, was a really mean dude. Herod was tasked by the Roman government in 40 B.C. to be king over the guys and gals who were living in Judea’s land area. Herod was an entrenched, ruthless monster by 37 B.C. Herod would murder his wife, kill his three boys and assassinate his mother-in-law, brother-in-law and uncle along with many other guys and gals. Herod’s life portfolio also has him building and/or refurbishing amphitheaters, theaters, monuments, pagan alters, fortresses and the temple of God that was located in the city of Jerusalem. Jesus began His life in a very inauspicious, unpromising, ominous setting. Even the town of Nazareth – which is where Jesus’ dad and ma were living and where they would – after Jesus was born, return to several years later to live in again, was just a stop in the road. Jesus would become known as a Nazarene. Being called a Nazarene – to some guys, became a disdainful, contemptuous way of referring to the guy.
Matthew in his Matthew Book – in Matthew 2, gives his Greek readers the history of what Jesus’ first months and years of His life were like. After Jesus was born, Jesus’ dad and ma found a house in the town of Bethlehem in which to live. A number of months after Jesus was born and after His dad and ma had moved into a house in the town of Bethlehem, magi from the east visited Jesus’ dad and ma in order to give baby Jesus gifts of gold, incense and myrrh. These magi were possibly Persian or southern Arabia astrologers who recognized the sudden appearance of a bright light in the eastern sky as something super significant. The magi decided to follow the light. It probably took weeks for the magi – as they followed the light, to finally see the light stop over the house where Jesus was in in the town of Bethlehem. The magi stopped in the city of Jerusalem on their way to the town of Bethlehem to ask if any guy or gal knew of the location of the house of a recently born king of the Jews. When Herod was told that some magi were following a bright light in the east that was leading them to a recently born king of the Jews and after some chief priests and teachers of the law told Herod what a prophet had scribed over 700 years earlier in his book, Herod decided to have all the boys murdered who had been born in and around the town of Bethlehem at about the same time when Jesus was born. Matthew quoted in verse 6 what this minor prophet – Micah, had been breathed on by God – as God the Spirit, to record in his Micah Book “‘ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’ ’” An angel in a dream gave Joseph – who was Jesus’ dad, a heads up for him and Mary to take their kid to the land of Egypt so that Jesus would not be one of the kids who would be killed because of Herod’s edict to kill every single one of the boys who were born in and around the town of Bethlehem at about the same time when Jesus was born. When Joseph and Mary decided that it was safe to return to their homeland, they went back to a familiar place – which was the town of Nazareth, where they could keep a low profile while Jesus grew up into manhood.
It is a bit ironic to your grandpaa that God would have your grandmaa draw out from a ‘shorty’ Pringles can last evening a slip of paper that would have your grandpaa doing a James and Ellen on the birth of an incarnate baby who would be named Jesus when today is the celebration of the resurrection from the dead of this same incarnated baby who had grown up to be an incarnate man. Jesus’ birth and death are two events that are celebrated every single year by millions of guys, gals and kids who are living on planet Earth. What did you do today to celebrate Jesus’ defeat of death through His resurrection from being dead? When your grandmaa and grandpaa were living in Delaware, your grandmaa and grandpaa would go to the sunrise services that were sponsored by a coalition of Wilmington churches – including the church where your grandmaa and grandpaa were going to – which was the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Your lives would have no purpose today if a baby by the name of Jesus had not been born and if He had not been resurrected by God from death in order to document death’s defeat and to give hope to the guys, gals and kids who believe by faith in what He did on a cross for them when He ransomed His life for their sins. Your grandpaa hopes that you will often reflect on the life that Jesus lived while He was living on planet Earth.
Matthew 2 (583)