If Only I Had Known!

If Only I Had Known!

Matthew 2:1-14

"Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?"

"Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, 'Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.'

"And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him.

"Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, 'Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.' And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt."

If only I had known! If only I had known!

Oh, hello there, who are you? Where did you come from? Oh, no matter, did you see Him? Oh, if only I’d known! But no, I was the one who didn’t see! I was the one who didn’t pay attention! He was right here, and I missed Him!

Forgive me for rattling on so. You must be wondering what I’m talking about. You’re new to the village, probably recently arrived? Ah, then maybe you do not know! How could I have been so foolish? Oh, how could I have been so blind?

I am sorry. Again, I digress. But we’ve had some recent excitement here in the little town of Bethlehem. And I missed it! You see, it all started less than two years ago . . .

You remember when almost two years ago, Caesar Augustus decreed that all of us should be taxed? And we had to be counted at our place of birth or family heritage for the Census? Well, people came from far and wide, some traveling for days just to get here. You do know that this is the place of David, David’s hometown, right? So anyone with a heritage of King David would surely want to make that known! In a short space of time, Bethlehem was bursting at the seams. Folks who had not been here for many years were arriving daily. We all crammed relatives into any space we could find, some even sleeping where the animals are kept! We worried how we would feed everyone, and take care of everyone’s needs. But we survived, somehow!

On one of those nights, when our house was full, and I’d had about all I could stand of my relatives, I was outside taking a walk when I noticed some shepherds slinking about the town. Now you have to understand that we don’t think much of shepherds around here. You’re not shepherds, are you? Of course not! Anyway, if we’re not careful, when they’re near our town, they sneak in and steal things. They’re a dirty lot, those shepherds are! In fact, the mayor of the town banned them from even coming into town! But there they were, and they were going from house to house! Well, it was my duty to report them, because I didn’t want them to steal from me or from any of my neighbors! So I marched myself over to the mayor’s house, and I told him what was going on. But on my way back home, I didn’t see them anywhere. I didn’t know if they had left, or were still sneaking around somewhere. I was tired by then, so I sauntered back to my house, went in, bolted the door, and then checked again to make sure I bolted the door!

The next morning, as I went about my work as a stonemason (I was working on the mayor’s house, adding on a new addition), I watched as a group of townspeople came to the mayor’s door, knocked on it, and waited for the mayor to come out. When he did, they talked quite excitedly about something. I figured the shepherds had gotten in trouble, and raised some kind of ruckus the night before. I wasn’t close enough to hear what was being said, but I sure was curious! But then the mayor went with them, and they left in quite a hurry. I dismissed it from my mind, and continued my work.

When I went home for lunch, my wife met me at the door. “Did you hear what happened last night?” she asked animatedly. I told her I knew something had happened, because a group of people had visited the mayor, but that I could not hear what they were saying. “Well,” she continued, “some shepherds came into town last night . . . .” I held up my hand and stopped her. I told her I knew they had come, because I had seen them, and that it was me who reported them to the mayor. “But do you know why they came?” I felt like I was playing a hundred questions. I told her I assumed they were up to no good, as they usually are. She then regaled me with some story, told her by her friend from two houses down, about how the shepherds said they’d seen a large group of angels, as they were out in the fields with their herds of sheep. These angels had told them that the Messiah was born in Bethlehem! Well, you can imagine my astonishment! But I was also a little skeptical. Why would God send angels to tell shepherds that His Messiah was born? In fact, I think I said that aloud! “After all, they are shepherds,” I said. “Don’t you think God would announce it to people of higher stature?” So, like a fool, I dismissed it! Oh my wife believed it all, and told all our relatives, all our friends, and everyone she talked to. But not me, I was the disbelieving one.