Intro
Bethlehem, O Bethlehem of old, how small you are. You are small, so insignificant, that few even count you among the towns of Judah. So small and little-known are you that Micah the Prophet must call you Bethlehem of Ephratah, or someone might mistake you for another: Bethlehem of Zebulon.
Yes, O Bethlehem of Ephratah, so small are you that even ancient maps have forgotten you, not placing you on the yellowed parchment of old. What good can come from you O forgotten, little one?
The year is 735 B.C. The prophet Micah stands forth to speak; a strong voice and convicting air confronts the eardrums of all within earshot. Every eye stops, gazing on God’s prophet. Micah continues, “This day, let it be known to you what the LORD God has made known.” The assembly is stirring, eager for what Micah will next say. “Hear O Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: ‘The promised Messiah will be born in the little town of Bethlehem of Ephratah.’”
Disbelieving cries pierce the air. One calls out: “Are you even a prophet? How can the Promised One, our Messiah, be born there? Jerusalem, yes; Bethlehem, no! Surely there are greater places in Judah than Bethlehem, Ephratah.” And with a resounding voice the people agree. But Micah stands fast: “Doubt not the living and active Word of Yahweh; so will it be as I have said.”
Main Body
So the Savior Micah foretold would come from a small and little place. He would come from an insignificant clan of people, but His royal lineage would reach back beyond the beginning of time. For the One to be born in Bethlehem would be God Himself.
250 years before Micah, a ruler had come out of Bethlehem: King David. Yet the ruler whom Micah foretold would be of a different stripe. This Ruler would be “from old, from the days of eternity.” Micah spoke of One who is eternal--and only One is eternal: the Lord, our God. The Lord would then be born in Bethlehem.
So also spoke the angel Gabriel to the young Virgin: “The Holy Spirit will descend on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy One to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). Look to the little town of Bethlehem and marvel at our Savior’s birth. It is in the humble town of Bethlehem that God came dwelling among us sinful creatures.
Jesus came wrapped in human flesh, wearing the robe of human frame, not looking as we thought a god should look. Yet, it was as Micah had foretold: “That is why He will give them [up] until she who is in labor has given birth.” And so Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary.
Look to the little town of Bethlehem to marvel at your Savior’s birth. The God who grants the power of speech must learn to talk. The God who enables the lion to run and the deer to leap must to learn to walk. The hands that molded and shaped the universe would reach out as a helpless Child. He grew up--as other children--but was without sin. We confess the truth of this reality in the Nicene Creed with these words: “and was made man.”
Even the meaning of the name Bethlehem tells us something about this place where God’s Son was to be born. Bethlehem means “house of bread.” In Israel’s early history, Bethlehem was where much grain grew in the fields, grain used for the making of bread. And “house of bread” is a fitting description. Wheat and barley clothed its fertile valleys, grains that were harvested, ground, and baked into loaves to eat.
But we do not live by bread alone. So in the fullness of time, One was born in this “house of bread,” One who is the Bread of Life. We don’t know the origin of the name “Bethlehem,” but it was where the Bread of Life was born to feed the souls of many. It is also called Ephratah, meaning “fruitful field.” Now it is bearing fruit such as they never dreamed, those who named the small, ancient town of old.
But the name “Bethlehem Ephratah” also tells us more. It was where common folk lived and worked. Although the town had one famous person--King David--it was still where farmers labored growing grain. And that tells us something about our Savior. He didn’t come to us in a palace of kings!
Jesus lowered Himself to our level. No one is so low for whom He did not descend. He was born in a stable and laid to sleep in an animal-feeding trough. He was born in Bethlehem, not in Jerusalem.
And so our Savior comes as a man, not as an angel. Jesus comes to live as a real human being in the waste and welter of His fallen creation. He takes on our human nature in every way--except sin. He comes to save common folk, like the people who live in Kimberling City.
Hear how the writer of the book of Hebrews puts it: [Jesus shared in our flesh and blood] so that through His death He might destroy the one holding the power of death--that is, the Devil--and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. For clearly, He doesn’t reach out to help angels, but to help Abraham’s offspring.” (Hebrews 2:14-16). That means you.
Micah tells to all that the One born in the little town of Bethlehem is the eternal God. God has become man! O what blessing--for it took a God to come and save us. No mere man could do it. As David the Psalmist wrote, “Truly, no person can redeem another or pay his ransom to God. The ransom for a life is too costly and no payment is ever enough” (Psalm 49:7-8).
If Jesus were only a human, but somehow managed to live a perfect life, He would’ve saved only Himself. His perfect life would do nothing for you or for me. Yes, Micah prophesied that Jesus would be fully human and be born of a woman. St. Paul put it this way: Jesus was “born of a woman, born under the Law.” But St. Paul doesn’t stop there. He says, Jesus came “to redeem those under the Law” (Galatians 4:4-5). That’s you and me.
Look to the little town of Bethlehem to see the Savior we need. He is more than true man: For “she who is in labor has given birth,” given birth to God in the flesh. He is our substitute payment, offering the perfect, holy life that God demands, dying the death that we sinners deserve. He is true God: He is “from old, [even] from the days of eternity.” His faultless life and blameless death are what’s needed to make all things right with God and burn away the shroud of death.
Take note, O fallen creature: Jesus doesn’t come to you seated as a Judge, wielding His scepter, announcing the verdict of His righteous, sin-condemning Law. “The rest of His brothers will return” Micah says, but why? It won’t be because of the lash of the Law. No, they will return only because of grace, the grace of the cross. For when Jesus is lifted up, He will draw all people to Himself.
When Christ was crucified, the sins of all--and “all” includes you--were brought on and into Christ. It’s true, even on this day before Christmas, that we should receive the righteous judgment and anguishing hell that God the Father hurls down on Christ. In gratitude, let us cry out in thanksgiving that Jesus diverted this hell from us to Himself. He is our Redeemer who buys us back from the slavery of sin. Jesus was declared the sinner so that you are declared a saint.
Yes, Bethlehem and the cross are intimately linked. Jesus was born in Bethlehem to die on Golgotha for your sins. Yet Jesus didn’t simply die on the cross, only to leave you guessing where He brings to you the forgiveness He won there. For you see, Micah did more than prophesy that little Bethlehem would be the birth place of Christ. Micah did more than prophesy that Christ would gather you together into His Church. Listen to these words of the prophet: “And He will stand, shepherding in the strength of Yahweh.”
Where does that happen, where does the risen Christ stand and feed His flock? Right here, here in His Church, this House of Bread! Here, He feeds you with His own Self. Here, the precious promises of the Gospel become yours in the Body and Blood of Christ. Here, He feeds, strengthens, and keeps you in the one, true Faith unto life everlasting.
Indeed, God’s Gift to the world is His only Son, given to us, given to me, given to you. All who believe in Him will not die because of their sins but, instead, receive a life that never ends.
But you can’t travel back some two thousand years and say with the shepherds, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened” (Luke 2:15). It can’t be done. And it doesn’t need to, for God brings His Son to you!
He delivers this precious Gift to you personally as He transcends space and time. In the Divine Service, the One who comes from Bethlehem comes to you. He confounds all science, chemistry, and physics and comes to us in the bread and wine of His supper. Here the Messiah, the Son of God, gathers His flock and feeds us for all eternity. Here, in this House of Bread, God opens His storehouse of mercy and feeds you with His life-giving forgiveness. Here is God’s Son in the flesh for you!
That is why you are safe and secure in the “strength of Yahweh” as Micah foretold. For Christ is your safe haven from your eternal enemies of death and hell. Your sin no longer condemns you. Christ washes away your sins in His blood-cleansing sea of forgetfulness, as far as the east is from the west. Here in His Church, His House of Bread, He feeds you with Himself, the Bread of Life. Satan’s accusations of guilt fall on deaf ears. God remembers your sins no more.
The sins of your past are forgiven and forgotten; in Christ, your conscience is clean. Death holds no terror--it is a mere slumber and rest from your earthly labors, the entryway into life eternal. Hell has no claim on you, its fury all spent at the cross of Christ.
St. Paul says, “No condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). The prophet Micah says, “And they will remain, because now He will be great to the ends of the earth. And He, this One, will be our completeness.” Yes, Jesus is your completeness, because He is the source and perfecter, the author and finisher of your faith (Hebrews 12:2).
The Holy Spirit that Jesus has sent breathes the fire of faith into your heart by the Word of God. Death has died; its sting is no more. The grave lies silent, no longer mocking, for even when you die, you still live. The jaws of death are broken. Jesus Christ is your completeness, your peace. In Christ, all is eternally well. He is your completeness and wholeness. For He is your Savior, Jesus Christ!
Conclusion
Know this: Nothing can take Christ’s promises away from you, for He was born in the town of Bethlehem, the House of Bread, to make it so. And no one can take you away from Him, for He seals that promise in His death and His blood. And He gives you His life in His Church, His House of Bread. And what God has done, no man may put asunder. Amen.
