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.
When I returned to work, one of my coworkers started telling me about how he had seen the shepherds in the middle of the night. I thought, now I’ll find out the real story. He told me he’d been awakened in the middle of the night by a great commotion. When he went out to investigate, that’s when he saw the shepherds. Like myself, he assumed they were up to mischief. But instead of running away from him, they ran to him! My friends said he was scared to death, and thought sure they were coming to beat him and rob him. But they were smiling at him, and giggling like little schoolgirls! Curious, he found himself strangely frozen in his tracks. By this time he certainly had my attention, and I kept urging him to go ahead with the story. That’s when he said that the shepherds told him the strangest thing: they said they’d come to town to see a baby! My face must have registered surprise, because my friend said he was surprised, too. When he questioned them further, they related to him about angels visiting them, in fact, scaring them quite out of their minds. They were told that if they went into Bethlehem, they would find God’s Messiah. They were even told where they would find him, lying in a feed trough.
Now I have to tell you, my friend, again, I became quite skeptical. “A feed trough,” I shouted! “In Bethlehem, no less!” That’s when I let my friend have it. “And you believed that? Don’t you realize that Jerusalem would be the place for the birth of the Messiah? Do you think God would allow the Messiah of his people to be born in such an insignificant place as Bethlehem, and put to bed in a feed trough?” By this time I worked myself to quite a fury. My friend actually moved a step away, thinking I was going to hit him, shove him, or grab him. I took a deep breath, gave him a half smile, and told him I was sorry. It was just hard for me to believe the story of these shepherds. I returned to my work, wondering why I worked myself into such a bother.
When my work was done, and I returned to my home, my wife seemed to be avoiding me, and with good reason, I guess. My whole family was talking about the news at supper, but I ate in silence. I just could not wrap my mind around the idea of shepherds being the heralds of the coming Messiah. Oh, I wanted to believe the Messiah was here, because we had been waiting for him a very long time. But here? Now? It just didn’t appear to be a possibility in my mind. My wife and some of the other women mentioned something about going to see the baby, even seeing if they could do anything to make the family more comfortable. Some of the men said they would go along, also. But not me! I stayed behind, and told them they were wasting their time. It was just another baby born into this cruel world! And I went to bed!
Well, the fuss about the baby seemed to die down some, and it was business as usual. About five weeks later, well, actually, it was forty days later, I arrived home after another hard day of work. My wife acted as if she wanted to say something, but was hesitant to do so. I was tired, and I really didn’t want to talk, but I knew she did, so I called her over and ask how her day was. She replied that things are fine, but I could tell she wanted to say something more. So I told her to just say what was on her mind. At that she beamed, and said, “I just want to tell you what happened when the young couple who had the baby went to Jerusalem today. They went, you know, for her to be purified from her uncleanness, and to present their baby in the temple, since he is their first born son. Do you remember the old priest who was in the temple when we took our son a couple years ago? You know, the one that kept saying he was going to see the Messiah before he died?”
I nodded my head in agreement so she could continue her story. “Let me tell you what he did. When he saw that baby, he went to the mother and father, took the baby, and then he prayed for the Lord to take him home, because he said he’d seen God salvation!” Could this really be, I wondered? Her story seemed unbelievable, yet she was convinced of its validity. I still wasn’t ready to believe yet, though. With a wave of my hand, I dismissed her, and told her that the old man was crazy. I ordered her to forget the nonsense, and bring my meal, so I could eat and go to bed. She looked disappointed when she turned away, and I felt a tinge of regret for treating her that way. I told her I was sorry, that I was just tired. She set my food in front of me, and I could tell she was disappointed. That night, as I lay in bed beside her, I found many things running through my mind. What if everything she was saying was true? If they were, then I needed to come to grips with it. However, I still could not understand how the Messiah could be born in Bethlehem.
I told you all of this to tell you now what has just happened. I still can’t believe I missed it, still can’t believe that I didn’t put it all together. Yesterday, I was wrapping up the job I had done for a friend. It was early in the evening, just after sundown, and I had just packed up all of my tools. I was re-inspecting my work by torchlight to make sure it was just as my friend had wanted. About that time, he came out and walked over where I was. He complimented me on the fine job, and told me how pleased he was with the work. Then he paid me, we said our goodbyes, and I stopped to pick up my tools.
When I did, one of the coins slipped from my hand into the soft dirt. I knelt down to look for it, knowing full well I could not afford to lose a coin. As I was bending over, I realized that there was some commotion going on in the street. Gazing upward, I saw an incredible sight. A somewhat large caravan was riding through the street of Bethlehem! I stood up to get a better look at this amazing spectacle. Camels and donkeys bedecked in some of the finest gear I’d ever seen! And the men riding them were foreigners, who appeared to have come a long way on their journey. Bethlehem had never seen anything like this before! It was like a parade! People were coming out of their houses to gaze.
That’s when I realized that people were pointing up into the night sky. I couldn’t see what they were pointing at because of the mayor’s house in front of me, so I stepped out a little more into the street to look in the direction they were pointing. That’s when I saw it! This big, bright light up in the sky! At first I thought it was just a bright star, but then I realized that it was moving, that’s right, moving! The caravan seemed to be following it, watching its every move. And then it stopped, right above a house just down the street.
Now I’ve got to tell you, I was very mystified at this point. Who were these men, where were they from, and why were they here? And what was that light that was leading them? And why did it stop at that house? But I was too tired to go with the crowd and determine what was going on. So I tiredly made my way to my house. As I had expected, my wife was not to be found. At least she’d had the foresight to leave my supper, so that it would be warm when I arrived. I put my tools away, fixed my plate, and sat down for my meal. I had just put everything away when my wife ran breathlessly through the door.
“You have to come!” she said eagerly. “We have to go see the little boy that was born a while back, the one many think is the Messiah! Did you see those men that came into town? Did you see the bright light that they followed? They said they’d come a long way, following that light. Then they said they were here to worship the one born as Messiah of the Jews! And the gifts! You know what they gave him? Gold, yes, real gold! And frankincense, and some sweet smelling myrrh! It was an incredible sight! You have to come!” I sat there in a stupor, taking in every word she uttered. She must have seen the look of concern on my face, and that’s when she urged me, no, begged me, to please come with her. But I was so tired, my feet and legs ached from the work I’d put in all day. And for some reason, I still was not completely convinced that this little boy really could be the Messiah for which we all had awaited. I told her that I was tired, and that I needed to think through these things some more. Exasperated, she shook her head and told me that I would not be convinced if God himself told me! Little did she know!
Last night, however, I was restless. I was exhausted, yet sleep eluded me. There was something gnawing at the back of my mind, but I just could not figure out what it was. I kept thinking of the baby, little boy now, that everyone was so excited about. How could everyone so easily believe, after all this time, here in this insignificant little town, that the Messiah had been born? Suddenly, it hit me like a ton of bricks! Our synagogue leader and I had been discussing Scripture several Sabbaths before. He mentioned that he had found Bethlehem’s name mentioned by one of the prophets. When I pressed him further, he said he thought it was the prophet Micah. I asked him what specifically it foretold about our city. All he could remember was something about a ruler coming forth from it. At the time, I only thought he could be referring to the Davidic rule beginning again. But then I remembered! The Messiah was to be from the line of David! Could I have been wrong? Could this child be the Messiah? Could little Bethlehem be the host city for the birth of the one who would save us? I wanted to tell my wife that I believed, but she was sound asleep. Sleep came peacefully after that, after I had resolved that the next morning I would go see this young child.
I woke up this morning, left my dear wife sleeping, determined to go and visit this young family, to see a child that perhaps could be the savior for Israel. When I left my house and got into the street, I had such a joy in my heart that I couldn’t believe it! I headed off toward the house where the family had been staying. As I approached the house, however, I was shocked to see people milling about, whispering among themselves. I saw a friend of mine and his wife among them, so I hailed him to ask what was the matter. “They’re gone!” he exclaimed. “What do you mean, gone?” I asked. “Just what I said. They left early this morning heading toward Egypt.” “Egypt?” I queried, “Why Egypt? If anything, I figured they would head towards Jerusalem!” My friend’s wife interjected, “It was reported to us that the father had seen a vision during the night, and was told to take the child to Egypt as an escape. The angel who appeared to him told him Herod would try to kill the baby. He said he had no choice but to go.” We all knew Herod and his reputation. If he thinks this baby is a threat to his throne, he will without doubt try to kill Him.
But I could hardly believe what I was hearing! Of all the chances to believe, to see the baby, to see this young child, I had missed it! If only I had known then what I know now! If only I had known! Please listen to what I’m saying, my friends! I believe! I only hope it’s not too late! Friends, have you seen him? Do you believe?
Micah 5:2 “As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, seemingly insignificant among the clans of Judah – from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf, one whose origins are in the distant past.”
Please don’t let anything cause you to miss out on the true experience of Christmas. You have the privilege of knowing what Christmas is all about, and it’s not Santa Clause, or giving gifts, or stringing lights, or even being with friends and family. It’s about the Christ-child, about knowing Him and receiving Him, about accepting who He is, about having a personal relationship with Him. You DO know, and you have no excuse. Worship Him, bow down before Him, and serve your King!
