"o Little Town Of Bethlehem" Series

The Prophet Isaiah said that the Messiah would be “a man of sorrow.” “He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; he was despised, and we held him of no account” (Isaiah 53:3). The One who created the universe … who was born and took on flesh in Bethlehem … had no where to lay his head (Matthew 8:20). The One who left Heaven to come and die was rejected by those He came to reach (John 1:11). He knew pain. He knew sorrow. And in the end, was crucified (Isaiah 53:4-6). He is our “Benoni.” He is God’s “Son of Sorrow.” But He is also our “Benjamin” … the “Son of the Right hand” … the crucified Lamb who right now sits at the right hand of God our Father!

Bethlehem … where Jacob buried Rachael … where Ruth and Boaz’ grandson, David, would look after sheep … perhaps in the same fields where the shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks by night … the same fields where David may have composed the 23rd Psalm. Micah prophesized that a day would come when this small, down-trodden, insignificant little town would see the birth of a mighty ruler and the Messiah would rise up from the House of David, so that even magi … gentiles from the East … would be familiar with the prophecy of Micah and come seeking the child that had been born in a stable in Bethlehem.

The main focus of Brook’s carol is on Bethlehem as the chosen birth place of the Messiah. Another focus is on Heaven. “For Christ is born of Mary, and gathered all above, while mortals sleep, the angels keep their wondering love. O morning stars together, proclaim the holy birth (stanza 2a). The angels and the stars in Heaven join together to sing praises to God the King lying in an animal feeding trough in Bethlehem.

Brooks again creates a marvelous tension … in this case, between Heaven and earth. As Brooks contemplates the shepherds who are watching over their flocks at night, he remembers and pictures the angels and heavenly hosts singing and praising God: “Glory to God in the Highest Heaven, and on Earth peace among those whom He favors!” (Luke 2:14).

While the shepherds were watching over their flocks, the angels and the heavenly hosts were watching over the birth of Jesus … the Shepherd who watches over us! They were watching with “wondering love … full of astonishment and joy as they watched the unfolding of God’s mysterious plan of redemption.

We know of angels and archangels. We know of cherubim and seraphim. We know that there are orders and degrees among the angels, but there may well be … and Revelation seems to hint … orders of beings that you and I haven’t even begun to wonder about or imagine And these sinless creatures whose life is filled with worship and praise watched as the Triune majesty of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit fulfilled that ancient promise … not in Jerusalem … but in Bethlehem of all places … born in a manger with cattle and donkeys, sheep and oxen looking in along with the angels. They look down with awe and wonder as God becomes “Emmanuel” … God born in the flesh. Can’t you hear the gasps of angelic wonder? The “ooo’s” and “ahh’s” and sanctified high-fives in Heaven as God accomplishes every detail of His promise to raise up a Redeemer to undo all the sin on earth and bring “peace to all on earth” (stanza 2b).