The Journey From Nazareth To Bethlehem Series

Now while Satan may throw some tough stuff into our lives in an attempt to destroy our relationship with God---we need to understand that God may also throw some tough stuff into our lives for the exact opposite reason. When God injects hard things into our lives He doesn’t do it to destroy our relationship with Him---He does it in hope that it prompt us to improve our relationship with Him. That’s what you find God up to in the book of Acts when He causes a temporary blindness to humble the proud Saul. God used Saul’s blindness to help jumpstart a turnaround in Saul’s life so that the guy went from being a persecutor of Christians to a preacher of the gospel. Ourselves, others, Satan, God they can all be at the root of tough thing we’re dealing with in life...And if you’re taking notes mark this down---so can the fact that we’re living in a cursed world. Tough stuff sometimes happens simply because this world’s under a curse. In case you forgot, it has been that way since Adam and Eve committed mankind’s first sins. Now for all the above reasons, Jesus told His disciples---“in this world you will have trouble.... but...” He went on to say “take heart for I have overcome the world.” Or in other words, stick with me during your life on earth and even though we won’t avoid all the tough stuff, we will get through it and in the end we live in heaven together forever.

As I look back on and think about that first Christmas and the journey that landed Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem, I realize that the fact that Jesus was born in Bethlehem serves as a reminder to us that...God keeps His word.

In my preteen years the rock opera “Jesus Christ Superstar” became a blockbuster movie. 40 years later I still remember the words Judas sang near the end of it. He sang---Every time I look at you I don't understand Why you let the things you did get so out of hand. You'd have managed better if you'd had it planned. Why'd you choose such a backward time in such a strange land? If you'd come today you could have reached a whole nation. Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication.

What Judas asked in that song---people have asked throughout the years about Jesus’ first coming---of all times, why then? Of all places, why there? Some people believe that if Jesus had come today instead of back in the first century that He would have reached more people more effectively. After all they say, today we have TV and radio and cell phones and the internet. Just think how rapidly the news of His coming could be shared. Just think how people around the world could see Him healing people and performing miracles in real time. There’s a flaw though in their thinking----because while it’s true if Jesus had come today, the news of His coming could be spread around the world almost instantly--- it’s also true that we’ve become so used to special effects and camera tricks that even if Jesus had died on a cross this past Friday and He rose from the dead this morning and it was all shown in real time around the world---few if any of us would believe it. The fact of the matter is, the Judas character in Jesus Christ Superstar had it all wrong in assuming Jesus’ arrival wasn’t planned. The details of Jesus’ arrival, when in time and where in space His birth took place, were all planned by God.