“When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.”
Luke 2:15
In 2006 I had the incredible privilege of going to Israel. My husband, son and daughter were all on that trip along with about 200 others from our church. We enjoyed seeing many of the prominent biblical sites such as the Sea of Galilee, the Mount of the Beatitudes, Mount Carmel and the Jordan River. These along with many other sites was to me, a first timer, unbelievable. The bible was coming to life before my very eyes.
There were two locations however that stood out in my mind that were not so breath taking but nonetheless, spoke volumes to familiar bible truths that I had long known. Neither of these places had any appeal visually and had nothing to offer other than their significance in scripture. One such place was the town of Bethlehem.
I remember that morning when I looked on our itinerary for the day, I was so excited to see the birthplace of our Lord. I had turned over in my mind different scenes and scenarios of what I thought this holy place was going to look like.
After the long bus ride we pulled off the side of the road and onto a blank and barren dirt pathway. I thought of course that we were just getting off to stretch our legs. Our tour guide led all of us to a small area in the middle of nowhere and goodbye. He then told us to look in a particular direction. About twenty miles from where we were standing was an area of trees, residences and other small buildings. That was the town of Bethlehem. Because it was occupied by the Palestinians, we could get no closer than a mere look across the desert.
No wonder the night of our Saviors birth held such little significance at the time. There were no decorations, lights, tinsel our sugar cookies baking in the ovens that night. There were no Christmas carols to be sung or gift lists to be made or Christmas cards to be sent.
As I stood there with 200 hundred other people I wanted to rebel. I wanted so badly to run my way straight into the middle of Bethlehem and shout, “do you know what happened here 2000 years ago”? We all piled back into the buses and the rest of the day I pondered what I just saw.
After the glorious heavenly vision, the shepherds resolved to go to Bethlehem to see “this thing” that the Lord had revealed to them. Their resolve was met with a blessed reward.
Verse 16 tells us “they came and they found.” God never disappoints! What a rewarding find for those shepherds to see the Messiah and Savior in that manger.
Ladies, in just a few days from now, we will be celebrating again that wonderful mystery of divine love, the coming of the Son of God into our human life. Will you take time to think, ponder and praise that the O Little Town of Bethlehem, birthed man’s biggest need and God’s greatest answer.