The King Born in Bethlehem

When we read through the history of the monarchs in the Old Testament, several were good, but most were wicked. Even King David, a man after God’s own heart, fell into heinous sin that brought wreckage into his family dynasty. The kingdom of Israel, eventually divided into northern Israel and southern Judah after the days of Solomon, was rife with oppression, idolatry, and division, yet the people were promised and waiting for the coming of a righteous King who would establish an everlasting Kingdom of peace within and protection from enemies without.

Although Jerusalem was the royal capital city established by David, it was the much smaller village of David’s youthful home in Bethlehem that would be the birthplace of the Messiah to come (Micah 5:8, Matthew 2:5-6). As David was the least likely among his brothers to become King, the Messiah would also come from a less likely place to unlikely parents—and later raised in backwater Nazareth. A decree orchestrated by a pagan Roman Emperor became the means that brought to long-awaited fulfillment this promise.

The journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem would have taken about a week for Mary and Joseph, and what must have been going through their minds as they walked and talked together following the social scandal of Mary’s unwed pregnancy mixed with the excitement over the mystery of the Holy Spirit’s divine conception and the promised destiny of their special child.

Prayer

Father, Your ways are higher than mine. Your timetable is different than mine. You often work in ways I do not expect that confounds the wisdom of the wise. Yet I praise You that You are always faithful to Your promises and blessed are those who wait and trust in everything You say. Teach me to believe and to see with spiritual eyes what may not be apparent with my physical eyes or ordinary reason.

Lord Jesus, Your coming fulfilled the promise of the righteous King, yet you were born not in the center of power or to the wealthy but in humility, identifying as the high King in solidarity with those who were weak and lowly that You might glorify Your love and compassion. Teach me to value the things that you value, not the worldly lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, or the pride of life, but Your lowliness, meekness, and servant spirit as my humble Lord and Savior. 

Amen.