Micah 5:2
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf.
He wasn't born in a palace, surrounded by servants to meet his every need.
His birth wasn't proclaimed throughout the land by royal heralds.
His parents didn't occupy any ruling position in the government.
Yet He grew to be the only one who could defeat sin, death, hell and the grave.
He came for every man and woman. King or pauper....Queen or whore...because He knew that "All had sinned and fallen short of His Father's glory."
But the way He came to this world is still a mystery.
Plainly spoken of and written about in the ancient Scriptures....the religious rulers of the day could not see the truth. In the passage above from Micah, not only is the town given where Jesus would be born, but the location within the town.....Ephrathah. That's like saying that Jesus will be born in Gadsden, Alabama over in mill village in Alabama city. But they couldn't see it.
Who saw such prophecy?
The Magi......the wisemen...those who studied the heaven's and saw THE star that would lead them to the place where Mary, Joseph, and the Christ child lived.
A group of shepherd's huddled together on a hillside in the dark of night. They never expected to be the one's who would be the first carriers of the "Savior" message.
So there in a stable in the town of Bethlehem....
Amidst the smell of urine and dung.....
Was born the one we call Jesus...
Immanuel.....God is with us.
Stepped out of heaven's realm to become one of us.
Leaving behind the glory and splendor of His father, Jesus took on the mortal flesh that you and I carry around daily.
He grew to walk among humanity...
He saw death up close and personal...
He experienced the twisted logic and dark hearts of those who practiced religion instead of relationship.
He saw the gratitude and tears of those who received back their love ones from the dead when He spoke life.
He watched the silly, wobbly dance of healing as those whose legs and ankles no longer worked. When Jesus spoke healing to those twisted limbs, the dance began. But it was a dance of gratitude and amazement that such could take place.
With all of these things rolling around in my brain, how could Jesus have had such a birth as He did? Because He came to those who were sin/sick. He came to heal. He came as one of us. He came for the common man and woman. Those who had been marginalized by society and by their own lot in life.
The leper...
The whore...
The tax collector...
The oppressed....
And the list goes on and on...
Like Jesus said, "The healthy don't need a doctor...I came for the sick."
Funny part about the statement "the healthy don't need a doctor." He wasn't actually talking about spiritually healthy. He was talking about those who were deceived and thought themselves to have no need for this Jesus.
Don't ever doubt that we can deceive ourselves.
Revelation 3:17 speaks of such self deception that can even be found in the church.
Speaking to a church in Laodicea, Jesus says, You say, 'I am rich. I have everything I want. I don't need a thing!' And you don't realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked." It kind of hard to realize your need when you have surrounded yourself with the things of the world that feed the old sin nature. Jesus came to rip the veal and cover off the human heart so we could clearly see our need for Him and salvation from the destruction that comes when we reject Him.
Maybe we all need to take a spiritual Step #4 during this Christmas season.
Maybe we need to make a fearless and searching inventory of our hearts to see if we have allowed the world to creep in and blind us to the truth. In fact, maybe the greatest gift we could receive this Christmas season would be the healing that only Christ can bring to blind hearts...deaf ears...and muddled brains.
What do you think?
Merry Christmas from the "B's" in Attalla.
God on you...
Michael and Vicki Bynum
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