I'm in a countdown as well, but a countdown of a different sort. Right now I'm at the three-week mark. Three weeks from yesterday I will board a plane, and three weeks from today we will land in Tel Aviv! After we clear customs, we'll board a bus for the drive from Tel Aviv to Bethlehem, the first stop on our itinerary.
And so my Christmas celebration will continue! Even though we'll arrive in Bethlehem a few days after Christmas has been celebrated in most of the world (the Eastern Orthodox celebration will come a few days later), being in Bethlehem is always a very special time. And I'm sure will be even more so this year as we will be there so close to Christmas.
Bethlehem is not exactly the way we picture it when we sing our Christmas carols. It isn't a large city, but neither is it the sleepy "little" town we sing about. It's a busy little town. There's traffic. There are people everywhere, particularly in this season when so many come to Bethlehem for Christmas celebrations.
And it isn't a particularly quiet town either. There are the traffic noises and the horns blowing. There are the sounds of tour buses driving through the streets. There are lots of people, all talking. English and Hebrew and Arabic are heard, along with other languages as well from the visitors from other parts of the world.
But it's a special place. It's a very different place than it was two thousand years ago. Traffic. Parking garages. Hotels. Tourists. But special nonetheless.
Because it was at this place that our Savior was born. A very special place indeed.
Inside the Church of the Nativity, the oldest church in Christendom (built about 326 AD), this silver star marks the traditional birthplace of Jesus. It is inscribed, in Latin, "Here of the Virgin Mary, Christ was born."
That may or may not be the exact spot where Christ was born. But Christ was born. In Bethlehem. Just as it had been foretold by the prophets long before.
And so, each time I visit that spot, and each time I think of that spot, I join that angel chorus from long ago in a resounding "Gloria in excelsis Deo."
"But you, O Bethlehem Ephratha.....from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days." (Micah 5:2 ESV)
"And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn." (Luke 2:6-7 ESV)
O Little Town of Bethlehem
"O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by;
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.
For Christ is born of Mary, and gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wond'ring love.
O morning stars, together proclaim the holy birth,
and praises sing to God the King, and peace to men on earth!
How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is giv'n!
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heav'n.
No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive HIm, still the dear Christ enters in.
O holy Child of Bethlehem! Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord, Immanuel!"
(words: Phillips Brooks; music: Lewis H. Redner)
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