In Micah 5:1, the impending siege by the Babylonians upon Jerusalem is prophesied. The destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar would be swift, merciless and complete.
Yet, in verse 2 there is a message of hope—of deliverance and redemption.
A ruler would come. It would not be to a world of opulence. It would not be to Jerusalem. It would not be amidst great fanfare and hoopla. Instead the ruler would be from Bethlehem.
David was born in Bethlehem, about 5 miles outside of Jerusalem. The chief priests, teachers, and rabbis all concurred that this passage was an explicit prophesy of the coming Messiah.
Jesus was the fulfillment of that prophesy in Micah 1 that says the Messiah would come from Bethlehem.
But why Bethlehem? What message can we learn from this birth?
What is significant about the way Jesus came to this earth?
It’s not just about the fact that He came—it’s what He brought with Him:
1. He brought justice into an unjust world—the proud people of Israel are now a subdued subject to the Roman power. As Genesis 49 tells us, the scepter of power has been removed from Judah and they are nothing more than vassals to the Great Roman Empire.
Look at the lack of Justice:
· The creator of the world born as the created.
· The author of Heaven and earth born homeless
· The Savior of all mankind outcast from His people
· The paragon of Holiness born to an unwed teenager
But Jesus would turn our ideas of justice on its head. He would teach us anew the virtue of justice in an unjust world
2. He brought kindness into a cruel world—Could Jesus have been born under more cruel circumstances? Much has been made that there was no room in the inn. But where is Joseph’s family? He was from the Royal line of David. They had to travel back to their hometown to register. Surely, there was family there. Why do they have to stay in an inn? Is there no one who will acknowledge and embrace their kin and his pregnant fiancé? Is the shame too much for them to embrace Mary? Does Joseph have not a single friend who will take them in, from his own hometown? Will no one make space for a woman in her final moments of pregnancy? No compassion, no kindness.
Instead, the Messiah is born in a feeding trough in a foul-smelling stable.
You might think that maybe Joseph didn’t have any family. That there was no one who could extend that kindness. Yet, just 12 years later when Joseph takes his family to the temple for Passover there is an entire caravan of relatives and acquaintances. Where did they come from? Was 12 years ample time to restore them to the family’s good graces? To me the story is not the lack of room at the inn, but the lack of room among Joseph’s own people.
3. He brought humility into an arrogant world—Jesus was born in a small town. Bethlehem was so small it is not even mentioned in the list of towns in Joshua or Nehemiah.
The birth of the Savior of the world in such a little-known backwater is significant. There was no splash or birth announcement. No showers or cigars.
Outside of the notice of some shepherds and angels, the birth was not recognized.
His humble birth was set against the backdrop of an arrogant census. All of the world was to be registered, illustrating the Terraram Orbis Imperium (the empire of the whole earth). The purpose of this census was to be named and enrolled as part of the Roman Empire. Taxation was secondary, a sign of their subjection to the world power, namely Augustus.
We see the idea that Augustus is cementing his legacy, stroking his pride and proclaiming to the world the far-reaching grasp of his power. It was unbridled arrogance to force these vassals to travel to their place of birth for the purpose of enrolling as subjects to the kingdom of Rome. The expense of this trip would have been a burden on such a young family but members of the royal family of David were compelled to return to their homeland.
In that arrogant atmosphere, the humble king was born. Outside of any earthly herald, the cosmic savior of the universe stepped into flesh. A stark contrast to the arrogance of the Roman Empire.
Interesting side-note #1—By the occasion of this census, the prophecy was fulfilled. Jesus would not have been born in Bethlehem, otherwise. God uses even our fallenness to achieve His aims.
Interesting side-note #2—This registration would served to corroborate the claims of Jesus as being from the line of David. Years later Justin Martyr and Tertullian would refer to these roles as corroboration of Jesus’ lineage.
The ignominy of Jesus’ birth is far too often lost on us. In fact, it was lost on the original readers of the Micah text as well.
They knew the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, yet they had such a limited perspective of what they would be.
They see in Micah 5:3 that he will be born to a woman.
But there is also the idea in the remainder of this passage that He will be king, that He will “stand and shepherd his people” (v. 4a), that He will “be their peace” (v. 5), and He will “deliver” them (v. 6)
Here is one reason why the Jews failed to recognize Jesus as the Messiah: although many OT passages talked about Messiah as a “Suffering Servant” many more talked about Messiah as being a “Victorious Ruler.”
They failed to see the incarnation as suffering servant and the resurrection as victorious ruler aspects of the one and same Messiah.
For Jesus turned everything upside down. Conventional wisdom was turned on its head. The humiliation of His birth pointed to something greater. The low station of Bethlehem compels us to go deeper to find how Jesus lived and to seek to apply how He lived to our own lives.
What we must learn from the birth (and life) of Jesus:
1. Do Justice—Jesus brought justice into an unjust world. We must be people who are committed to the balanced pursuit of justice. When I say balanced, I mean that we often approach the concept of justice from the punitive aspect.
But Justice also carries a tremendous restorative component. In our western mindset we often approach justice as offenders getting their due.
But justice is about fairness. It is about making sure that the oppressed, the disadvantaged, the forgotten have a voice, have a champion.
Justice is about doing right to others. The oppressed long for justice because it gives them relief.
The poor longs for justice because it gives them assistance.
The lost long for justice because it gives them hope.
Those who dread justice are those who have been unjust—the ones who have failed to be fair.
To live that Christ-centered life we must understand that there are social implications to justice in addition to the legal, punitive aspect.
Look at how Jesus lived His life, who He broke bread with, who He ministered to: People in desperate need of justice: an adulterous woman, a shamed woman at a well, a leper, a tax collector—Justice for them was not punitive but restorative.
Too often we look at proclaiming justice as pronouncing impending punishment—where to proclaim justice is to offer hope to the hopeless, homes to the homeless, salvation to a lost and dying world.
2. Love Kindness—We live in an inconsiderate and rude time. We want what we want, when we want it—and anyone who keeps us from that is an inconvenience and a nuisance.
Social interaction and good graces are sacrificed. We must be intentional about kindness—a hand up, a tender word, and a compassionate glance.
In his book The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard rails against our reliance on slogans that, to Christians, should make no sense. One of those slogans is “Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty.” Instead he says we should be people who would “Practice routinely purposeful acts of kindness and intelligent acts of beaty,” We must be intentional.
3. Walk Humbly with your God—Lord, it’s hard to be humble.
But as Jesus demonstrated the ultimate humility in His birth, so we too must practice humility in our daily walk.
The key to our humility is to place ourselves in Bethlehem, at the foot of a manger—to gaze upon the Celestial Maker of all creation as he encounters this world for the first time, not as God but as baby.
The humility of lowering Himself to minister—to be just and kind in an unjust and cruel world should drive each of us to our knees—it is what God requires of us.
Micah 6:8
That is what Jesus did—He did justice, loved kindness and walked humbly with His God.
How can we do anything different?
Praise God for Bethlehem. It shows us His justice, His kindness, and His humility.
And calls us to live the same way.
There is one thing that drives me crazier than the crass commercialization of Christmas: the “Christmas Wars” that see well-intentioned Christians seeking to make Christmas and its observances mandatory for all.
But there is nothing in the original Christmas story that anywhere indicates that Jesus wanted people to feel compelled to worship Him or to celebrate His birth. The manger is proof of that. The lowly birth was indicative of God’s approach to sharing the Good News.
People don’t want to say “Merry Christmas?” Fine. They shouldn’t have to. Instead in our kindness and humility we should be the incarnation of Christ in this world.
People should never be compelled to honor or follow any tenet in Christianity. They should not listen to us because we have power. They should listen to us because we are good.
Isn’t that how He did it?
