Just another night in Bethlehem

For some, the message of the baby Jesus being born in a manger in Bethlehem is nothing more than a fable – not unlike Santa Claus, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Frosty the Snowman. And frankly, I think some people know more about Santa, Rudolph and Frosty than they know about Jesus.

I think we've taken Christmas and romanticized it with our snowy countrysides, horse-drawn sleighs, frosty windows and red candles to the point that it isn't real enough or gritty enough. I think we've actually made Christmas too beautiful. And by making it too beautiful, we strip it of its true beauty. By making it so romantic, we strip it of its true power.

When we get back to the biblical account of that first Christmas, peel away the layers of tradition, and try to see the story as it happened in real time, it is far more powerful. On that first Christmas, there were no brightly colored lights on anyone's homes. There were no visions of sugarplums dancing in any children's heads. It was just another night in Bethlehem.

But this was the night that forever divided time, the night when God himself came to this earth. God stepped out of heaven and entered human history. It has been said that the hinge of history hangs on the door of a Bethlehem stable.

Along with the rest of Christmas, we have romanticized the manger, which effectively was a cave, or quite literally, a feeding trough in a cave. And it's where the son of God was placed as a newborn baby.

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What's more, the angelic announcement of his birth first came to the shepherds. On the social ladder of that time, shepherds were almost on the bottom rung. The testimony of a shepherd wasn't even allowed in a court of law. The Mishnah, which was the Jewish record of moral law, actually referred to a shepherd as an incompetent person. Another writing of the Mishnah said that if a shepherd fell into a pit, there was no obligation whatsoever to help him out. And shepherds weren't even allowed to observe Jewish ceremonial hand washings. No one liked shepherds.

Yet that night in Bethlehem, an angel appeared to shepherds with this message: "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord" (Luke 2:10-11, NIV).

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It seems like every time an angel appeared, his opening words were, "Do not be afraid." Why? Because people always were afraid.

The shepherds, and all of Israel, were living in very frightening times. They lived under the tyrant King Herod, who would execute people at will. What's more, the Jews were living in occupied territory. The Romans had come in and taken control of their nation. They were no longer free to do as they wanted and live as they wanted. They wondered whether Rome would ever leave. Would Rome's violent rule ever cease? Would their world ever change?

Then suddenly, an angel came and said, "Do not be afraid."

Despite this amazing, earth-shaking announcement, most of the inhabitants of this planet were totally unaware of it. You could say the entire empire of Rome missed Christmas. This was just another child born in another city under Roman rule. Besides, Caesar Augustus already had declared himself the savior of the world.

Jerusalem, which was effectively the spiritual capital of the world at this time, was oblivious as well. Jerusalem was sort of like the New York or Los Angeles of the land of Israel. The thinking was that if anything was significant, it happened in Jerusalem, in the big city – not in some obscure place like Bethlehem. Besides, they had Herod, who had declared himself the king of the Jews.

Then there was Bethlehem itself that seemed to miss the significance of the birth of the Lord. A lot of descendents of David were in town because their roots were in Bethlehem. And other pregnant women were in town. Maybe there were even other babies born that night. Mary was just another poor peasant girl, another statistic. But she was to be the mother of God in human form. History was changing, and by and large they missed it.

This just reminds us of one simple thing. What often is big news in heaven is not always big news on Earth. The birth of Jesus was a big event. That is why the heavens opened, the angels rejoiced, and the shepherds watched the scene unfolding before their eyes. It was an epic event in heaven. But for most people, it wasn't a big event on Earth.

You might be unimportant to most people. But then again, you might be very important. You might be unknown, or you might be famous. You might be rich, or you might be poor. But everyone needs Jesus.

The message of the first Christmas is also the message for us this Christmas: Don't be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy.

There is a lot to be afraid of in our world today. It's a very unstable world, a very volatile world. Every time we turn around, we're reading about another horrific event.

Fear is what Christ came to remove, and we can have joy in its place. On that first Christmas, it was the night that God came near – and the night that can change your life today.