Benny Nalkara, CMI

The fact that the poor shepherds in the Infancy narrative of the Gospel of Luke were the “chosen” ones to hear the good news about the birth of Jesus is often taken for serious theological as well as sociological considerations. After the angelic announcement of the Messiah’s birth and the praise song of the heavenly choir, the shepherds said one to another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us” (Luke 2:15).
In the Old Testament, Bethlehem was an early Canaanite settlement connected with the patriarchs. Situated along an ancient caravan route, Bethlehem has harboured a melting pot of peoples and cultures since its beginning. The geography of the region is mountainous, sitting about 2,600 feet above the Mediterranean Sea. In Hebrew, Bethlehem literally means “house of bread.” It is a city in the hill country of Judah that was originally called Ephrath (Genesis 35:16, 19; 48:7; Ruth 4:11), but was also called Bethlehem Ephratah (Micah 5:2), Bethlehem-Judah (1 Samuel 17:12), and “the city of David” (Luke 2:4). Bethlehem is mentioned about 45 times in the Old Testament; eight times in the New Testament (all in the Gospels). Bethlehem is first mentioned in scripture when Rachel died there and her heartbroken husband Jacob buried her just outside the city (Gen. 35:19). It was Bethlehem where Ruth, fell in love with Boaz, the Lord of the harvest (Ruth 1:22). It was in this same village that David as a boy tended the sheep of his father (1 Samuel 16:1) and where he was anointed king by the prophet Samuel (I Sam. 17:15). The Gospel of Matthew (2:6) makes reference to Micah 5:2 saying that, though small, Bethlehem would be of great significance because a ruler was to come from there to rule Israel.
The Jews of Jesus’ day in Bethlehem were subservient to the economic interests of their richer and more powerful neighbours. They were oppressed by an invading government to whom they despised paying taxes. They were inconvenienced and incurred unexpected expenses in order to travel to Bethlehem to register for the Roman tax. They were in refugee camps or small villages alongside a culture that was more modern and influential. They were victims of disgust and discrimination. It was into this environment that our Lord entered our world. So “going to Bethlehem” was not an easy task as it sounds.
“Going to Bethlehem” meant going beyond borders and boundaries. There were boundaries of unjust social and economic discriminations. There were boundaries of oppressive structural injustice. We also come across the borders of conventional belief that nothing extraordinary would happen in that comparatively insignificant place. To expect great things happening in Bethlehem was not a realistic thought in that environment. The shepherd’s decision to “go to Bethlehem” was a bold step taken against the conventional Jewish belief. To believe that the Messiah would be born in such an insignificant place and to be ready to go there to see him was indeed an act of faith. To go to Bethlehem and to find the Saviour in a manger was also something beyond the borders of ordinary expectations of finding him in a luxurious environment. “Going to Bethlehem” meant to think beyond the borders of conventional belief that God can be only omnipotent and cannot become a little babe!
“Going to Bethlehem” was for the shepherds was an act of going beyond prejudices to providence. In the salvific history Bethlehem remains as a place of potential and a place of providence. Luke begins the story of the Christmas narrative by saying, “And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered” (Luke 2:1). But in reality there is so much more behind that verse. The decree was not issued by Caesar but by God Himself! It was divine providence moving Caesar to issue that decree. Caesar was but a pawn in the hand of God. If there was ever a place of providence it was Bethlehem. God put the whole world in motion to fulfill His word. At just the right time He used a Roman decree to move Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem. God can move beyond the borders of human calculations!
The problem of the world today is that we try to domesticate God according to our plans. We try to decide the places and planes where God should incarnate and dwell. Insignificant Bethlehem are not there in our plan of actions. Megalomania governs us and our religious practices. For us it is often unthinkable to go beyond our orthodox and conventional religious systems to believe that God prefers to be unorthodox and unconventional.
The call to “go to Bethlehem” is a clarion call to go beyond the boundaries of our plans and projects in life and to accept the seemingly insignificant things in life through which God works. When we begin to be doubtful and sceptic about life, we need to remember Bethlehem, a place of providence as well as potential where God went beyond the borders. He is reminding us today that, even though we may seem somewhat insignificant in the eyes of the world, in His eyes we have potential for greatness.