Having become thankful for receiving the Lectionary, we receive
even more from the Apostles and even more about our Savior as He speaks to you
today saying,
“Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men,
became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem
Our most notable about Bethlehem :
Ruth takes place entirely in that city; King David is from there and also the
prophesy that the priests give to the Magi seeking Jesus mentions this place.
Indeed Micah is right in saying that even though Bethlehem is tiny, by no means is it the least among the
cities of Judah .
For as the Gospels tell us, Jesus is born there, the shepherds seek the
swaddling clothes and the manger there, and the Magi worship the true King
there.
So, we learn from David that Bethlehem is small, he being the least of his
brothers; we learn from Micah that we are not to take it lightly. We learn from
Ruth that her redeemer comes from there and that in Bethlehem she finds salvation and redemption.
And where one finds salvation and redemption, one finds
Christ. Bethlehem
is not just a little town with no dreams. Our little town holds an even greater
secret: its name means “house of bread”. It is the true Church in which hungry
souls are fed the living bread from heaven.
The bread from heaven is born in the house of bread, laid in
a bed of worthless fodder where Christ is to be proclaimed and nothing else.
The pulpit of the Church becomes the manger, then, offering the wholesome
pasture of the Word for poor Christians.
The bread we find wrapped in bloody, swaddling clothes: both
the Old and New Testaments with the Law and the Gospel. It is there where we
should seek Jesus. It is there that we then hear of the star of the most holy
Gospel, which we are to follow.
Neither Mohamed nor any of the other prophets had a birth
like Jesus and they know it. Even though Islam teaches about Jesus, some say
even more than the Bible does, others had miraculous births and just as holy a
calling as Jesus.
Even though the Jews believe in a messiah, they pass right
by the prophecies of a suffering messiah and only look forward to an almighty
messiah to give them an earthly kingdom.
Repent. Though we search for Jesus, we tear the place up and
slice it apart. We run through the world and confess that the tenants of other
faiths talk about Jesus, so they must be true too. We slice through what God
has presented to us in His Word and declare that if we just cut out this and
that, that all religions are basically the same.
Imagine that God is trying to get something into your head
and He goes about it in this way. That the Name Jesus isn’t important, its just
one among many. That the manger or the Star isn’t special, it could have been
any place or a comet or eclipse that cause these things.
Imagine you are trying to take a test and, not only do the
questions continue to shift and change, but the answer keys are multiple and
changing as well. Who could pass such a test? Who would even take it and to
what end would it serve?
The world understands the need for clarity. In order to get
taxes, the Federal government has made very many specific rules. In order to
drive a car, there are very many specific requirements and licensing that need
to be followed.
The Lord is no different, for only one prophet out of many was
immaculately conceived and birthed by a real virgin. Only one priest was able
to enter in to the Holy of Holies by His own blood. Only one king is able to
lose His life, in order to rule His kingdom forever.
The virgin birth in Bethlehem
is miraculous. Islam gets it and must capitalize on it or be left behind as
Judaism is. The world understands how important Jesus is, so they must speak against
Him. What the devil, the world, and your sinful nature do no understand is that
the Christ must be handed over, suffer, die, and three days rise again.
What any other religion can not fathom is God being made
flesh. Not only that, but their small minds can not begin to comprehend and God
who offers Himself as the sacrifice for all and then presents this sacrifice in
the form of a meal.
In Jesus all the dots connect. The sacrifice is to be both
for sin and for forgiveness. The true Son of God is to be both the host and the
servant. Jesus is to be both the giver of the Feast of heaven and its main
course.
All the Old Testament events that happened in Bethlehem; all
the symbolism in its name and all the events of the New Testament lead to Jesus
being born of a virgin, dying on the cross, and feeding you eternal life in His
true Body, which is the bread of heaven.
You will not find salvation or God anywhere else except in
this house of bread. For it is here that you now approach and touch these
historic items. It is here where the feast of the living bread from heaven is
celebrated. It is here that you find good pasture when Christ is proclaimed
from the pulpit manger.
Poor Christians are swaddled in the Old and New testaments
finding their suffering messiah who knows all their woes. Seeking Christians
are wrapped in the Law and the Gospel, hearing of their sin and being shown
their Savior.
The proclaimed, most holy Gospel illuminates the dark things
of this world by Faith, revealing salvation in water and the Word; grace in the
preaching of the Word, and a true meal and medicine unto the forgiveness of
sins in, with and under bread and wine.
Only the one true Jesus Christ is both master and slave,
serving forgiveness for free, without any works. Only one true God-man, Jesus,
can be the Son of God Who dies and rises again. Only the true Messiah can be
meat indeed and drink indeed to satisfy eternally and to state, once and for
all, that here is God in the flesh and none other.
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