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Bethlehem Today

The Christmas season is over, and we start a new year, but I would hope that with this story, I could cause you to think, and perhaps even cause a deep change. You know, each year the songs and stories of Christmas evoke, at least for me, an image of Bethlehem as a quiet sleepy pastoral village surrounded by sheep, illuminated by stars, and watched over by angels. It makes me think of Bethlehem as just a – a place of peace.

So you can imagine my surprise when I learned that today there is a 24-foot concrete wall topped with razor-wire surrounding the city of Bethlehem on three sides. Where Joseph and Mary once entered the city without difficulty, today they couldn’t even get in.

According to the December 2007 issue of National Geographic Magazine, there are guards armed with assault rifles that guard the gate of Bethlehem. Israelis cannot get in, and only a few Palestinians are allowed out.

And where once rumors of miracle babies, John the Baptist and Jesus, once spread throughout that area with great speed, now it can take as long as a month just to get a postcard six miles from Bethlehem on the west bank into Jerusalem.

And where once Bethlehem belonged to the Jews and they were ruled by Rome, now the city belongs primarily to Muslims and they are ruled by Jews. And tragically, out of Bethlehem have come at least a dozen suicide bombers.

Back then, Bethlehem meant House of Bread, and out of it came Jesus, the Bread of Life, the giver of the abundant life. Today in Bethlehem, unemployment runs 50%, and the people are desperate and dependent.

Two thousand years ago the city was so crowded with people from out of town that the inns were full, and Mary and Joseph can find shelter and comfort only in a stable. Now the hotels of Bethlehem are nearly empty; few people spend the night there. The residents of the city are prisoners, and refugee camps fringe its borders.

And what of that holy stable where the shepherds came in peace and joy [where] the Christ child was born? That site today resembles a stone fortress. A scant few tourists are escorted in and quickly they depart. Three modern Christian churches presently occupy the Church of the Nativity, and they fight continually for dominance over it. The guards who are placed to guard the Church guard the priests to keep them from attacking each other.

Bethlehem could be called “the” city of Christians, yet today the Christians are fleeing the city. It was once 90% Christian. Today it’s less than a third, and those numbers are dwindling rapidly.

Ironically, to the Israelis Christians are Palestinian, and to the Palestinians the Christians are foreigners or infidels. Christians in Bethlehem are simply outsiders.

Yes, Bethlehem is Christmas, yet the very holiday itself is celebrated on three different days in Bethlehem. It was here that the Prince of Peace came into the world amid tidings of joy and good will, yet there is no peace. Bethlehem is a city of misery and one of the most contentious places on earth. Joy to the world? Bethlehem is a living testament that the joy of Christmas and the message of Christ are not reaching to the world.

Hate is still strong, “… and mocks the song of peace on earth, and good will to men.” (From the Christmas Song “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”)

It is vital, my friends, that we become as children so as to say in June what we sang in December:

I love Thee, Lord Jesus, look down from the sky
And stay by my cradle til morning is nigh.
Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever, and love me, I pray.
Bless all the dear children in thy tender care,
And take us to [fit us for] heaven, to live with Thee there.
(From the Christmas song, “Away in a Manger”)

Indeed, and with some emotion, let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me – now!