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December 13

Big Messiah, Little Town

Text: Micah 5:2

I grew up in Woodland, a city of around 50,000 people, west of Sacramento. Woodland was known for agriculture and that is about it. Now you would think that the Messiah, the Savior of the world, would grow up in a big city like Jerusalem. But nope, Jesus was born in a relatively little town. Micah prophesied about the location of the birth of the Messiah.

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. (Micah 5:2)

Scholars estimate that the population of Bethlehem was between 2000 to 3000 and some say it only had a few hundred people. Either way, a little town. What is even crazier is that Jesus’ hometown, Nazareth, was even more of a podunk village. Literally, one of Jesus’ disciples asked, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” 

The other aspect that we often forget is how difficult it is to live in a little town, or more accurately, a village. The gossip. Everyone knows everyone’s business. Can you imagine the gossip about Jesus? The virgin birth thing? I mean, not to be crass, but how many times was Jesus called a bastard? Probably a lot. If I was Jesus, I would never have gone back to my hometown. And yet, God loves to use the insignificant, the marginalized, the poor. I mean the only reason we even know of a town called Bethlehem is because of the birth of the Messiah. 

What a great God! 12 days to go.