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| > Sermon Archive > Sermons by Author > Pastor Keith Davis > O Little Town of Bethlehem | Previous Next Print |
| Order Of Worship (Liturgy) Micah 5.1-5a. Songs: I used an assortment of Christmas Anthems, but songs can be chosen that have to do with the following topics: Man's Sinfulness Final Judgment God's Amazing Grace God's Glory God eternal plan of salvation
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Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, throughout most of his life and ministry Jesus was identified NOT by his place of birth, but by his hometown of Nazaeth – the town in which he was raised. This was not an accident or an oversight on the part of the Gospel authors. This was divinely intended.
When Mark introduces Jesus in chapter 1: 9, Mark writes: At that time, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. When Phillip told Nathaniel that they had found the one written about by Moses and the prophets, he excitedly exclaimed: they found Jesus of Nazareth. And Nathaniel said: Can anything good come from Nazareth?
Then, in John 7, we read about a debate over the identity of Jesus. Some suggested that Jesus was the Prophet (Elijah); others claimed that he was the Messiah. Verse 41 says this: Still others asked, “How can the Christ come from Galilee? Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David’s family, and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived? Thus, the people were divided because of Jesus.”
A few verses after that exchange, we read that the Jewish leaders and Pharisees dismissed the possibility that Jesus was a Prophet or the Messiah by saying, Look into it and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.
I think it’s interesting that Jesus did very little to settle these disputes and arguments over his identity. If anything, he used this confusion and ignorance to his own advantage – to reveal his identity as the Messiah to those who had faith in Him, and to conceal his identity from those who hated him and sought to kill him.
But the truth about Jesus -- who he was and where he was from -- was made clear from the very beginning. You boys and girls know the story of the Wise Men. Matthew 2 tells us that after the birth of Jesus, Wise Men travelled from the far-east all the way to Jerusalem. They went to King Herod and they inquired as to the whereabouts of him who was born ‘King of the Jews’, for they had seen his star and they had come to worship him.
But King Herod and all Jerusalem with him were disturbed at this. So, King Herod called together the chief priests and teachers of the law and he asked them where the Christ was to be born. And that’s when they replied: “In Bethlehem, in Judea, for that is what the prophet has written.” Then they quoted Micah 5:2 But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.”
The infant Jesus, born to the Virgin Mary, was that ruler, that king, that shepherd of Israel whose birth was foretold by Micah so many years ago. Today we’re going to take a closer look at that ancient prophecy and see how the birth of Jesus is Good News for God’s people. Here, the prophet Micah Proclaims a Message of Hope in the Midst of Sin and Darkness. We will consider:
1. The Coming Judgment
2. The Promised Messiah
1. The Coming Judgment
(Start with a little historical and spiritual overview of the people/situation in Micah’s day). Micah was a prophet of the Lord whose ministry coincided/overlapped with the prophets Isaiah and Hosea. As far as the time frame goes, this would have been about 700 to 750 years before Christ was born in Bethlehem, so that gives you an idea of how ancient this prophecy was for God’s people. Micah’s prophecy addresses the future and the fate of both northern and southern kingdoms – in Micah 1:1 it says this is the vision he saw concerning both Samaria and Jerusalem.
As we have learned from our sermon series in the book of 2 Kings, this was a period of great unrest and apostacy in Israel. The northern ten tribes had introduced Baal worship and their hearts were far from God. And a result, God not only sent prophets to preach to the people, to turn their hearts back to him, but God also sent agents of judgment to chastise his people and to remind them of what life is like when you forsake the Lord and ignore his righteous laws.
God used the nation of Syria and king Benhadad, and then Hazael after him, to afflict Israel. Soon after that, God would raise up another foe, a far more deadly and powerful enemy -- the kingdom of Assyria to come against Israel. And in the year 721 BC, Assyria would attack and overrun the northern kingdom, and take her people into captivity.
Look back at Micah 1:2-7. This is the very first thing Micah prophesies. Verse: 6 Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble, a place for planting vineyards. I will pour her stones into the valley and lay bare her foundations. And why will the Lord do this? Because of the wickedness and idolatry of God’s own people.
As I have explained in my sermons in 2 Kings, when the Lord brought this judgment upon His people, as harsh and deadly as it is, it’s not as though God suddenly changed his affections or turned his heart against his people. It’s not as if God was punishing them in hated. No, God was chastening them in love, as a Father loves his children. God was being faithful to his covenant promises, faithful to call His people back to Himself
But the frightening message that Micah has for the people of Judah was this: the same judgment that fell upon Israel was coming to Judah because God’s people in Jerusalem followed the same pattern of wickedness and apostacy. So, in Micah 5:1, Micah says: Marshal your troops, O city of troops, for a siege is laid against us. They will strike Israel’s ruler on the cheek with a rod.
Although Judah would enjoy a brief period of spiritual reformation under King Hezekiah, those reforms could not stem the tide of sin and apostacy. Starting in chapter 2, Micah reveals the Lord’s complaint against his people. As the people lay on their beds at night, they proudly planned evil and iniquity. Then they rose in the morning eager to carry it out.
They coveted fields and seized them; they cheated and defrauded the weak and powerless, taking their homes, their inheritance from them. The judges were guilty of bribery. Justice was sold to the highest bidder and the rich exploited the poor.
The priests told people’s fortunes for money – which tells you about the condition of the hearts of God’s people. They did not trust God with their future. They turned to witchcraft and superstition and sorcery, and the priests were so corrupt that they played along and they accepted money and they no doubt told the people the good future and good fortunes that awaited them.
Another problem is that there were also false prophets in the land who were prophesying directly against Micah (and Isaiah and Hosea) telling them not to prophesy such disgraceful things. They assured God’s people that the Lord would not bring such disaster upon them; the Spirit of the Lord was not angry with them.
Their sermons were easy sermons to listen to: “All is well. Carry on with your lives. God is not angry with us. God loves us and God would never bring such disgrace upon us. Pay no attention to those crazy doomsday prophets who speak of coming judgment. Things will continue the same tomorrow as they have always been.
This is the exact same issue addressed twice by Jeremiah and twice by Ezekiel. Jeremiah 8:10-11 says: “From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.”
So, what are we to say about this: first of all, we shouldn’t be too shocked or surprised by what had happened to God’s people. Afterall, the power of sin is the same in every generation, and Satan loves to convince us that all is well between us and God – even when all is not well. Each one of us here has blind spots – sins we cannot see or we refuse to see – be it pride, or lust, or covetousness, greed, hatred, envy, laziness, vindictiveness, or a combination of several.
We live our lives each day indulging these sins – yet convincing ourselves that all is well between ourselves and God. That’s the problem when sin blinds us – and that’s why we desperately need the grace and mercy and forgiveness of God each day. It’s also why we need to pray each day for God’s Holy Spirit to dwell within us, to give us a spirit of humility, to break down our pride, remove our “blinders” and to reveal our hidden sins, so we can confess our sins to God and turn from our sins so that God will not be displeased with us.
But there’s a second thing I want us to see and understand from this passage: God’s response to the sins and failings of his people was not only judgment. What else did God send? What else did Micah prophecy about? God was sending salvation. God was going to send them a Savior who would rescue them and save them from their sins.
For all was not well between God and His people. There was no peace. The corruption of sin was everywhere -- from the kings, to the priests, to the prophets. Even the shepherds, the leaders of God’s people, had failed to lead. They had also fallen. So, God had to intervene. God had to send
someone who would come and make peace between God and man – and that is why Jesus came.
2. The Promised Messiah
In the midst of this sobering message about coming judgment, Micah proclaims the Good news of a Promised Messiah (our second point this morning). Let’s look at verse 2. “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel., whose origins are of old, from ancient times.”
Before we talk about Bethlehem, I want to call your attention to the phrase “Out of you will come for me one who will be Ruler over Israel…” That’s the Lord God Himself saying those words. Out of you will come for me one who will be Ruler.
Why is that significant? It is a powerful and timely reminder to us that Christmas, that salvation is all about God and His glory, His plan, His work, and His Kingdom. I say that because I think our default position is to think that Christ came for us first and foremost. We tend to think that fallen man stands at the center of Christmas, that man is the focal point of God’s work of salvation.
After all, John 3:16 says “God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son,” right? And: “Jesus came to save his people from their sins.” But listen again to what God says in verse 2? “Out of you shall come for me One who will be Ruler over Israel”. Yes, Jesus came to save us from our sins, and yes, we fallen sinners are the undeserving objects of God’s great love, mercy and grace. But Christmas is not about us. We do not stand at the focal point of God’s work of salvation. No. God Himself does. We must never forget that first and foremost, Jesus came for God!
Among other things, this helps us to better understand then that Jesus was not the hapless victim of Christmas; Jesus (God’s eternal Son) was not the unlucky Person of the Trinity who “drew the short straw” so to speak, so that He was the One that had to come down from heaven to earth to save us wretched creatures.
No. In Hebrews 12, we’re told that it was For the JOY set before Him – for the glory of God, His own glory and the Father’s own glory -- that Jesus endured the cross, scorning its shame. Yes, Jesus also did that for the Joy of saving fallen sinners, but the glory of God always comes first!!
Jesus came at Christmas in order to accomplish the great and glorious plan of salvation which God ordained from before the creation of the earth. Out of you shall come for me – the Ruler, the Messiah, the Savior, the Good Shepherd, the Eternal King who will bring to fruition God’s plan of salvation so that in the end, God will get even more glory and honor and praise!
God’s glory, Christ’s exaltation is the driving force behind Christmas – and that is not vain or selfish or mercenary. No. Because God is God, He deserves all the glory and honor and praise.
But now, let’s talk quickly about Bethlehem and this prophecy. God clearly ties the Promise of the coming Messiah to the little town of Bethlehem. But why Bethlehem? Two reasons. First because it was the city of David, and Christ the Messiah was to come from the house and line of David.
Many years ago, as recorded in 2 Samuel 7:13, God promised David that he would have a son and God would establish the throne of his kingdom forever. That son was not Solomon as great as he was. No, that son was Jesus Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah.
And we see the glory and majesty of this King and His eternal Kingdom mentioned in verses 4-5. “And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace….”
Jesus – just like David, but as the one better than David -- would come as the true Shepherd King of His people. And Jesus would stand where all before Him fell and failed. All the previous prophets, priests and kings, all the previous shepherds, leaders and elders and teachers of the law, were unable to provide what God’s people needed: true righteousness and holiness and satisfaction before God. Only one could provide that – and Jesus the Messiah had come for that purpose.
Out of Bethlehem would come for God, the son of David, the man after God’s own heart, to make atonement for the sins of the people and then to sit at God’s right hand in glory – as King of kings and Lord or lords!
But there is arguably a second reason God chose Bethlehem as the city in which the Messiah would be born, and this has to do with the meekness and humility of Christ the Messiah. Bethlehem lived in the shadow of Jerusalem which was a mere 9 kilometers away. Bethlehem was a tiny, unassuming town, a nowhere town, an agricultural community, it was home to shepherds and flocks and open fields.
Whereas Jerusalem was the Holy City, surrounded by her sacred walls, home to the palace and to the temple. Jerusalem was the epicenter of God’s kingdom on earth and pilgrims from all over the region traveled there to worship, to bring their sacrifices, and to celebrate the feast days,
Yes, God chose Bethlehem as the birthplace of Jesus for much the same reason that God chose David as King – because the Lord does not look at the things that man looks at. Man is impressed and enamored (obsessed) by outward appearances. We prefer our princes to be born in palaces, our kings to be strong men of valor -- tall and mighty in battle – who can strike down the enemy and will not tolerate ridicule and scorn and mockery.
But there is going to be something different about this King, this Christ, this Messiah. The great and glorious Messiah, the Son of the Most High, this Savior and King would be born in relative secrecy and obscurity. He would be born in a lowly, insignificant town, a town of lowly shepherds.
And everything about his birth reflects meekness, humility, a lowliness and mildness that is not seen or known among royalty. This is why everything about Christ’s birth, from Mary his virgin mother, to Joseph his earthly father, to the manger scene in Bethlehem, to the fact that no one anticipated, expected or even knew of Christ’s birth until the angels announced it – it was all be divine design.
It was all a reflection of the humility of Christ and of the humiliation he had to experience from his conception and birth. You see before Christ could be exalted as King, He would have to humble Himself – all the way to death, even death on the cross. And what’s so surprising and stunning is that this is not what God’s people expected or even wanted from their Messiah.
They thought their Messiah would come as a conquering king with sword in hand, with his mighty army at his side, striking down the Roman empire and setting up the Davidic Kingdom here on earth once more. But God knew that this is not what fallen sinners need.
God knew that we needed a King, a Savior who was not like all the other kings before him. Isaiah 53 says of Jesus our Messiah: “he had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. Jesus was the anti-king, the anti-hero – he was not what people wanted or expected. Instead, he was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering.”
God knew that we fallen sinners needed a Savior who could come and stand in our place before the judgment seat of God. God knew that we sinners needed a Savior who could take upon Himself the wrath of God that we deserved, a Savior who was willing and obedient to endure the anguish and pangs of heel until it was finished! God knew that we needed a Savior who would remain silent even as false witnesses breathed out their lies and accusations against him and as the very people and crowds that he came to save cried out Crucify! Crucify!
God knew that we needed a Savior and a King of whom we were not worthy – and yet God sent Him anyway. And Christ came anyway. Because Christ came first and foremost for God – to accomplish the purposes for which He was sent, and to secure a Kingdom for Christ, the throne of David forevermore, so that God could bring salvation not just to Israel, but to the ends of the earth – to all who would believe in Jesus Christ.
Now beloved, God comes to us today, at Christmas, and He says: this is what I have done. This is the salvation I have provided. This is my Son who has come and He has fulfilled all that was required of Him. Now worship Him and Him alone. Glorify His Name and exalt Him!
And beyond that, as the Spirit of Christ lives in us, and God calls us also to surprise the world, to be set apart from others around us. We are called to imitate the meekness and humility of Christ, to have the same mind in us as Christ had, and the same love…”doing nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility counting others more significant than ourselves. Let each of you look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
Think of that and pray about that this Christmas, and as you go into the New Year ahead. Does the Spirit of Christ dwell within you? Are we a changed people, a transformed people, a people after the very heart of God? Or are we still stuck in our sins, thinking that all is well, that God is pleased with u, and that there is no day of judgment coming?
Remember, Christ has come, and he is coming again. And when he comes again, he will bring final judgment upon this earth, and upon the living and the dead. All those who have confessed their sins and see their need for a Savior and put their faith in Christ, they will be saved from that day of judgment. But all those who do not believe, who remain blinded by their sin, who have to convince themselves that all is well – when it is not – they will be suffer the eternal judgment and condemnation of God.
And beloved, that is a fate we wish upon no one. And that is also why God gave us the Gospel – so that we can believe in Jesus Christ and escape the coming judgment.
Amen.
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Pastor Keith Davis, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
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