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Readings: Exodus 12:1-12 + Luke 2:1-5 + Matthew 2:1-2
If I step back and look at any given day, most of the goings-on feel ordinary. Of course, random and unexpected things pop up. We make decisions and deal with things that come up. But each day, on its own, is often mundane and routine.
But when I look back over the life I’ve lived so far, there are clear themes. As it turns out, those typical and ordinary days add up to a life that is seemingly not random. Instead, my life has some consistent threads running through it.
It’s only in looking back that I realize maybe all those days weren’t random after all.
The Bible offers us this same opportunity. We can read the day-in-and-day-out stories of people living their ordinary lives. Moment by moment, their lives can look much like ours – boring and uninteresting.
But we also get the long-range view. The wide-angle lets us see the threads God is weaving, and they are anything but random.
One such thread is in the town of Bethlehem. Two of the four gospel writers cite Bethlehem as the place of Jesus’s birth.
It might seem random, having the Messiah born in a town 80 miles from the place his parents were living. But, as with all things, God has a plan.
Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem for the census. Joseph, a descendant of David, must return to his hometown to be registered.
As expected, Mary accompanies him, and it is during their visit that Mary and Joseph welcome Jesus into the world.
Jesus, born as a tiny baby, came to take away the sins of the world. Previously, humans could only be reconciled to God by following the laws given in the Old Testament. These laws included animal sacrifice.
Blood is needed to keep humans in right standing with God (Leviticus 17:11).
God has already proven to his people time and again that he had a plan for them. One of the biggest shows of his favor was bringing the Israelites out of Egypt.
As the last of the plagues, God passes through Egypt and kills every firstborn. To keep their children safe, the Israelites are to sacrifice a male lamb or goat, one year old, and without blemish.
They must then smear the animal’s blood on the doorframe outside the house (Ex 12:5-7). Only blood allows God to pass over the house.
The yearly holiday of Passover allowed the Israelites to remember God’s favor, and for centuries, the sacrifice is performed. The laws still must be followed. Not just any old lamb would do.
Perhaps not surprisingly, it’s hard for an ordinary shepherd to raise a perfect lamb for a year. So, rather than have each family responsible for their own animal, one town, in particular, became the hub for raising lambs and goats for Passover.
I’ll bet you can guess the town. See, the tiny town of Bethlehem had a big job to do.
And Bethlehem continued to raise Passover lambs for centuries. Until it became the place the final sacrifice was born.
Nothing is small to God. There are no random events. Everything works together for his glory and our good.
Just like our own stories, God weaves together the events of his people. He makes it undeniable that his hand is involved. Despite what we may think, nothing in the Kingdom of God is random.
The Messiah, whose blood would be shed to atone for our sins and bring us in right standing with God once and for all, was born in Bethlehem.
The Passover tradition was a precursor to Jesus. God set up the Israelites for understanding who the Messiah is and why he has come.
It’s only with this understanding that we can genuinely appreciate Jesus’s birth in the first place. God made a great sacrifice for us in sending his son. He knew how Jesus’s life would end, but God loves us enough to remove barriers to himself.
May we meditate today on the coming Messiah and the change he brought with him.
Journal Prompt: How is God weaving your story together? What events in your life seemed random at the time but turned out to work as part of God’s bigger plan?
