Meditation: Where is Bethlehem?
Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea.
Where is Bethlehem? Did the Son of God come to be born in a tiny hamlet in far-away Palestine? Or was He born there that He might come to be born somewhere far closer?
If Christmas is the time that God chose to come close to us, then Bethlehem must be somewhere very close to us.
Where is Bethlehem?
It is not far at all. Bethlehem is your heart and mine! This is where Jesus came to be born. This where He wants to be born. This where He wants to live to bring us new life-the very life of God.
If Christ a thousand times in Bethlehem be born and not in your heart and mine, then we have missed the whole meaning of Christmas.
Where is Bethlehem?
“Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and sup with him” (Rev. 3:20). There is Bethlehem!
Where is Bethlehem?
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). There is Bethlehem!
Where is Bethlehem?
“He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him” (John 6:56). There is Bethlehem!
Where is Bethlehem?
“It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives within me,” said Paul for whom Bethlehem was within.
Meditation: Where is Bethlehem?
Where is Bethlehem?
“Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God Himself shall be with them, and he their God” (Rev. 21:30). There is Bethlehem!
Invite the Lord Jesus to come and sit on the throne of your heart as King, and Bethlehem will be within you!
And when it is, then the peace and joy of Christmas will be with you all year long, “And you shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted means God with us.” God in us! Bethlehem!
The success of the original space shuttle Columbia caused millions of people around the world to reflect on how far America has come in space exploration. But perhaps astronaut James Irwin in the fourth moon walk, in 1971, put it in perspective best when he said,
“I can’t describe to you the thrill of looking out into space and seeing it as only a handful of men have ever seen it,” Irwin explains. “Of seeing the sun and stars in the most brilliant, breathtaking colors mankind has ever witnessed. And then to look in another direction, and there hanging like a multicolored, luminous giant marble was the earth. I could hardly contain myself.
“I came to a stop, Moon dust settled down on my boots and chills ran up and down my spine. I thought, WOW! This is the greatest miracle in the history of the human race. Man is walking on the moon! Then God spoke to my heart, ‘No, Jim. It isn’t really. The greatest miracle in the history of mankind is not that man walked on the moon, it’s that God walks on the earth and lives in you.'” … in the Bethlehem of your soul and mine!
~ Presbytera Emily Harakas & Fr. Anthony Coniaris, DAILY MEDITATIONS and Prayers for the CHRISTMAS ADVENT Fast and Epiphany: Living the Days of Advent and Epiphany according to the Orthodox Church Calendar
