Why was Bethlehem chosen as the birthplace for Jesus? There were other towns closer to Nazareth. Why wouldn’t one of them do? Why not Nazareth itself? If it is going to be somewhere else, why not Jerusalem? Wouldn’t this big event get better exposure there?

Yet, Micah 5:2 predicted 400 years in advance: “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 from of old, from ancient times.”

That is wonderful, but why Bethlehem? Why go there at this late stage in Mary’s pregnancy? Would you put your wife on a donkey or donkey cart for a 115 km trip during the last stage of her pregnancy? It must have been an awful journey. I can just imagine weary comments like, “Do we have to go any further? Couldn’t we just stay here? Joseph, I can’t take it anymore!” There was a Bethlehem in the territory of Zebulon not far from Nazareth. Why not that Bethlehem? It would have been so much easier on Mary. But it had to be in Judah as predicted, convenient substitutes and easier short-cuts were not acceptable.

When the angel announced that the baby Mary was expecting would be the Messiah, you can be sure that the devil heard it too. Can you imagine the consternation among Satan and his fallen angels? A Redeemer was coming into the world! Their number one enemy was on the offensive. How are we going to attack? I can just picture the scheming as the Devil calls together his war cabinet. You see, Satan does scheme.

2 Corinthians 2:11 “… in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.”

I wonder if this is how the Devil’s strategy meeting went. “So she’s going to have a baby in 9 months. Somehow God is going to arrange for them to be in Bethlehem at that time. We’ll have to come up with a plan to make life really difficult for Mary and Joseph when they travel to Bethlehem in Judea. That will likely kill the baby and her. Yes, we’ll hatch a truly devilish plan.” And the demons were rubbing their hands with glee. But it backfired.

Satan has done that kind of thing before. Think of Pharaoh deciding to kill all the male babies just when Moses, their deliverer, was born but Pharaoh ended up raising him in his own palace! Then there’s Joseph unjustly confined to an Egyptian prison, but he became Prime Minister and delivered the Israelites from famine. What about Daniel in the lion’s den? Each time the diabolical plan was turned around and thereby fulfilled God’s plan.

This Christmas season, when you hear the story again, think of how the trip to Bethlehem again fulfilled God’s plan and foiled Satan’s hopes. The Lord can do that in our lives too.

There’s victory on the sunny side.

Henry Wiebe