The Birthplace of Jesus

Bethlehem, the birth place of Jesus, is located in Palestine inside the West Bank. In Jesus' time the population was very, very small - now Bethlehem has 175,000 people. We went there and spent the day with an Arab Christian named George. He was delightful and we learned so many things from him. He first took us to a place called the Shepherd’s fields. These fields belonged to Boaz who was written about in the book of Ruth and as we know, Boaz was the son of Salmon and Rahab (who helped the spies as they were scouting out the walls of Jericho). Boaz and Ruth had Obed, Obed had Jesse, and Jesse had David. Hence the reason Bethlehem is called the City of David. There we entered a beautiful church that depicts the story of the Angels appearing to the shepherds and directing them to the place where Jesus was born.

We also went into a cave that would have looked a lot like the one that Jesus was born in. The people lived in caves at the time of Jesus, and when the census was being taken many people would have traveled back to their hometowns in order to register. They most likely would have stayed with families and George says the people slept and lived with their animals back then… it was cultural. So to say that there was no room for them most likely meant in the family room or main room, and that they would have gone into the side room where the manger was kept. It was very interesting to see the many caves and old stones and bowls and such they would have used in that time period. It was especially important for us to see this before we went to Jesus’ actual birthplace, as it does not really look like a cave anymore.

Very dusty feet... no wonder they washed their feet every time they came to a house...









This is a Jerusalem cross. It is a nondenominational cross and it stands for either the 5 wounds of Christ, or Jesus and the 4 gospels.

“And in the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields, and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and they were terribly frightened. And the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David, there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.’ And it came about when the angels had one away from them into heaven, that the shepherds began saying to one another, ‘Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.’ And they came in haste and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as he lay in the manger. And when they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart, and the shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.” Luke 2:8-20

The shepherds were the very first evangelists for Christ!

On the way to the Church of the Nativity we saw some candle makers in a little shop and stopped to talke with them. The candles that they made were very beautiful.

 We then journeyed to the birthplace of Christ, which you can see in the distance from the shepherd’s fields. It is now a very large Greek Orthodox church with a Catholic church right up next to it called the Church of the Nativity off of Manger Square. This was the same location of the Siege of the Church of the Nativity in 2002 when a group of Palestinians barricaded themselves inside the church and were in a standoff with Israeli soldiers for 40+ days.

There are 3 different doors shown here. The largest is from the Crusader time period, the next smaller from the Turks, and the last is most recent. It is called the door of humility as you have to bend down in order to enter the church.

The guides all say that there are 3 different classifications of the Holy Land sights: A, B or C. The ones classified with an A are most assuredly the exact location of said event. If you have a B classification it is a most likely, and a C is probably not but maybe. The birthplace of Jesus is an A classification. It was preserved and then claimed pretty early on.

The blinged out birthplace of Christ.

You can see the cave up above... most places have been covered up with tapestries, stone or metal.

Now it came about in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all were proceeding to register for the census, everyone to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register, along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. And it came about that while they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:1-7

It is pretty weird now though I will have to say. From the Byzantine times, through the Muslims, the Crusaders and the Turks, there have been a lot of stone, metal, cloth and bling added to these places. They are very gaudy and ostentatious and not really to my taste at all. There were many people bending down to touch or kiss the place that Jesus was born and it made me uncomfortable. It almost seems like idolatry it a way… the worship of a place and not the person. But who am I to judge? It seems incredibly meaningful to these people. I find I commune much better with Jesus when I am in nature and enjoying His creation with Him. I was glad that we were able to see the caves first so that we would have an idea of what it looked like before it was “preserved” and “revered”.

The other side, underneath the Catholic Church, is very different. No bling, just stone work. There were some tombs and such that were very interesting to look at as well as the grave of St. Jerome who spent 35 years down in the cave translating the old and new testaments into many different languages to be taken and shared all over the world. This room made me cry as I thought about his dedication and how grateful I am for his work so that we can hold and read the Scriptures for ourselves today. It was a meaningful and holy place.

More Jerusalem crosses...

George shared a lot with us about his frustrations with the situation in Israel/Palestine. He loves his job as a tour guide and is very passionate about sharing Christ with those that he meets. He prays for peace and that one day we will all be reconciled again soon through Jesus. So many preconceived notions people have of other cultures, beliefs and religions. Just like in Young Life, breaking down walls and building relationships are not only our foundation, but I think it was how Jesus walked out his life as well. We would do well to become better at this, particularly with people groups that we do not know or understand. We are all God’s children made on purpose for a purpose.