Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Why God Chose Bethlehem | The Gospels | Luke 2:1-21

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. If you could choose any family in the world to be born into, who would you choose? What categories would be the most important to you? The emotional warmth and support of that family? The financial means and connections of that family. The kindness and humility of that family.

Starting point is 00:00:30 Or maybe it would be what country they lived in or the kinds of opportunities you would have or maybe the social class you would be a part of. Now let's say that you could choose between being born in a Kenyan slum with one million other people where three meals a day is never a guarantee and getting out of that slum would be virtually impossible. But if you chose that, you would have warm, humble parents who were emotionally connected to you, able to discipline you well without being belligerent or neglectful. You wouldn't have much in your life, but you'd know happiness for much of your life. Or you could choose this. You could be raised in an upper middle class suburb in Connecticut. You'd have the resources to do whatever you want and open doors wherever

Starting point is 00:01:14 you want them. You never fear an empty plate. Your prospects would always be bright. You'd have a high paying job, a nice house, nice cars, personal trainers, anything you wanted. But you'd have parents who were distracted, busy with other things, emotionally distant, vacillating from neglect to anger in a moment. So you'll find connection, friendship, relationships, and deep satisfaction difficult for much of life. Which of those two lives would you choose? Perhaps it's obvious to you, perhaps it's not. But I think if most people were honest, they'd say this isn't an easy choice. Because there's something deep inside of us that believes that happiness comes from an abundance of possessions, that more is better. And so we'd want to choose the family in Connecticut,

Starting point is 00:02:01 it because deep down there's part of us that thinks that a life without wealth and possessions and affluence and influence is a life that's impossible to enjoy. I think this is a really interesting question because it unveils what our hearts really believe about reality. And maybe you're thinking, how could you be so sure that maybe the right choice is to choose the Kenyan family with less? Well, I'm not totally sure. The truth is that God can work wherever he pleases to redeem, to restore, and to heal. That said, we do know that God had to make a very similar choice to this. Jesus took on flesh not by accident, not under coercion, but by choice. So he got to choose what family he'd be a part of. And what did he choose? An affluent family from a line of

Starting point is 00:02:49 Sadducees and high priests? An influential family from a line of Pharisees and sages? Or perhaps a royal family inside of Herod's household. In all of those places, there was wealth, there was opportunity, influence, affluence, and prestige. But instead, Jesus chose to be born to two peasants. A construction worker for a father and a poor teenage girl for a mother who lived in a backwater town that no one had ever heard of. We read this in Luke 2. In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken.

Starting point is 00:03:26 of the entire Roman world. This was the first census that took place while Corinius was governor of Syria, and everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem, the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to be registered with Mary who was pledged to be married with him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger because there was no guest room available for them.

Starting point is 00:04:02 Jesus' family was so poor that when they show up in Bethlehem, no one invites them in. He's born in a barn. He's placed in a stone feeding trough for donkeys. He's wrapped in simple cloth. This is how Jesus chooses to enter the world. And who does he invite to this occasion?

Starting point is 00:04:22 Is he attended by royal guests, by dignitaries in the night of his birth? No. Instead, a group of peasants rough and dirty from their work in the fields arrived to marvel at him. Again we read in Luke 2. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flock at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, don't be afraid. I'm sorry. bring you good news that will cause great joy for all people. Today, in the town of David, a savior has been born to you. He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be assigned to you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Suddenly, a great company of the

Starting point is 00:05:11 heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth, peace to those on whom his favor rests. When the angels had looked, left them and gone into heaven. The shepherds said to one another, let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about. So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. These are the inconspicuous details of Jesus' birth, a king whose royal messengers were. dirty shepherds, a king whose royal throne was a feeding trough, a king whose parents were peasants,

Starting point is 00:05:59 a king whose hometown was a backwater. What does this mean for us? Well, first, it means that our values are upside down. Our definitions of greatness are inverted. Our ambitions are directed in the wrong direction. According to Jesus, if you want to ascend, then you must descend. If you want to be great, then you must serve. If you want to be high and exalted, then you must become lowly and forgotten. But even more than that, it tells us that Jesus does not despise us. If you're anything like me, you are not a big deal. You are not living in some great place. You don't do great things reported on daily in the news. But does that mean that you can't live a life of significance? No, it means that you are perfectly situated for significance. significance. Because in God's economy, great things come from the margins, from the small towns and the forgotten places, from the lowly jobs and the looked down upon, from the no names and the forgotten, because the great things God wants from us are not told on the grand stage of world politics, but on the far more humble stage of everyday life. If you want to see the kingdom of God,

Starting point is 00:07:13 look not to the White House or Parliament or Hollywood or the halls of the New York Times, no, look to ordinary people doing ordinary acts of sacrificial faithfulness in ordinary places. That is where the king lives. That is where his kingdom is born. And I do know that, because that's exactly where the king chose to be on the day of his birth.

Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Why God Chose Bethlehem | The Gospels | Luke 2:1-21

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