The Story That Began in Bethlehem

The birth of Jesus marked the beginning of His redemptive mission on earth. From Bethlehem, His story is connected to the salvation He came to offer.

Even the circumstances of His birth seem to have a connection to the life He would later live. Jesus, the Son of God, was born in a manger, far from the comfort we would expect for a king. He who possessed all glory accepted entering our world in the humblest way and becoming vulnerable like any one of us. Years later, we would see Him humiliated once again, this time on His way to Golgotha.

There was no room for Him when He was born. Later, He would be rejected by many of those He had come to save. Centuries earlier, Isaiah had announced that the Messiah would be “despised and rejected of men” (Isaiah 53:3). The child lying in that manger was the same Suffering Servant of whom the prophets had spoken.

Jesus also did not come into the world without knowing why He had come. His birth was part of a plan that existed long before Bethlehem. Years later, He Himself would say, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). Therefore, the cross was not an unexpected turn in His story, but part of the very reason He had come.

John the Baptist introduced Him by saying, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Long before Jesus was taken to Calvary, we already find in Scripture this image of the Lamb who would give His life. Christ knew what awaited Him and, even so, was willing to give His life for us.

That is why we cannot separate Bethlehem from Calvary. When we celebrate that God came to live among us, we also remember why He came. The child who was laid in a manger would grow up, teach, heal, love people, and ultimately give His life for them. In the manger, we celebrate something beautiful, but the cross helps us understand just how far He was willing to go for us.

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