O Little Town of Bethlehem
As for you, Bethlehem of Ephrathah, though you are the least significant of Judah's forces, one who is to be a ruler in Israel on my behalf will come out of you. His origin is from remote times, from ancient days. Therefore, he will give them up until the time when she who is in labor gives birth. The rest of his kin will return to the people of Israel. He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. They will dwell secure, because he will surely become great throughout the earth; he will become one of peace (Micah 5:2-5a CEB)
Recognize the picture? It is the new Berlin Wall and it is located in Bethlehem, separating the Palestinians who live there from the rest of the Holy Land. If ever there were an abomination on this Earth, this is one of them. One of the greatest tragedies of our times is that the three great Abrahamic religions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism cannot live in peace in the land of their birth.
I visited Bethlehem once. It was one of the most spectacular and at the same time saddest places I had visited in all of the Holy Land. The wall separated Bethlehem from the rest of the country. Even our Jewish guides were not allowed in Bethlehem because of the animosity there. We had Palestinian Christian guides, who informed us that the number of Christians had gone down significantly in Bethlehem, which at one time was 50% Christian. According to our guides, the population of Christians had been depleted by the Israeli government, which had been exacerbated by this wall. I find it sad that many American Christians equate the Israeli government with the Jewish people, when this is not the case. The Israeli government doesn't speak for Judaism just like the American government doesn't speak for Christianity.
This city, this little town, however, has become a symbol for Christmas.
The Prophecy
This prophecy, as with other Messianic prophecies quoted in the New Testament, had a much different meaning than its Christian one. The prophet, Micah, is one of the 8th Century prophets. He lived approximately 800 years before the birth of Jesus. At the time, the nation of Judah (and Israel) had been harassed by the Assyrian Empire. They were looking for hope. It came in the form of this prophecy. Just as David had been born in Bethlehem, so would the coming savior. However, it wasn't sins that the people needed to be saved from: it was the Assyrians. If you keep reading on, you will notice that the antagonists are the Assyrians and this savior would rescue them from this empire.
That didn't happen.
But the prophecy remained and people sought other meanings from it. So when a young Jewish rabbi from Nazareth, but born in Bethlehem, started preaching, this prophecy was in people's eyes again. Perhaps this is the one to deliver us from the Evil Empire, but this time from Rome?
I'm troubled.
When I read these prophecies again, I am filled with consternation. I don't know why our Christian ancestors insisted on hijacking this prophecy and say it was meant for Jesus. Maybe it's my 21-Century logical mind that is getting in the way. Perhaps Christians back then saw parallels between these ancient prophecies, which had no obvious connection to Jesus, and said that these were similar to them.
If we are to believe the Gospels, even the priests and religious scholars at the time believed that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem.
But why the obvious deviation? What is going on here?
Jesus: the Kwisatz Haderach
My parents introduced me to the movie and books of Dune. When David Lynch's version came out in the 1980's, they said I might not understand it, but I probably would like it. They were right about the latter part. Frank Herbert, the author of Dune, was an atheist, but he often wrote about religion and how it was used to manipulate the masses. Dune is no exception to this. A female order, called the Bene Gesserit, wanted to create the perfect man. As such, they had a eugenics program to create a male version of their order. They were also adept at infiltrating cultures and planting prophecies that would benefit and shield their members, should the need arise.
The version of their messiah was called the Kwisatz Haderach. He was to be a type of superhuman who could have the memories of all of his ancestors. The protagonist, Paul Atreides, became this promised Messiah, but came a generation early. He and his mother used and manipulated the prophecies the Bene Gesserit had created. Paul was the Kwisatz Haderach, but he was also something more.
Sometimes I wonder if Jesus were like this.
People tried to manipulate and use Jesus. They used prophecies from the Hebrew Scriptures to link him to being the promised Messiah. They were looking for a deliverer, but Jesus became more than this.
Jesus is famously quoted in his "Sermon on the Mount" as saying: "Don't even begin to think that I have come to do away with the Law and the Prophets. I haven't come to do away with them but to fulfill them." (Matthew 5:17 CEB)
And then Jesus promptly went and changed several laws, making them more humane than they were before.
Jesus - the Messiah
I look at Jesus: this young man, killed by religious people for being too liberal and committing heresy. Killed for not renouncing the claim that he was the Son of God. Executed for treason by the Romans. This man became a synergy of the human and divine. He became much more than the prophecies. He became something unexpected.
I, a mere human, have been trying to figure him out for such a long time. Jesus is more than the prophecies that we manipulated into saying they applied to him. In many ways, I am getting to know him all over again. He is more than I had imagined.
This Christmas, I celebrate him again, hoping to pattern my life after his.
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