Let’s Go to Bethlehem: MAry and Joseph's Journey

Luke 2:4-7a: So Joseph left Nazareth, a town in Galilee, and went to the town of Bethlehem in Judea, known as the town of David. Joseph went there because he was from the family of David. Joseph registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was now pregnant. While they were in Bethlehem, the time came for Mary to have the baby, and she gave birth to her first son.

Gratitude Day 976

“Let’s go to Bethlehem!” the little voice nearly shouted from the car seat in the middle row of the vehicle.

It was December of 2024. I had picked up our youngest grandchild from school that day. When I asked about her school day, she told me all about the preparations they were making for the upcoming Christmas program. Because she attends a parochial school, the story of Jesus is included in the program.

She told me about the songs they were going to sing and rehearsed them in the car. At one point, she said to me, “Grandma, do you know Jesus was born in Bethlehem?” Clearly, this was something she had recently discovered and was curious if I was aware of this.

“Yes, sweetie, I do know Jesus was born in Bethlehem,” I shared. We talked about why Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem.

“Oh.”

“In fact, I’ve been to Bethlehem,” I continued to tell her. “We went to the place where Jesus might have been born.”

“You’ve. Been. To. Bethlehem?” the voice asked emphatically from behind me. As I looked in the rearview mirror to see her face, I could see the expression was not just something in her voice. Her eyes were just as surprised.

“Yes, I have,” I replied.

The bewilderment in her voice and face said it all. But her next line surprised me.

“Let’s go to Bethlehem. Right now,” she declared. Like going to Bethlehem is like going to Target or Wal-Mart.

“Oh, sweetie,” I said, “Bethlehem is a long way away. Like a really long way. We’d have to take an airplane to get there.”

“Well, I’ve ridden in an airplane,” she reminded me. “We can go.”

“Oh, we can’t go today. It’s a really big trip to go to Bethlehem,” I conceded.

This little 5-year-old person was not convinced that Bethlehem was really that far away. Or that it should be so difficult to get there. We should just make it happen.

As much as I didn’t want to disappoint her or curb her enthusiasm, I had to convince her that a trip to Bethlehem after school but before she went to her dad’s house was not in the cards.

What I wanted to bottle up and keep was her enthusiasm for wanting to go to Bethlehem. Her sincere desire to see where Baby Jesus might have been born. The shear unabated enthusiasm to make going to Bethlehem a priority. The choice that THIS was something important to her.

I get it. When you are five, getting ice cream is like a national holiday. This little person sees the world as her oyster. In her little mind, anything is literally possible. She’s not afraid to ask, even if the answer will probably be, “No.”

It’s her wonderment, excitement, and desire that warmed my heart and made me want to take her to Bethlehem. To crawl into a cave and see the place where maybe, just maybe, the Messiah of the world came into this world.

The pure joy of normalizing such a trip because, well, why wouldn’t we want to go to Bethlehem?

Friends – this is the wonderment, excitement, and desire I so deeply wish all of us could approach this holiest of days, Christmas Eve, with. While we literally won’t be in Bethlehem tonight, we certainly can be there figuratively. We choose if hearing the story of a baby’s birth to an unexpected couple is what will fill us with joy. It’s our decision whether we want to hear the story and try to imagine all those difficult and challenging parts of the story. To light the Advent Wreath and see the white center candle bring forth light in a world that desperately needs something to challenge the darkness.

It's with a “yes, we can go to Bethlehem” spirit that I pray I enter this Christmas Eve Day and carry with me into Christmas Day. To be amazed, surprised, appreciative and thankful that God loved me so much that God chose to send God’s very own Son into this world just for me.

I invite you to join me with this spirit. To be amazed by this story, touched by God’s love and appreciative we took this journey to Bethlehem this Christmas.

Merry Christmas –

Dianne

It’s Christmas Eve, O Holy God. How I long to have this child-like approach to the Christmas story and a desire to simply assume we should and will go to Bethlehem tonight. Let this special story speak to me. May I hear the angels sing and watch the shepherds find the baby and envision how all these events touched Mary’s heart so deeply. Let me find Bethlehem tonight and see the great and deep love You have for me. Amen.

Looking for a bit of daily inspiration? Check out my daily affirmation posts on Facebook and Instagram (Dianne Deaton Vielhuber and Simple Words of Faith.)

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