Just 5 Miles south of Jerusalem there is a town named Bethlehem. You may have heard of it before. Bethlehem is famous as being the birthplace of Jesus, so today as we begin, we light the candle of Bethlehem.
What you may not know is that Bethlehem had a reputation way before Jesus was born there. It was founded by a guy named Salma. Salma was the father of Boaz. Do you remember Boaz from the Book of Ruth? Boaz was the father of Obed. And Obed was the father Jesse. And Jesse was the father of King David. All of these people were from Bethlehem. Bethlehem was a big deal in the Old Testament. Because King David had come from Bethlehem.
It was prophesied that a son of David would sit on his throne forever. That son was Jesus—a descendent of David through the line of Joseph. This what Gabriel told Mary.
Luke 1:30-33 “30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of
Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Since Jesus was in the line of David, It was fitting for Him to be born in Bethlehem, which was referred to as the City of David. The prophet Micah foretold of this.
Micah 5:2 “But you, O Bethlehem (EF-ruh-thuh) Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.”
As we explore the Christmas story, we have to ask, how was it that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, since Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth? God had to get them to Bethlehem if the prophesy was to be fulfilled that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.
Luke 2:1-5 “1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is
called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.”
Let’s take a detour for a minute. Have you ever wondered why Jesus was born at this point in history? God’s timing is always perfect, so what was His motivation for this timing? God was patiently waiting to put His kingdom expansion plan of salvation into motion. The sooner, the better, but some things had to occur first. And one of those things was the rise of the Roman empire. The Romans provided the perfect example of how God wanted to build His kingdom. This is why I believe Jesus came to us at this point in history because of the rise of the Roman Empire.
At this point, Rome had expanded to rule the known world. Caeser Augustus was the first Emperor to rule over this much territory. But why did the expansion of Roman rule matter to Jesus? It mattered because of the message Jesus came to bring. His message was this:
Matthew 4:17 “17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
It’s the same message John the Baptist preached before Jesus started His public ministry. The kingdom was the main focus of Jesus’ ministry.
There was no concept of kingdom that was a correct model until the Roman empire ruled the world. And that's why Jesus came during the Roman Empire. The colonization concept was the way Rome ruled over their conquered territories and the people of that time would have understood the kingdom language Jesus used.
Every empire that came before the Roman empire would go in and conquer an area and then take the people of that area back to their home country as slaves. When Rome conquered an area they actually left the people there and installed a governor in place to rule as Rome rules...they created colonies of Rome.
This idea of creating colonies was a new concept. The people who had surrendered to Rome would not be turned into slaves, on the contrary, they would instead be turned into Roman citizens. These new Roman citizens would now adopt the ways of Rome. This is how the Roman Empire was expanded through the known world.
Rome removed the former identity of the surrendered government and replaced it with the Roman government.
Rome didn’t come to enslave people, but to make them citizens. And this is also how Jesus would expand His kingdom. He came not to enslave people, but to make them citizens of His kingdom.
This is why Jesus is born in Bethlehem under Roman rule.
Now, the word Bethlehem means ‘the house of bread,’ and from this house came Jesus, the one who revealed himself as the Bread of Life.
Bread is a theme in the Bible that represents provision. It began all the way back in Exodus when Israel complained that they were going to starve in the wilderness. God sent mana from heaven to feed them, but they didn’t know what it was.
Exodus 16:15-18 “...And Moses said to them, “This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Let every man gatherit according to each one’s need, one omer for eachperson, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.’ 17 Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less. 18 So when they measured it by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need.”
God Had provided for their need, but He also tested them.
Exodus 16:4 “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.”
God instructed them to only take what they needed for that day. There was no need to take more than they needed. God was a faithful source and would provide again tomorrow. Even after all the miracles God had showed them, some of them still didn’t trust Him. They did not like this “one day at a time” approach.
And just like ancient Israel, we don’t like “one day at a time” either. But that’s what Jesus taught us to pray for.
Matthew 6:11 “Give us this day our daily bread,”
This section of the Lord’s prayer, seems to suggest that this model prayer should be offered first thing in the morning. It focuses our attention on the day ahead of us and the bread we will need to get through it. This is a “one day at a time “ approach.
Jesus is teaching us to only ask God for what we need today. But why does Jesus only focus on today? Wouldn’t it be easier if we just went ahead and asked for everything we needed this week, this month or even all year?
That’s not the way God provides for us. The kingdom life requires faith. And faith is a daily process. Faith says: “Ask God for today, and trust God for tomorrow.”
The manna God provided for Israel was only supposed to be one day’s supply. They were instructed not to pick up more than they could use in one day. This was because God wanted them to continue depending on His provision daily.
God actually sent more manna than was needed to feed everyone for a day. We know this because some of the people gathered more than one day’s supply. But the extra didn’t keep, it rotted overnight. This was a test of trusting God, and some of His people failed.
Having trust in God is the very basis of our salvation. How can we trust that God has provided for our eternal salvation, and at the same time not trust that He will provide what we need for this day?
Have you ever failed the test of trusting God for your provision daily, by gathering more than you needed?
Asking for more than today’s supply assumes that we know what we will need for tomorrow. But we are not promised a tomorrow. We have to trust that God will get us through each day with what He already knows is going to be necessary.
Remember: “Give us this day, our daily bread.” Don’t worry about tomorrow, focus on today.
In the same chapter as the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew just a few verses down, you’ll find Jesus telling us not to worry about tomorrow, but to seek the kingdom.
Matthew 6:31-34 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
These verses are the basis of the thoughts we should have concerning our prayer for daily provision. Think about what Jesus meant, as He told us to pray for daily bread, in the light of this verse:
John 6:35 “35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”
Jesus calls Himself the Bread of Life. Could this be the daily bread we are supposed to be asking for in the Lord’s Prayer? What would your life look like if you prayed every morning to receive your daily portion of Jesus?
If we are truly seeking the kingdom, we will certainly be asking for more of Jesus every day. Jesus is the Word of God and as we study His Word, we can expect that our spirit will be supplied with “our daily bread”. We should be more focused on our daily spiritual provision in the kingdom than on our physical needs in the natural. God already knows what we need in the natural and we can trust that He will provide it for us when we seek His kingdom first.
John 6:30-35 “30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to
eat.’” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. 33 For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” 34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.” 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in
Me will never thirst.”
Jesus says He is like the mana... the daily bread, that God gave to feed Israel in the wilderness. He is the bread of life sent to keep us from spiritually starving in our own wilderness of sin.
Are you wandering around in the wilderness of sin? I’m not talking about salvation. I mean are you saved, but still struggling to find your way out of the wilderness?
The way to know if you are in the wilderness is if you need a new miracle every day to survive. As soon as the children of Israel entered the promised land, the manna stopped. When you enter into the place God has for you, you will not need the miracles, because you’ve learned to trust that He is your provision.
Daily bread means don’t worry about tomorrow. Just like Moses said about manna and Jesus said about daily bread, just ask for what you need today.
You shouldn’t need a miracle everyday. You just need to stop complaining and panicking, and begin to ask and trust.
We should start each day asking for our provision of The bread of Life for that day. If we are asking for the Bread of Life, we are seeking the kingdom, and God says if we are doing that, He will take care of the things you need.
From Bethlehem, the house of bread...comes Jesus the Bread of Life.
In 1865, after 4 years of the civil war in America, a priest named Phillip Brooks was dealing with the loss of his brother in the war. He decided to take a year off from his congregation and travel to the Holy land, and while he was there he was able to spend Christmas Eve in Bethlehem.
Three years later, as Christmas was approaching, he remembered that Bethlehem night. He then penned a poem for his Sunday school students. The church organist put that poem to music and we still sing that song every Christmas.
"Oh Little Town of Bethlehem"
O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie.
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting light.
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.
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