Why Jesus Had to be Born in Bethlehem

Hostility against the King (Matt. 2:13-18)

A person is identified not only by his friends, but also by his enemies. Herod pretended that he wanted to worship the newborn King (Matt 2:8), when in reality he wanted to destroy Him. God warned Joseph to take the Child and Mary and flee to Egypt. Egypt was dose. There were many Jews there, and the treasures received from the magi would more than pay the expenses for traveling and living there. But there was also another prophecy to fulfill, Hos 11:1: "I called My Son out of Egypt."

Herod's anger was evidence of his pride; he could not permit anyone to get the best of him, particularly some Gentile scholars! This led him to kill the boy babies two years of age and under who were still in Bethlehem We must not envision hundreds of little boys being killed, for there were not that many male children of that age in a small village like Bethlehem liven today only about 20,000 people live there. It is likely that not more than 20 children were slain. But, of course, 1 is too many!

Matthew introduced here the theme of hostility, which he focused on throughout his book. Satan is a liar and a murderer (John 8:44), as was King Herod. He lied to the magi and he murdered the babies. But even this horrendous crime of murder was the fulfillment of prophecy found in Jer 31:15. In order to understand this fulfillment, we must review Jewish history.

Me first mention of Bethlehem in Scripture is in connection with the death of Jacob's favorite wife, Rachel (Gen 35:16-20). Rachel died giving birth to a son whom she named Benoni, "son of my sorrow." Jacob renamed his son Benjamin, "son of my right hand." Both of these names relate to Jesus Christ for He was a "man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" (Isa 53:3), and He is now the Son of God's right hand (Acts 5:31; Heb 1:3). Jacob put up a pillar to mark Rachel's grave which is near Bethlehem.

Jeremiah's prophecy was given about 600 years before Christ was born. It grew out of the captivity of Jerusalem. Some of the captives were taken to Ramah in Benjamin, near Jerusalem; and this reminded Jeremiah of Jacob's sorrow when Rachel died. However, now it was Rachel who was weeping She represented the mothers of Israel weeping as they saw their sons going into captivity It was as though Rachel said, "I gave my life to bear a son, and now his descendants are no more."
Matthew 1:1-17

Jacob saw Bethlehem as a place of death, but the birth of Jesus made it a place of life! Because of His coming, there would be spiritual deliverance for Israel and, in the future, the establishment of David's throne and kingdom. Israel, "the son of my sorrow," would one day become "the son of My right hand." Jeremiah gave a promise to the nation that they would be restored to their land again (Jer 31:16-17), and this promise was fulfilled. But he gave an even greater promise that the nation would be regathered in the future, and the kingdom established (Jer 31:27 ff). This promise shall also be fulfilled.

Very few people today think of Bethlehem as a burial place; they think of it as the birthplace of Jesus Christ And because He died for us and rose again, we have a bright future before us. We shall live forever with Him in that glorious city where death is no more and where tears never fall.
(from The Bible Exposition Commentary. Copyright © 1989 by Chariot Victor Publishing, and imprint of Cook Communication Ministries. All rights reserved. Used by permission.)