My wife and I went to a Christmas Eve service last night and enjoyed the music, looks of wonder on children’s faces and a message asking for each of us to help spread Peace on Earth—a good message that would be the answer to many of the world’s problems but, at the same time, people who traveled to Bethlehem had a hard time trying to worship because of the turmoil caused by the Palestinians. I read a newspaper report about this, but in the report the blame was put on President Trump. It reported his remarks granting US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and plans to move our embassy there caused the turmoil and rioting in Bethlehem.
Six hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem, the Old Testament prophets reported that the Hebrews would return to Israel and claim it with its capital Jerusalem. Well, it happened and the non-believers are having a hard time getting used to it. Our president was the first one to have the fortitude to recognize the fact that the nation of Israel has been using Jerusalem as its capital for some time. It’s as if our capital in Washington, DC, was thought to still be in New York or Philadelphia. It sounds silly, but it is the same thing when the world does not have the guts to live up to reality.
If anyone would like to follow the travel of the Jewish nation from its original occupation in the Holy Land, they should read Constantine’s Sword by James Carroll. This is the story of the founding and growth of the Christian religion and, at the same time, the fate of the Jews who were trying to find a home where they were not persecuted. We can follow that story all the way to World War II when Hitler killed six million people because they were Jews. The only way in which the Jewish people would find safety was to return and claim their original land. This was granted by the United Nations and since then the Israeli nation has had to constantly defend itself.
At this Christmas time, when we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, it would be good to remember that it was the Jews who gave us this beautiful gift in Bethlehem. Yes, some of the Jews later caused the death of Jesus, and they have been blamed for this since, but also many of the Jews became the first Christians and carried the miracle of Jesus into the Christian religion that we know today. All of the disciples were Jews and so was Paul. To keep persecuting the Jews today is the same as blaming the present German country and inhabitants for the atrocities of World War II. For this Christmas, the message of Peace that was preached last night is the only way to end the hate and evil that we see every day. I am proud that our president settled the issue of the Jewish capital and our recognition of it. It’s about time the rest of the world gets used to it because it is not going to change, ever.
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