But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.”
Micah 5:2

On this second Sunday of Advent, we light the Bethlehem candle. This not only reminds us that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but that God foretold this fact through the prophet Micah somewhere between 680 and 750 years before Jesus was in fact born. Bethlehem was and is a real place. The Christmas story is no made-up fairy tale that happened in a mythical location—it’s all true! And Jesus, who is eternal God, was born as a real baby who grew into a real man.

Why is this important? Jesus had to be God to be sinless in order to die in our place for the forgiveness of our sins. But because God cannot die, He had to be a man—so He could live sinlessly for us, and die and rise vicariously for us. For whom did Jesus do this? He did it for those who believe that Jesus is who He said He is (God) and that He did what He did as the only way to be forgiven and accepted by God as righteous.

A favorite Christmas hymn is “O Little Town Of Bethlehem.”

O 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.

O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel, Amen.

This carol was written by Phillip Brooks, the pastor of a small church in Boston. While visiting the Holy Land, Brooks composed a poem while on a hillside overlooking Bethlehem. On his return home he took the poem to his church organist, Lewis Redner, for the tune. Redner composed the melody on Christmas Eve, and the song was first sung in that church on Christmas day 1868.