O Little Town of Bethlehem

We wrapped up our tour of major Christian sites with a visit to Bethlehem, the site of the Church of the Nativity, marking the spot where Jesus was born.  Our visit was subject to security conditions, because Bethlehem falls under the Palestinian Authority.  Bethlehem is now a walled city, so to speak.  After the Second Palestinian Intifada, resulting in increased violence against Israel, the Israeli government began constructing barriers around the Palestinian Territories, as a way to curb the violence and have greater control over who passes into Israel.

The wall is very controversial.  Proponents say the wall is necessary to keep Israel safe.  Opponents say it is an illegal attempt to annex Palestinian territory for Israel.  There are even groups of Israeli settlers who oppose the wall because they say it goes against the Jewish claim that all the land is for Israel.

Bethlehem has a population of about 25,000 people.  At the time of Israeli independence in 1948, 85% of the population were Christian.  Repeated conflict and economic hardship has resulted in many immigrating to other countries.  Today, about 20% are Christian.

Passing thru the wall was tense.  Our tour guide could not go with us, because he is Israeli.  Israel (our guide) took us to a Palestinian Christian owned gift shop outside the wall.  The owner arranged for a Palestinian to take us across the border.  Kirsten, Luly, and I did not have our passports with us.  Our guide forgot to mention that (we did have Driver's Licenses, which was hopefully going to be sufficient).  We all lined up at the border.  We sped thru rather quickly, versus the Palestinians.  They have to have special permits to come into and out of Israel.

Once we were thru the checkpoint, it was like stepping into another world.  Where Israel is very modern, the poverty in Bethlehem is much more visible.

We were driven to the Church of the Nativity and met by our Palestinian tour guide, who would guide us around the site.

The Church of the Nativity is one of the oldest continuously operated churches in the world.  The church is built over the cave (manger) that tradition dictates as the birthplace of Jesus.  The main basilica that houses the grotto where the manger was located is controlled by the Greek Orthodox.  The adjoining Church of St. Catherine and Chapel of St. Jerome are controlled by Catholics. The main basilica is largely in disrepair.  The roof is rotting and much of the gold mosaics along the wall have decayed.

The grotto is still quite impressive.  We were fortunate that there were not that many people at the church the day we visited (during peak times, you can expect to wait for hours to visit the grotto).

Downstairs you can see the altar commemorating the spot where Jesus was born.

Adjacent to that are the altars commemorating the visit by the Wise Men as well as the location where the Virgin Mary laid the newborn in the manger.

We had purchased a few items back in the city, and we laid them on the star to receive a blessing.

One of the things I did not realize before was how close everything was to everything else.  For example, the city of Bethlehem is just 6 miles from Jerusalem.  The location of Shepherd's field, where the Angel of the Lord appeared to the Shepherds and told them about the birth of the Messiah was just down the hill from the manger.