". . .Ye shall find the babe . . . lying in a manger;" Luke 2:12. After the angel proclaimed this to the shepherds in the field, they hurried to Bethlehem to see for themselves. Today, I hurry to Bethlehem, to see the same manger!
 
BETHLEHEM
It's easy to go the 5 1/2 miles to Bethlehem from Jerusalem . At least it is for me. I have a U.S. passport and 6.7 shekels ($1,75) for bus fare! It's an Arab bus. Christ’s birthplace of Bethlehem, once a Christian town, is now mostly Muslim.
 
Israeli citizens are forbidden in Bethlehem under Israeli law! (Unless you are Israeli Arab). This West Bank town of 25,000 is under the Palestinian Authority. A sign at the town limits tells Israeli citizens to enter is "dangerous to your lives"!
 
Many people do a day trip to Bethlehem from Jerusalem, but, I want to spend a few days. I get a room at the 'House of Peace Guesthouse'. It's owned by an older Arab Palestinian couple. They are very friendly and describe themselves as "moderate" Palestinians. That means they live peacefully with everyone, not just other Arabs!
 
A CHILD IS BORN
Bethlehem is where David, Israel’s second king, was born around 1000 B.C. Then he was later anointed as King David by the prophet Samuel here. But, the main reason Christians flock here is to visit and celebrate the birthplace of Jesus Christ.
 
Here Mary "brought forth her firstborn son . . . and laid Him in a manger;. . ." Luke 2:7. Here shepherds came to worship the baby, and here the Three Wise Men from the east came to worship and present their gifts.
 
MANGER SQUARE
It's a 5 minute walk from The House of Peace to Manger Square. You can drive up the narrow road, but it is very twisting and congested. You can see that in the photos. The only other road into it is from the other side of town. Tour busses come that way. Manger Square is a large concrete courtyard in front of the church. If you see Christmas specials from Bethlehem on T.V., this is where the caroling takes place!
 
From Manger Square, across from the church, you can roam up and down narrow alleys full of shops, with a church or mosque every few minutes.
 
CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY
One thing you will soon realize when visiting the Holy Land is that the religious sites will not look as you pictured them. Often a church, mosque, or synagogue, will be built over or around the site. Centuries after the event, as different faiths began to identify the sites, one of the religious groups would become the 'care taker' of it and build a structure there . The Church of the Nativity is such a place.
 
This basilica is the oldest continually operating church in the world. The original church was built over the place of Christ's birth by Constantine, the first Christian emperor, in 339 A.D. Later destroyed by the Romans and rebuilt in the 6th century by emperor Justinian.
 
In 614 the Persians invaded Palestine and destroyed a lot of churches, but left this one when they saw a mosaic on a wall with the Three Wise Men in Persian dress.
 
Three faiths share the church, each having a section. The Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian Apostolic authorities.
 
To enter the church, you need to stoop to get through the door that is only about 4 feet tall, named "The Door of Humility". It was lowered in 1500 to stop looters from driving their carts in.
 
THE GROTTO OF THE MANGER
The place of Christ’s birth won't look anything like the Christmas cards you've seen! You take some narrow steps down to the cave underneath the Greek Orthodox Church, the "Grotto of the Manager". You see 'Grotto' a lot . It simply means caves and many grottos have churches built over them.
 
The Church of the Nativity is huge and you are free to wander around to the different chapels. However, they are in the midst of a multi-year remodel and much of it is covered or surrounded by scaffolding. The main site I came for though, the Manger, was open. The Roman Catholic Church has control of it.
 
It's a narrow (36'X3') dimly lit rock cave. Here Mary gave birth to Jesus in a cave used for livestock and where the shepherds came to worship. The exact spot of the birth is marked on the floor by a silver star with the Latin inscription ‘“Hic de Virgine Maria Jesus Christus natus est” (Here Jesus Christ was born to the Virgin Mary). Across from the star is an altar dedicated to the wise men and a silver manger representing where Mary laid Jesus in the manger. 

Christ’s birthday is celebrated on 3 different days. Christians in the Western world celebrate on December 25. The Orthodox church at his birthplace celebrates it January 7 . The Armenian Christmas is 12 days after that!


THE MILK GROTTO
One day I walked down the Milk Grotto Street to the Milk Grotto Shrine. According to Catholic dogma, Mary and Joseph stopped in this cave while fleeing Herod’s soldiers on their way to Egypt, while Mary nursed the baby Jesus. A drop of Mary’s milk fell upon the stone and it turned white. There's nothing in the Bible about it, but many Catholics believe it increases their fertility.

THE SHEPHERD'S FIELD
One day I walked out of Bethlehem, looking for the shepherd's field where the angels appeared to them when Jesus was born. It's about 2 miles out of Bethlehem. I punched in "shepherds field" on my phones' GPS, and started walking to the village of Beit Sahour, Originally known as the Village of the Shepherds, it is now an eastern suburb of Bethlehem.

It was a good walk and I eventually arrived at a place the GPS said to turn . And, there were 2 street sign pointing to Shepherds Field, in opposite directions!

I followed the sign that agreed with the GPS and eventually ended up in the countryside on a hill overlooking a field. I returned to the 2 signs and followed the other one, without the GPS. I found a church that sid it was the place of the Shepherds Field. The sign listed the hours you could get through the gates. I was there at the right time, but the gates were locked.

I later learned there are 3 places that claim to be where the shepherds watched their flocks by night! The Roman Catholics and the Greek Orthodox each have their own Shepherds' Field. The protestant faiths have another one. I think that was the field I went to. This is also where Ruth and Naomi gleaned in the fields behind the harvesters on their way to Bethlehem from Moab (Ruth 2-4).

In Scripture:  
Birth of Messiah prophesied: Micah 5:2-5, The birth of Jesus: Luke 2:1-20; , Matthew 1:18-25, The visit of the Wise Men: Matthew 2:1-12, Massacre of the Holy Innocents: Matthew 2:16-18

CONCLUSION
The people of Bethlehem seem a little more relaxed than in Hebron and Jerusalem . Although residents of Bethlehem are all Palestinians and mostly Muslim, they are friendlier to trade with. Israeli's are not allowed here, so you don't see soldiers everywhere. But, this comes with a price. 

NEXT: "BETHLEHEM'S WALL"