Fourth Week of Advent: Two Stories.

 

Bethlehem in Judea (Judges 19:2)

I woke thinking of two Bible stories: both have to do with Bethlehem, both have to do with a particular woman, both have to do with a man looking on. But one story, the story of the Levite’s concubine, turns out to be the most tragic and lurid story ever told: “Has such a thing ever happened?” (Jdg 20:30) The other story, the woman gets a name, “Mary,” and she brings forth a child not from man’s power or abuse, but out of God’s freedom. It turns out to be the greatest story ever told—not a story of lewdness and violence; but, a story of holiness and redemption.