It was tiny. It held very little significance. Bethlehem Ephrathah didn’t even make the top 100 cities that belonged to the clans of Judah. As a traveler crossing through the region, you would hardly notice the city. Now squint toward the barley fields. There you would find the spot where the poor foreigner named Ruth gleaned in Boaz’s field. The locals of her day wouldn’t have given Ruth a second glance. She was an outsider who had fallen upon tough times, desperately trying to make ends meet. Like Bethlehem, she doesn’t seem extraordinary at all.

Continuing our tour of Bethlehem, we approach the location of the humble home of Jesse, surrounded by fields that are dotted with sheep. When the prophet Samuel walked this road, he was searching for the next great king of Israel. Someone strong. Commanding. Mature. But God rejected the ones who fit those descriptions. Instead, God instructed Samuel to anoint the youngest brother, who didn’t even make the original lineup. Like Bethlehem, David didn’t seem like much.

Eyes like ours fixate on the talented, the important, the influential, and the famous. But God delights in using the weak, the poor, and the unexpected for some of the greatest roles in the story of salvation. Lowly Ruth became the wife of Boaz, the great-grandmother of King David, and part of the family line of the Savior. Little David became the greatest earthly king Israel had seen. With God’s help, David led the army to great victories and ushered in a time of peace for God’s people.

By the time Gabriel visited Mary, the once-thriving nation of Israel had been cut down. Isaiah referred to it as a twisted, gnarly stump. This was thanks to Babylon, then Persia, then the Greeks, then the Romans, all of whom took their turn wielding power over the area. But take a closer look at the stump of that royal line. It is not completely dead! We behold a branch shooting up out of its ugliness! The lovely bloom from that branch is our only hope, Jesus, born in Bethlehem.

Jesus himself didn’t appear glorious to eyes like ours. He was born to a carpenter and placed in a feed box. As Jesus began his ministry, he was a wanderer with less of a home than the foxes and birds. Somehow, some way, this humble preacher determined the eternity of us all.

Bethlehem, Ruth, David, and Jesus—they all show us how God looks with favor on the lowly. How the Almighty does great things. How he has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. Though Jesus hid his glory in his earthly existence, he was nothing less than our holy and true God! He traded his heavenly throne for our sins and exchanged what he deserved (glory) for what we deserved (the punishment of hell). As we see Bethlehem evolve from a tiny, unimportant city to the birthplace of the King of kings, let us also remember how God took us from dead in sin to alive in Christ. Now we lay claim to full rights as daughters and sons of the King.