The place is a Christian place, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. It is the site where first century leader Justin Martyr said Jesus was born. For almost 2,000 years Christians have worshiped here. The building standing on the site today dates back more than 1,500 years. Its entrance speaks of its history.
The door is unpretentious — several inches of thick wood reinforced by stout braces along the back. What is striking is that a person of normal height must bend and stoop to walk through the door.
The original building was destroyed by fire in the early sixth century. Roman Emperor Justinian rebuilt the church in its present form beginning in 527. The entrance is called the Door of Humility. It is said the small entrance was to prevent a man of arms from riding or striding full force into the sanctuary.
The church has had an unusual history. In 614 a Persian army invaded the Holy Land and burned all the churches. The Church of the Nativity was spared when the army commanders saw the images of the Magi on the entrance of the church. Early Christian art always depicted the Magi as Zoroastrian priests from Persia.
During the period of the Crusades, the European kings of the Franco kingdom were crowned during services in Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity.
The church has survived all the changing winds of political and military leadership that have blown across the Holy Land. Now this structure is the oldest Christian church in continuous use in the region. It is under the joint administration of Greek Orthodox, Armenian Christians and Roman Catholics.
Two weeks ago that history slammed into another challenge. About 250 Muslim gunmen invaded the Church of the Nativity during a battle with the Israeli army.
The gunmen were Palestinian soldiers. Bethlehem has been under Palestinian governance since 1995. At this writing the gunmen are still inside the church.
Even those on the scene do not agree about what is happening. Israeli sources say the Palestinians have taken more than 50 monks and nuns as hostages. Palestinian sources counter that their soldiers were seeking sanctuary in the church and that the monks and nuns stayed as hosts for the gunmen.
The result is a scene filled with irony. In the place where the Prince of Peace was born, where Christians from around the world regularly worship, Muslim gunmen crouch behind the walls of the church while the Israeli army lays siege to the area.
All attempts to mediate the standoff have failed to date and the situation grows more tense. Shots are being fired into and out of the Church of the Nativity. Before the standoff is resolved, the church may well lie in ruin.
The Israeli army is to be commended for not going into the historic church with all guns blazing. They could have. However, Israeli has a tradition of respecting historic and sacred sites. During the 1967 War, the Israeli army battled house to house through Jerusalem’s Old City rather than use its artillery and air power to dislodge the enemy.
It was a conscious choice by the government not to obliterate the Christian and Muslim sites even though the decision placed Israeli soldiers at increased risk.
Israel has not been as cautious about using its power in other areas. Sometimes one gets the impression that the nation trusts in its own strong arm. One remembers that 20 years ago current Prime Minister Ariel Sharon led the invasion of Lebanon. That invasion came to an end only after the personal intervention of then U.S. President Reagan. Now as prime minister, Sharon once again appears to be placing his hopes in the Israeli army.
Generally speaking, Alabama Baptists, like other evangelical Christians, are strongly committed to the safety and security of Israel. That will be illustrated April 23 when a group of Christians and Jews gather at 7:30 p.m. in Wright Auditorium on the Samford University campus for an Israel NOW rally.
But commitment to Israel does not mean commitment to every policy of a particular government just as commitment to the United States does not mean agreement with every political decision by whatever party happens to be in office.
Still one wonders what the world would be saying if it had been Jewish soldiers who had invaded the Al Aqsa Mosque on Temple Mount or the Dome of the Rock at the same place. These sites are among the most important in Muslim religion. Would the Muslim governments be as silent about that scenario as they are about their soldiers invading a Christian holy site?
For the most part, it has been left to Christian groups to protest a historic Christian site being turned into a battleground. Western governments have acknowledged the problem but said little. Muslim countries have rationalized the actions of the Palestinian soldiers and blamed Israel for laying siege to the church where the gunmen are hiding.
Israel was right when it did not destroy holy sites during the 1967 War. The country was right again when it did not follow the fleeing gunmen into the Church of the Nativity. Holy sites — Christian, Jewish or Muslim — should be off-limits to warlike activities from all sides.
The battle raging in the Holy Land is much larger than a single incident, even if that incident does involve an important issue about a historic church. The battle is about peace, about justice, about humanity. But a single incident can provide the break in the bitter struggle that would “give peace a chance.”
Let us pray that the struggle going on over the birthplace of our Lord might be resolved in such a way as to be the birthplace of a new peace for Israel, for the Palestinians and for our world.
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