When the Magi visited Herod looking for the child who would be king, this is the prophecy that his advisors found that sent them on to Bethlehem to find Jesus.
Bethlehem was a small town, but it was the place of David's birth and so, being of the house and family of David, Mary and Joseph needed to go to Bethlehem for the census.
And now another King would be born there!
Without this prophecy, would anyone think that a king would come from there? I'm sure people thought that a great ruler should come from a great place like Jerusalem.
Maybe we have some of those hidden prejudices.
How do we judge others?
I know and you know that we shouldn't judge, but sometimes we have prejudices that we are unaware of.
At one time or another, I have been a waitress, a door to door salesperson, a teacher, a cashier, and a clerk in a business office. I have had to learn many different skills in order to do these jobs. And I have developed expectations of others who do these jobs.
I try very hard when I encounter a person in any one of these professions to do their jobs correctly.
Sometimes when I encounter a person who does a poor job, I have to remind myself that I am not the one who signs their paycheck and it's not my job to judge them.
When Jesus began his ministry, he was once again put down for coming from Nazareth, another small town with nothing to recommend it.
So, we can at times judge people for the skills we think they should have, or where they come from, or how well they speak, or for a hundred other reasons and we don't even realize we are doing it.
Would we have given Jesus a chance, or would we have judged him by his origins?
Interesting question as we prepare again for his coming.
