Every person's existence can basically be summarized with three words: birth, life, and death. When you think of the birth, life, and death of the Lord Jesus Christ, three cities instantly come to mind: Bethlehem is where He was born, Nazareth is where He lived, Jerusalem is where He died.

Each one of those cities conjures up a different picture. When you think of Bethlehem, you think of the cradle. When you think of Nazareth, you think of the carpenter. When you think of Jerusalem, you think of the cross.

But the story of Jesus began at a quaint little town called Bethlehem. What otherwise would have been an unheard of Palestinian town, shrouded in anonymity, has instead become the theme for poets, the subject for artists, and the goal for pilgrims.

Bethlehem, even to this day, is stil…