An Advent Storybook and Study: Seeking Truth, Goodness, and Beauty
Copyright 2025 by Lūminé Press, Written by Elsie Lungren, Illustrated by Nicoleta Dabija
Day 17
“Welcome!” said Mormor. “With Mary and Joseph now in Bethlehem, it feels like it’s going to be Christmas tomorrow! However, we will be checking in on the wise men again, and also on the shepherds, before we get to Christmas. Today we are going to see what our ancestor, Becca of Bethlehem is up to!”
Becca of Bethlehem
Becca of Bethlehem was busy. She’d been in the kitchen of the inn, checking to see how many scraps would soon be on their way to the stable in the back, when she’d heard through the window the conversation between the innkeeper and a young couple seeking a place to stay. Scampering up the curtain to get a better view, she saw that the woman on the donkey was clearly about to give birth to a child. When Becca heard the innkeeper offer the stable to them, she moved into high gear.
Rushing into the stable, Becca lost no time. “Everyone, listen up. We’re going to have a baby!”
For just a moment, the busyness in the barn turned into complete silence. And then, everyone started talking at once!
“A baby?” mooed the ox.
“Who…who is having a baby?” hooted the barn owl.
“Not here?” neighed the horse.
Becca whistled and said, “Yes, here. A human baby. Human babies need warm hay, fresh and clean water, and not so much dust. We have a lot of cleaning to do! Quick! Quick! I can hear them coming. Let’s have some entry music for them! And some flowers with a pleasing scent. You know what to do!”
With Becca telling everyone what to do, the barn was quickly transformed into the best baby nursery they could manage. The goat gathered wildflowers and filled the stable with their bright colors and welcoming scent. Using wool shed by the sheep and fresh hay offered by the horse, the birds created a soft and warm nest in the manger. Then, just in time, the four birds began singing a welcome song. The dead sea sparrow, the Tristram’s starling, the song thrush, and the nightingale had been practicing as a quartet, and their harmonizing was beautiful.
With Joseph leading, Mary rode in on Dottie and Donkey and was welcomed by the bright and warm streams of sunlight coming through the rafters, the pleasing aroma of flowers, and the musical sounds of a melody.
“Joseph,” said Mary. “This is beautiful. It is clean, warm, dry, and so peaceful. This is perfect.”
“So it is, Mary,” said Joseph. “Look at all the flowers! It is as though they have been arranged just for us!”
“God is so good!” said Mary. “Look at the reds, purples, blues and whites of the Crown Anemone, the pink and white Cyclamen, the white Iris with the yellow stripes, the white Winter Crocus, the purple Mandrake, and the yellow Corn Marigolds and wild mustard! I could not imagine a more beautiful place to bring this child into the world!”
“Becca?!” squeaked Nettie. “Is that you?”
Becca jumped in surprise. Why would these strangers know her name? “Yes,” said Becca. “And you are?”
“I am Nettie of Nazareth! I am your cousin!”
“I can’t believe it!” said Becca. “Is it really you? The last time I saw you, you were such a wee lass.”
“Yes, it’s me,” said Nettie. “And we have such special news for you. This is Mary and Joseph, and they have been told by angels from God that this baby is a King! He is the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, and His name is Jesus!”
Becca’s jaw dropped. “Did you hear that everyone? This place needs to be fit for a King! Quick! More hay! More wool! More flowers! How can we get more sunshine? Do we have enough water?”
While Becca was scampering from one place to the next, squeaking orders and getting everything as clean as it could be, Joseph laid down a mat and helped Mary to get settled. Dottie was invited to have some water from the trough, and Nettie joined the other mice who were trying to keep up with Becca.
“What do you think?” asked Mormor. “How clean do you think a group of determined animals can make a stable?”
Lukas laughed. “I don’t know how you get dust out of a stable!”
“But they tried!” said Astrid.
“Yes,” said Annika. “And if we know one thing about Becca, she knows how to be a leader!”
“That’s true!” said Mormor. “And Becca knew that even though the stable was intended for animals, they should try their very best to make it clean, comfortable, and comely. And then, did you notice what happened when she learned that the baby was the Son of God?”
“She got very excited,” said Linnea. “She doubled her efforts!”
“Yes,” said Mormor. “She was determined to transform the humble stable into a place where God would feel welcomed. Do you know what the people in the Old Testament called a place where God was present?”
“A temple,” said Theo.
“That’s right,” said Mormor. “It was originally called the tabernacle, and then later called the temple. Within it was the Holy of Holies, or the Most Holy Place which is where God’s presence was found. Only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and only on the Day of Atonement which is called Yom Kippur. Before the high priest could enter, there were a lot of rituals he had to perform to make sure there would not be any sin between him and God. Do you know why?”
Annika said, “Habakuk 1:13 says of the LORD, ‘Your eyes are too pure to look on evil.’ That means that if we are in God’s presence, there is no evil. There is no sin. In Isaiah 59:2, Isaiah tells the people, “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.” This means that if we want to be in the presence of God, all of our sin has to be covered up.”
“Great explanation, Annika,” said Mormor. “The way that sin gets covered up is called atonement, and it is done by a blood sacrifice. Before Jesus died on the cross, atonement came from the blood sacrifice of animals like rams, goats, and sheep. This was part of the rituals that the high priest had to do before entering the presence of God. Chapter 16 of Leviticus tells all about the rituals that the high priest had to perform before he could enter the Holy of Holies. That must have taken a lot of time and effort. But even then, their atonement was just a temporary covering of the people’s sin. This is why they had a Day of Atonement every year.
“But then came Jesus. Jesus is sometimes called the Lamb of God. Just as lambs were sacrificed in the days of the Old Testament to provide atonement for the sins of the people, Jesus let Himself be the blood sacrifice for the sins of all people. The difference is that the atonement Jesus provided is permanent and does not need to be repeated ever again. This is why we say that we are covered by the blood of Jesus. His blood sacrifice provided a permanent covering of our sins. It never has to be done again.
“The sacrifice that Jesus made not only provided atonement for our sins, but also forgiveness. God forgave our sins. Forgiveness is not just covering them up. It is pardoning us from the sin so that we do not have to pay the penalty of sin. Romans 6:23 says ‘For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ No one is perfect except for God. Paul also says, in Romans 3:23, ‘for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’ So, if we have all sinned, and if the price of sin is death, by which is meant spending eternity in hell after one’s life on Earth is over, and God loves us and doesn’t want that for us, then He needed to come up with a great rescue plan! Enter Jesus! Christmas Day is the kick-off of that great rescue plan!
“Do you think Jesus could have prevented the people from crucifying Him on the cross?”
“Definitely yes!” said Lukas.
“You’re right, Lukas,” said Mormor. “But by letting Himself be killed on the cross, Jesus not only provided the blood sacrifice that provided the atonement, the covering up, of our sin, and the forgiveness of our sin, but He redeemed us. Does anyone know what that means?”
Annika said, “Redemption, or being redeemed, is when you are given freedom from something that had a hold over you. It could be paying off a debt, or paying the price that is owed before you feel free from whatever it was that had a hold over you. The person who pays that price for you is called a redeemer. It’s like being a rescuer.”
Theo continued, “If we do not ask Jesus to rescue us from sin, then sin has a hold over us. And, the price that must be paid for sin is the opposite of going to Heaven! It is a forever death! But, we don’t have to pay that price because Jesus paid it for us. That means He redeemed us. Sin no longer has a hold of us. We are free. By dying on the cross, He purchased our freedom. And then, because He is God and death has no power over Him, He came back to life on Easter Sunday!”
“What an amazing rescue plan this is!” said Mormor. “Jesus the Redeemer set us free from the power of sin in our lives, and He allowed our sins to be forgiven, and He made it possible for us to be in the presence of God all the time! He restored the relationship between people and God. And, if that’s not enough, He guaranteed that we will live forever and ever in Heaven with Him after our life on Earth is over!
“Now I want you to listen to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.”
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
“The high priest had to do so many things before they could be in the presence of God, and that was just one day of the year! But for us, because Jesus, the Lamb of God, came to Earth and provided permanent atonement and forgiveness of our sins, we are able to be in the presence of God all the time!
“Becca of Bethlehem knew that if the presence of God’s Son was going to be in the stable, that meant the stable was going to become like the temple of God. Just as Becca tried to turn the stable into a clean and comfortable and welcoming place for the presence of God, we should do the same with our lives. Why? Because since the Holy Spirit is in us, we are each the temple of God.
“Becca probably wasn’t planning on doing a thorough cleaning of the stable that day, but did you notice how she was able to pivot, to adjust, when something unexpected happened? We can do that, too. Life rarely goes exactly the way that we plan. But, when the unexpected happens, we can pivot and adjust just as Becca did.”
“Tomorrow we will revisit our friend Ethan on his journey with the wise men.”
Application:
Just as Becca wanted the stable to be as clean, comfortable, and comely as possible for Jesus, we should also want our bodies and minds to be pure and prepared for the presence of Jesus. If we think of a temple as the place where God is present, then the stable was a temple on the night Jesus was born, and our bodies and minds are a temple all the time, as the Holy Spirit lives in us all the time. Unlike the high priest, who had to elaborate purification rituals and blood sacrifices for atonement, we do not because Jesus did that for us. We only need to remember that God is with us, all the time and no matter what. If we remember that, we will want our thoughts, our behavior, and our attitude to make Jesus feel welcome and comfortable.
Hymns about Atonement and Redemption:
Blessed Assurance (verse 1) was written in 1873 by Fanny Crosby and set to music by Phoebe Knapp.
One Day (verse 1) was written by J. Wilbur Chapman in 1908. He then gave it to Charles H. Marsh who wrote the music for it and published it in 1910.
Because He Lives was written by Bill and Gloria Gaither in 1971.
