THE IMPETUS FOR GLORY TO COME

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.

Luke 2:1-5

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

When put together, the words of the prophets painted a picture of what was to come, even if they weren’t quite sure when. What they shared with the people of Israel in Old Testament times (and us today as we read the scriptures) is that a Messiah was coming, one who would be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. He would be born of a virgin and be named Immanuel which meant “God with us” and the government would be on His shoulders. His greatness would have no end and He would come as a light to a people who were walking in great darkness, such would be the hope that would be found in this newborn baby that would come from Bethlehem (drawn from Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:2, 6-7, and Micah 5:2).

It was this latter prophecy from Micah giving the location where Jesus that would be born which had to leave one wondering whether or not it would come to be.

You see, Joseph and Mary were both residents of Nazareth nearly seventy miles north of Bethlehem. When Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit after the visit from the angel Gabriel, she had no idea that on the verge of delivering her son into the world, she would have to journey to a place completely alien to her and Joseph. Neither did Joseph and left up to their own preferences, I’m sure they would have had Jesus right there in Nazareth.

But that wasn’t God’s plan as revealed by the prophets and an impetus was needed in order for the glory found in the Savior of the world to happen in the right place.

Enter the census ordered by Caesar Augustus:

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.

For some people, this decree was no big deal as they were already in their hometown and could just easily line up and register. But for Joseph, it simply wasn’t going to be that easy. This is because he “belonged to the house and line of David” and Bethlehem was called “the town of David”. And so to meet the requirements of the command from Caesar, Joseph traveled to Bethlehem to register and took Mary along with him as he was “pledged to be married” to her and she was “expecting a child”.

Travel was harsh and dangerous in those days. You didn’t get in a car nor could you fly or take a train. Rather, you traveled on foot with most of your time spent in the wilderness where wild animals roamed and thieves lurked prowling on vulnerable, unprotected travelers. It would have been hard enough for someone if they weren’t pregnant so you can imagine how difficult it was for Mary. If she were living in the 21st century, no doctor would have recommended such an endeavor with the risks possible in creating complications with the pregnancy but we’re talking more than 2,000 years ago when medical practices were archaic and ancient at best. We’re not told how long the journey took but all I know is that seventy miles on foot would take some time, especially with a very pregnant woman in tow.

On the outside looking in, it seemed way too perilous and precarious but that’s if we look at it through our human lenses and reason. If we look at the same matter through the lens of the Lord, then we see that it was His will for Jesus to be born in Bethlehem and nothing was going to get in the way of that taking place successfully - not any social brow-beating after Mary became pregnant during her engagement, not any overtures of killing Mary because of the law’s penalties for adultery, not any distance needed to travel to ensure the birth of Jesus happened where the prophets said it would.

Nothing was going to get in the way of God’s plan being fulfilled in the way He wanted it to be. Nothing.

And so the census triggered the events that led to Joseph and Mary going to Bethlehem. It was the impetus for glory to come and tomorrow, we will see that, once in the right location, glory will arrive in the way of the baby Jesus.

Amen.

Let us pray.

In Christ,

Mark

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