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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 the Roman
emperor, 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.
Caesar was interested in getting a formal
count of people because each person meant income for him and the Roman empire
through taxation. 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 because of the
heavy risk of 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. Most
theologians believe the journey was three days.
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.
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 glory will arrive in the way of the baby Jesus.
Have a blessed Christmas Eve everyone.
Amen.
Let us pray.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com
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