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Good Monday morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends.
As we continue with the chronology of the Christmas story, today we arrive at Luke 2:1-7 which you’ve probably read or heard every Christmas for as long as you can remember. Dr. Luke was a Macedonian Physician, writing primarily for the benefit of the Greek speaking Gentiles throughout the Roman Empire in the first century. Thus the first three verses of Luke 2 give the historical orientation within the context of Roman Empire history. Luke’s Gentile readers across the Empire would immediately identify time and place.
Now friends, we need to pause here a moment. Probably your Bible shows Luke 2:2 in parenthesis, right? Verses in parenthesis are found in many places in the Bible and it normally means the author, at that particular moment, is making a personal comment about a statement or event. Some Bible scholars believe some of the ‘parenthetical statements’ may be later additions by scribes, who wanted to show it was an addition. In fairness to the fact that this verse has aroused significant controversy over the years, I’m including three links to Bible scholar explanations, which may be helpful to you, regarding Luke 2:2. . .
Without attempting to resolve the controversy here, let’s consider the magnitude of what God is doing in Luke 2. No person in any country welcomes news that their government is calling for registration for new or increased taxes! In the Roman Empire to resist or ignore such an order would mean prison or perhaps even execution. Evidently this census required each family to register, in person, in their ancestral hometown. For Joseph and Mary, that would be Bethlehem because that was king David’s hometown, and they were born into his family line (Matthew 1:6; Luke 3:31,32).
Nazareth, as you know, is in northern Israel, west of the Sea of Galilee. It would have been a trip of about 75 miles or so, to Bethlehem. We must presume they walked. Perhaps some of the journey may have been on an animal, like a donkey or camel, but Luke doesn’t mention that. You’ll notice Luke 2:4 says “So Joseph also went UP from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem…” Normally when we describe direction we use the word ‘up’ to indicate NORTH. Not so in directional descriptions in the Gospels. “UP” was elevation, altitude, not direction. Jerusalem is actually built on a range of hills, specifically “Mount Moriah” (Gen. 22) and thus whenever Jews went to Jerusalem, from any direction, they always went “up to Jerusalem”. Bethlehem was about 6 miles south of Jerusalem, so to get there from Nazareth they traveled south and “up” to Jerusalem, and then further south to Bethlehem.
Dr. Luke says Joseph “…went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.” (Luke 1:5) Yesterday we looked at Matthew 1 and the account of Joseph’s dream and his obedience to God’s instructions through an angel not to divorce Mary but to take her as his wife. We saw in Matt. 1:24 that “When Joseph awoke, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded and took Mary home as his wife.” Since we have no account of a wedding ceremony, but Mary has accompanied Joseph to Bethlehem where she will be registered as Joseph’s wife, we can presume Dr. Luke is using the phrase “pledged to be married” to emphasize again the harsh but miraculous reality that Mary was pregnant by the Holy Spirit of God, and Joseph was obediently participating in this miraculous event, taking responsibility for her as his wife, even though he was not the father of the child.
We don’t know how many hundreds of other people also came to Bethlehem, since was their ancestral town too, nor do we know how long this census registration process took. We do know none of us like to wait in long lines and we all bristle at lousy crowd management. I’m sure you’ve placed yourself in this Christmas story… after several days walk from Nazareth, with no means of sending word ahead to reserve a room for some lodging, Joseph and Mary find themselves with no place to stay.
The movies portray that when they arrived in Bethlehem Mary was already having birth contractions and the baby was born that very night. We don’t see that in Luke’s explanation. It may have been several days and nights in that ‘stable’ before finally Jesus was born. What do you suppose were some of the harsh realities they had to deal with… no bed, no shower, no friends or family? Men, can you imagine Joseph frantically going all around town trying to find some better option in those days? Women, can you imagine Mary trying to make the best of it and make a plan for where and how she would actually give birth with some degree of privacy and safety for herself and her baby?
Over and over in this Christmas story, Joseph and Mary have had to face unexpected, unpleasant even sometimes what appear to be unfair circumstances, as they try to trust God and participate with Him in what He is asking of them. Have you ever been there friends? I wonder if they repeated to themselves over over some great Old Testament promises like this one:
* “Those who know Your name will trust in You, for You LORD have never forsaken those who seek You.” (Psalm 9:10)
* or this one: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways honor Him and He will direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5,6)
* or this one: “…I called you and I said, ‘you are my servant, I have chosen you… so do not fear for I am with you, do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and I will help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:9,10)
You see my friends, as you and I walk the journey of life, we too will frequently be faced with unpleasant, unexpected and maybe even unfair situations… and what we do in those situations pours out of what we really believe about God, and the genuineness of our relationship with Jesus, and the authenticity of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Do you agree with that friends?
The Christmas story was a hard road of obedience for courageous Mary and Joseph. In truth there were far more anxious, maybe even fearful and frustrating times for them, then joyful happy times. Of course over the years our Christmas pageants and Christmas cards and songs have glamorized it… but let’s see it for what it really was. Ugly, difficult choices, hard realities. God asked Joseph and Mary, over and over, to pay a high price in following Him and participating in this Christmas miracle story.
There are lots of lessons for us to learn, aren’t there?
Are you in a place right now, where God is asking you to trust Him and follow Him on a rugged path that isn’t fun, isn’t hopeful, and maybe even is lonely? Watch this my friends… it’s on these rugged paths that we experience the Presence and Power of God with us.
For the rest of their lives, Joseph and Mary looked back on their Bethlehem experience as dramatically life changing. It solidified their marriage and their unified commitment to God’s glory, at all times, regardless of the circumstances.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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