And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:1–7 NKJV)
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and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths,
and laid Him in a manger. (Luke 2:7)
Today we come to our third section of our Biblebase Advent Calendar.
- A Promise of the Saviour
- Anticipation of the Saviour
- The Birth of the Saviour
- Reflecting on the Saviour
In all there are 23 blogs scheduled and we are now over half way to our goal.
The Facts
I never cease to marvel at the amazing economy of words used to describe narrative events in the Scriptures. These few verse are ‘Data Dense’ or as we might call them ‘Fact Packed’. There is not one unnecessary word. Secular scholars have frequently been so awed by the composition skills of the writer that they have speculated that Luke did not write these first two chapters. It is no more than speculation but even such a writer as FB Meyer wondered aloud whether or not these first two chapters might have been authored by Mary herself. Luke’s skills as a historian have often been challenged but never disproven. He either gathered this information first hand from eye-witnesses, and Mary is the chief candidate, or this is indeed the written testimony of an eye-witness, and again Mary is our chief candidate.
From the Imperial Throne to a stable
The sweep of history here is wonderful. In his imperial splendour the first Emperor of the New Roman Empire decreed that all the world should be registered. Some translations go further and declare that Augustus Caesar’s intention was taxation, and they are not wrong in that conclusion. The Roman Empire (and Augustus was its creator) was a magnificent administrative machine. It was ruthlessly efficient and it was expensive. Consequently every conquest was seen as another revenue source for the Empire.
In the splendid isolation of his power base Augustus had no idea that his executive order was facilitating the fulfilment of an ancient prophecy. Mary in the last weeks of her pregnancy was still in Nazareth in Galilee and the prophesied location for the coming of the Messiah was more that 90 miles away in the hill country of Judaea.
In his wonderful book ‘Elect in the Son’ Robert Shank writes:
He who “works all things after the counsel of his own will” is at work in the world in these momentous times, moving inexorably toward fulfillment of an eternal purpose that antedates creation and gives meaning to human history.
So, in Rome, Augustus passes a decree that the inhabitants of the Roman province of Syria will undergo a census with the express purpose of deciding his taxation revenue. Essentially, Joseph and Mary make their journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem to attend the ‘Judah Tax Office’. Robert Shank adds the essential element that is the thesis of his definitive book.
All things indeed are possible for God, but only within the limitations of consistency with His own nature and being. God cannot lie, for example, nor can He change, nor can He deny Himself. We may reverently assume that, for the kind of kingdom He intends, God is following the only possible course: the process of human history.
Philosophies of History
There are three main philosophies of human history. There is the chaotic view. That history, to quote Henry Ford, is ‘just one d–n thing after another.’ There is neither rhyme nor reason to it. Things just happen. This, increasingly, is the contemporary view. All Historical documentaries and modern historians subscribe to this view. There is no progression nor regression, just a series of pointless events. Secondly there is the cyclical view, favoured by many Eastern faiths, that history evolves in a cyclical pattern where trends are repeated endlessly. And then there is the view of the Judeo -Christian scriptures that history is linear. HIstory is teleological — it has a purpose. Yes, even current history.
The Bible never seeks to prove its case any more than it seeks to prove the existence of God. It is simply assumed as an axiom. History is heading in a specific direction and God has set the direction and oversees the processes, even though human beings are completely free to make their own choices.
The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes. (Prov 21:1 NKJV)
To the city of David, which is called Bethlehem…
The popular view is that Joseph and Mary arrived just in the nick of time and the cross-patch inn-keeper denied them access. The inn-keeper has become the comedy character of the children’s nativity play but there is no inn-keeper in the Biblical narrative. Perhaps not even an inn?
The narrative gives us the impression that Joseph and Mary may have been in Bethlehem for some little time before the confinement. It was while they were there that Mary came to full-term. The term translated ‘inn’ can mean an inn, not our idea of an inn, but something that served as a kind of first century Motel. These were khans or caravanserai, overnight stopover places where the pack animals, donkeys or camels could unload their merchandise for the night while the merchants took there rest. The word inn is derived from the ideas of loosing a burden. It came to mean also the guest quarters for the better of families. It is the word used of the room in which the Last Supper was celebrated. But… that does not mean the inn of Luke’s narrative is a guest chamber. That is an assertion increasingly favoured by contemporary writers, although it is a much older notion than the current day.
Modern writers assert that Joseph and Mary would have had family in Bethlehem and that they visited such family only to find that the quest quarters were already full. In my view, it is possible but unlikely. Ancient tradition and the writings of the second century are united in their view that this was a khan/caravanserai. Ancient tradition puts the birth in a cave, or ancient khan/caravanserai were frequently built into rock faces which were hollowed out to provide accommodation for the animals.
What is certain is that the ‘manger’ was not necessarily a cattle trough but was likely to have been the raised shelf on which animal fodder was placed to provide food for the animals. We presume that Joseph acted the part of midwife and in this humble setting Christ was born.
Her firstborn son
Mary was delivered of her child. As the scripture declares in words of astonishing economy…
She brought forth her firstborn son.
To the human eye, just another poor child of poor parents born into the world. Another mouth to feed. Another scrap of humanity, the flotsam and jetsam of a mighty empire ruled over by Augustus whose decree had seemingly condemned the child to this ignominious beginning.
But armies of angels are nearby. The Son of God’s accompanying ‘Praetorian’ guard. A king’s personal escort and bodyguard. We shall meet them… tomorrow.
