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Thursday (Day 19)

VERSES: Luke 2:1-5 & Micah 5:2

In today’s verses we see Luke describing the events that led to Joseph and Mary arriving in Bethlehem before Jesus was born. We might remember from earlier in this reading plan, that the Messiah was to be born in that little town. Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth, not Bethlehem, so a journey was required so that Jesus might be born in the correct place. Notice the precision with which Luke details this history. Fairy tales begin “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away” or “once upon a time,” but the birth of Jesus is no fairy tale; it is a historical fact. So Luke describes the real world events that led to Jesus being born in the correct location.

Caesar Augustus, who reigned over the Roman Empire for the 40 years leading up to the birth of Jesus, called a census requiring all people in the Empire to travel to their ancestral home to be counted. This “counting” was done to both bolster the ego of the Emperor (“I have SO MANY people in my kingdom”) and also to set the requirements for taxation. Caesar called three different censuses during his reign, but this particular one was the census taken before Quirinias’ first go ‘round as Governor of Syria (the phrasing “first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria” can also be translated “the registration before Quirinias became Governor of Syria.”) Extra-biblical historical records confirm that there was indeed a census taken at the time of Jesus’ birth, and these details included by Luke help us verify when Jesus was born.

So, Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem. They were thinking this was to fulfill Caesar’s requirements. Caesar, who had no knowledge of who Joseph and Mary were, sends them (along with 50 million other residents of the Roman Empire) to their ancestral homes to satisfy his own ego and fill his own pockets. These are the earthly explanations for what happened, but because of the prophecy of Micah 5:2, we know that God was working behind the scenes to orchestrate a heavenly purpose.

Reading these verses reminds us that Jesus really came into history to save us. It also reminds us that God is sovereign over the events of history and works all things together for His good purposes. Our God is not the God of myths and fables but of reality and history.