Baby Jesus III

In Luke's gospel, there is this record of the
birth of Jesus.


Luke 2:1 And it came to pass in those days, that

there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus,

that all the world should be taxed.

2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius

was governor of Syria.)

3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his

own city.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of

the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city

of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he

was of the house and lineage of David:)

5 to enroll himself with Mary, who was pledged

to be married to him as wife, being great with

child.

6 It happened, while they were there, that the

day had come that she should give birth.

7 She brought forth her firstborn son, and she

wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a

feeding trough, because there was no room for

them in the inn.


There are some things that stand out in this
passage above. Luke provides enough detail so
that the time period of the birth of Jesus can
be well established. In other words, it's not a
vague account of some place at some time. It's
specific. The Roman government is collecting a
tax, so it is required that everyone return to
the town of their ancestors. In other words,
they wanted to make sure that nobody was going
to feel left out. They didn't want to miss
anyone while collecting the tax. By comparison,
our present income tax system isn't so bad. So,
Mary and Joseph had to pack up and go from
Nazareth to Bethlehem, while Mary was expecting.
You have to wonder if they couldn't file an
extention, until after the baby was born.


It's not what the passage contains, but what is
left out that draws me. You would have to think
that there was an urgency to the situation that
did not allow an excuse for delay. Maybe it was
like a holiday season, and everyone had to show
up at the specific time, everyone including
pregnant women. We don't have the details.


You see that governments have always liked to
tax.


But the most interesting aspect to me, is the
relevance to prophecy. Notice that in the
account Mary and Joseph didn't travel of their
own spontaneous desire to go visit Bethlehem.
They were required, by Roman law, to return to
Bethlehem. We don't know how long they were
there. Maybe they delayed the travel for as
long as they could, hoping that Mary would
deliver the baby before having to travel. Given
that there was no room available for them, you
would think that they paid their tax as soon as
possible and got back to Nazareth.


You have to wonder what was going through
Joseph's mind at the time. You would expect
that he was feeling a little inconvenienced.
But you can bet that Joseph probably wasn't
saying much about the whole thing. I mean, all
of the strange goings on. He probably didn't
feel much like talking about all this. In fact,
his first response was to quietly leave Mary to
her own devices. And Mary, being a woman, had
to talk about it, so she went to see her cousin
Elizabeth so they could chatter about it all, as
women are compelled to do. I mean, what was
Joseph going to say. Was he going to tell
anyone about seeing an angel and stuff? Folks
who knew him probably thought he was crazy
already for wanting to have anything to do with
Mary. Think about it.


So, the story seems to be like one huge mistake,
Murphy's Law with a vengence. Until you
consider the prophecy of Micah. Which was
likely, the last thing on Joseph's mind. We
can't know.


Micah 5:2 But you, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, which

are little to be among the thousands of Judah,

out of you shall one come forth to me that is to

be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from

of old, from everlasting.


The timing, of all these seemingly unrelated
events worked out perfectly for the fulfillment
of this messianic prophecy. There was no
stopping it. Even though, you would have to
imagine, that Joseph was not thrilled about it
all.


Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah. They both
lived through the period that's known as the
Assyrian captivity of about 722 B.C. And Micah
was one who had predicted the fall of Israel,
the Northern Kingdom, at that time. But in the
middle of all the doom and gloom of his warning
of judgement on the nation for it's rejection of
G-d, there is this little messianic prophecy,
written about 700 years before it took place in
a most unlikely way. The prophecy is specific
enough to provide an exact location and
identity.


Here's one commentary:


'For so the Jews divided their country that for

every thousand there was a chief captain: and

because Bethlehem was not able to make a

thousand, he calls it little. But yet God will

raise up his captain and governor in it: and

thus it is not the least by reason of this

benefit. See Matthew 2:6
(c) He shows that the coming of Christ and all

his ways were appointed by God from all

eternity. ' Geneva


If you stop and think about it, the events
surrounding the birth of Jesus are unusual.
Even if you have a hard time accepting the idea
of a virgin birth (I don't. It's a one time
event. It's not miraculous if it happens all
the time. And the resurrection proved it.) the
circumstances of the fulfillment of this single
messianic prophecy are improbable. That, in
itself, makes this a unique episode in history.
The baby Jesus in the manger, has a unique life
from the moment of conception and events
surrounding his birth confirm that. It's the
prophetic aspect of it all that is most
stunning. That it was predicted with accuracy
700 years beforehand show that it was not a
surprise to G-d, and again demonstrate his
authority over the affairs of men (Mary and
Joseph) and nations (Roman Empire). If you're
on the Jesus Bus, this is good news.