Sermon Tone Analysis

Luke 2:1-7

Destination Bethlehem–a Stable

 

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 his 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.

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.

She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn/.

All history focuses on one singular point as time and eternity meet to commemorate the birth of a child.

It has rightly been said that history is His story.

Were I writing the account of the incarnation of the Son of God, I would no doubt have arranged for the child to be born in a castle, or perhaps in the home of some powerful individual so that the child would have every advantage to promote His agenda.

However, God chose the most humble of circumstances for the advent of His Son.

The text before us introduces us to people living within a conquered nation as His heritage, a disgraced mother as His caregiver and protector, a sheepcote as His castle, and a manger as His royal couch.

Could any more humble situation be imagined for the advent of the King of kings?

A Conquered People —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 his 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.

Two rulers are in view as we consider the birth of the Son of God.

One stands for the moment as a giant in history, but his significance is quickly eclipsed by the second.

Caesar Augustus must have seemed to those then living as the greatest king ever raised to rule among men.

He spoke, and the entire civilised world was compelled to obey His decree.

Peace reigned throughout the Empire because of him.

The doors to the Temple of Janus had been closed for a decade and would remain closed for an additional thirty years, for all foes had been beaten into submission and no one dared disturb the peace of the Empire.

Caius Octavius had adopted the name Caesar as a courtesy to his great uncle, Julius Caesar.

He had conferred on himself the title Augustus, taken from the word *augur*, and thus indicating a religious sanction.

The republic had been transformed into an empire and he was at the apex of power.

The other ruler had fists which clenched the fingers of His mother whenever He was unwrapped to nurse.

He was dependent upon a teenage girl for cleanliness and for nourishment and for comfort when His hot tears flowed.

He rested in a bed of straw or hay, tightly wrapped in strips of cloth as the custom was among the poor of that insignificant nation into which He was born.

His cries attracted only His father and mother at this time, occasioning no attention in the world at large.

Two men—one considered great and the other insignificant.

Yet, the one thought to be great at that time was an unwitting agent of the Living God to accomplish the divine will.

The other was the Creator, bridging the gulf between heaven and earth to ensure that all mankind would have opportunity to receive the peace of God.

The one had imposed a sort of peace on the Empire through brute force, but the latter was the Prince of Peace who gives to all who will receive Him eternal peace and hope.

Caesar Augustus issued a decree, and his word was law.

The Roman world was to be counted for taxation purposes.

Jews were exempt from military duty, so we know that this census was for taxation purposes.

Jewish custom was that an individual was required to travel to the ancestral home in order to be counted.

There is so much more here than first meets the eye.

The Apostle, commenting on this singular event, with the advantage of historical perspective, writes: when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons [*Galatians 4:4, 5*].

Paul begins by noting that these events occurred when the time had fully come.

Consider what is obscured through the passage of time by reciting these words.

The world was then at peace so that a census could be conducted.

There were very few times in Roman history when the doors to the temple of Janus were closed.

This was one of the few and it was the longest period of peace by far.

Roman outposts were situated to the farthest boundaries of the Empire to ensure that peace would continue.

Roman roads had been established throughout the Empire to permit rapid a military response to any threat, with the attendant benefit that people would be able to travel unimpeded throughout the Empire.

Moreover, the lingua franca of the Empire was Greek, so that from the furthest regions of the Empire to the heart of Rome all subjects spoke a common language.

God had worked in human history to bring the world to this point when all things were in place for the advent of His Son.

The two rulers were expressions of two nations—one, powerful, menacing and identified with this fallen world; the other regarded as weak, non-threatening, but identified as belonging to an unseen world.

Caesar was the epitome of might and power as this world counts strength.

The child born in Bethlehem was the epitome of weakness and vulnerability.

Yet, the strength which lay in that vulnerable child was greater than anyone could ever imagine.

Joseph Stalin sneered when advised that the Pope requested a promise of restraint by Soviet armies and he mocked, “How many divisions does the Pope have?”

His successors later found that the might arising from people of faith was far greater than that of those dependent upon tanks and guns could ever imagine.

Might and power were to be revealed through that wee baby boy lying in a manger in a stable in Bethlehem.

So it continues to this day.

Two cities vie for the affections of the people of this dying world.

One city is that which is of the earth.

It is attractive to the man of this earth, promising power and pleasure and promoting possessions as the greatest good.

Those identified with this fallen world seek to participate in that world through pushing and struggling to succeed by the criteria of the world.

The other city is the City of God, a city which draws its citizens from among those who have died to self that they may be made alive in Christ the Lord.

It is a city in which servants reign and in which the humble are exalted.

It is a city in which those who hunger and thirst after righteousness are filled and in which those who seek peace are blessed.

There was more than mere physical preparation for the advent of God’s Son.

Human hearts were longing for peace.

Human hearts were seeking fulfilment.

Throughout the Empire a veritable explosion of religions had occurred as hearts sought solace from the burden of daily life.

Even among the people of God were those, such as Simeon, who were waiting for the consolation of Israel [see *Luke 2:25*], and such as Anna who looked forward to the redemption of Jerusalem [see *Luke 2:38*].

Joseph of Arimathea was also a man waiting for the kingdom of God [see *Luke 23:50, 51*].

There appears to have been a sense of anticipation as human hearts were prepared through their empty way of life for the advent of this One who would be known as the King of kings.

Who would expect a ruler to come from among the Jews?

They were a weak and conquered people, who though somewhat factitious, were nevertheless willing to surrender their sovereignty for peace.

They were despised, even by their neighbours.

Many among the Jewish people had become thoroughly identified with their former rulers, the Greeks.

Though not everyone was sympathetic with Grecian ideas or Hellenistic ideals, the nation as a whole had been thoroughly compromised so that it was difficult, if not impossible, to imagine that greatness could reside among them.

A Disgraced Family —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.

Separated by time from the events of that historic birth, it is easy to forget the humility which attended the birth of the Son of God.

Ours is a world which increasingly accepts a casual view of marriage.

Politicians debate the definition of marriage and our entertainers promote the idea that single mothers have no handicaps in raising children and we wonder why youth are increasingly confused about morality.

We teach our children how to have safe sex and ensure that they have ready access to condoms, and then we marvel at the spectacle of babies having babies.

Abortion has become the moral eraser of this day, wielded as the means to assure guilt-free sex, yet women continue to suffer excruciating anguish over the death of their children.

All the linguistic terpsichore cannot change the fact that a foetus is a baby, and mothers who are coerced into ridding themselves of the product of conception discover that truth to their horror only too late.

Mary was a teenage girl when she was betrothed to Joseph.

Girls were pledged to be married when they were between twelve and fourteen years of age.

Perhaps no more than twelve years of age, this young girl was called upon to bear the Son of God.

Earlier, in this same Gospel, we read of the angel’s annunciation to Mary, revealing God’s will.

Perhaps we would benefit from reading again the familiar account which Luke provides.

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David.

The virgin’s name was Mary.

The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured!

The Lord is with you.”

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.

But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God.

You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.

The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”