Luke 2:1-7
"And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own country. 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:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn," Luke 2:1-7.
God is Sovereign. We can rest in this biblical truth. "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will," Ephesians 1:11. "Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast," Psalm 33:8-9. When we find ourselves discouraged about life and we wonder why things just won't go our way, it is because we have forgotten who our God is. There is a certain way we would like our life to go, and when it doesn't go that way, we become like little spoiled children and throw a little fit. If we were honest, we do expect life to go our way; especially if we are serving the Lord. "A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps," Proverbs 16:9. As kids grow up some begin to understand that the world does not revolve around them, others have to get whooped until they understand, and then there are others who never learn and grow up to be spoiled adults. The last in this group are extremely selfish. Our lives would be totally different if we truly believed that God is Sovereign.
In our text, God is using unholy people to accomplish His will. An emperor who doesn't know the true and living God has made a decree that everyone in his kingdom should be registered to be taxed. He is not concerned about any hardships this may place upon the people. He wants the number of people, and he wants the taxes. The people do not want to be numbered, and they surely do not want to pay taxes. It was the same back then as it is today. Even though the people did not want to, they did. "And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city," Luke 2:3. The Romans did not require people to travel back to their city of heritage, so it is obvious this was something the Jews required. The Jews kept up with their lineage. We make jokes about the first nine chapters of I Chronicles because of all the "begats", but if you were a Jew this would be very important to you. If you were a paranoid king, you would like to know who was in the line of David so you would know if someone was going to try and claim David's throne. To satisfy the powers that were, having people return to the city of their lineage to register was the best option. They were killing three birds with one stone.
"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:)" Luke 2:4. Turn to Matthew 1 and let us look at the genealogy given in verses 1-17. Some names that should really jump out at us are Boaz, Ruth, Obed, Jesse, and David (Ruth 4:18-22). As we studied the book of Ruth one thing that we constantly saw was the providence of God. There were certain events that happened that caused Ruth to end up in Bethlehem. The majority of the events that happened were not joyous. But through it all, God was working out His plan. The end result of God's plan is for our good, but ultimately for His glory. One thing we learned as we studied through the book of Ruth is that it is easy for us to get tunnel vision and only focus on the bad in our life at the moment. We miss what God is doing around us. When we believe that God is truly Sovereign, our perspective on life is different.
"To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child," Luke 2:5. Why would Joseph bring Mary with him? The bible is not one hundred percent clear on why Joseph brought Mary with him, but there are some conclusions we can draw from the Scriptures. In the eyes of God, any kind of sexual activity outside of marriage is a sin. It doesn't matter how the world views it or who embraces it, in the eyes of the Holy Righteous Judge, any kind of sexual activity outside of marriage is a sin. It is also a sign that those people are lost and headed for the wrath of God for eternity in hell. One of the undeniable evidences that someone has been involved in sexual activity is pregnancy. When you see someone who is pregnant, you know how it happened. If the lady is not married, much gossip will take place about who the dad may be, or how and when it happened. During the time of Joseph and Mary pre-marital sex was not promoted or praised among those who were God's people. We know that Mary did not have pre-marital sex. We know that God placed His only begotten Son in the womb of Mary (Luke 1:26-38). We know these biblical truths, but others did not, and they would not have believed Mary if she told them. Even Joseph did not believe her at first (Matthew 1:18-25).
Joseph loved Mary, so he did not want her hurt or ridiculed by others. Joseph believed what the angel of the Lord told him, so he wanted to be there when the Son of God came forth from the womb. "And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him is swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn," Luke 2:6-7. Mary brought forth her firstborn Son, Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. "Firstborn" is the Greek word "prototokos" and means first born, not only begotten. Mary and Joseph went on to have many children in Nazareth. The Saviour was born in Bethlehem.
Why was there no room for them in the inn? There is speculation on why, but the fact is that there wasn't any room. Most people wait as long as they can before they pay taxes, so it could be that a lot of people showed up at the same time which is why they were over crowded. It could be that word got to Bethlehem ahead of Joseph and Mary that she was pregnant before the official marriage ceremony. Regardless of why, again, the fact is that Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, the Son of God, was born in extreme humble conditions.
When the angel of the Lord told Mary and then Joseph what God was doing with them, he never told them that their life would be easy. He never told them that they would not have any problems or oppositions. God has not told us those things either (Matthew 16:21-28). If you are serving the Lord, you can expect others to not understand, and you can expect the world to hate you (John 15:18-16:4). But you can expect the Lord to love you (Heb.6:10) Soli Deo Gloria.
Please send questions and comments to richardsonbaptistchurch@gmail.com. Soli Deo Gloria.
