Grace,
mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Text: (Luke
2:1-7)
And she gave
birth to 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.
Our Gospel reading for Christmas from Luke 2, starts like this: In
those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be
registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was the governor of
Syria.
The Son of God, Jesus Christ, was about to be born in the flesh.
He was true God, equal to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and yet at the same
time he came down from heaven and took human flesh from the Virgin Mary. This
is at the centre of the whole Christian faith: Jesus is both true God and true
man. He has God the Father as his own father, and the Virgin Mary as his true
human mother.
Now, why does the bible passage about Christmas start by talking
about Caesar Augustus and the governor of Syria Quirinius? Let’s hear
the passage again: In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that
all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when
Quirinius was the governor of Syria. The first thing we learn from this is
that the birth of Jesus Christ is not a myth or a fairy story, but that it
happened at a certain time in history, when certain world leaders were in
charge. If something of this significance were going to happen today, we might
say: Queen Elizabeth II was the Queen of England and the British Commonwealth,
and Tony Abbot was the prime-minister of Australia.
But secondly, we need to take notice of Caesar Augustus and think
about exactly who he was. Caesar Augustus was born in 63 BC and was adopted by
his great-grand-uncle, Julius Caesar. Eventually, this boy became the Emperor
of the whole Roman Empire. He was considered so great that even while he was
still living people built altars dedicated to him and worshipped him as a god.
In fact, one of his titles was “The son of a god”.
Meanwhile, while this man was exalting himself to be a god, the
Almighty God of heaven and earth humbled himself to become a man. A mere man
made himself into a god, while the true God made himself into a man.
And so, while this was all happening in Rome, God was doing a
wonderful thing in Bethlehem. From a human point of view, Rome was the centre
of the world, but from God’s point of view it was small town in Judea, in
modern-day Israel, called Bethlehem, that was the centre of the world.
Now it so happened, that during the reign of Caesar Augustus, his
whole empire was so well managed, that there was a great time of peace that
prevailed. There were no wars, no uprisings, no battles. It was a time of great
peace. And so, Caesar Augustus used this opportunity to take a census of his
entire empire so that he could make everyone pay tax. It says: A decree went
out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
We also read: This was the first registration when Quirinius
was governor of Syria. St Luke tells about this, because he wants to tell
us the man who organised this particular census, and this particular
registration. Here we can work out exactly when the time of Jesus’ birth was,
in the year 6 BC.
Then we read: And all went to be registered, each to his own
town. Here we learn how the process of the census worked. Today when we
have a census, the government send forms around to our homes, and we have to
fill them in and wait for them to be collected. But in these times, the people
had to go to their own hometown, the place where their ancestors lived, and be
registered there.
Isn’t it strange that at Christmas time we should be discussing
the ways in which censuses were conducted 2000 years ago? Isn’t it a strange
thing that the bible passage which describes the birth of Jesus talks about all
these things –Caesar Augustus, the governor of Syria Quirinius, the census, the
process, and all this? Why does St Luke tell us all these things?
We read: And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of
Nazareth, to 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, who was with child.
So now we see that it wasn’t just everybody in the whole Roman
empire that was moving around and travelling to their hometown, but now St Luke
wants to tell us about a particular family that were travelling their own
hometown. It says that Joseph also went up from Galilee from the town of
Nazareth. Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth, but they went to travel to
Bethlehem, because Bethlehem was his family’s hometown. Joseph was part of King
David’s family and was from his lineage, and so he went to the town where King
David was born, which was Bethlehem. The prophets also foretold that the Christ
would come from the family of King David.
Now in the Gospel of Matthew we read that when the wise men came
to visit King Herod to find the baby Jesus they wanted to know where the King
of the Jews would be born. It says: Assembling all the chief priests and
scribes of the people, [King Herod] inquired of them where the Christ was to be
born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the
prophet: And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least
among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my
people Israel.”
So we read in our reading that Joseph and Mary went from Nazareth
to Bethlehem at this particular time when Caesar Augustus was holding a census.
We learn here that God uses world leaders and world events to shape things for
the blessing of the whole world. It’s not as if God the Father takes Mary and
Joseph in some magical or supernatural way to Bethlehem. No—this happens
through real events in world history: in this case, a real census that was
ordered by a real Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus.
Every Christmas too, we can look back at the whole year and see
that the world has changed since last year. Maybe it has changed for what we
think is the better, or maybe we think it has changed for the worst. Since last
Christmas, there have been things that have happened all around the world, all
around Australia, all around Victoria, even throughout Gippsland that are
unique to 2013. And world history is never going to be quite the same again.
This year has been a unique year, just as 2012 was, 2011 was, and so forth. God
has used all the events of the previous year to shape and direct the world for
the blessing of everyone.
How has God shaped and moved you this year? Has he moved you from
a Nazareth to a Bethlehem? Has he changed your opinion about something? What
are the circumstances that have even led you to come and hear the words of
Jesus in this church today? How has God brought you to this point in your life,
just as he brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem?
Let’s look back at our reading. It says: Joseph went to be
registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. Here we read
something that is very unusual, and especially for those days. If Joseph would
have been travelling with Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be registered, we
would assume that they would have been married. In those days, if they weren’t
married, they probably wouldn’t have been allowed to travel together. These
sorts of matters would have been very important then.
But the text doesn’t say that Mary was his wife, but it says that
she was his betrothed, his fiancée, and it also says that she was
with child.
St Luke calls Mary his betrothed, Joseph’s fiancée, because he
wants to emphasise that the child is not Joseph’s child. This child is not the
result of Joseph and Mary’s marriage, but existed before they were married.
Now, many people today would explain this very simply: they would say this is a “shotgun wedding”. They would say that Joseph and Mary went to bed together before they were married.
But this is not what the bible claims, and this explanation is not
the Christian faith. The Gospel of Matthew tells us the following: When Mary
had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together [before they had
been married, before any sexual relations] she was found to be with child
from the Holy Spirit. And later we read: Joseph did as the angel
commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to
a son. When the bible talks about “knowing” a person, it’s talking about
sexual relations between a man and a woman. The bible says that he knew her
not. In the Gospel of Luke, when the Angel Gabriel goes to the Virgin Mary,
and tell her she will become pregnant, Mary says the same thing: How will this be, since I do not know a
man?
So it is a central belief of Christianity, that Jesus’ mother was
in fact a virgin. So who was the father? God the Father was the Father, and
Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. This is the Christian faith. Of course,
this has never happened before and it will never happen again. But that does
not mean that this is impossible. In fact, when the Angel Gabriel went to Mary,
he said these powerful words: Nothing will be impossible with God. And
these words ring out over the entire life of Jesus.
And so we
read in our reading: And while [Joseph and Mary] were [in Bethlehem], the
time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and
wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no
place for them in the inn.
You can see
that God provided the occasion for Mary and Joseph to travel through the
census. Mary didn’t choose the time and place for her son to be born, but God
chose it, and the prophecy was fulfilled. And Mary found herself having to put
their little baby in a manger, in an animals’ feed-trough, in a stable, because
there was no room in the inn. All the hotels and motels in town were all
filled up with other people.
And so the
life of Jesus, the eternal Son of God in human flesh, begins. Jesus, who is
true God, is born of a true virgin. And Jesus never promotes himself, but has
the simplest, and humblest, and poorest of births, and the simplest of
beginnings. The time, the place, the circumstances are all chosen for him and
by him.
The man Caesar Augustus exalts himself as god, and at the same
time the true Almighty God humbles himself to become a small tiny baby.
Caesar Augustus want to take a census of his whole empire, but
Jesus is born so that he would enrol his whole empire, the whole world in the
book of life. Joseph and Mary are moved by the Holy Spirit from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and we are constantly moved by the Holy Spirit from darkness to light, from sin to forgiveness, from weariness to rest, from sadness to joy.
Jesus shows us his great power as God, how he was able to allow himself to be born at a particular place at a particular time according to the prophecy, but he does this in great weakness, humility, great gentleness, great poverty, lying in a manger in a stable. And by doing this, the little stable in Bethlehem becomes the centre of the world, the focus of the whole universe, the place where angels want to look in, the place where shepherds run to, the place where stars shine down upon.
What a wonderful thing it is to come and be in the presence of
that same Lord, that same Jesus, that same Saviour today, to receive from him
the forgiveness of all our sins, his great comfort, his great peace and his
great joy! What a wonderful thing it is that Jesus comes to meet us in his
word, in baptism by giving us his Holy Spirit and in the Lord’s Supper by
giving us his body and blood! What a wonderful thing it is that our God comes
to meet us where we are and takes us on his journey for us with him, to allow
us to grow with him in faith from baby steps into adulthood. And what a
wonderful thing it will be when this same child, this same Jesus, this same
Saviour, will welcome us in to his inn, where there will never be any lack of
room. As Jesus says: In my Father’s house are many rooms and I am going to
prepare a place for you.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with
whom he is pleased. Amen.
Lord God, heavenly Father, we thank you for sending your Son into
the world to be born as a tiny baby in Bethlehem. Send us your Holy Spirit, and
send us your gift of faith and peace and joy, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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