Luke 2:1-71And 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.) 3And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. 4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 6And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7And 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)
It was written that the Holy One to come to earth would come “out of Bethlehem,” but Mary, to whom the ael had come to say she should be the mother of that child, lived in Nazareth, quite far north of there. An order was sent at that time by one of the Caesars who then ruled all the world, that every man must go to his family city to be taxed.
The husband of Mary, Joseph, belonged to the family of King David, so he must go to Bethlehem, where David had lived. So Joseph and Mary made the journey there. When they reached Bethlehem many others had also come, and there was “no room for them in the inn,” or lodging house; the only place they could find to sleep was in a place used for animals.
That night the son promised to Mary by the angel was born, and she wrapped Him in the cloth bands, then used for newborn’ babies, called “swaddling clothes” and laid Him in a manger. This may have been soft clean hay or straw, yet we could not call it a good bed for a little baby. He was the Holy Child, the Son of God, in a body like other little ones, but with a nature without sin.
This Child was written of as so sure to come, as though already with the people,
“Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:66For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6). All these titles show His greatness, although He came as a poor baby.
Those last words teach us that this Ruler to come, who was Christ, (or the Messiah, in that language) had always lived before, “from everlasting.” We do not fully grasp all these words, yet we can understand that they are God’s words and believe them.
God has recorded the exact place of Christ’s birth that all may better realize that Jesus, the Holy One, was a child on earth; that it is not an unceain story, but a great fact, and fully true.
Later, men in power believed the birth of Jesus so great an event, that they made the calendar to reckon from the year they figured He was born. It was later found that the time was set four years later than should have been, but the mistake was not changed, and we use that same calendar, with the birth of Jesus as the center of all events of the world, past and present.
Events before Christ, are said to be so many years B. C.; events since, A. D., which is for Latin words meang, “Year of Our Lord,” So now it is 1944 year (or a little more) since Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
ML 10/08/1944