| The inns of Bethlehem were full, no doubt due to the taxation decree that had gone out from the Emperor, Caesar Augustus. The fact that the infant Christ was born in a stable was a testimony to the poverty of Joseph and Mary, for then as now, inconveniences can always be eliminated by money. It was symbolic, however, of the outside place as regards the world and its glory which Christ was to have from the outset. At the end of His life and ministry they cried, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:15). |