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1 the Birth of Jesus Luke 2:1-7 in Those Days a Decree Went out From 1 The Birth of Jesus Luke 2:1-7 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 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, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 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 place for them in the inn. A word about Luke: Luke’s name never appears in this gospel, but Christian tradition unanimously ascribes the book to him. Ancient manuscripts identify Luke as the writer of his Gospel and the book of Acts (St. Irenaeus’s Against Heresies, the Anti-Marcionite Prologue to the Gospels, and the Muratorian Canon) describe Luke as a Syrian from Antioch who eventually settled in Thebes an died at 84. He was a physician and companion of Paul on several of his missionary journeys as is evidenced by the ‘we’ sections of the book of Acts. These place the author with Paul during his initial mission into Greece—i.e., as far as Philippi, in Macedonia (c. 51). It is there that Luke later rejoins Paul and accompanies him on his final journey to Jerusalem (c. 58). After Paul’s arrest in that city and during his extended detention in nearby Caesarea, Luke may have spent considerable time in Palestine working with the apostle as the occasion allowed and gathering materials for his future two-volume literary work, the Gospel and the Acts. In any case, two years later he appears with Paul on his prison voyage from Caesarea to Rome and again, according to the Second Letter of Paul to Timothy 4:11, at the time of the apostle’s martyrdom in the imperial city (c. 66). His medical skills, like Paul’s tentmaking, may have contributed to his livelihood while ministering with Paul. Luke was probably not Jewish. Paul listed him with other Gentiles in his greetings to the Colossians (4:11-14). Luke’s introduction to his gospel indicates that he composed the letter with the purpose of providing a careful rendering of the events of Christ’s life in chronological order. As a physician, Luke would have been trained as a careful observer, a quality that would have been invaluable in this project or providing Theophilus (Acts 1:1) with substantial proof about Christianity. Introduction Luke records the birth of Jesus. His Gospel can be viewed in four sections: 1 – Preparation – 1-3 2 – Identification – 4-8 3 – Instruction – 9-18 4 – Sacrifice – 19-24 2 Luke 2 can also be divided into four sections: 1 – The Birth of Jesus – 2:1-7 2 – Shepherds and Angels – 2:8-20 3 – Jesus presented in the Temple – 2:21-40 4 – Jesus as a Boy in the Temple – 2:41-52 (Since we are discussing Jesus’s birth and have only 3 Wednesdays, we will only get through verse 20). Under Caesar Augustus, who ruled from about 27 BC–AD 14, the Roman Empire reached the zenith of its military, cultural, and economic influence. Augustus ushered in what has been called the Pax Romana, an era of great stability and peace because of the reach of the Roman Empire. It is surely no accident of history that Jesus, the Prince of Peace, was born in an era of peace that lasted only for a few decades. In the period of the emperor known for his reign of peace, God raises up the child of peace. For many interpreters, Luke is not only placing Jesus’ birth in the context of world history, but he also is making a play on the theme of the peaceful emperor. The real emperor of peace is Jesus, not Octavian. Jesus’s Genealogy Much of the Old Testament looks forward to the restoration of Israel after Assyrian and Babylonian captivity. One key to this fulfilled prophecy is Davidic king who would reign forever in perfect holiness and justice. (Isaiah 9:1-7 & 11:1-11). We know the king to be Jesus. When Titus razed Jerusalem in 70 AD, all family records were lost. Jesus of Nazareth is the last known person whose lineage can be traced back to David, making him the only fit candidate for the throne of Israel. The New Testament provides two accounts of the genealogy of Jesus, one in the Gospel of Matthew and another in the Gospel of Luke. Matthew starts with Abraham, while Luke begins with Adam. The lists are identical between Abraham and David but differ radically from that point. Matthew has twenty-seven generations from David to Joseph, whereas Luke has forty-two, with almost no overlap between the names on the two lists.⁠ Why are they different? Matthew follows the lineage of Joseph while Luke’s traces Mary’s ancestors. As the Seed of the woman, Messiah had to come out of humanity. As the Seed of Abraham, Messiah had to come from the nation of Israel. As the Seed of Judah, he had to be of the tribe of Judah. As the Seed of David, he had to be of the family of David. At the time of Jesus’s birth, ample genealogical evidence was available to check a Hebrew’s historical background. Such would be crucial in determining whether Christ had the necessary “genealogical pedigree” to establish his ancestry. If these records were not available, any attempt to argue for the Lord’s messiahship on the ground of Old Testament prophecy—at least pertaining to his ancestry—falls flat. The fact is, however, those genealogical records 3 substantially vanished when the Romans slaughtered and/or dispersed the Hebrew populace in A.D. 70. Accordingly, no modern Jew could possibly argue that he is the promised Messiah, based upon the prophecies cited above, since he would be unable to establish his lineage from David. “The [Hebrew] Rabbis affirm that after the [Babylonian] Captivity the Jews were most careful in keeping their pedigrees. Since, however, the period of their destruction as a nation by the Romans, all their tables of descent seem to be lost, and now they are utterly unable to trace the pedigree of any one who might lay claim to be their promised Messiah” The McClintock & Strong Cyclopedia When Luke, an “unsurpassed” historian, wrote his Gospel account, he recorded a genealogical catalog reaching from Christ back to Adam. Where did he obtain his information? He obviously did not interview the ancients personally! Clearly, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, he consulted written documents still in existence. Numerous genealogical documents were available in Israel during the days of Christ and for Luke to research. In A.D. 70 that changed! After a five-month siege, the Romans broke through the walls of the sacred city and burned it to the ground. The date was September 7, A.D. 70. Josephus, a Jewish historian, claimed that 1,100,000 Hebrews were killed, and that another 97,000 were captured and carried away into slavery V 1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. a) Caesar Augustus was 19 years old when he came to power in 44 B.C. He reigned as emperor for 58 years. His greatest single act—the one which would have the most lasting effect on world history—was to call for a census of the empire. When Octavius, renamed CA, began his rule, the Roman Senate gave him the title Augustus, which means majestic one, highly honored one. It was a term reserved for the gods. Augustus declared Julius Caesar, his adopted father, to be god, which made him the son of God. This was his official title on the coinage of Rome during his lifetime. If anyone asked, “Who is the son of God?” the official answer was Augustus. And it is during the reign of this self-proclaimed ‘son of god’ that the true Son of God is born. Talk about “the fulness of time” (Gal 4:4). Caesar Augustus was ruling, but God was in charge. He used Caesar's edict to move Mary and Joseph eighty miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem in order to fulfill His Word. b) The purpose of the census was to compile a list of property owners for the purpose of collecting taxes and military registration. It was a thoroughly secular decree; the kind of thing governments have been doing since the beginning of time. Historians tell us that it is not likely that the whole empire was enrolled at the same time. 4 c) Given the slow system of communication in those days, it might have taken years for the census to be completed in some of the outlying provinces. A lot would depend on the local political situation and the willingness of local rulers to cooperate. d) The Romans ordinarily enrolled men where they were currently living, while the Jews counted families according to their ancestral hometowns. That would explain why Joseph and Mary had to return to Bethlehem at a most inconvenient time—in the ninth month of Mary’s pregnancy. v 3 It was “Critical that Joseph and Mary go to Bethlehem, which was their own city, so that they would be there when the Messiah was born so the prophecy of Micah would come to pass.
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