Luke 02.01-07
Last week we looked at some of The Prophecies of Jesus
and the remarkable probability that one man of his own power could fulfill even
just eight prophecies!
01. Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem Ephrathah (Micah 05.02)
This Bethlehem is about five miles South of Jerusalem, and its elevated is about
2,460 feet above sea level. There is another
Bethlehem, also known as Bethlehem of Zebulun or Bethlehem of Galilee (up by
the Sea of Galilee), and mentioned in Joshua 19.15. Bethlehem of Zebulun was closer
to where Mary was living in Nazareth http://www.keyway.ca/gif/twobeth.gif.
02. Messiah is to be preceded by a Messenger (Isaiah 40.03-05)
03. Messiah is to enter Jerusalem on a donkey (Zechariah 09.09)
04. Messiah is to be betrayed by a friend (Psalm 41.09;
Psalm
55.12-14)
05. Messiah is to be sold for 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11.12)
06. The money for which Messiah is sold is to be thrown “to the
potter” in God’s house (Zechariah 11.13)
07. Messiah is to be silent before His accusers (Isaiah 53.07)
08. Messiah would die with criminals (Psalm 22.16;
Isaiah 53.12)
The birth of Jesus the Messiah
(Yeshua HaMashiach), the Saviour of mankind was not a normal birth. It was the
fulfillment of much prophecy, including the one given to Mary by Gabriel in Luke 01.31-35.
It was God entering into human
society as a baby, “…the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw
His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and
truth.” (John 01.14)
Dr.
Luke records for us in Luke 02.01-20 the most
detailed account of the birth of Jesus. Growing up here in America with the
commercialization of CHRISTmas, it gives many people, including those who have
walked with God for many years, the wrong idea of what CHRISTmas really is all
about and what the true narrative of the birth of Jesus really is. We see the
hand of God orchestrating the course of normal events to fulfill His Word, and
yet only a few were keenly aware of the hand of God throughout this narrative
in Luke
02.01-20.
Last
week we ended by quoting two verses that remind us that God is always in
control and that He knows the future (Psalm 33.11; Isaiah 46.08-10).
We see this morning in The
Birth at Bethlehem…01. The
Decree (Luke 02.01-03); 02. The Journey (Luke
02.04-05); and 03. The Birth
(Luke 02.07-08).
01. The Decree (Luke 02.01-03)
Caesar
Augustus (Octavian) was the Roman ruler at this time. He reigned from 27bc-14ad. Caesar Augustus was not his name, but instead it
was his title. Caesar means “emperor” and Augustus means “revered,” “honored”
or “esteemed”. In fact it is after him that we have the name of our eighth
month because it was in that month that he had some of his greatest victories.
Caesar Augustus was born
Gaius Octavius, and his grandmother was the sister of Julius Caesar. After the
assassination of Julius Caesar in 44bc, Gaius Octavius learned that Julius
Caesar adopted him, thus making him the heir of Julius Caesar, and keeping with
Roman custom he took the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus. After much warfare, the Roman
Senate bestowed on him the titles “Augustus” and “Princeps” or “first citizen”.
During the reign of Caesar Augustus, he established peace and safety throughout
the Empire, in what is now the well-known Pax Romana (Roman Peace). Caesar Augustus died in 44ad and was succeeded by his stepson Tiberius,
who was the emperor during the ministry of Jesus (Luke 03.01).
From Luke 01.05
we saw that Herod the Great was currently reigning as King of Judea (40bc-3 or 4bc). If you
remember, Herod was not a Jew, but an Idumean, from the line of Esau. We know that Jesus was born about
a year or two before the death of Herod because when you read the Gospel of
Matthew, Matthew records for us (Matthew 02.01-23) that Herod was still alive, as
the Magi from the east came to visit him searching for the “King of the Jews”. Herod’s
heart was troubled at this news, and he found out from the chief priests and
scribes that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem Ephrathah (Micah 05.02). After he was double-crossed by
the Magi, Herod ordered the killing of all male children two years old and
younger! Joseph, the presumed father of Jesus, was warned in a dream by an
angel of the Lord to flee to Egypt before the massacre, thus preserving the
life of the Messiah.
Luke 02.01 Caesar Augustus makes a tax decree
that would require everyone to go back to their family roots to register and
pay the census tax.
Luke 02.01 “…all the
inhabited earth.” Which means all of the Roman Empire.
All of the Old Testament prophesies about the first coming
of the Messiah (HaMashiach) were fulfilled by God using a heathen man (Caesar Augustus) who was
materialistic and wanted more money. God does rule in affairs of man (Proverbs 21.01;
Jeremiah
01.12)!
Luke 01.02 There
is some debate at the accuracy of this statement, since it is known that Quirinius
governed Syria from 6ad-9ad
and he administered a census in 6ad, which
is obviously not the same one that we see mentioned here, as Herod is still
alive (Matthew 02.01-23; Luke 01.05). There is some
archaeological evidence that seems to point to the fact that Quirinius (koo-ray’-nee-os) twice
held important positions in Syria, and his first stint was possibly the
commander of the armies and controlling foreign policy.
Ultimately, we know that there are no errors in the Word of God, for it is the inspired, God-breathed (θεόπνευστος theopneustos 2Timothy 03.16). And sooner or later, archaeology will catch up to the Bible!
Most agree that this decree was actually issued in 8bc. Of course this causes a problem because
most scholars generally agree that Jesus was born no earlier that 6bc, and more likely around 4bc. The best explanation of this is that there
was an obvious delay in carrying out this decree. The Empire of Rome was great,
but they didn’t have the instant communication like we do today, which could
have contributed to the delay. On top of that, the last few years of Herod’s
reign was a time of mayhem and turmoil. Herod was sick, and his sons were all
fighting over who would succeed him, Herod changed his will three times and
executed three of his sons! Herod at this time also fell out of favor with
Caesar Augustus. In addition, there was the Jewish resistance fighting the
taxation by Rome. So with all of this instability, as well as the usual
logistical problems of trying to implement a new tax could have contributed to
the delay of this decree from Caesar Augustus.
02. The Journey (Luke 02.04-05)
Joseph and Mary being descendants of David and from Nazereth
was fulfillment of Isaiah 11.01.
The
Hebrew word for Nazareth is “netser”,
meaning branch or shoot in Isaiah 11.01. The city of Nazareth was given this name because of
its insignificance (John 01.46).
Luke 02.04 Joseph had to take his pregnant
wife Mary over 100 miles to fulfill the selfish desires of Caesar Augustus, but
more importantly, to fulfill Scripture!
Last time when we studied The Prophecies of Jesus,
we saw that Micah
05.02 states where the Messiah (HaMashiach) is to be born.
Bethlehem Ephrathah was where Rachel, the wife of
Jacob/Israel died (Genesis 35.19; Genesis 48.07).
Bethlehem Ephrathah was where Naomi, the mother in law of
Ruth was from and where they moved back to after living in Moab, as well as
where Ruth met and then married Boaz (Ruth 04.11).
Bethlehem Ephrathah was where David’s family was from (Ruth 04.17;
Ruth
04.21-22; 1Samuel 16.01; 1Samuel 17.12; 1Samuel 17.58;
1Samuel
20.06; John 07.42).
Bethlehem Ephrathah
was also known as Bethlehem of Judea (Matthew 02.01-06).
Luke 02.04 “…because he
was of the house and family of David,”
So because Joseph was a direct descendant of Israel’s
greatest king (Matthew
01.01-17; Luke 01.27), he had to go to Bethlehem
Ephrathah where his family was originally from. Although Bethlehem Ephrathah was
a small, unimportant village “Too little to
be among the clans of Judah” (Micah 05.02), God had said through his prophet
Micah that it would produce a ruler in Israel “From you One will go forth for Me to be
ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity
It is interesting to note that the only king of Israel that
came from Bethlehem Ephrathah was David (who died about 1015bc, but Micah prophesied around 750bc, almost
300 years after David! So the ruler prophesied by Micah who was going to be
from Bethlehem Ephrathah could not have been David, but the Messiah
(HaMashiach)!
Micah tells us more about the Messiah being God, “…His goings
forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.” (Micah 05.02)
This is a clear statement that it’s not David or any other human, for only God
has existed from the days of eternity (Psalm 90.02; Psalm 102.25-27; Proverbs 08.22; John 01.01-03;
Colossians
01.17; Hebrews 13.08; 1John 01.01; Revelation
01.11-18; Revelation 02.08; Revelation 21.06)!
Luke 02.05 How could Mary be just “engaged” and travel alone with
Joseph to be registered when according to Jewish custom it was not appropriate
for an unmarried girl to be alone with a man? (Matthew 01.18-25)(Alfred Edersheim The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah p110
footnote 42)
It could be that she was still regarded as engaged to Joseph
because he had not yet consummated the marriage.
Mary is pregnant at the time they have to journey to
Bethlehem Ephrathah.
03. The Birth (Luke 02.06-07)
The only description that Luke gives us of the birth of our
Saviour is this simple one.
Luke does not tell us how long they had been in Bethlehem
Ephrathah, or if they had already registered. All that we are told about it is that
there is no room for them in the inn. The heavens didn’t open, no angels
appeared, no voice from heaven announcing the birth of the Son of God to all
those in Bethlehem.
Luke 02.07 Luke
carefully notes for us that Mary gave birth to her “firstborn son” (Luke 02.07)
and not her only son. The Greek word that is used for firstborn is prwtotokov (G4416: pro-tot-ok’-os),
which literally means first-born. Luke uses a different Greek word in his
gospel to describe an only child (G3439 monogenhv mon-og-en-ace’ which means
an only-born) in Luke 07.12; Luke 08.42; Luke 09.38.
Mary, contrary to
the Roman Catholic Church’s false teaching (Catechism of the Catholic
Church,
paragraphs 496-511 http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p122a3p2.htm), did not perpetually remain a virgin.
When you read Matthew
01.24-25 it seems to imply that after the birth of Jesus, Joseph and
Mary had normal marital relations. The Bible tells us that Joseph and Mary had
other kids (Matthew
12.46-47; Matthew 13.55-56; Mark 06.02-03; John 02.12;
John 07.03;
John 07.05;
John 07.10;
Acts 01.14;
1Corinthians
09.04-05; Galatians 01.19).
Mary wrapped her firstborn son in the custom of the day,
using strips of fabric that were used to keep the baby warm and secure, and the
limbs straight. No mention of Jesus being dressed in royal robes, just the
normal wrappings of other babies in that day. Mary then lays the Baby Jesus in
a manger, and the common thought has risen that Jesus was born in a stable,
because the manger was a feeding trough for animals.
The Bible does not say specifically where Jesus was born and
where Joseph and Mary stayed.
Whether it’s the familiar CHRISTmas story or talking about
how to deal with false teachers, we are to as Paul encouraged the church at
Thessaloniki in 1Thessalonians
05.21 “But examine everything carefully;
hold fast to that which is good;” We ought to be like the Berean
CHRISTians who “…were
more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with
great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” (Acts 17.11)
Part of the common tradition is that Joseph and Mary barely
made it to Bethlehem Ephrathah before it was time for Mary to give birth, that
there was a heartless innkeeper who denied a pregnant woman about to give birth
a place to stay. Nowhere is this tradition mentioned in the Gospels.
The word of “inn” here in Luke 02.07 is the Greek word (G2646) kataluma (kataluma kat-al’-oo-mah), which means a “guest room”. This Greek word kataluma (kataluma kat-al’-oo-mah)
is only used two other times in the New Testament (Mark 14.14; Luke 22.11), and each time it is
translated as “guest room” and is used to describe the upper room where Jesus
had His Last Supper with His disciples. In
Hebrew culture, you usually stayed in the “guest room” of a relative. Being
that their family was originally from Bethlehem, the chances are very good that
Joseph and Mary would have had relatives to stay with.
Luke does mention an “inn” and an “innkeeper” in the parable of the Good
Samaritan (Luke
10.30-35), but the Greek word that he uses for “inn” is not kataluma (kataluma kat-al’-oo-mah)
but instead he uses the Greek word (G3829) pandoceion (pandocheion pan-dokk-i’-on)
which means an inn, a public lodging-place for strangers. So Mary laid the Baby
Jesus in the manger because there was no room for them in the guest room.
Archaeology has shed some more
light on the guest room or kataluma (kataluma kat-al’-oo-mah). Because there
were many hills in the region, a multiple story home was usually built into the
side of the hill. The lower portion of the house was usually built around a
cave or carved out by hand. It was in the lower portion of the home where the
family lived. The upper portion, or the upper room was where the kataluma (kataluma kat-al’-oo-mah)
was located for when guests came to visit. There are many archaeologists
who now believe that the lowest level of the common peasant home
was where the animals were brought in at night. Bringing the animals
in at night protected the animals from being stolen, and provided additional
warmth to the family on those cold desert nights. Because
of this, there was often a manger for the animals to eat from, and it was often
carved into the floor or built into the wall of the main living area http://www.padfield.com/1999/images/manger.jpg.
Still
today, there are many Middle Eastern homes that have lower levels with mangers
built into them.
So with all this information, we can scrap what we’ve thought
and been taught about that first CHRISTmas. Joseph and Mary were probably
welcomed into a relative’s home, but because of the census, the guest room or kataluma (kataluma kat-al’-oo-mah)
was full, so Mary had no other place to give birth than in the lower portion of
the home, and naturally the manger provided the best option of a crib for her
to lay our LORD in as a baby.
Everything about the birth of Jesus was humble, and not what
you would expect of the King of Kings. Our LORD and Saviour was born to poor
peasants, born in comfortless conditions, surrounded by filthy, smelly and
noisy animals.
It was a perfect way for the Saviour to be born.
For the Saviour of sinful mankind “…has nowhere to lay His head.” (Luke 09.58),
and “…although
He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be
grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”
(Philippians
02.06-07), “…that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became
poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” (2Corinthians
08.09) because “…the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and
to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20.28) by bearing “…our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die
to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” (1Peter 02.24)
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