Day 17 - Luke 2:4-5
16 Dec 2023
You can listen to an audio version of this blog here -
"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 often we know that the direction our lives take lies in the hands of people and situations completely out of our control. We have experienced that in acute ways over the last few years. Pandemics, government restrictions, inflation and economic turmoil have all had an impact on our lives. Sometimes we feel very insignificant. If you’ve ever had to deal with any kind of government bureaucracy you know this feels particularly true.
It is not hard to imagine how Joseph must have felt having to move both himself and his pregnant fiancé across the country. This was precisely what they didn’t need right now! Yet - the Lord is at work. Whether they knew it or not (and they may have done, given what we know about their faith and knowledge of the Scriptures) the Lord had moved the heart of Caesar Augustus for the very purpose of moving Mary to Bethlehem to give birth.
This should cause us to wonder. The Lord is working his purposes out, even through the decisions of ungodly governments. Everything is ultimately for the Glory of Christ and the good of his church. When we look back on world history from the perspective of eternity it will be clear that all history is ultimately church history.
As we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, everything the Lord does is to hallow his name and to bring in his kingdom. As we know from the events of the cross, the Lord is able to do that even using human beings who decide to do very wicked things. So if we are facing situations out of control we should grieve and pray. But we can also trust and hope - even if we don’t see positive solutions right now. The Lord hasn’t taken a step away from ruling, even for a moment.
But why did Jesus have to be born in Bethlehem? Luke tells us in verse 4 by reminding us he was of the house of David. Remember, he is writing so we are certain that Jesus is who we have heard him to be. He is truly God’s King, the greater King David. Gabriel told this to Mary back in 1:32-33. It is an essential part of the gospel message that Jesus is descended from David (see Romans 1:3, 2 Timothy 2:8).
There must be no question about Jesus’ right to lay claim to the throne of God. And Luke lets us know that there isn’t. Just as it was promised in the Old Testament (remember Micah 5), Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
And it was a wonderful irony, and displayed the Lord’s sense of humour, that he used the human being who thought he was in complete control (Caesar Augustus) to get him there.