Imagining the first Christmas

Luke 2

The Birth of Jesus

 ¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.
 ⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
 ⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
 ¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
 ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
   and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
 ¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
 ¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
 ²¹ On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

Okay, I admit, I just copied and pasted this from Biblegateway.com. But it saved me a bunch of typing, so why not?

Let's step back in time to the night the Jesus was born. We celebrate Christmas in the winter right around the winter solstice, but most people are aware that we really don't know the time of year that He was born. We can get a feel for what season it may have been, though. We read that Rome wanted a census taken. I'm sure for much the same reasons we have them today. It's doubtful they would have had people travelling around during the dead of winter, or during the spring planting, high summer when the field needed to be worked, or early fall during the harvest. So it must have been around mid fall after the harvest, say around late September by the calender we use today.

So, here is Joseph and Mary, her very pregnant, having to travel to Bethlehem for a Census. There are those that argue with this that Luke wrote this just to put Jesus in the town of David at the time of His birth. I wasn't there, and all I really have to go by is the Bible. So I'll say yes, they had to make that trip. Now, remember that Mary had been pregnant before they were married, and Joseph knew that he wasn't the father. But he had been told what was going on. That didn't make things any easier for them. As much stigma as can be attached to an unwed mother today, it must have been much worse then. History tells us that he could have put her out, which would have left her with no resources of her own and no means of getting them. She would have been at the mercy of the graciousness of others for a way to survive at all. It would have been a difficult life.

But an angel came to Joseph and explained what was happening, so he stayed with her. Never even consummating the marriage until after the birth of Jesus. THAT, my friends, is an act of faith and love. By attaching himself to this girl (and let's face it, during that time it's doubtful she was over 16 years old) he has actually soiled his name in the eyes of the town. Oh sure, many would say how gracious he is to overlook what happened. How wonderful he is to take on the bastard child, and without the knowledge of who Jesus really is, that is the view they would have had.

Talk about humble beginnings! But it doesn't end there. In Matthew 2 we learn of the Magi who came to see Him and it is written that it is in a house, but in Luke it talks about a manger. What gives? In our modern farms, people live in one place and the farm animals live in another building. 2,000 years ago, however, animals would have frequently been kept in the same place the people stayed. It's much safer for the animals, which are your livelihood, and it was prohibitively expensive to build a barn. So to say Jesus was born in a manger in a house. If He would have been in the manger, that would mean that they had been relegated to staying below with the animals.

Why would God have sent Jesus to earth to be born in such an incredibly humble way? Certainly He could have been an incredible power being born to a wealthy family of power. Perhaps a King or Emperor. But God had always had a special love for the Hebrews. They were the ones that had always stayed true to him in word at least, if not in spirit. We can discuss the Pharisees another time. But there were Hebrews with some power, some money. Why not one of them?

I can think of a couple of reasons. First and foremost, Jesus had come for the masses, for the humble and poor. The ones who needed Him most would be able to relate to Him best. If He had been raised by the wealthy, the vast majority of people would have viewed Him as just another rich man, and He would have not been able to perform His most important task. The rich and powerful were given quick deaths when sentenced. He had to suffer and die for our sins. This can and will be discussed at length. I'm thinking around Easter. It kind of makes sense to me.

There is a second reason for such humble beginnings. Safety. The Son of Man had to have a chance to grow up! In Matthew 2: 13-18 we are told that Joseph, Mary, and Jesus had to flee to Egypt to escape King Herod. So He was hunted from the start. But because He wasn't in a high profile family, it was easy to stay "below the radar".

We know that Jesus could have easily protected Himself from danger, He could have called down a host of angels to be His army. He could have come down and wiped the earth clean of all who opposed Him. But that isn't what our God wants. He gave us free will to choose or not choose. He wants us to choose Him out of love. So to bridge the gap between heaven and earth, between man and God, He sent down a part of Himself.

How great is that?