Chapter One:
The History Between The Testaments

There was approximately 500 years between the last writings
of the Old Testament and the birth of John the baptist and Jesus
Christ. The following outline is in part taken from a writing by
Leon J. Davis in 1960.
The great Persian Empire was used by God to restore the
chastened Jews to their home land and to help them re-establish
their old way of life. The Jews were ruled by high priests, who
acted under the Syrian governors who had annexed Palestine. These
priests were both spiritual and civil heads of state. An assembly
of leaders, called the Sanhedrin, advised the priests and checked
his power.
In religious life, scribes replaced the prophets to guard
and recopy the sacred Scriptures. It was while in captivity that
the Jews started to assemble in small groups throughout the land
on the Sabbath day, in order to keep alive their religious
worship towards God. This was the start of the popular Synagogue
gathering custom that was firmly established as a part of the
religious practice by the time of the birth of John the baptist
and Jesus.
The Persian Empire under which the Jews were granted fervour
to re-establish themselves in the land of promise, reached the
height of her power in about 500 B.C., but in time of her fifth
emperor, Nehemiah's Artaxerxes 1, she weakened.
The seat of power gradually changed from Asia to Europe, and
Greece became the world power.
In 334 B.C. Alexander the Great defeated the Persians.
afterwards, he took possession of northern Africa and went on to
conquer Jerusalem. He treated the Jews well and encouraged them
to settle in new cities, particularly Alexandria, Egypt.
In 301 B.C., after Alexander's death and a time of civil
strife, four generals began to divide the empire. Palestine went
to a man named Ptolemy from Egypt, as did Libya and Arabia.
Another one of the four generals was Seleccus, who obtained syria
and the Asian countries not given to Ptolemy. Hence, Seucid kings
were kings from Asia, and Ptolemy kings were from Africa.
The Palestinian Jews had their own priests as they had under
Persian domination, but now they had to pay tribute to the
Egyptian government. Ptolemy had brought many thousands of Jews
from palestine to Egypt and gave them religious freedom and full
citizenship rights. Greek culture prevailed there and Jews found
it difficult to maintain their separation.
In about 280 B.C. a group of Jewish scholars began to
translate the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek, the common
language of the day, for the Jews in Alexandria and other places
were now speaking Greek. Seventy-two men did the translating; it
was to many a holy and supernatural event; each translation
produced the same words and phrases, which was seen by many to be
a miracle from God's guiding hand.
It took 150 years to complete
the entire Old Testament and is called the Septuagint Version
today (translation of the seventy).
During these centuries from the return of the Jews to
Jerusalem under Ezra and Nehemiah and the Ptolemy kings there
arose two distinct religious parties among the Jews. They were
the Sadducees, who mainly came from the higher class
intellectuals and sophisticated members of the Jewish people.
Some claimed they were descendants of the priests of Moses' time.
The Sadducees did for most of the time, right down to the
days of christ, govern the physical aspects of the Temple in
Jerusalem. The other part of religious leaders were called the
Pharisees. They were religious leaders from mainly the common
people. They were very orthodox and as time went on they added
hundreds of laws to the basic laws of the Old Testament. By the
time of Christ they taught that it was unholy and sin to break
even all these hundreds of added laws. It was these religious
leaders that governed the Sabbath services in the local
synagogues throughout the land of Palestine.
The famous Jerusalem Sanhedrin (a governing body of men that
set the announcement of the new month day, as well as other
religious and none-religious matters for the Jews), by the time
of Christ consisted of men from both the Sadducean and Pharisean
parts, as well as elders (men who had gained local respect as
older wise men of the community) from the Jewish population.
In 204 B.C. the last strong Ptolemy ruler died and their
rival, the Selucid kings began to control Palestine. It was
Antiochus the Great that took Palestine from a weak king of
Egypt. His son, Antichus 1, wanted to make a great empire for
himself. His goal was to destroy the Jewish religion and its
teaching that they had the One true God and His true religion. In
Palestine he replaced spiritual priests with unspiritual ones; he
outlawed Judaism, desecrated the temple, abolished worship of the
Jewish God, and set up pagan worship with its sacrilege and
immorality. Further, in 168 B.C. he forced the Jews to sacrifice
on heathen altars to heathen gods.
The Jews eventually rose up and prepared to oppose the
decrees of this king. Mattahias, an aged priest objected and
killed a Syrian officer. His son, Judas Maccabeus, became the
Jewish military leader and organized people to oppose and fight
what they considered an evil and satanic government. Thousands of
Jews were killed in the ensuing conflict, including Judas
himself. His two brothers, Jonathan and Simon led the fight to
bring political and religious independence and freedom back to
the Jews.
The Jews began to make alliance with Rome at this time, to
help guarantee its independence. By december 25, 164 B.C., the
Jews had cleansed and re-dedicated the Temple.
Civil war broke out in Palestine led by two opposing
brothers. One brother, Aristobolus, who was in power in
Jerusalem, was planning to lead a revolt against Rome. Pompey, a
great Roman military leader. quickly besieged Jerusalem in 63
B.C. and took it over; 12,000 Jews were killed. Pompey made the
other brother, Hyracanus, the governor of Palestine and required
him to pay annual tribute or taxes, a certain amount of money to
him each year.
A man named Herod reigned from 37 B.C. to 4 B.C. over
Jerusalem and Palestine. It was this man that was responsible for
the orders to kill the Bethlehem children, as he wanted Jesus the
baby to die. All this and the reason why we shall see later as we
go through the birth of Jesus Christ.
In 20 B.C. this man Herod began to rebuild the Temple at
Jerusalem, partly to please the Jews and partly for his own
glory.
Announcement to Zacharias about the birth of John the baptist
In the days of Herod, the king of Judea, one of the priests
serving in the Temple at Jerusalem was a man called Zacharias and
his wife was called Elizabeth. They were both very dedicated to
the work of God and were righteous in the eyes of the Lord. They
lived and walked in all the commandments of God blameless. This
does not mean they never sinned or made mistakes in their life,
for all human beings make mistakes at times. But their attitude
of wanting to walk humbly with God and to keep His commandments
meant that God forgave them their mistakes, remembered not their
mistakes and so were in His eyes blameless.
This priest and his wife had no children, and now as they
were getting very old, it certainly looked like they would never
have any children. They had given up hope of ever expecting to
have any children (Luke 1:5-7). But one day while he was doing
his priestly work in the Temple, and the people were praying
outside, an angel from the Lord appeared to him. He was very
fearful and became troubled as to what this was all about.
The angel said to him, "Fear not Zacharias for your prayer
has been heard by God, and your wife Elizabeth shall have a
child, a male child, and you shall call him John. You both shall
have joy and gladness, and many others will rejoice at his birth.
For he shall be great in the eyes of the Lord. He shall be filled
with the Holy Spirit, even from the time he is within his
mother's stomach, before he is born. He shall help bring many of
the children of Israel to walk in the ways of God, and shall
speak as the prophet Elijah, with the same attitude of mind and
power of life. At his preaching many people will be brought
together to acknowledge what are the true values of life and
family. Those many shall turn to the wisdom of the righteous and
so a people will be prepared for the Lord to work with" (Luke
1:13-17).
The promise that this man John would come in the spirit and
power of Elijah had been a promise and prophecy from the Lord
hundreds of years before. The prophet Malachi (the last book of
the Old Testament in most Bibles bears the name of this prophet
Malachi) wrote about a man that would come in the likeness of the
famous Elijah. Jesus Himself also reaffirmed that John fulfilled
this Elijah prophecy in Matthew 17, which we shall come to later.
Zacharias wanted to believe what the angel had said. Oh, how
his wife and he had wanted a son, so he really did want to
believe the angel, yet Zacharias was a human man and he knew that
both he and his wife were very old, and he knew his wife was
passed the years of being able to have a child. So he asked the
angel how he might know that this miracle would take place.
"I am Gabriel, that stands in the very presence of God,"
said the angel, "and I have been sent to speak to you this truth
and give you this good news. But if you need to have a sign, then
this is what it shall be." The angel Gabriel continued to say,
"You shall loose your voice and shall not be able to speak until
the child is born, because you have doubted that which the Lord
has promised to you and your wife" (Luke 1:18-20).
The appearance of the angel to Zacharias took some time, and
so his stay inside the Temple was longer than usual, and the
people outside knew that he was taking longer to fulfil his
priestly duties. They marvelled at how long he was within the
Temple. When he did come out they soon realized he could not
speak to them, and by the look on his face and by his hand
gestures they knew he had seen a miraculous vision of some sort
in the Temple.
Zacharias continued to serve his allotted time in the Temple
for that season of the year (the many priests took turns of a
certain number of days to work in the Temple, what the Bible
calls "order of his course" - Luke 1:8), and then returned home
to his wife.
It was not long after he returned home that his wife
Elizabeth got pregnant, and so was going to have a baby just as
the angel from the Lord had announced to Zacharias.
Elizabeth was overjoyed, yet she stayed around home for five
months, not telling anyone that she was going to have a child
(Luke 1:23-25).
..........................
Chapter Two:
Announcement that Mary is to Bear God's Son

God the Father had promised and prophesied many times in
different ages under the Old Testament period that one day He
would send a Messiah Savior to earth to not only live a holy
sinless life, to show people the perfect ways of the Lord, but
also to die for the sins of every person who has ever lived. This
Savior would have to be more than just a human person as you and
I are, in order to be able to take upon Himself the sins
of every person. He would also have to be a part of God.
It was during the sixth month of Elizabeth carrying the baby
John that God the Father would start to fulfil those many Old
Testament prophecies concerning the one to come who would be a
part of Himself, would be His very own Son, yet born of a
physical woman, and in that way this Messiah would be both of the
human family and the God family. It would all come about in such
a manner that it would be a miracle never done before nor again
after.
The angelic messenger Gabriel was sent to a town in the
district of Galilee in Palestine, called Nazareth. He was to go
to the cousin of Elizabeth, to a young lady called Mary, who was
to be married to a man named Joseph. She had never been married,
and had never slept with a man, so she was what we call a virgin.
Gabriel came to her and said, "Hello Mary. You are highly
favored, and the Lord God is with you. You are very blessed among
women."
When Mary saw the angel Gabriel she was troubled and
perplexed. She wondered in her mind what these words from Gabriel
meant. The angel could see that she was troubled by the words he
spoke and went on to explain to her why God had favored her
and what the blessing would be that she would receive.
"Fear not and be not upset Mary, for you have truly found
favor with God. You shall become pregnant, have a baby growing
inside of you, in your womb. The baby shall be a male child, and
you shall call him Jesus (meaning Savior, someone who saves
others). He shall be great, and shall also be called the Son of
the Most High. The Lord God shall give unto Him one day the
throne of the ancient king David, whom you are descended from,
and shall reign over the people of Jacob for ever. And of His
Kingdom there shall never be an end."
We have seen from the Bible Story of the Old Testament that
Jacob was the father of 12 sons who became, through their
descendants, the 12 tribes of Israel. David was later the second
and most famous king of Israel. God had promised to him that his
throne, his line of children, would always exist. And the most
famous and by far the greatest of his line of children would be
this promised Messiah Savior, whom today most of the world knows
as Jesus Christ. To this Jesus, God the Father had also promised
Him the throne of king David and a Kingdom that would never end.
There are many prophecies in the Old Testament that confirm these
two important promises to be given to Jesus one day. Those two
promises were never realized or fulfilled in the physical life
time of Jesus, but they still stand, yet to be given to Him
sometime in the future.
Mary was now even more puzzled at all these words from
Gabriel, telling him that she could not understand how this could
come about, becoming pregnant with a child, for she was not
married and had never slept with any man.
Gabriel answered her, and explained more, "The Holy Spirit,
the very nature and power of God shall come upon you, work a
miracle in your body, and you shall become pregnant with a holy
child. This child shall not be from a physical man but a child
from God, so He shall be called the Son of God."
The angel wanted Mary to know that for God there was nothing
He could not do, and so went on to say, "Your cousin Elizabeth is
very old, passed the years of normally being able to have a
child, yet she is also pregnant with a baby, and this is the
sixth month of her pregnancy. So you see, with God there is
nothing that is impossible for Him to do."
Mary being a godly and faithful woman, now had trust and
assurance in her heart that what Gabriel had told her would
indeed come to pass, and be fulfilled just as God had said. She
was happy and delighted to be the one whom the Lord God had
chosen to bear His Son. She told the angel this and Gabriel then
departed from her (Luke 1:26-38).
What a blessing indeed this was for Mary. I'm sure she must
have been stunned and speechless for a few days, as she meditated
and thought about these words from the angel Gabriel. God the
Father would need a woman of outstanding service, loyalty,
and spiritual dedication, to be the mother of His Son. Someone
who would care and protect and guide His son in every physical
and spiritual way. What an honor indeed to be the woman chosen by
God to undertake this service and duty.
The honor is even more when we consider the very possible
age of Mary when she would become the mother of the Son of the
Most High. The Jewish society back then was much different than
most of our nations of the western world today. It was the
general practice and custom of the Jews in those days to marry
very young. In fact it was looked upon as a family disgrace if
the son was not married by age eighteen. And the young girls, or
ladies of the family were often only in their middle teenage
years when they married. So it is very probable that Mary was not
yet out of her teens when Gabriel came to her with the wonderful
news that she was the woman chosen by God to bear His son Jesus.
Mary must have truly been a wonderfully serious and
dedicated woman in the ways of the Lord, living and loving Him
with all of her heart, all of her life, and all of her mind.
MARY GOES TO VISIT ELIZABETH
After the wonderment of all this had finally sunk into the
mind of Mary, she was all excited and quickly wanted to visit
Elizabeth her cousin. With speed she headed for the hill country
of Judea and entered the home of Zacharias and Elizabeth.
As Mary entered the home and called out the usual greetings
of those times and culture of Jewish society, the baby John in
Elizabeth's womb leaped for joy and Elizabeth was filled even
more with the Holy Spirit, being inspired to know that Mary was
carrying in her womb the very Lord Messiah. With a loud and
electrifying voice Elizabeth exclaimed, "Blessed are you among
women Mary, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. What an honor
to have the mother of my Lord come to visit me, for as soon as
your voice was heard in this house, greeting us, the babe in my
womb leaped for joy. And what a blessing that you believed what
was told you from the Lord God."
In passing we can note here that the reaction of baby John
in Elizabeth's womb, to the entering of Mary into the house, and
the baby Jesus in her womb, shows that babies not yet born but
still inside the mother's stomach, are little persons, who can
have feelings and reactions of their own, independent from the
mother. They are small living persons not just a kind of
nothingness mass of bones, blood, and skin, that people can
kill and tear out of their body at the pleasure of their own
heart and mind, as if it is a bothersome sore or pimple to get
rid of.
Mary was also inspired by all this, and burst out in praise
to God with these words, "My life does praise the Lord, and my
mind does rejoice in God my Savior. For he has looked down upon
His handmaid, and all generations will know I am blessed. He that
is mighty has done great things in my life and body. He is truly
Holy, and His mercy and love is indeed upon them that
respectfully fear Him, from generation to generation. He
can put down those who are proud and mighty in their own eyes,
and exalt and set on high those of humble attitude of mind.
Those who are hungry for good righteous things He fills, and
those who think they are rich in knowledge He gives none of His
truths to. He has been faithful with the promises He gave to
Israel, and remembers His mercy that He said He would give to our
fathers, to Abraham, and to his descendants forever."
Here we see some of the mindset attitude of this young lady
Mary. An attitude of humbleness and a willingness to be filled
with the true ways, the good ways of the Lord God. She was even
as a young woman, a fine example of what a servant and child of
God should be.
And Mary stayed in the home of Elizabeth for about three
months and then returned to her own household (Luke 1:39-56).
THE BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD OF JOHN
At last the nine month period of pregnancy for Elizabeth had
come to an end and it was time to bring forth her boy into the
world for all to see. All went well in her delivery and many of
her neighbors and cousins rejoiced with her, knowing that God had
performed great mercy towards her in her old age by giving her
and Zacharias a son.
As was the law of God the parents came on the eighth day to
circumcise the child. And as was also the common custom of the
day, the child was going to be given the name of his father. He
was going to be called Zacharias. But his mother protested and
said, "No, he is not to be called Zacharias, but he is to be
called John."
The people around were taken a back by this, for there was
not one in the immediate descent of the family that was called by
the name of John, and calling a child by a name that none in the
family was called was just not done in those days. The people
looked at Zacharias, making signs to him with their hands, for as
yet Zacharias could still not speak. They wanted to know what he
had to say on this matter of the naming of the
child.
Zacharias asked for a writing tablet which was brought to
him. He wrote, "His name shall be called John." Everyone just
marvelled at this whole thing. It was not the way it was usually
done.
As soon as Zacharias wrote those words God performed another
miracle, as He immediately gave him his voice back, which he
used right away to praise God.
You can imagine the scene. Many were there who were there
when Zacharias came out of the Temple about nine months earlier
not able to speak, and now when Zacharias officially named the
baby with the name of John (according as Gabriel the angel had
said he was to be named nine months earlier), his voice was
restored to him and he could speak once again. A fear of God came
upon all that stood there, and what had taken place was told to
others all over the hill country of Judea.
People that heard all this began to wonder and think about
what this child John would do in his life time. They knew
something special was to become of this child.
Indeed it was to be so, and the hand of the Lord was with
John, for the Lord did have a special work for him to perform
later in his life.
God inspired Zacharias at that time to speak forth that
which was the overall teaching and promises of the Lord by the
holy prophets from the Old Testament.
" Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has come to
visit and to redeem His people, and has raised up salvation for
us in the house of His servant David, as was spoken by His holy
prophets from old time. That we should be saved from our enemies,
and from those who hate us, to perform the mercy promised to us
from the time of our ancient fathers, to remember His covenant
and the oath which He swore to our father Abraham. To grant us
deliverance from our enemies, so we could serve Him without fear.
To serve Him in holiness and righteousness all the days of our
life."
As we read these words spoken by Zacharias we could be
puzzled by them somewhat. For, even today, two thousand years
later, the Jews are not delivered from their enemies and from
those who hate them. Over in the land of Palestine there is still
much trouble, fighting, killing, and hate going on between the
Jews, the Arabs, and the Palestinians.
Yes, God had given a promise, a covenant, and swore by an
oath to people like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (the great fathers
of the Jews and people of Israel) that one day the children of
Israel would be fully and completely delivered from their enemies
to serve God in holiness and righteousness, without any fear of
being persecuted or killed. Many of the prophets of the Old
Testament have so written also. God will in His time bring all
those promised to pass. The ancient prophets show that the
literal fulfillment of those promises and of what Zacharias was
saying, will not take place until Jesus the Messiah comes again
in power and glory to set up the Kingdom of God on earth. Then
the people of Israel will be delivered from the fear of hate and
killing that often comes from their enemies.
So how are we then to understand these words of Zacharias in
the context of the birth of this man-child John?
We are to understand them in a "spiritual" sense, that the
time had come for God to work a wonderful work of salvation in
many of the lives of the Jews and people of Israel. Many were to
be delivered from all the mental and emotional sorrow of the
mind, from the inner fear of the heart. They would find
deliverance from sin and guilt, so they could live with peace in
their mind, to serve God in holiness and righteousness.
This understanding is clearly what Zacharias wanted to
convey to the people there at that time and to us today, as we
read the remaining words that he spoke.
" And you child (referring to John) shall be known as the
prophet of the Most High; for you shall go before the Lord (Jesus
the Messiah) to prepare His ways. To give the knowledge of
salvation to His people, the forgiveness of their sins, through
the loving mercies of our God. When the day them comes from on
high to give light to those who are in darkness and in the shadow
of death. To then guide our feet into the way of peace."
Ah yes, the wonderful promised time had arrived when God the
Father was about to fulfil the sending of His Son to earth to
take upon Himself the sins of the whole world, so His mercy could
be given to all those who would be called to receive it. So many
in Israel and in all other nations could find the forgiveness of
their sins, and be guided into the way of salvation and peace of
heart and mind.
In this plan of God, it had been decreed that a human man
would go before the coming of the Messiah Savior, to preach
repentance and forgiveness of sins to all who would listen. To
prepare the hearts of some for the coming of the Son of God, and
the true spiritual deliverance He would bring. This prophet of
the Lord God to go before the Messiah Jesus, was to be this child
called John.
And so it came about as we have just read. And this child
John grew and became strong in his mind for the truths and the
ways of the Almighty God. And he lived most of his life in the
outdoors and the wilderness, until the day came to go forth to
preach and teach the word of God to the people.
.............................
Chapters one and two written November 2000
Chapter Three:
An Angel Comes to Joseph

Mary was engaged to be married to a man called Joseph, who
was from the descent of the famous king David we can read about
in the Old Testament. As we read the account in the Gospel of
Matthew chapter one, it also says that Joseph was Mary's
"husband" and Mary was his "wife" but also that Mary was engaged
to Joseph, which means to us in the western world that she was
not yet Joseph's wife, only engaged or promised to him as to be
his wife one day. This all seems contradictory and hard to
understand. The truth of the matter all comes clear when we
understand the laws and customs of marriage in the Jewish society
of Joseph's and Mary's day.
The marriage customs of those days in Jewish life were very
different from our customs today. When a couple were engaged or
promised in marriage to each other, unlike our custom, they were
not only looked upon as married (but not yet performing a wedding
day ceremony and living together in the same house and sleeping
together in the same bed), but if the man should die before they
came together on the wedding day and started to live together
after that day, then the woman was looked upon and even called a
"widow."
The engagement of two people back in those days among the
Jews was a lawful marriage. If the man for some reason wanted to
break the engagement and not have a wedding day and not want to
live with the woman, he was obliged to have to give her an
official divorce, written on paper.
So, under Jewish law in those times, an engaged couple were
also officially and legally looked upon as "husband" and "wife"
to each other. It was often many months later that the actual
wedding day occurred, which was often not just a day but a week
(seven days in length) of celebrations.
Although they were legally husband and wife during the
engagement period, the man and woman did not come together to
sleep in the same bed and live in the same house, until the
wedding day.
This may all seem very odd to us today, but that was the way
couples were married back then in the Jewish society of those
days.
With that background we can now understand the words of
Matthew when he
wrote:
" ....Mary had been betrothed (or engaged) to Joseph, before
they came together she was found to be with child (pregnant,
carrying a baby inside her) of the Holy Spirit (Joseph had no
idea it was a miracle from God, but thought Mary had slept with
another man, and was pregnant from him). And her husband Joseph,
(being kind and merciful) a righteous man, was unwilling to put
her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly (Mat.1:18-19).
It was also within the laws of the Jews that if a woman was
unfaithful to her husband, she could be publicly announced as
breaking the 7th of the great Ten Commandments of the Lord, as
found in Exodus 20. Under the Old Covenant such a woman could be
put to death by stoning. All of that would certainly have "put
her to shame."
It was also a point of the old laws of Moses under the Old
Testament, to be merciful at times. Many forgot that part of the
writings of the Old Testament, but Joseph being a righteous and
just man, a man who knew all the teachings of the Old Testament,
had not forgotten those laws and precepts of showing kindness and
mercy, and was determined to act with mercy towards Mary. He
would divorce her with no public declaration and humiliating
commotion or hullabaloo, but in a quiet and private way.
As Joseph was thinking Mary was pregnant from another man,
and considering he would then divorce her, an angel from the Lord
appeared to him in a dream and said:
" Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife
and have your wedding day and live with her, for that which is
conceived in her womb is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son,
and you shall name Him Jesus (meaning, to save) for He will save
many of His people from their sins. All this is in fulfillment of
what God has spoken through the prophets of old: "Behold, a
virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and His name shall be
called Immanuel (which means, God with us) " (Matthew 1: 20-23).
This prophecy is found in the book of Isaiah, chapter seven
and verse fourteen.
Joseph woke from his dream and knew that the Lord God had
spoken the truth to him about the situation with Mary and her
being with child, not from another human man but from God
Himself. So with faith and confidence he did as the angel
commanded and went ahead with the planned wedding day and living
with Mary his wife. But until after the baby Jesus was born he
did not sleep with Mary nor have sexual relations with her
(Mat.1: 24,25).
JESUS IS BORN AT BETHLEHEM
In those days when Mary was carrying the baby Jesus, the
Jews were under the domain and governing authority of the mighty
Roman Empire and the great Caesar Augustus. He was the Emperor
or what today might be called the President (if living in such a
country as the United Stated of America). His first name was
Octavianus. He was nephew of the very famous Julius Caesar of
Roman Empire history. He obtained the rulership of the Empire
after Julius' death. He took the name Augustus (meaning honorable
or mighty) as a compliment to his own greatness in his eyes. And
it is from him that we get our month in the Roman calendar called
August, which before him was called Sextilis. He thought he was
so great that a month in the Roman calendar should be named after
himself.
During the months Mary was pregnant, Caesar Augustus sent
forth a commandment that all the Jews in Palestine should be
enrolled. In some old translations of the English language of the
New Testament, it is given as a commandment to be "taxed." To us
today we think of "tax" as money given by the people of a nation
to the government of that nation, so that government can use it
to do certain things with, such as running the public school
systems or paying the wages for the police or firemen. But
in the original language of Greek that the New Testament was
written in, that is not the meaning.
It means rather, to "enrol" or to take a list of the
citizens with their employment, the amount of their property,
etc., equivalent or the same as to what we mean today by
taking a "census" which most nations do from time to time. As
most adults know, in a "census taking" the nation will often ask
many questions, some get so personal that many people are
offended by it all, and think the government is getting too nosey
in people's lives and business affairs.
Well, whatever else this enrolment was all about, Caesar
Augustus demanded the male heads of households go to their
original home city of their family tree line. Joseph then had to
travel to Bethlehem, near Jerusalem, because he was from the
family line of king David, who was from Bethlehem (1 Samuel 16).
In talking about this enrolment, Luke, the author of the
Gospel that bears his name, uses a phrase that we need to always
keep and understand within its context. He says, "Caesar Augustus
decreed that 'the whole world' should be enrolled."
The clear fact is, as proven from historical sources, that
of course people living in China, North or South America, people
on the African continent, or in India, as well as many other
parts of the whole earth at the time, did not come to Palestine,
to be "enrolled."
This was a decree and commandment for the Jews of Palestine
only. Such a phrase as used by Luke, in a specific context use,
really means "all the people of the land." The land being that
of Palestine, or the Jews within the lands of the Roman empire.
So all the male heads of household went to the town of their
family descent to be counted and enrolled (Luke 2: 1-4).
As we continue to read in the account by Luke, we see that
Joseph took Mary with him from Nazareth in the area of Galilee,
to Bethlehem near Jerusalem, not a short distance. Mary was in
her ninth month of pregnancy, very close to giving birth to the
child Jesus. There were no quick ways to travel in those days. No
airplanes, no buses, or trains, or cars. Travel in those times on
land, for people such as Joseph and Mary was either by foot or on
donkey. Mary did not need to go with Joseph to be enrolled under
Augustus' command. So why then did Joseph take Mary all that way
to Bethlehem?
The answer probably lies, as many have seen, in two main
areas. The time of the year together with Jewish religious
festival practices, and of course the will and prophecies that
the Lord God had given in the Old Testament prophets about where
the child Jesus would be born, in the town of Bethlehem (see
Micah 5: 2).
Going back to the first reason mentioned (Jewish religious
festival practices), many Bible scholars and those who study
Bible chronology (putting events into time frames of the year or
years all events were within) have seen that Jesus was not born
on December the twenty-fifth or even in the month of December.
They have come to see that Jesus was born around the great Jewish
feast of Tabernacles. They have come to see that it was certainly
during the fall Festival days of the seventh month on the Jewish
calendar (from about the time of the Feast of Trumpets to the end
of the Feast of Tabernacles, see Leviticus 23) that Jesus was
most likely born in Bethlehem. This would correspond to our
September/October months on our Roman calendar we use in most of
the western Christian world.
This being the case, as most Bible scholars now admit, then
it becomes clearer as to why Mary also went with Joseph to
Bethlehem near Jerusalem for this enrolment. Bethlehem was less
than a days walking distance from Jerusalem. Joseph and Mary
would also observe the great fall Festivals on the Jewish
calendar at the same time as Joseph would enrol in Bethlehem as
decreed by Caesar Augustus.
It was a long tiring journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem
for both Joseph and Mary, but especially for Mary, yet they knew
this was God's child Mary was carrying, and they had faith the
Lord would protect and give them strength in this undertaking.
Joseph was wanting to give Mary a nice restful room and bed in
the local Inn or Hotel as we would call it today, with a soothing
hot bath and some good food prepared and cooked by the Hotel
staff. But, as it was the fall festival time, Jerusalem and the
surrounding towns were overflowing with people from all parts of
Palestine and even various far away places of the Roman empire
where many Jews had settled, and who travelled to Jerusalem to
observe the Feats of the Lord.
There was no room for them in any of the Inns in Bethlehem.
Desperate for any reasonable warm and dry place for Mary to rest,
Joseph asked if there was anyone who could offer any place for
them to stay.
"I'm sorry I have no room for you in my home, " said one
man, " My house is just jam packed with relatives, but....well
I'm kind of embarrassed to say it....I do have a stable. I know a
stable is a pretty poor substitute for a room in an Inn or home,
especially when your wife is close to giving birth, yet, it is
warm and dry. You are welcome to bed down there, if you cannot
find a room in a house somewhere."
"Thank you kindly," replied Joseph, "yes, we will take your
offer as it seems there is no room anywhere in any Inn or home in
Bethlehem. And my wife needs to lie down and rest even if it is
on a bed of straw. The warmth and dryness with be appreciated."
So with smiles and thankful hearts Joseph and Mary made
their way to the strangers stable of hospitality.
And while they were there the time came for Mary to give
birth to the baby Jesus.
This would be Mary's firstborn son as
Luke recorded, for she and Joseph did have more children later on
as they lived a normal life as husband and wife.
Among the lowly stable animals, no relatives or friends of
Joseph and Mary being there with them, the Son of God came into
this world as a human being. It was no fancy home, or large
richly decorated and furnished palace that Jesus was born in and
breathed His first breath of air. It was in an animal stable
where He was born, maybe dry and warm but an animal stable never
the less.
The Son of God, the King of kings, the one to rule and
govern this whole earth one day, was born in a straw laden stable
among a bunch of animals. Now that is a lesson in humbleness if
there ever was one. And that is taking greatness and still being
down to earth with it. Greatness does not have to be surrounded
with pomp and material splendor. Greatness is what you are with
God and how you serve Him and your fellow mankind. And as we
shall see the baby Jesus grew up to be the greatest of any human
in both of those areas of life, setting us the perfect example.
There was no splendid hospital bed or crib for God's Son.
Mary took Him and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, a blanket or
whatever cloths she and Joseph had brought with them from
Nazareth. And laid Him in a manger, the part of the stable where
the hay and other foods for horses and donkeys are put for them
to eat from.
But the God of heaven was not about to let the birth of His
Son go completely without notice and praise from at least a few.
Oh, it was not going to be announced on worldwide TV or make
headlines in every newspaper in all nations of the world. He was
not going to send millions of angels flying around the earth to
announce the birth of His Son to all peoples on earth, which He
could have done.
Yet He would send an angel to let a few people know about
this miracle birth.
AN ANGEL SENT TO NEARBY SHEPHERDS
Yes, sent to shepherds, not to some wealthy, famous, or
powerful people at all, but to common everyday shepherds watching
over their flocks out in the field, as the Gospel of Luke
records.
They were still at this time of the year out in the fields,
the flocks and the shepherds. This also proves the time of year
was not December, for it is too cold in Palestine in December to
still have the flocks of sheep out in the fields. The shepherds
bring their flocks in from the fields before the month of
December arrives.
"Look, what on earth is that up there in the sky?" shouted
one shepherd with excitement in his voice.
"I see something also," exclaimed another shepherd, "but I
must be going crazy. I have to be seeing things."
"Oh, it is something very terrible I think, " added yet a
third shepherd.
"We are all going to die," a fourth shepherd chimed in with
trembling in his voice.
A magnificent and exceedingly bright light shone all around
them. It was as if it was the sun shining in full strength on a
cloudless day. Great fear came sweeping into their hearts as they
all felt sure they had not long to live.
" Fear not, " said the angel, " for, behold I bring you good
news of wonderful joy, which shall be good for all people. For
unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is
Christ (meaning in the Greek language "anointed") the Lord. And
this shall be a sign for you; You shall find the babe wrapped in
everyday blankets, lying in a stable manger."
Suddenly, out of no where it seemed, the shepherds could see
that there appeared with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts,
praising God, and saying, " Glory to God in the highest, and on
earth peace among men with whom He is well pleased."
God the Father took note of the day of His Son's birth. To
Him it was a very blessed day, for the potential that could arise
from the life of Jesus was like nothing that the whole universe
had ever experienced before. The potential of this one life, this
Immanuel life, this God with us in the flesh life, would mean
that many millions of others could one day reach the potential
that they were created for, to become very sons and daughters in
the family of God.
After the angels were gone from them back into heaven, the
shepherds busily talked among themselves and they all decided
they wanted to walk over to Bethlehem and to see for themselves
that which the Lord had made known to them. They went as quickly
as they could. We are not told how many stables, if more than
one, that there was in Bethlehem, or how long it took them to
find the correct stable, but we are told they did find it, where
Joseph and Mary were, and indeed found the babe Jesus lying in a
manger.
After seeing the factual truth of what the angels had said
to them, the shepherds immediately began telling others in
Bethlehem what the angels had told them about this new born
child, and many who heard all this kept the words in their heart
and mind, and wondered what it could all mean. Mary also was one
you never let anything slip out of her mind, but would ponder on
them often over the following years to come.
The shepherds returned finally to their jobs of watching
over sheep, but they returned glorifying and praising God for all
that they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them
(Luke 2: 8-20).
.......................
Written November 2000
To be continued
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