Luke
2:1 (Message)
About
that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire
My wife and I visited Rome for
the first time in June, 2008. Like
becoming enamored with royalty when you visit London, in Rome you quickly get
engaged in Roman imperialism. Augustus
became the first leader to be entitled “emperor” of Rome starting in 27 BC [1]. Augustus was emperor when Jesus was
born. Herod the Great was the Roman king
of Judea and held this role for 34 years until his death in 4 AD, described in
Matthew 2:19.
Why did Augustus order a
census to be taken of the entire Roman Empire?
Interestingly, the King James Version says that “there went out a decree
from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed”. That makes sense. Augustus’ reign was marked by peace and
security (“Pox Romana) and the construction of a huge number of buildings
throughout the empire. To keep control
of his empire and to pay for all these projects, he needed to know how many
citizens existed and who could be taxed.
Have you ever wondered why
Luke chose to include this political fact in his gospel? Well, apparently one requirement of the
census was that people had to register in their “hometown” (Luke 2:3). Joseph, therefore, needed to go to his home
town of Bethlehem (Luke 2:4). The town
of Bethlehem was predicted to be the birthplace of the Messiah (Micah
5:2). Bethlehem was described by Micah
as being “too little” so certainly the scribes and Pharisees must have laughed
when they read this prophecy. Yet,
because of the edict of the Roman Emperor for a worldwide census to be taken,
Joseph and Mary ended up in Bethlehem where prophecy could be fulfilled.
This is an example of God
using political events or, for that matter, any other worldly event to fulfill
His purposes. We can never assume that
any event, any circumstance, any detail is too small for God. Read Matthew 10:29-31. Jesus says here that His Father counts every
hair of your head (well, some of us are easier for Him to count than
others!). God the Father pays attention
to every detail of your life. You are
not insignificant to Him. He cares about
every aspect of your life 24/7. Take
time to think about this. Despite what
you might think or how much the devil has deceived you, every detail of your
life matters to God. If this encourages
you, think of someone else in your life that you can encourage too with this
awesome truth.
[1] Caesar was murdered in 44 BC and it
took 17 years of unstable leadership (including Mark Antony and Cleopatra)
before the senate declared Augustus (aka Octavian) “Emperor”. Augustus ruled until his death in 14 AD and
was followed by Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero.
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