Almost every culture has a belief that they are not
alone in the universe. I’d argue that many atheists have a certain sense of
wonder at the scope and expanse of the universe, as well as a belief that there
is more life out there than just us down here. Stories of God’s and heroes fill
many books and oral tales through the ages but something that is important to
the followers of Christ is the strong sense of history. Jesus isn’t merely a
divine figure that lives in some mystical time before history, whose adventures
and dealings with other God's and monsters are told to explain the world in
which we live. Jesus was a flesh and blood figure who walked the dusty roads of
1st century Palestine and who's blood relations still walk the earth
today. And we find the importance of the when, where and when of Jesus in the
first chapter of Luke's gospel, within the Christmas story.
The When: Circa 6 BC
Luke’s gospel makes it clear that Christ’s entrance
into our world happened at a point in time when things were changing.
Augustus Caesar, nephew and adopted son of Julius
Caesar had just become the first Emperor of Rome and he was beginning to take
stock of his empire. Censuses were going on around the empire and Rome's power
was on the rise. Even the King of Judah, King Herod the Great, ruled the
country on behalf of the Roman Empire. He was not descended from the great King
David but came from a line of rulers that had taken control...
The setting Luke gives us is a bit like saying ‘In the
days of JFK there was a great space race and Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.
The Quirinius mentioned was governor a decade after the birth of Jesus and his
census was well recorded in history. The events that lead to Jesus’ family
heading to Bethlehem must have been a part of what would be remembered as the
census that Quirinius finalised many years later. Archaeology may yet turn up
more information.
Jesus entered history at a time when Rome ruled
supreme and even probed the lives of individuals living in far off Judah. God’s
chosen people, were intended to be ruled over by the right hand of their God
Jehovah, King David and his descendants. Instead, they were under the rule of a
half Jewish puppet King and an empire that sought to count and catalogue them
for its own purposes. God's people were at a low place, a small province, under
the dominion of a growing superpower.
The Where: Bethlehem, Judah
The Gospel of Luke also tells us where Jesus was born.
Bethlehem. Because of the census, Joseph had to return to his home town of Bethlehem.
Bethlehem was a tiny town in the days of Jesus, famous for being the birthplace
of King David and the burial place of Rachel the wife of Jacob. It was also
famous as the place where the Messiah would be born. The prophet Micah said’
But you o Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is
from of old, from ancient days…and he shall be the one of peace.'. The
birthplace of King David would also be the birthplace of the great king to
come, the ancient one, the one of peace.
The next where is the place of the birth.
Traditionally presented as a stable of an inn, it is thought that at the time
of Jesus’ birth, Bethlehem was too small to have had an inn. The word
translated as inn can also mean living space. Houses in this time often kept
the animals on the lower floors of the home, with the upper areas for living
and sleeping. Sometimes these houses would be built over caves, giving the
animals greater space to move. Here we can imagine a busy house, full of family
visiting for the census. When a baby is suddenly born, the stable area is the
most appropriate place for the delivery to take place, with feed trough acting
as a makeshift crib. This scene of a newborn baby wrapped up and placed in a
feed trough becomes the sign the shepherds are required to look for.
The
Who: The Son of the Unseen God.
The who is the greatest part of the story. On the face
of it, the baby is the child of a builder and his wife from Nazareth. They've
come to town for the census just as the child was due. They had no choice but
as law-abiding citizens, they were doing the right thing. But, they were
fulfilling the ancient prophecy.
‘But you O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the
little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in
Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days…and he shall be the one
of peace.’ The baby was a descendant of King David, one of Israel’s greatest
kings and one whose families reign was said to be eternal. He was born in
David’s home town of Bethlehem and God had made it clear to his parents, and
relatives, prophets, shepherds, wise men and angels that he was the promised
king that had been foretold. But this child was more than just an earthly king.
The Davidic Kings had sat on the throne as God's right hand, his representative
on earth. They were called his sons (Psalm 2: 7) and were given royal titles
like 'Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, The Prince of
Peace (Isaiah 9: 6).' They were called Messiahs or ‘anointed ones’ because God
had anointed them to rule over his people. But this child was something more.
All the promises of the kings were to be fulfilled in this Son of David. Not
merely another earthly King, this child of David was something more, he was the
unseen God in human flesh. He was the fulfilment of all that the ancient kings
pointed to and his kingdom was a heavenly one and not of earth. Just as the
swaddling bands wrapped his newborn body that had left the darkness of the
womb, the very words of God had left the unseen world of God the Father and
were wrapped in flesh and blood. God was now amongst us. God had come to bring
us peace with him and each other.
