Luke chapter 2 v 1-7:

Tuesday December 22nd.  Read Luke chapter 2 v 1-7:

Luke, the careful historian, here sets the birth of Jesus firmly in its historic context. Caesar Augustus, the Emperor commands a census to register all in the Roman world ( no doubt for taxation purposes ) and everyone must go to their town of origin to register. So Joseph, as a descendant of David, takes Mary to Bethlehem, David’s city, though now it seems, an obscure ” back-water” in Israel. So God orders and over-rules man’s purposes to bring about His own, and as foretold in Micah 5 v2 , Jesus the Christ will be born in Bethlehem. It’s been well said that all history in really HIS story! Galatians 4 v 4 tells us that this exact moment was, in God’s plan, ” the fullness of time.”

It seems that the inn in Bethlehem is full, no doubt due to the census, so Mary gives birth to her child in the stable, and His cot is a manger. Presumably, the inn-keeper had this much compassion for the pregnant woman. Yes, the details are so familiar, carols and cards make it seem almost idyllic ( it would not have been !), we should never let familiarity blind us to the true situation here – God’s Son born among men had a hard start to a harder life. The manger was the first step on the harsh road that led finally to the Cross, where the Son of God would bear His peoples’ sins to be their Saviour. Hallelujah, what a Saviour!