Advent day 12: census

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 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.

Mary was about to explode. She was probably dreading giving birth. It was really going to hurt. And now in the sensitive and uncomfortable state she was in, she had to travel: There was a census.

Historically, the way this census went according to Luke doesn't make sense to the rest of the censuses ever taken. It was not common for people to leave their land and travel to their hometown; they wanted people with their estates for accuracy. Especially in the Roman world. It would have turned Rome upside down. On top of that, Quirinius was the most logical of all the governors and would have never issued this type of decree. There was however a riot that ensued after Augustus died and Quirinius took over. It could have been at this time that Joseph returned to Bethlehem. Maybe to take safe refuge, maybe the government had issued something similar to a census to see who was still alive. In any case Luke (or his source) wanted us to know there was a reason Jesus was born in Bethlehem and then raised in Nazareth, as the Old Testament prophesied. It's a weird debate. Luke gave us a timeline to follow, but his timeline according to what we know of the time, is off slightly by what historians and theologians think is between one and ten years. If you ask me, I'll take God's Word over what small amount of paper trails we have left from 6 AD. By all accounts, the Bible is the largest historical book to survive the time period.

Matthew gives a similar scenario, so it is known that Jesus was born in the Town of David, and then returned eventually to Nazareth.

In any case, Joseph went to Bethlehem with his very pregnant wife. They had probably encountered many congratulations in the last several months. I wonder if Joseph ever felt guilty for accepting them? While grateful God had shown them favor, he really had to kind of live a lie for the time being. He had nothing to do with this birth except to try to raise Jesus. And even at that Jesus was going to be of the same line, but ultimately be raised by a very different Father.

The road was going to be a long one to Bethlehem. Mary and Joseph couldn't have known Mary would give birth there. Maybe the thought crossed their minds having known the Torah.

Tired, grateful, sleep deprived, and willing they started their journey.

Hey God,

Thank You.

Amen.