Mary and her husband Joseph lived at Nazareth, a town in Galilee not
far from the lake of Tiberias, or Sea of Galilee; and the prophets had
declared that the Messiah should be born in "Bethlehem of Judah," a
small place to the South of Jerusalem, nearly a hundred miles from
Nazareth. That Mary should take such a long journey to a strange
place, instead of staying quietly at home until her Child was born,
was the most unlikely thing that could well be imagined. Here,
therefore, we again see how wonderfully the Lord rules all things, and
makes use of people who know nothing of Him, to do what He wills
should be done. God now made use of a heathen Emperor, to accomplish
His will, that Jesus Christ should be born in Bethlehem.
The Roman Emperor Augustus, in order to know what taxes he could lay
upon the different parts of his dominions, determined to take the
number of the people who were subject to him; and in order to do this,
he commanded that the name of every one should be written down. As
Judaea was now under the dominion of the Romans, all the inhabitants of
that country were obliged to put their names upon lists, prepared for
the purpose: but all belonging to the same tribe or family were to go
to one place, so that many of the Jews, who were scattered throughout
the country, had to travel a long way to the place appointed for the
registering of their tribe.
Amongst these were Mary and Joseph, who were both "of the house and
lineage of David"; that is, both were descended from David, who was of
the tribe of Judah; and therefore Bethlehem was the place in which
they must appear before the Roman officers, appointed to take down the
names of all the people, and register, or make lists of them. The
commands of the Roman Emperor were not to be disobeyed: and Mary and
Joseph set out upon their long and fatiguing journey. Upon their
arrival, they found the place so full of people come upon the same
business, that there was no room for them in the inn, and they being
poor, and not able to pay for better accommodation, were glad to lodge
in a stable; and here, it pleased God, that Jesus Christ, the Lord of
Life, the King of Glory, should be born: and Mary "brought forth her
first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in
a manger."
But though born in a stable, unnoticed and uncared for by men, the
Angels of God proclaimed the wonderful event to the Shepherds, keeping
watch over their flocks by night.
At that time, there was amongst the Jews, a general expectation that
the Messiah would soon appear upon earth: those who believed all that
God had made known by the prophets, seeing that the sceptre, or kingly
power, had departed from Shiloh, were daily looking for the fulfilment
of the blessed promise, and were ready to welcome the Saviour under
any circumstances: of this number were the Shepherds, who, when they
had heard the "good tidings of great joy," at once followed the
direction to go to Bethlehem: and when they found all things there,
exactly as the Angels had told them, they at once believed, and
acknowledged the Infant as their Saviour; and "made known abroad the
saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all they that
heard it wondered at those things which were told them of the
Shepherds." They wondered; but alas! too many of them only wondered,
and did not believe. The greater part of the Jews at this time had
forsaken their God, and had become careless about pleasing Him. They
expected a Messiah, but regardless of the prophets who had spoken such
different things, they had formed their own notions on the subject,
and looked for the Messiah to come as a king or conqueror, surrounded
with pomp and splendour. These men would not believe that a helpless
infant, born in a stable at Bethlehem, _could_ be the Son of God, the
promised Messiah, Who was to be the Saviour of the world: pride and
unbelief led them to reject the Lord, even from His birth. Mary, who
knew that her Son was no common child, marked everything that
happened; "she kept all these things, and pondered," or thought over
"them in her heart."
Jesus Christ came not only to be a sacrifice for sin, but also an
example of godly life; He was to fulfil all righteousness, and
therefore, though He came to do away with the ceremonial Law, and
establish a better covenant, He submitted to all the Ordinances of the
Law, just as if He had been a sinful mortal.
Thus on the eighth day He was circumcised, and publicly received the
name of Jesus, which had before been given to Him by the Angel
Gabriel. And again, in obedience to the Law, the infant Saviour was
brought by His mother to Jerusalem "to present Him to the Lord." We
have heard before, that among the children of Israel, the first-born
child, if a son, was especially dedicated to the service of the Lord;
though afterwards, the whole tribe of Levi was taken, "instead of the
first-born of all Israel." The same Law ordained, that after a certain
time, called "the days of her Purification," every woman to whom God
had given a son or daughter, should offer in sacrifice, a young lamb
and a turtledove or pigeon. But if she was too poor to be able to
bring a lamb, she was allowed to bring two turtledoves or pigeons
instead; and this sacrifice Mary brought with her Son, into the
temple. Then were fulfilled the prophecies, that the Lord should come
suddenly into His temple; and that the glory of the second temple
should exceed that of the first. At the Presentation of Jesus Christ
in the temple, a remarkable testimony to His being the promised
Messiah was given by the just and devout Simeon, to whom it had been
made known by the Holy Ghost, that he should not die until He had seen
the Lord's Christ. Full of faith, this old man was "waiting for the
consolation of Israel," the Messiah, Who was to save His people from
their sins. Guided by the Holy Spirit, Simeon was in the temple "when
the Parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for Him after the custom
of the Law." At once the Holy Spirit made known to the aged Simeon,
that in this infant he beheld the Saviour for whom he waited; "Then
took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now
lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word; for
mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the
face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of
Thy people Israel." We are told that Joseph and Mary marvelled at
those things which were spoken by Simeon; and we may be sure that Mary
treasured them up also in her heart, and looked upon her infant Son
with reverence, as well as love. Then Simeon blessed Mary, and warned
her of future suffering. Another testimony to the divinity of Jesus
Christ was then given by an aged widow, who coming into the temple "in
that instant, gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to
all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem." Nor did these aged
Jews alone bear testimony to the Messiah. The glorious light of the
Shechinah, the visible sign of the presence of God, which had not been
seen for many hundred years, until it appeared surrounding the Angels
who proclaimed the birth of Jesus to the Shepherds of Bethlehem, was
not seen by them alone. In far off countries, it was seen as a
remarkable star. The inhabitants of Chaldea, part of the once famous
Babylonian Empire, were at this time very learned in Astronomy: that
is, they studied the stars, and the motions of the heavenly bodies.
They worshipped the sun, because they thought that must be the best
representation of the Deity: had they known the real true God, the God
of Israel, they would not have worshipped any of His works, which He
had created and made. The wise and learned men of Chaldea were called
Magi, and many of them were princes and rulers in their various
tribes. Some of these Magi, generally supposed to have been three,
(though the Scripture says nothing as to their number,) saw a
wonderful star shining in the direction of Judaea. They at once
concluded that this star signified the birth of the king of the
Jews--and immediately they set off and travelled towards the land of
Judaea. And when they reached Jerusalem, they enquired, "Where is he
that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the East,
and are come to worship him." That is, in the Eastern land where they
lived, they had seen this star.