Why did they have to bring up taxes?...
Illustration
Why did they have to bring up taxes? Where was the Tea Party back then? Have you noticed that sometimes, like they say, it is darkest before the dawn? It was not just the taxes! Joseph and Mary had to travel a long way to register for those taxes! Even her pregnancy couldn't be used as an excuse to call off the trip.
Today it might raise a few eyebrows if she were pregnant and they weren't married, but mainly among faithful Christians. Back in the day when Jesus was born, it was not that uncommon for a woman to get pregnant during the engagement. In fact, it might even be a cause to call the marriage off if she could not bear children. So there was no need for Joseph to feel embarrassed. But what a humble place did they find for the king of kings to be born!
They had a little trouble finding a place to stay and ended up in that stable. When I visited one village in Nepal, my room was a place of honor, but it was over the stable and the cows complained during the night. The family even built an outhouse for me! Don't ask where the rest of the family went!
Mary and Joseph let God take care of sending around the birth announcements, but who do you think should have been invited? King Herod? The governor? But God's ways are not our ways. He sent the announcement to a bunch of shepherds. Shepherds were very low on the social scale, but they left the sheep and came. One thing that it accomplished was that since they were always moving, the shepherds got the word around that something great had happened!
One comment that I read indicated that Christ's birth could have been a different year or even a different time of the year. Most scholars place his birth at about 3 or 4 BC. They had no birth records in those days. The date or dates set for Christmas are thought to be based on the winter solstice or the date of a pagan festival. It was common practice in those days to choose dates that were already well known.
When we toured Europe, we often found that there were ancient pagan ruins underneath a number of churches and cathedrals. They must have presumed that since people were already coming to those places, why not put the church there to help increase the membership.
It seems that God had more priorities than struggling with dates and places! The important thing about this season is that the Son of God came and we need to find a place for Him in our hearts.
As pastors we have many books with infinite picayune details. It sometimes made me wonder if Ph.D.s could be saved. Maybe they are wondering if non-Ph.D.s can be saved! God knows!
Today it might raise a few eyebrows if she were pregnant and they weren't married, but mainly among faithful Christians. Back in the day when Jesus was born, it was not that uncommon for a woman to get pregnant during the engagement. In fact, it might even be a cause to call the marriage off if she could not bear children. So there was no need for Joseph to feel embarrassed. But what a humble place did they find for the king of kings to be born!
They had a little trouble finding a place to stay and ended up in that stable. When I visited one village in Nepal, my room was a place of honor, but it was over the stable and the cows complained during the night. The family even built an outhouse for me! Don't ask where the rest of the family went!
Mary and Joseph let God take care of sending around the birth announcements, but who do you think should have been invited? King Herod? The governor? But God's ways are not our ways. He sent the announcement to a bunch of shepherds. Shepherds were very low on the social scale, but they left the sheep and came. One thing that it accomplished was that since they were always moving, the shepherds got the word around that something great had happened!
One comment that I read indicated that Christ's birth could have been a different year or even a different time of the year. Most scholars place his birth at about 3 or 4 BC. They had no birth records in those days. The date or dates set for Christmas are thought to be based on the winter solstice or the date of a pagan festival. It was common practice in those days to choose dates that were already well known.
When we toured Europe, we often found that there were ancient pagan ruins underneath a number of churches and cathedrals. They must have presumed that since people were already coming to those places, why not put the church there to help increase the membership.
It seems that God had more priorities than struggling with dates and places! The important thing about this season is that the Son of God came and we need to find a place for Him in our hearts.
As pastors we have many books with infinite picayune details. It sometimes made me wonder if Ph.D.s could be saved. Maybe they are wondering if non-Ph.D.s can be saved! God knows!
