We love and worship singing, "Oh Come All Ye Faithful." And we fall in love again, singing, "O Little Town of Bethlehem." Tonight, Christmas Eve, let's wonder and remember holiness.
"O Little Town", could be oh, little amount of Scripture about the Eve of Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ. Why would this be? Perhaps to really think and know what God called for as His Only Son was born. To consider the vow of marriage and the difficulties unknown life will throw out. To struggle to know the voyage and to remain constant when the world clamors for an easier solution or tells us what we should do, as Joseph has God personally speak to him.
Christmas Eve is a voyage. The Journey. The Path. A kiss for luck and we are on the way.
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.
3 And all
went
to be registered, each to his own town.
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
Christmas Eve is alive today in - travel. In voyage. In the journey.
This is the day Jesus was logistically, not Biblically, sitting within Mary on a donkey. His Mother. Old enough to move His Hands and feet, within her, to let her know when the very much alive, yet unborn baby, Jesus was ready for her to be nourished and feed His Baby body. To feel in her heart, as she watched the donkey and the path carefully. To keep them safe on this journey.
We say, in theory, Mary was transported on a donkey. Yes, of course, we say this. 90 miles is 6 days of measured walking. Not something a very pregnant woman could do.
What would they see?
3 And
ALL
went
to be registered,
each to his own town.
The return of the tribes to the land allotted during the time of Joshua. The settlement of Israel. The return to the inheritance of God. The Almighty fulfilling His Promises. Mary had spoken of in the Magnificat, Luke's Gospel, and placed carefully in the first chapter.
Tonight, Christmas Eve, remembers holiness.
The holiness of the works of God the Almighty in the Exodus and the holiness describing "The Festival of Booths" Hag Ha-Asif, “Feast of the In gathering,” Exodus 23:16, grains and fruits gathered at harvest's end, and to Sukkot “Feast of Booths,” Leviticus 23:34, the tents are lived in for a week remembering when the Israelites lived in tents (Sukkot) during their years of wandering in the wilderness during the 40 years of the Exodus.
Jewish festival of double thanksgiving that begins on the 15th day of Tishri (in September or October), five days after Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
Similar, in fact.
This return to the hometown would have looked familiar, if only for the Roman Empire. Jerusalem was held for the first time under King David, so the traditional hometown would not hold pilgrims as the holy double Thanksgiving celebration would. The celebration would be similar to the one Samuel and Eli had observed. And, of course, Joshua.
Jesus would have been born during a unique time!
Oh, what Caesar Augustus never meant to achieve. We have all been given Gifts by God. That work, according to His plan and pleasure. Caesar Augustus was the acceptable choice to succeed his uncle Caesar because he was so adept at taxation and finance. The death of Caesar had drained the coffers. Caesar Augustus was about the tidy finances for the Empire, inheritance, marriage and taxation. His tax rolls are a matter of history.
1 Corinthians 12:4
NIV
There are different kinds of gifts,
but the same Spirit distributes them.
Are we sure?
No, however, this is a Biblical Reference to ALL of Israel.
This Word used in Scripture,
doesn't see "a great number, or a crowd, or a multitude."
These definitions of numbers are frequently used in the Gospels.
The word used
is ALL
And the word ALL is used in the Road to Emmaus.
All of Israel knows of Jesus and Good Friday.
Hosea 11:1
Out of Egypt, I call my son
Matthew 4:4
Jesus answered,
“As it is written: 'Man does not live by bread alone,
but by every word
that comes forth from the mouth of God."
We are inspired!
Out of Egypt, I call my son.
Yet, the entire quote is:
Hosea 11:1
"When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.
But the more I called Israel, the further they went from me.
They sacrificed to the Baals and they burned incense to images.
And this describes the activities of the Roman Empire occupying Judea. The Tax Collector who was being called to a new life in Jesus, Matthew. And the Herods. Called to the Throne, held by the Davidic line with God's Promises, and not being Davidic or what God would hope. The first generation to put their Image on a coin. Something God had sent His Word not to achieve, as to put forth the kings, with self glorifying images.
What is problematic seeing - all went forth to be registered? Probably, The Roman Empire would want enough time to arrive in the appropriate city. Yet not cripple trade. Israel's tribes had been forsaken and lost, killed, during the Assyrian Empire. The Judean tribes would mostly be in the same area, a tribal country. Not too much travel. It would have to be a short window, or backlogs and necessities wouldn't be found. And a short enough time span to arrive in the appropriate city, that history wouldn't shudder. Something like a Christmas week and not a vacation month.
Josephus had the accounting for the sacrifices during the Holy Days and was able to say with certainty the pilgrims usually numbered to about 2 million people. The loss of the tribes during Judean Hezekiah's father, King Ahaz's timeline to Hezekiah. (Israel tribes were lost, Judean Ahaz/Hezikiah Tribes worked in faith and were saved.) This, from 650 BC to 1 AD, would have limited the number going to their hometown outside of Jerusalem to 2 million pilgrims. Even the Davidic line was leaving to go to Bethlehem.
Why would Joseph be looking for an inn in Bethlehem and not a tent? Joseph might have anticipated staying with his own family and found a betrothed, unmarried, pregnant woman was increasingly unwelcome as she began to be very great with child. The room in the family tent would be quite crowded when the Jerusalem crowd was part of the journey. Significant increase in traffic near Jerusalem. No time for a groaning young pregnant woman.
A Kiss For Luck and We're on our Way
We have only yet begun
to Live
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.
3 And all
went to be registered, each to his own town.
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
The Scriptures are living. The journey, we know in hindsight, about putting forth all we have to keep marriage and family together. Mercy first.
This engaged couple. In the middle of an Empire, who have no idea of Mary and Joseph. Their angry parents. The cousins too old to have a child with the new son, named John. They aren't wondering about being personally fulfilled tonight. They have discovered the will to protect the innocent, the child, to fight against the odds. To defy what is called Justice, to give Mercy. To reach out to live to fulfill what God has asked of them. Having the vow of marriage, to raise their child in holiness. To live and move and act as if God Himself has His Being next to them.
The bone marrow deep, the lifeblood of Relationship with God.
It's not about what the tribe, the brothers, the parents, the neighbors or The Temple does. This is fulfilling the asking of God for life purpose. To be married. To put your life on the line providing mercy. To raise the next generation. Move when holiness asks movement, and to get out of the Nation if unholiness, murder should arrive.
To find the journey of Emmanuel, God with us. God's personal call upon the heart. Jesus Christ.
Life is a narrow gate to them.
The opportunities would be on the horrendous side. A child would die. A betrothed woman would die. The Empire would want to know you didn't line up to be counted. A family listed in several Chapters of "The Gospel" would be within angelic visitations to the Temple and a Rabbi, to be forsaken?
The narrow gate.
What will look like, or be, a mistake and what will have to be lived down?
So very much. Generations will discuss their failures. They are doing their best! History and life will find Implications, gossip, mangling the facts, an outrageous set of events. Severe illegitimacy. On all kinds of levels, not seen at the time. It would take Jesus, The Son of God, to save them.
Life!
Why do we live by every dot and iota of Scripture? This small number of verses describing Christmas Eve - - - describe ALL.
Matthew 4:4
Jesus answered,
“As it is written: 'Man does not live by bread alone,
but by every word
that comes forth from the mouth of God."
How will we know beyond... the wonder... the facts?
For now, we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13
Love is patient and kind;
love does not envy or boast;
it is not arrogant or rude.
It does not insist on its own way;
it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice at wrongdoing,
but rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things.
Love never ends.
As for prophecies, they will pass away;
as for tongues, they will cease;
as for knowledge, it will pass away.
For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child,
I reasoned like a child.
When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.
Now I know in part;
then I shall know fully,
even as I have been fully known.
So now faith, hope, and love abide,
these three;
but the greatest of these is love.
Abba, Father,
Merry Christmas!
Thank You for Your Promises
fulfilled in
Jesus Christ,
Your Only Son
and
Our Savior.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen
in Jesus the Highest Name.
Amen.
The tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us
from on high
to give light
to those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet
into the way of peace.
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