And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

The Birth of Christ a Four Part Series, Part 4

Before we begin, just a word in prayer.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day, and thank you for the opportunity you give to us to look into your Word.

Lord, I pray that you would just help us to understand the significance of your coming to earth, taking on the form of a man, that you could live as we live, experiencing all that we experience, yet without sin. That you, who are without sin, could become sin for us at Calvary on the cross and pay the penalty for our sin. That it would be given to us, your righteousness, by the tremendous grace that you extended to us and have shown to us.

Lord, help us to understand this, and help us to understand this isn’t just a story. But Lord, this is a historical event that literally occurred over 2,000 years ago. Speak to us now, through your Word we pray in Jesus’ name.

Amen.

As we’ve been looking the last three Sundays, we’ve been setting some of the stage for the event that has been going on in the life of the nation of Israel and the world at the time that Jesus came. This morning I just want to look at the significance of the time that he came and the events that surrounded that.

And the fact that we have sort of a God who’s omniscient, knows the beginning from the end, revealed to prophets hundreds of years before Jesus came that he would be born in a little tiny village called Bethlehem. Bethlehem at the time that Jesus was born isn’t like Bethlehem today. It would be just a small agricultural village on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

It would be about five or six miles from Jerusalem. It would be inhabited basically by people that were tied to agriculture, because that was the main means of livelihood in the Middle East at that time was agriculture, especially in the nation of Israel. Around Bethlehem there would be sheep farms.

Why at Bethlehem? Well, if one would stop and think, being that close to Jerusalem, what was used in Jerusalem at the time of sacrifice? Lambs. Lambs have to be raised. When lambs were offered during the Passover season, the lambs were supposed to be without blemish and spot.

In other words, they were to be perfect. Because they were to reflect the coming Messiah. That’s what God’s intention was.

The sacrificial lamb was what was revealed as we saw and have studied in the previous weeks at the time that Israel was delivered out of the land of Egypt. Egypt was viewed as the world. Egypt was viewed as a country that knew not God and had nothing to do with God, worshipped false gods.

Yet God delivered His people out of that worldly country to bring them into His nation, into a relationship with Him and into His rest. And He did that by the blood of a lamb. The sacrificial lamb was what was the last judgment brought against Egypt where they were judged in the firstborn of every man, every animal.

Every firstborn in Egypt would die as judgment from God unless the blood of the lamb was on the door post and the lintel. If the blood of the sacrificial lamb was there, the angel of death would pass over. It was revealing a greater significant death of a lamb that would come where the judgment of God would pass over the heart and soul of men who trusted in the blood of this lamb, Jesus Christ.

So there would have been a lot of sheep being raised in the area of Jerusalem. Again, if you look at the Old Testament, you understand that there were certain there was two tribes that were not given land of their own. One was Simeon and the other was Levi.

Simeon shared land and his tribe was found inside the tribe of Judah. That’s where their inheritance was. They didn’t have their own land.

Levi did not have their own land either, but the tribe of Levi was the tribe that Moses came from. And it was during the deliverance from Egypt that there was rebellion in the camp and the tribe of the men of Levi stood against the rebellion. And because of that, they were given the special position of being the priests of Israel.

And then, because it was an agricultural society and they needed somewhere to raise, they had suburbs, if you would. The suburbs were a little different than our suburbs. But they were given small portions of land outside of the cities of Israel.

And you’d find Levites throughout the whole nation of Israel because part of their job was to minister the word of God to the people of God. And then the specific descendants of Aaron would be the priests of the temple. It’s very likely, the scripture doesn’t tell us for certain, but there’s shepherds involved.

Shepherds was not a job that most people sought after. Although shepherds was something that God highly valued. Again, if one looks at the Old Testament, you will see that God often used men who were shepherds.

Amos was a shepherd. David was a shepherd. Shepherds understood sheep.

Shepherds understood that sheep are a dumb animal. If you leave sheep to itself, it will get into all kinds of trouble. But when a shepherd’s there, and a shepherd has set the direction and the tone for the sheep, the sheep will follow the shepherd.

And they’ll do what the shepherd says. I’ve shared with you before, David talking in one of the tours to Israel we were with. We were passing by and there was a Bedouin shepherd with his sheep.

And his sheep were walking right behind him, following him down alongside the road. And so David told us an incident he had on one of his tours to Israel. He said he came and the tour group came and there was this place that they stopped and they were going to have just a time of a Bible study there.

And there happened to be a Bedouin shepherd there with his sheep. And David began to talk to him. Because he noticed that the shepherd would speak and the sheep would respond.

And David said, I know some Hebrew. Will they listen to me? The shepherd said, no. He said, but I know the words you’re saying.

He said, okay, well this is the word I want you to tell them. I want you to tell them, get up. We’re going.

So David asked him to say specifically to him what he would say. And then David said the word to the sheep. They all just looked at him.

Didn’t move. He went and talked to the shepherd some more. And the shepherd said, they’re my sheep.

They respond to me. The shepherd then said, it’s time I need to go. So he said the same words David had said.

All the sheep stood up. He started to walk down the road. And all the sheep just followed right after him.

They knew their shepherd. Shepherds have always been important to the Lord. They’re very seldom important to the world.

The shepherds around Israel at this time, Scriptures don’t tell us, but could have been Levite shepherds in the suburbs. The suburbs would be little portions of land that would be given to the Levites where they could raise their animals and raise their crops. But it wouldn’t be big portions of land like the other tribes had.

And these shepherds could have been raising the sheep and watching over the sheep. And very well been responsible for the sheep that would have been used in the sacrifices in Jerusalem pointing to the shepherd that was coming. So I want you to keep in mind some of these things.

I want you also to keep in mind as we look at the beginning of Luke’s paragraph here of his letter. And he says, And it came to pass in those days that there were out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be packed. What’s the significance of Caesar Augustus? Who was Caesar Augustus? Octavius was his given name.

He was the stepson of Julius Caesar. Not the stepson, the adopted son of Julius Caesar. There had been much turmoil in the Roman Empire throughout the time.

And we think there’s turmoil in the world today. There’s always been this turmoil because there’s always been this world spirit where there are those that are led by Satan that want to dominate the world, want to control the world, and want the people of the world to follow worldly philosophies and ideas. During the Roman Empire, it wasn’t any different.

During the time of Julius Caesar, probably everybody here has heard of Julius Caesar. Because he’s probably the most famous of the Caesars. But during the time of Julius Caesar, there’s interesting things that went on.

Caesar Augustus, or Octavius, and a man by the name that we would know as Herod the Great. And you probably have heard of a woman referred to as Cleopatra. And you have known of other people.

Mark Antony. If you look at history, and this is why the world doesn’t want you to know history. But if you look at history, during the time of history, Those people all knew each other, not just when they became leaders of various countries.

But they went to school together in Rome. They were sent to the best places of education that the Roman Empire had, because they were trained to be world leaders. Cleopatra became the leader of Egypt.

Herod the Great inherited the leadership of the land of Israel and Syria, and that portion of the Middle East from his father, by the auspices of Rome. As I mentioned, Octavius inherited the position of Caesar at the election of the Senate of Rome. Mark Antony and Cleopatra died because they were really trying to rebel against the Roman Empire.

And it resulted in their deaths. These events were going on shortly before or at the time that Jesus was born. And you need to know this.

You also need to know that because Octavius became the Caesar, and became known as Caesar Augustus, he brought peace to the Roman Empire where it had not had internal peace until that time. And because of internal peace, he also wanted to take census of the people of the various parts of the Roman Empire. Israel and Syria being one of those portions.

So it was during the time of Julius Caesar, not Julius Caesar, I’m sorry, Caesar Augustus, that Jesus was born. He was born because this was the time he would be the place for him to be born. Now one of the things that Rome wanted to know was where everybody was from.

Sounds a lot like today. And so they had you go to the place that your ancestors were from. The town that you identified with.

Oftentimes when people come to church here, I’ll say, where do you live? They’ll say Fargo. I said, yeah, but where did you grow up? You know, get all kinds of answers. All over North Dakota, Minnesota, some places, other countries.

That’s the place that you’re from. That’s the place that your family was from. That’s what Caesar Augustus had.

He had these people go to the place they were from so he could get an accurate recording of who these people were. It was really for, on his part, for taxation. But God had other plans.

And you see that this was done, and it was done at this time. Now, Serenius was governor of Syria. Well, Herod was a king of Israel.

What’s the deal? Well, Serenius had given authority by the Roman Empire to oversee this particular position. He had held it once before. And at this particular time, for a long time, scholars said, well, history records that he held this position as governor of Syria, of this region, before this.

And it wasn’t during the time that Jesus would have been born. So that shows the Bible isn’t true. No.

If you look at the fact that he was called upon by Caesar to once again, because of this tax and what was going on, that he would help Caesar’s relative, who was supposed to be doing this, but was new to all of this, he would help him do it. And so he was given the authority or responsibility or position of being governor of Syria once again for a short period of time while this taxation went on. It’s important to understand this because the Bible really narrows down the time that Jesus was born.

It was this moment in history. As it says here, they went to be taxed, each one to his own city. Joseph went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, onto Judea, onto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David.

If you go to Israel today, and you go to Nazareth, Nazareth is on the northwest corner of the Sea of Galilee. It is, by Israel’s standards, quite a ways away from Jerusalem. Our standards in the United States is just to hop in your car and drive.

But there, because Israel is so small, and at this time everybody is walking, it was quite a trek. And so that’s where Joseph lived. That’s where Gabriel had appeared to Mary.

That’s where Mary was living, was up in that area. And so we see that Joseph, as we studied just briefly last week, and just briefly looked at lineages, we saw that Joseph was of the house of David. And at this particular time in Israel, in the temple, they would meticulously keep the lineages of the births of all the babies that were born to Jewish people.

So you could trace back what tribe you came out of, who your ancestors were. When the temple was destroyed in 70 AD, as far as we know, those records were destroyed as well. But you don’t need to know who the king was anymore, because the king came.

The Lord Jesus Christ. But we see that they had those records, so Joseph would have known that he was of David’s line. We also know that Mary was of David’s line, because we have her lineage as well.

And we see that at the point of David’s sons, Nathan becomes the son of David that becomes the ancestor of Mary, where Solomon becomes the son that’s the ancestor of Joseph. Even though Joseph was not Jesus’ biological dad, Joseph had, now remember Herod the Great, who was an Edomite, who went to college with all the other leaders of the Roman Empire, and he’d inherited this particular portion of the Roman Empire, and had been declared king over it. He was an Edomite, a descendant of Esau.

He had no rights to the throne. That was an illegitimate king on an illegitimate throne over Israel. Because the real king had to come from the line of David.

We’re studying kings on Wednesday nights, and we’re going to deviate from it this coming Wednesday because of Christmas, we’ll have a special service. But we’ve been studying kings on Wednesday nights, the kings of Israel, the kings of Judah, and also on Sunday afternoons. And you will see that all of these people, especially in Judah, the southern kingdom, they’re all descendants of the previous king.

And they all can trace their roots back to David. Because David, it was his throne. God had given it to him.

Today, Israel doesn’t have a king. So who’s going to inherit the throne of David? Well, the scriptures tell us that king was born in death with him at this time, the Lord Jesus Christ. Because David was given the promise that his kingdom and his throne would reign forever.

Well, as we’re studying these kings of Israel, you’ll look and every one of them dies. Some of them die graciously, some of them die horribly, but they all die. But this throne’s going to reign forever, and this king’s going to reign forever.

Well, David’s dead. David’s still the most highly respected king in Israel. Everybody in Israel, all the Jewish people, they know who David is.

They know two people. They may not know the Bible or anything else, but they know Moses and they know David. But David’s dead.

You can go to his tomb. But this king isn’t dead. He’s going to rule and reign forever.

And his throne will come from the line of David. Well, Jesus wasn’t a physical descendant of those that had the right to the throne. But much like Caesar Augustus was given the throne of Caesar, because Julius Caesar had no son, he adopted for his son, Octavius, who became Caesar Augustus.

Joseph’s children. How do we know that? We go to the Gospels and we see that Jesus has brothers and sisters. We see that Jesus’ brothers, they would be really brothers by Mary because they had, Mary was his mother, all the brothers’ mothers, but Joseph was their father.

And we know that they were his brothers because they give confession to this fact that Mary and his brethren approached him one time when he was doing his father’s work and they wanted him to be quiet and leave the work and he said, I’m about my father’s business. And the thing is, we also know that his brothers didn’t believe that Jesus was the Messiah when Jesus was walking on earth, but after he was crucified, dead, buried, and rose again from the dead, they believed. And the scripture records that they believed.

So we know that there were more children born to Joseph and Mary, but significant, Jesus was the firstborn. And I want you to look at, he wasn’t an ordinary firstborn child. We’ll get to it.

It said that, if you go back, it said that Joseph went from Galilee and he went to be taxed with Mary in verse 5, his espoused wife. I want to tell you what an espoused wife is. An espoused wife, the closest thing we have to it in our culture is engagement.

But it’s a deeper relationship than engagement, but it is not an actual marriage has not been completed. For those of you who have seen the video before the wrath, it’s a video that’s done explaining Galilean wedding is, and it talks about all the various portions of the Galilean wedding. The Galilean wedding is what Jesus makes reference to a number of times in parables, in accounts, in the book of Revelation where it talks about things of the rapture of the church.

It ties into the Galilean wedding. The Galilean wedding was a wedding done in phases. The first phase was, I would see Roberta and I would think, I would like to marry her.

Well, we just wouldn’t just run off and get married. I would first go and I would find someone to make arrangements with her family for us to get married. And it would begin to be the espousal process.

I would go and I would have this person go to her parents and ask them, would I be able to marry your daughter? This is what I will offer. This is what the conditions of the marriage are. The ultimate acceptance of the proposal would be made by her.

But the initial offer would be made to her parents. And then there would come the espousal process. There would be, really, for our culture it would be called the engagement portion or service.

But it really was more than that. There would be a cup of wine that would be offered by the man to the woman that he was making the proposal of marriage to. At that point in time, she can either reject or accept that cup of wine.

If she rejects it, everything’s off. She’s rejected his offer, she’s rejected him. I want you to see, a lot of this ties into our relationship with the Lord, too.

Jesus doesn’t force himself on us. But he comes and he asks. And we have to receive.

Well, that had occurred between Mary and Joseph. But they still were not married. But it’s in the eyes of the community, they were off limits to anyone else.

Because they were committed to each other. It’s as if they were married. Even though they hadn’t consummated the marriage.

Even though she wouldn’t be living in the same home as him. It’s as if they were already married. And this is why you have.

And then what would happen is, the husband would go back or the future husband would go back to his father. And his father would have him prepare a place for him to bring his wife to. And his father had to be the one to tell him, yes, this is ready, go get your wife.

And when that day came, then he would go get his wife. Then the marriage ceremony would begin. Then the marriage feast would begin.

Then all the guests would be invited. And then you would have the marriage. And at the end of that feast would be the consummation of the marriage.

That part hadn’t happened. It was just a disposal. Just a betrothal.

And remember way back when Gabriel appeared to Mary. And he said that she was going to be with child. And that this child would be the son of God.

What was the question she said? How can this be? For I have not known a man. She had not had a relationship with any man, including Joseph. They were espoused, but not consummated.

And remember what happened, because if you’re a woman, you know you can’t hide it very long when a baby is growing inside your womb. Pretty soon, people are going to figure it out. Joseph figured it out.

And he thought Mary had been unfaithful to him. And he had the right, if she had been, to put her aside. But he didn’t put her aside.

Instead, it said being a just man. This shows the character of Joseph. He didn’t want her to be mocked by the community.

He was going to set her aside, privately or privately, that people would not know. That’s when the angel appeared to Joseph and said this thing that you are observing is of God, and this is the son of God. This is the Messiah that you are waiting for.

He didn’t tell him that, but that’s in essence what was happening. That’s why it’s significant that Mary and Joseph were both of the lineage of David, that they both went to Bethlehem, because that’s where Jesus was to be born. And if she had been of a different lineage, she wouldn’t have gone there.

So we see that that’s where they end up. And then they end up, there’s no room for them in Eden. Now we’re in Bethlehem, and at Christmas time in America, and in a lot of places around the world, you will see a manger scene with a little wooden manger and animals around this wooden manger.

In Bethlehem, that wasn’t where the sheep would go. It wasn’t in a wooden lean-to with a little wooden manger that looks so little cozy and nice. They were in caves.

The last time we were in Israel, we went to some of the caves in Bethlehem, and we saw what in all likelihood would have been where the sheep would have been kept by the shepherds, where the animals would have been kept. And they were caves, and within these caves, they were all stone. They were carved out of stone.

And within these were stones that were hewed out where they’d have just an indentation put into the stone, and that’s where you put the animals’ feed so they could eat. It wasn’t a nice little wooden cradle like Grandpa would build. No, it was a stone.

It was hewed out of stone. That’s all in likelihood what would have been there. That’s where Jesus would have been laid.

That’s where they would have gone. And I want you to understand, when they went there, it wasn’t the Hilton Ritz. And later on, which we’re not going to get to today, but you’ll see that when they go to the temple for Mary’s purification and then also further dedication of Jesus, that you were allowed to offer pigeon of, if you were too poor to afford a lamb, you would sacrifice.

You see in Luke’s gospel, Joseph purchased birds. He was poor. They were not wealthy.

This is so far from the script of Hollywood, because Hollywood had born into this great kingdom and lights flashing and everybody No, instead he’s born to the poorest of the poor and only afford the poorest man’s sacrifice. Can’t afford anywhere to stay except a cave that’s for animals. And that’s where Jesus is born.

Now it’s interesting, it says, and lo, an angel of the Lord appears to the country shepherds. Why the shepherds? Again, if you stop and think, perhaps these shepherds were the ones that were taking care of the lambs that were used in the sacrifice that was to appoint to the Messiah and they were of the tribe of Levi who were the priests, why wouldn’t you tell them? The very lambs that you’re taking care of are to foretell of the lamb that’s in their stable right now. This Messiah.

This one who’s come to redeem the world. And so he goes out there and he tells these shepherds. And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people.

This wasn’t just for Israel. This was for the whole world. And I want you to stop and think this is in light of what I shared with you at the beginning.

All of the politics and horrendous things that Rome and all the other countries of the world were doing at that time. The evil things that were being done to people. The wars that were going on.

One with another. This came in the light of all that to show that God’s peace was coming. The reason for all of that, the wars and all that, is because of one thing.

Same reason today. You’ve got wars and rumors of wars and all this wickedness going on and men wanting to rise up and rule the world. What is all of that? It’s caused by sin and rebellion against the principle of God and His character.

It’s caused by sin and uniting men with Satan. Same thing back then. So the angels appear and they say that peace is coming.

And it’s for all mankind. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. These men would have known that they’d been promised the Messiah.

Just as Mary knew when Gabriel appeared to her, God had said there was going to be a woman one day, a young Jewish woman who would have a virgin born son. And she was the woman. They knew that this Messiah was coming and His angels supernaturally appeared proclaiming it.

They knew it and they’re filled with joy. The Messiah has come. And suddenly there was with an angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.

Now I want you to understand something here. A lot of times you don’t stop and think. I don’t stop and think.

What’s the significance of the angels making those statements? How long have angels existed? Since they were created. They don’t die like humans. These same angels would have been there observing God’s creation.

These same angels would have been there and seen the fall of Adam. These same angels would have been there and seen down through history the wickedness and evil that mankind brought upon himself uniting with Satan and fallen angels. They would have seen that all.

They would have seen the flood. And now they see this miraculous event. The birth of the promised one.

The Messiah that would make it all right. You know, the scriptures tell us that when a man or a woman is saved the angels stand amazed in the heavens and praise God. This is the moment that this Messiah was coming.

The beginning of the full salvation message being fulfilled. And true peace being able to come. Oh, there have been hundreds, if not thousands of people prior to this who believed in God.

But they looked forward to this moment because they knew that there was no means by which they could pay for their own sin. But this Messiah would. So you have these angels praising God.

And it came to pass as the angels were gone away with them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. They didn’t say ah, you know, we’ve got sheep to attend here. No, let’s get going.

This is amazing. This is what the sheep tending is all about. This is what the sacrificial system is all about.

This Messiah. Let’s go and see. And it said they went with great haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger just as the angels had said.

Lying on that piece of carved out stone where they put the hay and the feed. And that’s what Jesus was, lying in swaddling clothes, just as the angels said. And not only did they see it, what did they do with it? And when they had seen it they made known abroad the saying which was told unto them concerning this child.

They didn’t keep it to themselves, but they told it to anyone who would listen. Now this is going to send dire consequences throughout Bethlehem because one man heard about this. A man that I talked about at the very beginning, Herod the Great.

And Herod has the name Herod the Great not because he was so great, because he was the oldest son of the previous Herod. He was a good architect. He was a good man at fighting war.

And he was a good man at manipulating people. But he was a horrible person. Killed his own family.

Killed his own wife. Killed his own son. Because he was very paranoid about somebody taking his throne from him.

So he killed the woman that he loved more than any other woman. And he honored her for the rest of his life, but he was afraid that her son would take his throne. So he killed his son too.

But anyway, because they went and told, Herod heard, a king has been born. But it didn’t stop them from telling. And it didn’t change the facts.

When we get saved, we should be like the shepherds. A king has come! He’s real! It’s just like the scripture said. He saved my soul.

I want you to know. And proclaim it. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which they were told of them by the shepherds.

Is this real or is it not? But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Because if one knows the truth, Mary loved the world. And loved His word.

And was thinking about all that she’d seen and heard. And been part of. That revealed not only the promises of God being fulfilled, but His power to be able to do His will.

And the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told unto them. As we studied at the very beginning, Jesus wasn’t born on December 25th, but it doesn’t stop us from proclaiming the significance of His birth. And keeping our attention on the significance of the birth.

But because of this birth, peace comes. We can be at peace with God. And rest in the Lord.

Let’s just go through a little bit. Lord, I pray that You just help us to understand these things. Help us to apply these truths to our life.

Help us to realize that this is real events in real time and real history. Lord, help us to focus on You, we pray in Jesus’ name.