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We return once again to our verse-by-verse study of Luke's gospel. So if you will take your Bibles and turn there; we find ourselves now in Luke chapter two, and we're going to be looking at the first seven verses in a few minutes; and I've entitled my discourse to you "The Arrival of Israel's Long-Awaited Messiah." I realize it's a few weeks after Christmas, and this is very much a Christmas message, but nevertheless, it is always exciting to read the amazing story of the birth of our Savior. Follow along as I read Luke chapter two, beginning in verse one,

"Now, in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.

"This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.

"And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.

"Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,

"in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.

"While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.

"And she gave birth to her first born son, and she wrapped Him in cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."

Here we have the very familiar story of the birth of our Lord Jesus, and the circumstances recorded in this historical narrative account for so many prophecies. We see many prophecies fulfilled to the letter, affirming the simple truth that Jesus was and is the Messiah, the long-awaited Messiah of Israel. Now, before we carefully examine the text, I believe it's important for you to understand both the historical as well as the theological and I might add, the eschatological context of what's going on here. Otherwise, you will have no more understanding of what is stated than most of the pagans when it comes time to celebrate Christmas. They have no grasp of the eternal significance of this event and the bearing it has on the destiny, the eternal destiny of men's soul. So let me give you a little historical context where you will recall in Luke chapter one, Zacharias, who was filled with the Spirit, rejoiced over the angelic announcement that his barren wife, Elizabeth, was going to have a son give birth to a son. And of course, that son would be John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah. And Zacharias was ecstatic, because he knew from the Old Testament prophecies that the Messiah, when he came, would ultimately fulfill the Abrahamic, Davidic and New Covenant promises. And therefore, in Luke chapter one, in verses 56 through 71 we read of Zacharias' outburst of praise focused primarily on God's redemptive purposes as they related to the irrevocable, unconditional covenant that God made with David and his household, called the Davidic Covenant. And it is stated as such in Second Samuel 23, verse five, and the details of that covenant are numerous. You will read them throughout the scriptures, and they pertain to the eternal rule of Jesus Christ over the earth.

And then he moves from there in verses 72 through 75 he shifts to the promises that God gave to Abraham - the Abrahamic Covenant. You read about that in Genesis 12, Genesis 15, Genesis 17, which is more national than universal, and it reveals God's promises and the blessings that are going to come upon ethnic, national, territorial Israel and their role in the millennial kingdom. And of course, Zacharias thought that maybe this is going to happen right now. That's why he was so excited.

And then he moves in verse 76 and following to a focus on the New Covenant that you would read about, for example, in Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36. Remember, as we studied, neither the Abrahamic nor the Mosaic Covenant can forgive sin. They could not change the disposition of a sinful person's heart, could not overcome the nature of sin. So God provided a superior covenant, and that is the New Covenant - an unconditional, unilateral, eternal, irrevocable promise to redeem lost sinners from judgment and from hell, along with, I might add, many national and material blessings that God promised to a united and restored Israel, bringing them back to the land of promise; rebuilding Jerusalem, the prosperity, material prosperity of Israel and the millennial kingdom and so forth.

But central to that covenant is the idea that God has to put his law within the hearts of his people, through the indwelling Spirit; he has to write it on their hearts. You will remember in Ezekiel 36 beginning in verse 26 we read,

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

"I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances."

So Zacharias was excited about all of these promises, and of course, he realized that none of that is possible, apart from the arrival of the Messiah that his son is going to announce. And, of course, the New Testament presents Jesus as, quote, "the mediator of a new covenant," in Hebrews 9:15, for example. And Zacharias now is celebrating these things. He's anticipating the glorious fulfillment of all of these Messianic prophecies. And therefore, in Luke one, in verse 76 he says, "'And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways; to give His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins."  In other words, to give them a personal, intimate knowledge of one's sinfulness and the need for the Savior.

He went on to say in verse 78, "Because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the Sunrise from on high will visit us..." and there, of course, he is anticipating the coming of the Messiah. Verse 79, "...to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." Of course, this is speaking of Jesus. He was fully aware, as well as the Jewish people, many of them of that day, not all of them, were apostate. Many of them were fully aware that this was coming. In Isaiah nine, they would have been familiar with verse two, "The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them." Malachi four, verse two, "For you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in its wings." And of course, we know the Son of righteousness, the Lord Jesus came, and he even said in John 8:12, "'I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.'" They would have also been very familiar with Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the light of the Messiah in the millennial kingdom. For example, Isaiah 60, beginning in verse one,

"'Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.

"'For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you.

"'Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

"'Lift up your eyes round about and see; they all gather together, they come to you. Your sons will come from afar, and your daughters will be carried in the arms.

"'Then you will see and be radiant, and your heart will thrill and rejoice; because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you, the wealth of the nations will come to you.'"

So bear in mind the Jewish people, by the time Jesus comes, they're anticipating, they're longing for the Messiah to come to establish the kingdom. in Emili Schürer's landmark five-volume set, an amazing set of history, it's entitled A History of the Jewish People in the time of Jesus Christ. You can read extensive essays on the political and religious issues of the Jewish people at that time, even the Roman people of that day, and you will read very clearly the eschatology of the Jewish people at the time of Jesus' birth. And what you will find is their eschatology was essentially pre-millennial and a progressive dispensational type of eschatology. It was what you might say a pre-New Testament eschatology. Just by way of summary, they believed that the Messiah would be the personal Son of David and would arrive after a time of trouble. They believed that Elijah the prophet, would announce his coming, that Messiah would renovate the world and establish his earthly kingdom in fulfillment of the Abrahamic and Davidic covenant promises. They believed that Israel would repent and turn to the Messiah, that Israel would be restored and possessed their promised land, that the Messiah would rule the world from Jerusalem, that the world would worship him, that he would reinstate a form of temple worship, that there would be a general resurrection, a final judgment followed by the eternal state. And so this is the mindset - the eschatological, theological understanding - of the people in the day that Jesus comes. This is what was animating the heart of Zacharias, why he was so excited that his son was going to announce the coming of the Messiah.

You can read other examples of this, for example, in Acts one you recall, there is an account there of Jesus' post resurrection appearance to his apostles for 40 days. We read about his miracles that proved his resurrection, and he did this quote, "...to the apostles whom He had chosen..." in verse two of Acts one. Well, what did he teach them? Well, we read in verse three, "...speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God." Now imagine sitting at the feet of Jesus for 40 days. It's astounding, is it not? And in verses six through seven, we read, "So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, 'Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom of Israel?'" But what did he say to them? Let me tell you what he did not say. He did not say, "No, No, you weren't listening. The church is the new Israel. You're in the kingdom now. I've been telling you for 40 days, national, ethnic, territorial Israel, is permanently disenfranchised. The current church age is the millennium. The concept of Israel has been expanded to include the Gentiles, and all believers are now Israel. There is no ethnic diversity in the people of God. The Israel of the Old Testament has lost its identity, and the material promises must be reinterpreted. They must be spiritualized, so that they can be applied to the church that has permanently superseded Israel." No, he did not say that. He said none of that, although that would have been the perfect time to say that. He didn't say, "No, remember, I told you there's not going to be a literal kingdom that was so clearly promised by the prophet." He simply responded, "'It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority.'" "Fix" is an interesting term in the original language - “tithēmi"; it means "to set," "to authoritatively appoint or fix." And technically in the original language, it's in what we call the aorist middle, which means "fixed for himself." So it literally means the Father has fixed for himself, by his own authority and for his glory, a time when he will accomplish his purposes and honor the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, this is the mindset of the people of that day.

And I might also remind you that all who trust in Christ become Abraham's children spiritually. But that does not mean that the church is now the new Israel. That does not mean that all the promises that God made to ethnic, national, territorial Israel are canceled, or that they now need to be understood in some spiritual way. Beloved, God did not give us the Scriptures, the word of God, so that it can only be understood by mystics who deny the normal meaning of language. Moreover, in Romans 11:29, we read that, "the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." And as for this reason all the Old Testament promises that God gave to Israel are reiterated in the New Testament. God has not changed his mind. Moreover, he has not preserved, and he has not protected the Jewish people down through history for no reason, for no purpose. And to say God is permanently disenfranchised Israel would have been unthinkable to the Apostle Paul. For example, in Romans 11, beginning in verse one, he says,

"I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin.

"God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew."

By the way, Peter says the same thing in his sermon in Acts three; James says the same thing in Acts 15; the writer of Hebrews says the same thing in chapter six; John in the book of Revelation. And frankly, if this were not true, Zacharias' praise would be terribly misguided. I'm reminded of one of the trips I made to Israel. And for those of you that have been on the jets going to Israel, you know, that's a pretty long ride, and I had the opportunity, in the providence of God, to sit next to actually, there was a seat in between us, which was great. Usually there you have to sit, you know, and fight over the over the arm places. I hate that. But there was a seat in between us, and it was a brilliant, really great young man, a Jewish young man, who was studying at Harvard, and he would go every time about that time of the year to study in Jerusalem. And he said, "I really want to get in touch with my roots." And when he found out I was a pastor and so forth, well, it started a conversation, and he was really kind, but he said, you know, right off the bat, he says, "I can't believe Jesus is the Messiah, as you evangelicals say he is, because he's not reigning in Jerusalem, and Israel is not enjoying the peace and prosperity that is promised in the Old Testament covenants. In fact, just the opposite is true. The whole world hates us. We only possess a fraction of the land God promised us," and so forth. And I had to explain to him that I do not hold that view, as some do. So I explained a pre-millennial, frankly, a revised progressive dispensational position, like I just did a few minutes ago, at some level; and and he was very intrigued. He was very appreciative, and I had a chance to give him the gospel. I have not heard from him since, but we had a two-hour conversation, and hopefully I will see him in glory someday.

Well, the point with all of this is this is the theological, eschatological and frankly, historical context of what's happening now at the birth of Jesus. And what we see in the passage here is that there's a shift in Luke's narrative from Zacharias' anthem of praise, where he's celebrating the fact that his son is going to be the herald of the Messiah, and he's moving now to the birth of Jesus and the prophecies it fulfilled. And I've divided this section into three categories that I hope will be helpful. We're going to see the divine intervention in a pagan ruler, divine intervention in a godly couple, and divine intervention in a mother's womb. And I stand in reverential awe whenever I behold the agencies of divine providence at work in accomplishing the sovereign purposes of God; to think that he meticulously preserves his creation and guides his creatures to achieve all that he has ordained and to fulfill all that he has promised. And I find this to be, frankly, an unspeakable comfort in my life. Don't you? To know that he's in charge, "He's always up to something," as I say. Knowing that he's constantly intervening in history and he's constantly intervening in my life and your life, even right now, all for His glory.

I think of how he intervenes in history. In Isaiah 46 beginning in verse nine, we read,

"For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me

"Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, 'My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure'"

 And he does this through the agencies of divine providence. And he's at work in our lives; the Lord Jesus Christ, as we know, initiates our salvation. He is the author and he is the finisher of our salvation and our sanctification, and that will happen ultimately when Christ returns. We read it earlier, Philippians one he says, "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ."

So first of all, let's look at divine intervention in a pagan ruler. Really fascinating. Verse one, “Now, in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth." Let's look at this character, Caesar Augustus, for a moment. Caesar means emperor, and Augustus means revered or honored or esteemed. In other words, that wasn't his name, but his real name was Gaius Octavius. His grandmother was Julius Caesar's sister, and Julius Caesar, we know, adopted him and ultimately made him his heir. Fascinating history, I'm not going to give you a whole lot of it, but a little bit of it so you get a flavor, because it helps with the context and understanding what's happening here. After Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC, Octavius learned that he had been named Caesar's son, and therefore he would be heir to the throne. And without boring you with all of the political drama that occurred, in the year 27 BC, the Roman Senate conferred on the former Octavius the title Augustus, all right? Which means a majestic, sublime, highly revered and so forth. And when he took the throne, consistent with Roman practice and tradition, he took the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus. And in English, it's shortened, thankfully, to the word Octavian, all right? Well, that's who he is. So he became known as Caesar Augustus. That's the point. And he was a wise administrator. He was a great builder. He improved public works, a brilliant military strategist that won many battles, and he restored unity within the empire. There was lots of little civil wars going on, and he ushered in Pax Romana, which means Roman peace. And that was basically a 200-year long period of Roman imperialism. It was known for its prosperity, for its stability, hegemonic power, its regional expansion and so forth. He was a very benevolent ruler, even though he was wicked in his own ways. And he even allowed conquered provinces, like the Jews in the area there in Israel to govern themselves within reason, and he respected their customs and religious convictions. And we know that he ruled for 41 years, and then he calmly passed away in his wife's arms in AD 14.

And then he was succeeded by his stepson, Tiberius, who actually ruled during the days of Jesus ministry. Well, there's much more history of this beyond the purposes of our time this morning, but what's fascinating when you think about this, what he did not know is that he was an unwitting pawn on the chessboard of the Most High God. He didn't know that God was going to use him to accomplish his purpose. That the census that he decreed had actually been decreed by God long before. One that God would use to fulfill his prophecies in especially Micah five and verse two, that he would be born in Bethlehem and so forth.

You know, as a footnote, I have to add just real practically speaking. You know, we we never know how God is working in the world in which we live and, in our life, to accomplish his purposes. As I said, it is God who is at work in you, actually, Philippians 2:13 to both to will and to work for His good pleasure. And even as I was thinking about all of this, I was reminded of my father. Had God not delivered my dad in the ocean in World War II - in the greatest catastrophe at sea in the history of the Navy, sinking of the USS Indianapolis - had he not delivered him, I wouldn't be here. My dear wife wouldn't be here. My kids wouldn't be here. You wouldn't be here. And we could all tell our stories, right? It's amazing to see how, in the providence of God he keeps weaving all of these things together. And we don't even know what all he's up to, but we know he's up to something. It's an amazing thing. And we are all part of this supernatural organism called the body of Christ; a body that was ordained in eternity past, before the foundation of the world. And here we are. And this is what's going on now with Caesar Augustus.

So back to the divine intervention in this pagan ruler. Now in those days, and by the way, this is in the days of Herod, king of Judah, according to chapter one and verse five, remember now, Herod is the vassal king. He's an Edomite, not even a Jew. He was installed by Rome, and he's going to soon die after Jesus' birth. Well, it's in those days, a decree, in other words, an imperial edict, "...went forth from Caesar Augustus that census would be taken in of all the inhabited earth." That's just a phrase in those days, referring to the Roman Empire, and we know historically that at periodic intervals a census would be taken for the purpose of taxation and also for the purpose of registering young men for military service. However, I might add that the Jewish young men were exempt from that. They were not required to serve in the military. Now, many censuses were carried out in various parts of the empire during that era of history. We know, for example, in Egypt, census' were taking, taken every 14 years, beginning in AD 20 through at least AD 258. Clement of Alexandria, a second century church father, wrote that the same cycle of periodic censuses were conducted in the province of Syria, that's Palestine, that would have been where Jesus was born, and that the first census was the one connected with Jesus’ birth.

And I might add that historically, the Jewish people hated these censuses. Ever since Second Samuel 24, remember, in that passage, David disobeyed the Lord, and took a census in order to determine his military strength, rather than trusting in the Lord. Fascinating story, and then God judged him and the people, and within a few hours, the text says that 70,000 people from Dan to Beersheba died: one in 20 basically. They died at the hand of the Lord through pestilence, some incurable, fatal disease. So, they hated these censuses.

And I wish to focus, and we're going to look more at that in a moment, but I wish to focus for a moment on the days of the census. What was it like for Mary and Joseph to live in those days. They were hard days for Jewish people living under the rule of Roman occupation. And bear in mind that they avoided contact with Gentiles because they were considered unclean. They were unclean idolaters. The taxation of that day was oppressive, and they hated that. They hated the tax collectors you will recall, and living in those days, you really had no hope of personal freedom. There was no possibility of living really a rewarding and prosperous life. There was really no hope for a good future for your children and your grandchildren, and many of them felt like maybe God had abandoned them. Imagine being ruled today by some of the characters that we see in our government that we're trying to prevent from taking over. Imagine being ruled by. The Islamic Brotherhood or the Chinese Communist Party or whatever. The point is, in those days when the census was conducted, times were tough for the Jewish people. And along with that, messianic hope was very, very high. I might add, knowing what I know going on around the world through my Jewish friends that have come to faith in Christ and others, missionaries and so forth, that hope is really high right now as well, which is good, and we need to maintain that hope. But they were longing for the promised King and his kingdom. In fact, that's why you will recall at Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, which is typically commemorated as Palm Sunday, the crowds hailed Jesus, shouting in Luke 19:38,"'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.'" And Matthew records this in Matthew 21 verse nine, "'Hosanna!'" which means, "save us." Save now "'Hosanna, to the son of David, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.'" So this is the mindset in those dark days.

Now, back to the text. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. By the way, the term "governor" just means a person of authority, a term that could have been applied to anybody that was leading in that day, any authoritative position. And there is historical evidence that indicates that Quirinius held a high position in the province of Syria at least two times. According to Sir William Ramsey, at the time of the first census in 8 BC. Quote, "Varus was controlling the internal affairs of Syria, while Quirinius was commanding its armies and controlling its foreign policy." And he is known to have governed Syria from about AD 6 through 9, and so he is the one that administered at least one census in AD 6 completed in 8 BC. By the way, that census caused a great uprising among the Jews. You can read about that in Acts 5:37, that whole section in there, and it's also described in great detail, if you want to read about it in Josephus.

But there is an apparent problem with this particular text that I know some of you will ask me about if I don't deal with it now for just a moment. Some will say, especially those who deny the infallibility of Scripture, that this census took place more than a decade after Herod's death, and we know that Herod was still alive when Jesus was born. So when Jesus was born no earlier than 6 BC, more likely closer to 4 BC, probably around 5 BC, so how can you resolve the seeming discrepancy that should cause us all to just throw our Bibles away, because you got this huge problem here. How can you resolve this discrepancy of a census in 8 BC, when Jesus' birth was probably about 5 BC, no earlier than 6 BC. Well, the answer most likely is that there was probably a delay in the administration of the census. It was probably postponed in Herod's region. And there are several reasons why scholars would say this, and I think they are hey are valid reasons. First of all, you must bear in mind that, you know, they didn't have AI, they didn't have electronic communication, emails and, you know, phones and all that type of thing. When an edict went out, it took a long time to get to wherever these things were to be administered. Moreover, there's literally 1000s of people that must be organized. You've got to have census takers, counters, you have to have soldiers, you have to have places for people to go, and then you've got to get the word to all of the people. But also remember Herod's mental and physical condition during that time, in both cases, they were deteriorating. He was ultimately dying. He had that chronic kidney disease complicated by Fournier's gangrene, a genital infection; and if you read Josephus, for example, the symptoms that that are described in the ancient texts include intolerable itching all over the skin, painful intestinal problems, breathlessness and fever, swelling, dropsy in the feet, convulsions in every limb, and gangrene, literally, the rotting of the genitals. Well, that's what was going on with this guy. And you add to this, Herod knew that the Jews absolutely hated a census, which became evident later on, after it was taken, as I mentioned, the Jews had an uprising because of it. And the last thing Herod needed was an uprising, which would infuriate the Emperor Caesar Augustus, who was already not very pleased with him. The emperor had learned how Herod had killed his wife, Mariamne and her mother Alexandra; Mariamne's two sons, I believe, totally killed three of his sons because he feared they were trying to take over his kingdom. The emperor had written Herod and said, "Whereas formally I treated you as a friend, I will now treat you as a subject." So he knew he was on the outs with the emperor. He's thinking, I'm sure, man, if I do this census now, once he finally got word, it’s going to, it's going to cause further problems."  In fact, the emperor also said, "It's safer to be Herod's swine than Herod's son." By the way, the word "swine,”, it could be "hus" and son is "huios.". So there's a pun, there's a play on words there; and it's, it is certainly fitting, because you will recall Herod pretended to worship the Jewish God and respect their laws, so therefore he would never eat pork. So therefore, pigs were safe with Herod, but not his son. You know, that's the whole idea.

Another consideration that could have pointed to the delay of the administration of the census is that Herod knew that Caesar was very sympathetic to the people that were subjugated; and so not wanting to fall out of favor with Caesar Augustus, he probably postponed the census originally ordered for 8 BC, and it's finally carried out probably around 5 BC, around the time of Jesus' birth. And again, maybe even a more simple explanation is that it just took that long to carry out that kind of order that would have required a massive amount of administration. Well, bottom line, there's no discrepancy in Scripture.

Now, back to the text, verse three, "And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city." You see, it was important for the Jewish people to register in their city, to maintain the line of descent, very important to know your family tree. And the Romans acquiesced to this type of thing, to Jewish customs, to keep the peace. And again, I find it fascinating that God now is directing the most powerful emperor on the earth, Caesar Augustus, to get Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, so that his Son, the Lord Jesus, would be born exactly where he predicted that he would be born in Bethlehem. You know, he also did this with Artaxerxes in Ezra seven, with Tiglath-Pileser in Isaiah 10, and with Cyrus in Isaiah 45. And again, I find great comfort, and even humor, in knowing that whatever our pompous authorities have up their sleeve, they are still unwitting pawns in God's chess board, they are ultimately going to fulfill what he wants, and there's absolutely nothing that can thwart the sovereign purposes and plans of God.

So we see the divine intervention in a pagan ruler. Secondly, divine intervention in a godly couple. Verse four, "Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea." Judea being in southern Israel and higher in elevation than Nazareth, in the Galilee, which is up north. So this is about a 90-mile trek that they had to make. They had to go to the city of David. That was a title given to Mount Zion in Jerusalem, from which David originally ruled. You read about that in Second Samuel five, but it was also the place where David was born and raised. And it says, "...which is called Bethlehem. Because he was of the house and family of David." Now, what I find astonishing, and there's so many examples of this, is that about 735 years before this happened, before Christ was born, the Spirit of God inspired Micah to write this in chapter five and verse two, "'But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,'" which was the ancient name of Bethlehem, "'...too little...'" that is the most insignificant, "'...too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.'" Is that not amazing, that it would be predicted and it would come to pass? And I could give you example after example after example of the literal fulfillment of Bible prophecy; and to think that the most preeminent person that has ever been born was born in the most insignificant place.

Verse five, we read why they did this, why they went there, "...in order to register along with Mary." In other words, Joseph and Mary, "...who was engaged to him and was with child." Now you might ask, why in the world would he take a wife on a 90-mile trek when she's about to have a baby? Well, part of it is because women 12 years and older were subject to a poll tax, so she needed to go. But I'm sure also Joseph didn't want to leave her behind. Don't you know she was the subject of ridicule? Don't you know that people were wondering what's going on here? Engaged to Joseph, and yet she's pregnant? But also, they knew - Joseph and Mary knew - through the angel Gabriel, that God is up to something in their life. And so 90 miles, probably, if you take the Transjordan route - I've been on it before, I can see it in my mind; some of you have as well. And I've thought about this, of course, as you know, I come from a horse background. I've spent a lot of time packing in the Rocky Mountains. I haven't used little donkeys before, but I did some research on them. I know all about packing horses and mules. Donkeys a little bit out of my league, so I had to do a little research. They probably, we don't know for sure, but they probably used a couple of donkeys, that was the most common, the most affordable means of transportation in those days. And a donkey can go about 15 plus miles per day if it's packed. And so it would have taken about six days for them to make this trip, maybe a little bit more, because it would have been in the rainy season. And I know that you've got a gradual incline as you go up the mountainous terrain to approach Bethlehem, plus you've got to carry some of your food with you. Got to pack those on the donkeys. I mean, there's no Waffle House and Cracker Barrel on the way. There would have been some markets here and there that they could have perhaps gotten a little bit of food, but they had to have some bedding with them. They had to have some basic equipment for a shelter in order to spend the night, some type of a lean-to tent or something. And one of the difficult things in those days, in many places, you got to carry water with you. So you've got to have goat skin bags that they use to carry water. And I looked it up; these donkeys could carry about 250 pounds. And I know I'm always on thin ice when I talk about the average weight of women, but they say that the average weight of a woman is 145 pounds, and you add about 25 to 35 pounds for a single baby, so a pregnant mother would have been about 170 to 180 pounds. And Joseph would have probably walked a lot because his donkey would have been loaded down with some of the gear. Now for Mary to ride that far, for that long, folks that that has to be a miracle in and of itself. Look, I know from when I used to have my horses, I would take people on horseback rides. Everybody, well, "We want you to take us on a ride." Well, I learned very quickly that a person that's not used to riding a horse can last about 45 minutes, maybe an hour, and then they're walking. And I learned that at a trot, they last about two minutes. At a gallop, about five seconds. Most of them are on the ground at that point. But the point is, the knees give out, especially if you're overweight. I mean, fat people have a real hard time, you know, riding those horses, and there's not enough Advil in the world to take care of the pain if you've been riding very long. But imagine now being pregnant, ready to give birth, and you're doing this on the back of a donkey for six days. It had to have been a miracle of God for them to endure that. Well, the text doesn't say anything about all of that, but I just think it's interesting to think about it. So God gave them strength, especially Mary, in this advanced stage of pregnancy. So all along, now, God is at work in their life.

And finally, we see the divine intervention in a mother's womb. We've seen it in a pagan ruler, in a godly couple. Now think about what's going on in her womb. It says in verse six, "While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth." No indication how long that is probably very, very quickly. But think about this, while Mary is pregnant, while she's riding this long distance, and while she comes now to Bethlehem to give birth to her son, our Savior God is intervening in her womb, and the God that's intervening is the God that is in her womb. Do you realize that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one according to Hebrews, one three, "...who upholds all things by the word of His power." And he was doing that in Mary's womb. Absolutely astounding.

Verse seven says, "And she gave birth to her firstborn son." Would you notice it's not her, her only son, as taught by the Roman Catholic Church. It just says, "her firstborn son."  Mary did not remain a perpetual virgin, as the Roman Catholics tell us. In Matthew one, verse 25 we read that Joseph quote, "kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a son, and he called his name Jesus." Which implies that after the birth of Jesus, they had normal marital relations. And Mary, we know, gave birth to other children. The names of Jesus' brothers are recorded in Matthew 13:55, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas. And the next verse talks about the sisters. Matthew 12 verse 46, "While he was still speaking to the crowds, behold his mother and brothers were standing outside seeking to speak to Him." So I just wanted to point that out. She gave birth to her firstborn son, not her only son.

And it says, "...and she wrapped Him in cloths..." Now I saw all three of our children born. Many of you women have given birth. It would probably be difficult to just give birth and then to wrap the child up. So maybe she did. Maybe God gave her supernatural strength. But I would imagine that she said, "Joseph, take those cloths and wrap up the child." So somehow, some way, that's what happened. And we read that she, "...laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn." The term "inn" here, in the original language, is a term just kind of a general term for a shelter or a place of lodging. We know historically that in most cases, those were two story places where people would stay in the upper story and down below, the animals would be kept. And the wranglers, the people that took care of the animals, would care from them there. It could have been just kind of a public campground, type of area where caravan people would stay.

And also I was thinking about this, Roman soldiers now are in the area, and the census takers, and they would have occupied all the public places, the shelters. So possibly Mary and Joseph didn't even want to encounter them, because they were unclean. We don't know. Justin Martyr who lived between AD 114 and 165 said that they took up quarters, quote, "in a certain cave." Maybe, maybe they did, not sure. Helena, the mother of Constantine we know, built a church on the presumed site of the Nativity. You could go online and see that church - I've been in, it in Bethlehem - the Church of the Nativity. We simply don't know what kind of place Jesus was born in, but what we do know is that he was laid in a manger, and mangers are the types of structures that animals eat from you. You want to have a manger, you don't want feed on the ground, because then animals can get the dust and the dirt, and then they can get in their gut, and then they can get a twisted gut and it can kill them. So they're in a manger, in some kind of a stable.

Well, as we wrap it up this morning, I just find it amazing to realize that the self-existent, pre-existent, uncreated, Creator of the universe took on human flesh, was born of a virgin, was laid in a manger, and lived the perfect life that we could never live, so that he could bear our sins in his body, that we might be forgiven and that we might be reconciled to God. Second Corinthians 8:9 comes to mind, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich." Isn't that amazing? Absolutely astounding. What an amazing event. The long-awaited Messiah of Israel finally arrives. As we read in John 1:14, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory; glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and full of truth." Beloved, I pray that you will ponder these things, that you will reflect upon them, meditate on them, and may they fan the embers of your worship into a roaring inferno of praise and obedience and evangelism that others might hear the good news of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let's pray together,

Father, thank you for the eternal truths of your word. I pray that you will use them to strengthen our faith and to animate our wills, to stir up our spiritual affections in such a way as to worship you more heartily, more deeply, more fervently, and that we might truly be instruments of righteousness in this lost and dying world, that others will see Christ and come to faith in Him. We thank you, we give you praise, and we long for your return for the glory of Christ.