Caesar Augustus – taken from God With Us
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world . . . And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem.
(Luke 2:1,3–4)
Prophecies have been given, John has been born, Jesus has been conceived miraculously and Joseph has agreed to adopt the child into the kingly line of David. All is ready. Well, almost.
There is just one issue: Joseph and Mary are in totally the wrong place. The Old Testament prophecies say that David’s heir must be born in Bethlehem. So for this prophecy to be fulfilled, Mary and Joseph must somehow leave Nazareth and end up in Bethlehem. Luke tells us that they ended up in the right place because, far away in Rome, the emperor had decided to count heads and had put a senior bureaucrat, Publius Quirinius, in charge. The result is that Joseph has to travel southwards, taking his pregnant wife with him.
There are several things here.
First, a reminder that in the Advent story we deal with history. It is rooted in the world of Emperor Augustus and Governor Quirinius and, if it is true history, then it is significant.
Second, we see God nudging the most important person in the known world so that he sets in motion a complex international bureaucratic procedure resulting in a peasant girl giving birth in just the right place. Here, God uses the mighty to serve his purposes.
Third, where the focus in the Advent accounts has been small-scale and local, now Rome, the emperor and the Empire’s administration make an appearance. This is no coincidence: the Gospel writers tell us that what is about to happen in Bethlehem will have a vast significance for the emperor and the Empire. Luke is hinting that this is going to be part of a global story.
Finally, there is comfort here. There are still many empire-like organisations and companies in this world. It is easy to feel vulnerable and helpless before such powers yet this census reminds us that standing above these earthly powers is the heavenly power of God. Caesars, and those like them, may think they control the world, but the reality is otherwise.
If we know Christ then the one who rules the nations is on our side.
Prayer: When we look at the world’s problems today they seem overwhelming, Lord. Teach us to trust you in all circumstances and to see your solutions to problems. Help us to know what to be involved in so that we can play our part in being your hands and feet in this world. Amen.
Ponder: ‘We ourselves feel that what we are doing is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop’ (Mother Teresa).
