Luke 2 New International Version (NIV)

The Birth of Jesus

2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.

⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

 

Why did Mary, being so pregnant, have to go to Bethlehem?   Herod, the local tyrant had offended Caesar Augustus, the overall tyrant. To punish Herod, Augustus planned to more greatly tax Herod’s area. So he forced a mandatory Census to happen to count how many people there were in order to calculate the proposed tax. (The tax didn’t actually happen until 10 years later).

 

But what was the REAL reason Mary had to go to Bethlehem?   Because of the prophecy by Micah: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for Me One who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Micah 5:2).

 

What does this mean for you?  God can move heaven and earth, tyrants and kings, to fulfill His plan. What the enemy meant for evil can be turned to God’s good.  Herod ticking off Augustus and Augustus requiring a census was God’s way of ensuring that the prophecies were fulfilled, and neither Herod nor Augustus had a clue that they were being tools of the Living God.  He needed them to get Mary, Joseph and Jesus to the right place at the right time.

 

And He will do the same thing for you.  That situation that you think is going to ruin everything may very well be the situation that has directed you into the next part of His plan for you.  Don’t let the circumstance affect your outlook, because you really have no clue what God is up to most of the time. Just trust Him as you move through it, and be faithful while you do.

 

 

Jesus fulfilled over 300 biblical prophecies about the Messiah’s birth, life and death (some counts are 456).

 

What’s the likelihood of a person predicting today the exact city in which the birth of a future leader would take place, well into the 21st century? This is indeed what the prophet Micah did 700 years before the Messiah. Further, what is the likelihood of predicting the precise manner of death that a new, unknown religious leader would experience, a thousand years from now—a manner of death presently unknown, and to remain unknown for hundreds of years? Yet, this is what David did in 1000BC

Again, what is the likelihood of predicting the specific date of the appearance of some great future leader, hundreds of years in advance? This is what Daniel did, 530 years before Christ.

 

Professor Emeritus of Science at Westmont College, Peter Stoner, has calculated the probability of one man fulfilling the major prophecies made concerning the Messiah. The estimates were worked out by twelve different classes representing some 600 university students.

After examining only eight different prophecies (Idem, 106), they conservatively estimated that the chance of one man fulfilling all eight prophecies was one in 10^17.

To illustrate how large the number 10^17 IS (a figure with 17 zeros), Stoner gave this illustration :

If you mark one of ten tickets, and place all the tickets in a hat, and thoroughly stir them, and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one, his chance of getting the right ticket is one in ten. Suppose that we take 10^17 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They’ll cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would’ve had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote them in their own wisdom (Idem, 106-107).

 

The probability of 48 prophecies being fulfilled in one person is the incredible number 10^157 (157 zeroes).   There are over 300 prophecies about the Messiah, and they are fulfilled in the historical person of Jesus Christ.

 

⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.

 

in the Greek it is not her firstborn Son, but ton uion authv ton prwtotokon, her Son, the firstborn; he was truly her Son, and her Son firstborn, but he was not called prowtotocov upon that account merely, for he was the firstborn of every creature, Colossians 1:15

 

Christ, as to his human nature; was Mary’s firstborn; and as to his divine nature, God’s firstborn

 

She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

There are several different thoughts on what this phrase actually means.  Pretty much everyone agrees, this does NOT mean what it says in English.  The 2 most logical options are as follows:

 

1. The word “inn” meant khan or caravanserai. This was a free lodging place for travelers common in the middle east. It had 4 walls with an entrance and a watering hole in the center of a large open courtyard. People would water their animals and clean themselves up. Around the courtyard were platforms about 3 or 4 feet off of the ground with an inner covered stall for animals and servants.  Then behind those stalls were covered rooms for the travelers bordered by the outer wall of the building. There was no real host for most, so there was no innkeeper in this case who said there was no room in the inn.  This lodging place was simply full from all of the census travelers, and so Mary and Joseph had to lodge in one of the inner stalls that held livestock.
2. The word “inn” actually means “guest room”. The Greek word used here is the same for the room that Jesus used for Passover in the last supper. In this case, it means that they were either trying to get a guest room in a stranger’s house in Bethlehem, or in a relative’s house. But again, due to the census crowd, others were already in the guest room, and they were forced to go into the place where the family kept their animals.  I’m tempted to believe that it was a stranger if this was a case, because who would let their own relative’s baby be born in an animal stall?

 

Regardless of the case, neither the owner of the guest room, the tenant in the guest room, nor any of the guests in the caravansarie would give up their room to house the pregnant woman.  It was basically every man for themselves. There was no inn keeper to turn them away if it was the caravansarie, but if it was a guest room at a relatives, that makes this really bad.

 

In the early and simple ages of the world every man considered it an honor to entertain a stranger; later, as traveling became more common, many desired to share the honor and pleasure with their neighbors; wherefore they could continue the dignity of hospitality? As time moved on, one person was appointed in each town and village, and was expected to entertain strangers in the name of the rest of the town. But as the ages grew less simple, and the pure glow of brotherly love cooled down, the only provision made was the erection of a huge square block, in the town (caravansary), arranged into rooms for the travelers, the guests were on the second floor and the bottom floor was reserved for the animals, and here, with a certain provision of water and in some cases chopped straw for the animals, the traveler would make himself as comfortable as he could. He did not have to purchase admittance to the caravansary, for it was free to all, and the stable especially so.

 

It makes me think of today, especially this past Friday, as we worked with a church to find housing for a homeless pregnant woman due to go into labor within 2 weeks, who also had a 1 year old son and husband. They had been living in a tent throughout the summer and needed better housing during the winter.

 

Now, who is going to take a chronically homeless woman, child and possibly husband into their home? Who is going to take that risk?

 

Hebrews 13:2 says: Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

 

5381 philoneksía (from 5384 /phílos, “friend” and 3581/xenos, “a stranger”) – properly, warmth (friendliness) shown to strangers; (figuratively) the readiness to share hospitality (generosity) by entertaining in one’s home, etc.

 

Isn’t that scary?  God is asking us to take in strangers, people we don’t know, into our own homes?  What are we going to do with that command?  Ignore it and say that it wasn’t meant for our time and culture?  People were nicer then?  No, they were the same then as they are now.  God said to show hospitality to strangers. Either we are going to do it, or we are not. But we will not be able to say we did what the Lord instructed us, because if we refuse to get involved in the problems of strangers, we are not.

 

I don’t believe it means take in any and everyone, but I do believe that God will direct people to us, and coupled with experiential wisdom and common sense, there can be a common ground where we can make a difference in the lives of others who are in serious need.

 

Jesus invited others to follow Him by living with Him and learning from them. He took a chance at all times that He might be betrayed or abandoned by any of them. He was disappointed by those He spent extra time with (Peter, James and John in the Garden of Gethsemene, when He asked them to pray and they fell asleep), betrayed and stolen from by Judas, denied by Peter after Peter pledged to die for Jesus.  But Jesus still loved them and died for them.  Jesus loved mankind, but He didn’t entrust Himself to any man.

 

What does that mean for us practically?  If we love and sacrifice of ourselves for others as Jesus commands, it means that sometimes we will be taken advantage of, betrayed, denied, stolen from. But it does not mean that we are to stop loving and sacrificing for others. Just because we are burned by one person does not give us an excuse to withhold what we have to offer to others.

 

James 2New International Version (NIV)

Favoritism Forbidden

2 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. ² Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. ³ If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” ⁴ have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

⁵ Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? ⁶ But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? ⁷ Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?

⁸ If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,”^[a] you are doing right. ⁹ But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. ¹⁰ For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. ¹¹ For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,”^[b] also said, “You shall not murder.”^[c] If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

¹² Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, ¹³ because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Faith and Deeds

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? ¹⁵ Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶ If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷ In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. ¹⁹ You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

²⁰ You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless^[d]? ²¹ Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. ²³ And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”^[e]and he was called God’s friend. ²⁴ You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

²⁵ In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? ²⁶ As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

 

Rom 12:20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

 

1 Peter 4: 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

 

3 John: 5 Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you.

6 They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way in a manner that honors God.

7 It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans.

8 We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth.

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Luke 2:7 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.

What sermons have you heard preached about this verse?

There was no room for them in the inn.—The statement implies that the town was crowded with persons who had come up to be registered there—some, perhaps, exulting, like Joseph, in their descent from David. The inn of Bethlehem—what in modern Eastern travel is known as a khan or caravanserai, as distinct from a hostelry (the “inn” of Luke 10:34)—offered the shelter of its walls and roofs, and that only.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caravanserai

Laid him in a manger – The word rendered “inn” in this verse means simply a place of halting, a lodging-place; in modern terms, a khan or caravanserai (Robinson’s “Biblical Research in Palestine,” iii. 431). The word rendered “manger” means simply a crib or place where cattle were fed. “Inns,” in our sense of the term, were anciently unknown in the East, and now they are not common. Hospitality was generally practiced, so that a traveler had little difficulty in obtaining shelter and food when necessary. As traveling became more frequent, however, khans or caravanserais were erected for public use – large structures where the traveler might freely repair and find lodging for himself and his beast, he himself providing food and forage. Many such khans were placed at regular intervals in Persia. To such a place it was, though already crowded, that Joseph and Mary resorted at Bethlehem. Instead of finding a place in the “inn,” or the part of the caravanserai where the travelers themselves found a place of repose, they were obliged to be contented in one of the stalls or recesses appropriated to the beasts on which they rode.

There is often no host, and the use of any vacant leewan is free, but the traveller pays a trifle for food, water, &c. If the khan be crowded the traveller must be content with a corner of the courtyard or enclosed place among the cattle, or else in the stable. The stable is often a limestone cave or grotto, and there is a very ancient tradition that this was the case in the khan of Bethlehem.

In the Christmas story, we have always vilified and demonized the innkeeper who turned Mary and Joseph away, leaving them no choice for shelter except a stable. But there was no innkeeper in the bible.

When it came time for Mary to deliver the baby, the Greek of Luke’s text says, “she wrapped him in cloth and laid him in a corn crib, as there was no room in the guest room.” Yes, you heard me right. Luke does not say there was no room in the inn. Luke has a different Greek word for inn (pandeion), which he trots out in the parable of the Good Samaritan. The word he uses here (kataluma) is the very word he uses to describe the room in which Jesus shared the Last Supper with his disciples — the guest room of a house.

Archeology shows that houses in Bethlehem and its vicinity often had caves as the back of the house where they kept their prized ox or beast of burden, lest it be stolen. The guest room was in the front of the house, the animal shelter in the back, and Joseph and Mary had come too late to get the guest room, so the relatives did the best they could by putting them in the back of the house.   Jesus was born in his relative’s home, in the place where they kept the most precious of their animals. One can well imagine the smell.

a manger—the manger, the bench to which the horses’ heads were tied, on which their food could rest [Webster and Wilkinson].

in the Greek it is not her firstborn Son, but ton uion authv ton prwtotokon, her Son, the firstborn; he was truly her Son, and her Son firstborn, but he was not called prowtotocov upon that account merely, for he was the firstborn of every creature, Colossians 1:15

Christ, as to his human nature; was Mary’s firstborn; and as to his divine nature, God’s firstborn

It was necessary that Our Lord Jesus Christ would be born in Bethlehem Ephrathah, which is located in the land of Judah, for this was in accordance to the Word of the Lord which was spoken by His servant Micah, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for Me One who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Micah 5:2).

Why did a pregnant Mary have to go to Bethlehem? A little tyrant, Herod, in a show of independent spirit, offends the greater tyrant, Augustus. Augustus informs him that he will no longer treat him as a friend, but as a slave; and although Herod makes the most humiliating submission, and his friends at the Roman court intercede for him, yet Augustus, to show his displeasure, orders a census to be taken of all the Jewish people, in order to make preparations for a contemplated taxation, which was not carried out till some ten years later. Even the winds and the waves are not more fickled than a tyrant’s will; but the Ruler of the wind and the waves knows how to rule the perverse spirits of princes. The Lord our God has a bridle for the wildest war horse, and a hook for the most terrible sea monster.

Dictatorial Caesars are but puppets moved with invisible strings, mere slaves to the King of kings. Augustus must become offended with Herod; he is compelled to tax the people; it is imperative that a census be taken; no, it is necessary that inconvenient, harsh, and tyrannical regulations would be published, and every person must return to the town to which he was reputed to belong; thus Mary is brought to Bethlehem, Jesus Christ is born as prophesied, and, moreover, He is recognized officially as being descended from David by the fact that his mother came to Bethlehem as being of that lineage, remained there, and returned to Galilee without having her claims questioned,

When all the people of the house of David were thus compelled to go to Bethlehem, the sparse accommodations of the little town was soon exhausted. Doubtless friends and relatives took in their out-of-town guests until their houses were full, but Joseph had no such willing relatives in the town. There was the “caravansary,” which was provided in every village, where free accommodations were given to travelers; this too was full, for coming from a distance, and compelled to travel slowly because of Mary’s condition, the humble couple arrived late in the day. The rooms within the great brick square (caravansary) were already occupied with families; there remained no better lodging, even for a woman experiencing birth pains, than one of the crude and rough places appropriate for animals. The stall of the donkey was the only place where the child could be born. By hanging a curtain at its front, and perhaps tying up the animal on the outside to block the passage, the needed seclusion could be obtained, and here, in the stable, was the King of Glory born, and He was laid in the manger.

this place was “free to everyone;” it was an inn, and please remember the inn in this case was not like our hotels, where accommodation and provision must be paid for. In the early and simple ages of the world every man considered it an honor to entertain a stranger; later, as traveling became more common, many desired to share the honor and pleasure with their neighbors; wherefore they could continue the dignity of hospitality? As time moved on, one person was appointed in each town and village, and was expected to entertain strangers in the name of the rest of the town. But as the ages grew less simple, and the pure glow of brotherly love cooled down, the only provision made was the erection of a huge square block, in the town (caravansary), arranged into rooms for the travelers, the guests were on the second floor and the bottom floor was reserved for the animals, and here, with a certain provision of water and in some cases chopped straw for the animals, the traveler would make himself as comfortable as he could. He did not have to purchase admittance to the caravansary, for it was free to all, and the stable especially so. Exclusions of certain classes are unknown here, and the prerogatives of social class are not acknowledged. No forms of etiquette are required in entering a stable; it cannot be an offense to enter the stable of a public caravansary.

Charles Spurgeon said: I believe our Lord was laid in the manger where the beasts were fed, to show “that even beast-like men may come to him and live.” No creature can be so degraded that Christ cannot lift it up. It may fall, and seem to most certainly fall to hell, but the long and strong arm of Christ can reach it even in its most desperate degradation; He can bring it up from apparently hopeless ruin. If there is one who has strolled in here this morning whom society abhors, and who abhors himself, my Master in the stable with the beasts presents Himself as able to save the vilest of the vile, and to accept the worst of the worst even now. Believe in Him and He will make you a new creature.

Still true that we have to continually be careful to make room for Christ in our lives.

Eph 3:14-21 says

¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family^[a]in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Notice that we are to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge. There are two different Greek words used here, the word for knowledge means to just know about it in your mind. The word used for to know means to “know absolutely”, to feel, perceive, and experience. This means that we are not to just know about God’s love we are to experience it. This kind of love is the most awesome experience we can have; it is the very presence of God in us.

Psalm 72:19

Verse Concepts

And blessed be His glorious name forever; And may the whole earth be filled with His glory Amen, and Amen.

By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. (1^st John 4:13)

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Jesus was born into this world unnoticed, outside the city, and outside of all persons and events that seemed important at the time. Two thousand years later, we recognize the importance of that birth, but, at the time, virtually no one did. Understanding what is implied in that can help give perspective to those of us who, in our lives, forever, feel like we are outsiders, unknowns, anonymous, small-time, small-town, persons who are incidental to the big action and the big picture. Our photo and our story will never appear in TIME or PEOPLE magazine. Our names will never be up in lights and we are destined to live and die in basic anonymity, not known by anyone outside of our own small circles. BUT WE NEVER KNOW HOW OUR FAITHFULNESS TO GOD IN EVEN THE SMALLEST THINGS WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO OTHERS, AND FIT INTO THE OVERALL PLAN OF GOD.