ZACHARIAS had a great vision for his son. He thought of him as the prophet and the forerunner who would prepare the way of the Lord. All devout Jews hoped and longed for the day when the Messiah, God’s anointed king, would come. Most of them believed that, before he came, a forerunner would announce his coming and prepare his way. The usual belief was that Elijah would return to do so (Malachi 4:5). Zacharias saw in his son the one who would prepare the way for the coming of God’s king.
Verses 75–7 give a great picture of the steps of the Christian way.
(1) There is preparation. All life is a preparation to lead us to Christ. When Sir Walter Scott was young his aim was to be a soldier. An accident made him slightly lame and that dream had to be abandoned. He took to reading the old Scottish histories and romances and so became the master novelist. An old man said of him, ‘He was makin’ himsell a’ the time; but he didna ken maybe what he was about till years had passed.’ In life God is working all things together to bring us to Christ.
(2) There is knowledge. It is the simple fact that there was no real understanding of what God was like until Jesus came. The Greeks thought of a passionless God, beyond all joy and sorrow, looking on humanity in calm unmoved detachment – no help there. Jews thought of a demanding God, whose name was law and whose function was that of judge – nothing but fear there. Jesus came to tell that God was love, and in staggered amazement people said, ‘We never knew that God was like that.’ One of the great functions of the incarnation was to bring to men and women the knowledge of God.
(3) There is forgiveness. We must be clear about one thing regarding forgiveness. It is not so much the remission of penalty as the restoration of a relationship. Nothing can deliver us from certain consequences of our sins; the clock cannot be put back; but estrangement from God is turned to friendship, the distant God has become near and the God we feared has become the lover of human souls.
(4) There is walking in the ways of peace. Peace in Hebrew does not mean merely freedom from trouble; it means all that makes for our highest good; and through Christ we are enabled to walk in the ways that lead to everything that means life, and no longer to all that means death.
JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM
Luke 2:1–7
In these days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of all the world. The census first took place when Quirinius was governor of Syria; and everyone went to enrol himself, each man to his own town. So Joseph went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judaea, to David’s town, which is called Bethlehem, because he belonged to the house and the line of David, to enrol himself with Mary who was betrothed to him and she was with child. When they arrived there her time to bear the child was completed; and she bore her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the place where they had meant to lodge.
IN the Roman Empire periodical censuses were taken with the double object of assessing taxation and of discovering those who were liable for compulsory military service. The Jews were exempt from military service, and, therefore, in Palestine a census would be predominantly for taxation purposes. Regarding these censuses, we have definite information as to what happened in Egypt; and almost certainly what happened in Egypt happened in Syria, too, and Judaea was part of the province of Syria. The information we have comes from actual census documents written on papyrus and then discovered in the dust-heaps of Egyptian towns and villages and in the sands of the desert.
Such censuses were taken every fourteen years. And from AD 20 until about AD 270 we possess actual documents from every census taken. If the fourteen-year cycle held good in Syria this census must have been in 8 BC and that was the year in which Jesus was born. It may be that Luke has made one slight mistake. Quirinius did not actually become governor of Syria until AD 6; but he held an official post previously in those regions from 10 BC until 7 BC and it was during that first period that this census must have been taken.
Critics used to question the fact that every man had to go to his own city to be enrolled; but here is an actual government edict from Egypt:
Gaius Vibius Maximus, Prefect of Egypt orders: ‘Seeing that the time has come for the house-to-house census, it is necessary to compel all those who for any cause whatsoever are residing outside their districts to return to their own homes, that they may both carry out the regular order of the census, and may also diligently attend to the cultivation of their allotments.’
If that was the case in Egypt, it may well be that in Judaea, where the old tribal ancestries still held good, men had to go to the headquarters of their tribe. Here is an instance where further knowledge has shown the accuracy of the New Testament.
The journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem was eighty miles. The accommodation for travellers was most primitive. The eastern khan was like a series of stalls opening off a common courtyard. Travellers brought their own food; all that the innkeeper provided was fodder for the animals and a fire to cook. The town was crowded and there was no room for Joseph and Mary. So it was in the common courtyard that Mary’s child was born. Swaddling clothes consisted of a square of cloth with a long bandage-like strip coming diagonally off from one corner. The child was first wrapped in the square of cloth and then the long strip was wound round and round about him. The word translated manger means a place where animals feed; and therefore it can be either the stable or the manger which is meant.
That there was no room in the inn was symbolic of what was to happen to Jesus. The only place where there was room for him was on a cross. He sought an entry to the overcrowded hearts of those around him; he could not find it; and still his search – and his rejection – go on.
SHEPHERDS AND ANGELS
Luke 2:8–20
In this country there were shepherds who were in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone round about them and they were much afraid. The angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for – look you – I am bringing you good news of great joy, which will be to every people, for today a Saviour has been born for you, in David’s town, who is Christ the Lord. You will recognize him by this sign. You will find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger.’ And suddenly with the angel there was a crowd of heaven’s host, praising God and saying, ‘In the highest heights glory to God; and on earth peace to the men whose welfare he ever seeks.’ When the angels had left them and gone away to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, ‘Come! Let us go across to Bethlehem and let us see this thing which has happened which the Lord has made known to us.’ So they hurried on and they discovered Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. When they had seen him they told everyone about the word which had been spoken to them about this child; and all who heard were amazed at what was told them by the shepherds. But Mary stored up these things in her memory and in her heart kept wondering what they meant. So the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all that they had seen, just as it had been told to them.
IT is a wonderful thing that the story should tell that the first announcement of God came to some shepherds. Shepherds were despised by the orthodox good people of the day. They were quite unable to keep the details of the ceremonial law; they could not observe all the meticulous handwashings and rules and regulations. Their flocks made constant demands on them; and so the orthodox looked down on them. It was to simple men of the fields that God’s message first came.
But these were in all likelihood very special shepherds. We have already seen how in the Temple, morning and evening, an unblemished lamb was offered as a sacrifice to God. To see that the supply of perfect offerings was always available the Temple authorities had their own private sheep flocks; and we know that these flocks were pastured near Bethlehem. It is most likely that these shepherds were in charge of the flocks from which the Temple offerings were chosen. It is a lovely thought that the shepherds who looked after the Temple lambs were the first to see the Lamb of God who takes