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We finished off with study 7 showing that Mary and Joseph had traveled 70 miles south of Nazareth to Bethlehem only to find the city full of people and no room for them in the inn.
Luke 2:7 KJV 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. This leads to a question which we need to keep in our mind for further evaluation. The inn was a public place in which those who were poor could come and stay when visiting the city. We know that Joseph and Mary were poor for many reasons, one of which was the fact that they sought lodging in the city inn. If they were people of wealth they would have been known and accommodations would have already been arranged for them. Since they were poor, which we will explain in more detail later, they sought lodging at the inn. The problem was not that Bethlehem did not have an inn for visitors. The problem was that they had a great influx of people that caused all the inns to be full. Why were all the inns in Bethlehem full? What was so important in the region that drew people from everywhere to Bethlehem at this particular time and season? These are interesting points and an important clue as to when our Lord was born. We cannot surmise that the inn was full because of the census that led Joseph to come to Bethlehem in the first place. Yes many would be coming into Bethlehem for the census but many would also be leaving Bethlehem to go to their census cities. There are seven feasts recorded in the Word of God that God had given to His people to follow. These feasts were very important and had been used as the spiritual and political calendars for over 2,000 years. Later we will show that Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem during one of these seven feasts.
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CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE FOR THE WEEK: We are building a Biblical and historical foundation establishing the time and season of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Today we look at the trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem for Mary and Joseph. It was tax and census time and every male had to return to his house of origin. At this time Mary was well along in her pregnancy making the trip ever more difficult.
Luke 2:4-6 KJV 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. This was a 70 mile trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Mary was due at any time. This trip would take from 4 to 7 days walking or riding a donkey. Most likely, due to Mary's condition, the trip would have been closer to the 7 days but this is only speculation and cannot be argued from silence. After arriving in Bethlehem they were housed in a stable meant for animals because there was no room in the inn. Luke 2:7 KJV 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. This leads to a question which we need to keep in our mind for further evaluation. The inn was a public place in which those who where poor could come and stay when visiting the city. We know that Joseph and Mary were poor for many reasons which we will lay out in a later study. The problem was not that Bethlehem did not have an inn for visitors. The problem was that they had a great influx of people that caused all the inns to be full. Why were all the inns in Bethlehem full? What was so important in the region that drew people from everywhere to Bethlehem at this particular time and season? These are interesting points and an important clue as to when our Lord was born. More on this in the next study. CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE FOR THE WEEK: We are building a Biblical and historical foundation establishing the time and season of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. In doing so we will re-examine the holiday of Christmas asking ourselves why do we do it, where did the holiday originate from, who gave the Christian church the holiday and it's traditions, and is it Biblical to celebrate it. We will start off today with a continuation of Scriptures from the Book of Matthew as we look at the Biblical and historical account of our Lord's birth.
Matthew 1:18-21 KJV Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. 20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. 21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Matthew 1:25 KJV And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS. Although the world’s view acknowledges the birth of a man named Jesus, they would strongly disagree with the Biblical account that He was born of a virgin and was God and is God and that He died on a cross for our sins. The fact that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin is crucial to the Christian doctrine, however there are many who would say that it is not important to embrace the virgin birth to be a Christian. This doctrine would take pages for me to explain and would be getting off the main topic of the Christmas Challenge. However I will take the time to state that in John 16:8-11 we see the convicting work of the Holy Spirit as He draws people to the Lord Jesus Christ. If God is not the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Scriptures state through the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a virgin, then Jesus cannot be sinless in nature and cannot die for the sins of the world. What have we established so far? Joseph and Mary were engaged to be married which is as good as married in Jewish culture. It would take a bill of divorce to break their engagement. They lived in Nazareth which was about 63 miles north of Jerusalem. Mary was a virgin and became pregnant of the Holy Spirit with the Son of God. CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE FOR THE WEEK: We can start looking at the New Testament Scriptures to see what it reveals concerning the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. The accounts of Mark and John reveal nothing about the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ that could give us a clue as to the time or season. On the surface, the accounts of Matthew and Luke reveal little about the time of Jesus’ birth. No dates are given and no season of the year is actually named. However there are clues whereby we can surmise certain truths. We will not attempt to stress a doctrine out of Biblical silence but we can draw conclusions on limited evidence if the evidence is Biblical and historical. First we will look at some Scriptures from the Matthew account of our Lord’s birth and see if there are any clues that we can draw from. The process of going through these Scriptures may seem elementary and basic Christian teachings, but it is necessary to build truth upon truth, and precept upon precept.
Matthew 1:16 KJV And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. We know Biblically and historically a man named Jesus was born in Bethlehem. It is such a documented fact that even our calendars reflect dates such as B.C. and A.D. around his birth. From this Matthew 1:16 Scripture we surmise that our Lord was born through the genealogical line of Mary and Joseph, which can be studied in detail in Matthew chapter 1 and Luke chapter 3. The Matthew account traces the genealogy of Joseph and the Luke account traces the genealogy of Mary. We also see that His name is Jesus but He was called Christ. Christ was not "nick name" or His middle name, but was the role or purpose that He left heaven and took on the form of man. The name "Christ" means anointed or Messiah. |
AuthorCharles Morris. Founder and Senior Pastor of RSIM USA. Archives
November 2019
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