Advent - Day 15
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 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.
Luke 2:1-5
We are anticipating the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, our Lord. This is advent. And this year we are following Luke’s gospel as he passes on to us the eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ life.
Luke’s gospel has always had a place in my heart for exactly these little moments. His historical details help us remember that Jesus’ birth doesn’t take place in a land far far away or middle-earth. But on this earth, in a place and time recorded in history.
For instance, both Caesar Augustus and the lesser known Quirinius are both attested to by many other non-Biblical sources. As is the practice of the Roman census which would require those living in the Empire to return to the community they were registered in.
These little details remind us that Jesus’ birth is a supernatural, transcendent event and at the same time one that takes place in ordinary space and time. It is the wondrous coming together of the eternal and the temporal, the spiritual and the material, an alien reality and the only reality we know.
And most importantly. Jesus isn’t a myth. He isn’t a story told to children for the sake of moral formation. He came into space and time to save those who also live in space and time. And so they might be saved, if not from space and time, certainly from a space and time of an eternity in hell.
For Today:
Pray:
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.
Luke 2:1-5
We are anticipating the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, our Lord. This is advent. And this year we are following Luke’s gospel as he passes on to us the eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ life.
Luke’s gospel has always had a place in my heart for exactly these little moments. His historical details help us remember that Jesus’ birth doesn’t take place in a land far far away or middle-earth. But on this earth, in a place and time recorded in history.
For instance, both Caesar Augustus and the lesser known Quirinius are both attested to by many other non-Biblical sources. As is the practice of the Roman census which would require those living in the Empire to return to the community they were registered in.
These little details remind us that Jesus’ birth is a supernatural, transcendent event and at the same time one that takes place in ordinary space and time. It is the wondrous coming together of the eternal and the temporal, the spiritual and the material, an alien reality and the only reality we know.
And most importantly. Jesus isn’t a myth. He isn’t a story told to children for the sake of moral formation. He came into space and time to save those who also live in space and time. And so they might be saved, if not from space and time, certainly from a space and time of an eternity in hell.
For Today:
- Do you think of Jesus’ birth as a historical event?
- What do you find helpful in reminding you of the Bible’s historical truth?
- Spend 5 minutes imagining this moment 2000 years ago.
Pray:
- Praise the Father that He is outside of time and space.
- Give thanks for Jesus who came into our time and space.
- Ask God for His Holy Spirit to help you and others remember the truth of Jesus’ birth
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