Scribbles, Scriptures, and the Spirit: Gospel of Luke Chapter 2: The Birth of Christ

Luke 2:1-5 (MSG) Journeys
About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David’s town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant.

Can you imagine the hullabaloo today if everyone was told to return to the city of their birth for the Census? Or, worse yet, to the city of their ancestor's birth? In the US that would mean a flocking of people to Europe, Asia, or South America! What chaos! Airlines would be swamped, all public transportation in gridlock. Most of us no longer live near where we were born, much less our ancestral home.
Joseph also had to travel to return to his hometown. (It was important for this birth to take place in Bethlehem as the Scriptures foretold. Did God plan the census??) But Joseph had no public transportation. Just the family donkey for his pregnant bride. Why did Mary go with him? She was 9 months pregnant! Was she considered Joseph's property at this point? Where was her family? Was Joseph upset that he had to bring this 'burden' along on the trip? He could have traveled much faster without her. I have never thought about this before. In today's culture, Mary would have stayed home - the airlines wouldn't have let her travel! Perhaps she knew the prophecies and knew she had to be in Bethlehem as well.
Now I think of it, when DID Mary and Joseph marry? The Bible never mentions it - just this verse indicating his fiancee. Why didn't they marry before they left? Did they wait until they got home from Egypt two years later? So many questions....and maybe the answers aren't important. The only answer of value is a humble birth took place that changed the world. God was at work.

Luke 2: 6-7 (MSG) No Room
While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.
Two thoughts that perhaps merge:
1. Jesus comes from the humblest of beginnings, without pretense or trappings of wealth and power. An unwed teenage Mom (thankfully Dad did NOT run out!), a stable and a bed of hay. Nothing rich, prominent or influential about it. The worth of this baby resided in his life itself. Do we see the sanctity of life in EVERYONE we encounter, rich or poor?

2. There was no room .... not in the inn, the hostel, the chamber or the guestroom (various translations put it differently!) No room for God!!
It seems to me that we in the privileged half of the world have often made 'no room for God". The 'inn of our lives' is too full and we have pushed Jesus/God aside. We have crowded our Lord out with busyness, possessions, and other relationships. Where is Christianity currently the strongest and growing? In the poor and humble countries, the lowly of the world, where God is all they have! There is room in their lives for HOPE!
What can we learn from these two simple verses that announce the greatest event in world history? God has arrived! MAKE room to welcome the hope of the world!

Luke 2:15-18 (MSG) Shepherds

As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. “Let’s get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us.” They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.
Two thoughts again....
1. To whom did the angels proclaim the arrival of the Messiah? Not to the priests or religious leaders, not to the government or weathly, but to common blue-collar workers just doing their job. The news is for ALL people, God is available to everyone!

Luke 2:15-20

2. Seeing is believing. The shepherds had to go see for themselves. They dropped everything and acted right then. And they found the baby and all just as the angels said. Sometimes we have to EXPERIENCE God's love in a very real and tangible way before we really believe. We have to be willing to let go of what occupies us to really see God at work.
What did the shepherds them do? They spread the word! Does my life, my service, my love and my sense of praise, do the same today?

Luke 2:21-24 (MSG) Dedication

When the eighth day arrived, the day of circumcision, the child was named Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived.

Then when the days stipulated by Moses for purification were complete, they took him up to Jerusalem to offer him to God as commanded in God’s Law: “Every male who opens the womb shall be a holy offering to God, and also to sacrifice the “pair of doves or two young pigeons” prescribed in God’s Law."

I read a little on Jewish law and the dedication of the first-born to the Lord. Especially with the animals, what a tangled chaos of rules and regulations! Wow! But the rules on first-born children are clear: dedicate to God within 40 days of birth, coupled with a sacrifice of sheep or doves. A pair of doves was acceptable in place of the sheep IF the family was poor.

Did the priest who held Jesus, named him as Mary and Joseph instructed, and received the two doves have any idea he was holding the Son of God? I think not. He was going through the motions, as he did day after day, without regard, especially because this was a poor, inconsequential family. He had no idea. Do we sometimes just go through the motions' in our relationship with God today? Do we often treat people differently because of their apparent poverty or lack of influence?
When a child is dedicated to a specific position, does that alter the way the child is raised? Does it alter opportunities and education the child is granted? What if we were to take our vows during infant baptism seriously and use the experience to 'dedicate' our children to God? To Peace? To Love? Would it make a difference?
Some things to think about.

Luke 2:25-38 (GNT) Simeon and Anna

25 At that time there was a man named Simeon living in Jerusalem. He was a good, God-fearing man and was waiting for Israel to be saved. The Holy Spirit was with him 26 and had assured him that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's promised Messiah. 27 Led by the Spirit, Simeon went into the Temple. When the parents brought the child Jesus into the Temple to do for him what the Law required, 28 Simeon took the child in his arms and gave thanks to God:

29 “Now, Lord, you have kept your promise,
    and you may let your servant go in peace.
30 With my own eyes I have seen your salvation,
31     which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples:
32 A light to reveal your will to the Gentiles
    and bring glory to your people Israel.”

33 The child's father and mother were amazed at the things Simeon said about him. 34 Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, “This child is chosen by God for the destruction and the salvation of many in Israel. He will be a sign from God which many people will speak against 35 and so reveal their secret thoughts. And sorrow, like a sharp sword, will break your own heart.”
First the lowly shepherds....now two faithful older servants of God, prophets in their own way, witness the coming of Christ. Again, not the high priests, but two patient temple patrons, proclaiming the child's presence for ALL, Gentiles and Jews; proclaiming a troubled ministry and painful end; proclaiming sorrow to Mary. The proclamation of Simeon was anything but cheerful and comfortable, yet his joy in Jesus' arrival is apparent, his long wait over.
Jesus wasn't wearing a label "Messiah" on his forehead. What did Simeon see in this humble family that the priests did not? The Scriptures note, "the Holy Spirit was with him"....all the difference in the world! With the Spirit as our companion, the world opens up to us in a revealing manner. We can see God as Simeon did - in everyone.

I have already Scribbled the rest of Luke 2: