So many of us read Luke chapter 2 as the Christmas story, but we don't recognize how strategic God was in the timing of it. Politically and spiritually, we see God's perfect timing and intention reveals His heart for humanity. In today's episode, we take a look at what it means for us and how we can know Him and make Him known. Links Join me on an immersive Bible Study Experience. Learn more at BibleStudyLive.org Have a question about the Luke series or a prayer request? Leave me a voicemail: SpeakPipe SEEDS: Download the free SEEDS app and take one small step today. Plant your first seed and see what God can grow. SEEDS What is a decree, and who was Caesar Augustus? A decree is an official order from someone in power. It's not a request or a suggestion. It carries the force of law, and people could not ignore it. The Greek word here is dogma, which is where we get our English word, though here it means a legal ruling rather than a religious teaching. Caesar Augustus was the first emperor of Rome, ruling from about 27 BC to AD 14. Before that his name was Octavian, and he was the great nephew of Julius Caesar. When Julius was murdered, his will named Octavian as his adopted son and heir. He was only eighteen. He fought his way into power, and the Roman Senate eventually gave him a new name, Augustus, meaning the revered one or the majestic one. Why does Luke mention Caesar at all? Because of the contrast, and it's sharper than most of us realize. When Julius Caesar died, the Roman Senate declared him a god. That meant Augustus, as his adopted son, could call himself Divi Filius, Latin for son of the deified one. Son of a god. He put that title on coins and monuments across the empire. He picked up other titles too. People called him Savior, because his rule brought a long stretch of peace known as the Pax Romana. One inscription from Egypt during his reign calls him a great heavenly savior. So by the time Jesus was born, Rome already had its own son of a god, its own savior, and its own version of peace. All of it came from a human ruler. All of it was political propaganda. Luke wants you to see that the real Son of God and the real Savior was about to be born, not in a palace, but in a stable. The enemy always offers a counterfeit. What was the census actually for? Taxes. Augustus was counting his empire so he could tax it. Here's what he had no idea about. While he thought this was all his doing, God used that decree to move a pregnant teenager from Nazareth to Bethlehem, exactly where the prophet said the Messiah would be born. Augustus was helping fulfill a promise hundreds of years old and never knew it. Did women have to register for the census? Yes. Since the census was about taxes, most women were counted, and in the Roman province of Syria, which included Judea, women paid the poll tax too. Records show taxation started as early as twelve or fourteen and ran to age sixty-five. So Mary would have been on the tax rolls, though whether she had to appear in person is a separate question given how risky travel would have been. We actually have surviving census records from that world. The papyrus and leather used in Judea rotted away over the centuries, but in the dry climate of Egypt hundreds of census forms survived. And among documents found near the Dead Sea are the personal papers of a Jewish woman named Babatha, including her own census declaration listing land she owned. That's roughly a century after Mary's trip, and it's real evidence of a Jewish woman taking part in a Roman census. Was Jesus really born in a stable? Most scholars think the inn wasn't an inn at all. It was a house, and the space they stayed in was the area where the family brought their animals inside at night. That may sound strange in an American context, but I've served in missions around the world and seen homes with a section in the back where the cows are kept, so they don't get stolen or wander off. The point is the contrast. Caesar, the political son of a god, would have been born in a palace. The actual Son of God was born in a crowded house in the space reserved for animals, with no special room set aside and a feeding trough for a bed because it was the softest place available. God came right into the middle of normal and messy and crowded, on purpose. Why did God tell the shepherds? Shepherds were near the bottom of society. They worked outdoors constantly and often smelled like their animals, which meant they couldn't always keep the religious washing rules. Shepherding was work a lot of Jewish fathers wouldn't even teach their sons. They'd hire it out or give it to their daughters. And like women, a shepherd's testimony wasn't trusted as a witness in court. These were the people God chose to tell first. There's something beautiful in the location too. This was Bethlehem, David's hometown, and David was a shepherd boy before he was king. God describes Himself as the shepherd of His people in Psalm 23 and Ezekiel 34, and He promised a shepherd king from David's line. So God announces the birth of the great Shepherd King to ordinary shepherds working the same hills David once worked. One more thing worth considering. All through the Old Testament, it's often young people and women tending flocks. Rachel in Genesis 29 was a shepherdess. So were Zipporah and her sisters in Exodus. Watching sheep was often given to the youngest in the family, which is why David was almost overlooked when Samuel came. The word Luke uses is plural and masculine, but it's the kind of word that can describe a mixed group. We don't know for certain who was out there. What we do know is how society saw them. Why does it say "heavenly host" instead of angels? This is one of my favorite details. The word for host is stratia, and it means army. It connects to the Old Testament title Lord of hosts, meaning the Lord of armies, the commander of heaven's forces. So verse 13 is telling us a whole army of heaven showed up. And they didn't come to declare war. They came to announce peace. Remember Caesar and the Pax Romana, peace brought to the empire through armies. Now heaven's army appears and announces a completely different kind of peace, one that comes through a baby laid in a manger. This was the rescue plan, and it was always a spiritual battle. Where do we see "know Him and make Him known" in this passage? Right here, in the first twenty verses after Jesus is born. Verse 8 tells us the shepherds were out in the field keeping watch by night. They were working. It was an ordinary night on an ordinary shift, and God found them right there. Verse 10 has the angel bringing good news of great joy. That phrase is the Greek word we get evangelize from. The first person to share the good news of the gospel was an angel, and he shared it with shepherds in a field. God takes the first step and comes to where we are. Verse 15 has the shepherds saying let's go and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. God isn't afraid of us verifying. He invites it. He wants us to seek Him out for ourselves. Then verse 17 says they made known what had been told to them. It's the same Greek word used in verse 15. God made Himself known to them, and after they experienced Him, they made Him known to everyone else. That's the whole pattern. God reveals Himself, you go see for yourself, and then you tell somebody. What does "those with whom he is pleased" mean? Verse 14 says peace among those with whom He is pleased, and I've wondered before how a person becomes someone God is pleased with. The Greek word is eudokia, made of two parts meaning good and to think or decide. It's God's good pleasure, His kind intention, His good decision. The focus isn't on how good the people are. It's on God's pleasure resting on them. It works a lot like the favor we talked about earlier in this series. It starts with God, not with us. Featured quote "Jesus is God's rescue plan. It was strategic. He thought through it. Everything was on purpose, on time, in time." Scripture referenced Luke 2:1-21 (ESV), Psalm 23, Ezekiel 34, Genesis 29, Exodus Timestamps 00:00 Starting Luke 2, and why I'm not re-teaching the prophecies 01:30 Reading Luke 2:1-21 03:33 Prayer 04:30 What a decree actually is 05:22 Who Caesar Augustus was 06:48 Son of the deified one 07:47 Rome's savior and the Pax Romana 08:47 A census for taxes 09:28 What Augustus didn't know he was doing 10:21 Did women have to register? 11:11 Taxation from twelve to sixty-five 12:00 Do the census records still exist? 13:05 Babatha's papers 13:58 The inn that wasn't an inn 15:02 A palace versus a feeding trough 15:58 Who the shepherds really were 17:02 Washing rules and untrusted testimony 17:31 David's hometown and David's hills 18:28 Were they young? Were they women? 20:20 Why it says heavenly host 21:06 An army that declares peace 22:34 Pax Romana and the counterfeit 23:36 Know Him and make Him known, right here 24:41 God finds you in the ordinary 25:10 The angel evangelizes first 26:06 Go and see for yourselves 27:10 They made known what was made known to them 28:19 What "those with whom he is pleased" means 32:32 Prayer Frequently asked questions When did Caesar Augustus rule? From roughly 27 BC to AD 14. He was the first emperor of Rome. What does the word dogma mean here? It's the Greek word behind decree, meaning a binding legal ruling rather than a religious teaching. Who was Babatha? A Jewish woman whose personal papers, including her own census declaration, were found near the Dead Sea. They date to about a century after Mary's trip to Bethlehem. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
