49
LTTKE n. 1—7.
1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree firom Ccesar Augustus, that all the world ■hould be 1»xed.
2 (And this taxing was first made whenCyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out oi 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 es- poused wife, being great wiih child.
6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the davs were accomplish- ed that she should be delivered.
7 And she brought forth her flrtt" bom son, and wrapped him in swad- dling clothes, and laid him in a manger ; because there was no room for them in the inn.
We hare, in these verses, the story of a birth, — ^the birth of the incarnate Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Every birth of a living child is a marvellous event. It brings into being a soul that will never die. But never since the world began was a birth so marvellous as the birth of Christ. In itself it was a miracle : — "God was manifest in the flesh." (1 Tim. iii. 16.) The blessings it brought into the world were unspeakable : — ^it opened to man the door of everlasting life.
In reading these verses, let tis first notice the times when Christ was bom. It was in the days when Augus- tus, the first Roman emperor, made "a decree that all the world should be taxed."
The wisdom of God appears in this simple fact. The sceptre was practically departing from Judah. (Gen. xlix. 10.) The Jews were coming under the dominion and taxation of a foreign power. Strangers were beginning to rule over them. They had no longer a really independ- ent government of their own. The "due time" had come for the promised Messiah to appear. Augustus taxes **the world," and at once Christ is bom.
It was a time peculiarly suitable for the introduction of
50 . EXFOSnORT THOUGHTS.
Christ's Gospel. The whole civilized earth was at length governed by one master. (Dan. ii. 40.) There was nothing to prevent the preacher of a new faith going from city to city, and country to country. The princes and priests, of the heathen world had been weighed in the balances and found wanting. Egypt, and Assyria, and Babylon,, and Persia, and Greece, and Bome, had all successively proved that "the world by wisdom knew not God." (1 C!or. i. 21.) Notwithstanding their mighty conquerors, and poets, and historians, and architects, and philoso- phers, the kingdoms of the world were full of dark idolatry. It was indeed "due time" for God to interpose from heaven, and send down an almighty Saviour. It was "due time" for Christ to be bom. (Rom. v. 6.)
Let us ever rest our souls on the thought, that times are in God's hand. (Psalm xxxi. 15.) He knows the best season for sending help to His church, and new light to the world. Let us beware of giving way to over anxiety about the course of events around us, as if we knew better than the King of kings what time relief should come. " Cease, Philip, to try to govern the world," was a frequent saying of Luther to an anxious friend. It was a saying full of wisdom.
Let us notice, secondly, the place where Christ was bam. It was not at Nazareth of Galilee, where His mother, the Virgin Mary, lived. The prophet Micah had fore- told that the event was to take place at Bethlehem. (Micah V. 2.) And so it came to pass. At Bethlehem. Christ was bom.
The overruling providence of God appears in thia simple fact. He orders all things in heaven and earth.