December 25

"And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem: (because he was of the house and lineage of David;) to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered." Luke 2:1-6.

THE birth of Christ is so wonderful and important, that every circumstance attending it is worthy of our attention, and capable of improvement. We are here informed of the time and the place.

As to the time, it was under the reign of Augustus. Luke could not have distinguished it by a more illustrious mark than the name of a man the greatest prince then in the world, as he governed the Roman empire, which had extended itself over the largest and fairest portions of the inhabited earth. What is related indefinitely is liable to dispute and mistake; whereas particularity tends to gain credence, and renders falsehood easier of detection. Hence the evangelist mentions a remarkable fact attending the period: "It came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed;" and adds, "And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria." Here, however, a difficulty occurs, which infidelity, always alive to the worst of causes, and feeling the paucity and poverty of its resources, has readily laid hold of.

It must be granted that Cyrenius, as Josephus and all the Greek and Latin historians agree, was not governor of Syria till eleven years after. But first, it is supposable that though he was not the actual governor, he presided on this occasion by a special commission from Augustus. This agrees with the history of the emperor, which shows us that, in several instances, he sent his particular friends to superintend the enrolment, without leaving it to the care of the ordinary governors of the province. Did not David do the same when he wished to number the people? There were rulers over all the tribes of Israel, yet he sent Joab, who went through all the land, and brought him the result at the end of nine months and twenty days. Secondly, Dr. Campbell renders it, "And this enrolment first took effect when Cyrenius was governor of Syria." Though our version reads "taxing," it is in the margin, "enrolling." There was no difference between these, for though the registering was generally with a view to the taxing, yet the latter did not always immediately follow the former; it only laid the foundation for it, by showing the emperor the number and wealth of his subjects, whenever he chose to demand soldiers or money. Now though the decree for enrolment was issued eleven years before, it was not acted upon till Cyrenius was governor of Syria; and the Roman power, on the expulsion of Archelaus from Judea, first levied the tax on the Jewish people. We have a similar instance in our own history. William the Conqueror wished to make a survey of the kingdom. This was done in what is called the doomsday-book, and which is still extant. It was six years in making in England only, and no payment of taxes was made upon it till twelve years after. Either of these solutions is perfectly satisfactory, and there is no inconsistency between them; the one does not invalidate the other. And when to this we add, that the fact itself was notorious, and that Luke could not be deceived, and must have known that he could not be misunderstood at the time, we see another instance of the weakness of infidel objections. But Luke mentions this affair not only to authenticate the truth of his narrative, but the Messiahship of Christ. His coming had not only been foretold, but the time of it. We allude to the prophetic declaration of the dying Jacob. When speaking of Judah, he said, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be." That is, when he should come, the supreme power should be dislodged from their possession. And here we see the accomplishment of it; for the supreme power had now fallen into the hands of Herod the Idumean, who was exercising his vile tyranny under the favor of the Roman sovereign, master of Syria and Palestine.

The place was Bethlehem. It is called the city of David, because there David was born. But the word city, which the Jews use so differently from us, should not mislead us. It was only a small village, in which nothing had occurred to aggrandize it. Here he was brought forth, and not in Jerusalem, or Rome, or any other illustrious place. Was this to intimate that his kingdom was not of this world? What cannot ennoble greatness, greatness can ennoble. How has the birthplace of the Mantuan bard been noticed. How many cities contended for the honor of Homer's birth. The birth of Jesus instantly drew to this village a new star, and sages from the East, and the angel of the Lord, and a multitude of the heavenly host, and has made it to be remembered in all generations. Therefore says the prophet Micah, "Thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." That he was to be born here was known and expected, not only by the chief priests and scribes, as we see in their answer to Herod, but even also by the common people, who argued against him when they supposed that he was not born there. "Hath not the Scripture said that Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?"

But let us not forget the occasion of the event. For it was, humanly speaking, the most unlikely thing in the world that Jesus should be born here; for Bethlehem was not the place of Joseph's residence, but Nazareth in Galilee. But the decree requiring that every one should repair to his own patrimonial city to be carolled, Joseph, being of the house and lineage of David, goes up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth in Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, and Mary with him, being great with child. And so it was, that while they were there waiting for his registry, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. Mary thought of nothing but accompanying Joseph. Joseph thought of nothing but obeying the order of the governor. The governor thought of nothing but the mandate of the emperor. The emperor only obeyed his vanity and pride; and yet all these ignorantly but unitedly conduced to fulfil the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. How freely men can act, and yet how necessarily! How real, and yet inexplicable, is the concord between human liberty and the certainty of events! What is contingent where divine veracity is concerned? How impossible is it that the Scriptures can be broken. How wonderful is the providence of God! By what methods does it conduct its plans to their completion! How easily, and yet how uncontrollably does it bend to its pleasure all the dispositions and movements of creatures, who, like men in a boat, look one way and row another!