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  EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS ON LUKE - LUKE 2:1-7
  by J.C. Ryle
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CONTENT
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THE BIRTH OF JESUS

We have, 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 marvelous event. It brings into being a soul that will never
die. But never since the world began was a birth so marvelous as the
birth of Christ. In itself it was a miracle--"God was manifest in the
flesh." (1 Tim. 3:16.) The blessings it brought into the world were
unspeakable--it opened to man the door of everlasting life.

In reading these verses, let us first notice the TIMES when Christ was
born. It was in the days when Augustus, the first Roman emperor, made "a
decree that all the world should be taxed."

The wisdom of God appears in this simple fact. The scepter was
practically departing from Judah. (Gen. 49:10.) 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 independent
government of their own. The "due time" had come for the promised
Messiah to appear. Augustus taxes "the world," and at once Christ is
born.

It was a time peculiarly suitable for the introduction of Christ\

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/jc-ryle/expository-thoughts-on-luke-luke-21-7/
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