Ep. 3: The Birth of Messiah

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MATTHEW 1:25, LUKE 2:1-20

Both the Old Testament and Rabbinic teaching pointed to Bethlehem as the birthplace of the Messiah. Yet nothing could have been less expected; a counting of the people, a census taken at the bidding of a pagan Emperor and executed by the hated Herod. If the whole story was a fabrication surely they would have come up with something more heroic and triumphant!

If the census had been performed in the ‘Roman’ manner, there would have been no cross-country trek on a donkey, they would have simply been registered in the place of their birth, which would have been Nazareth. But Herod had insisted on the ‘Jewish’ manner, where registration was needed at the place of their tribal lineage. For both Joseph and Mary, this would have been to the city of David, their common ancestor, Bethlehem.

The way had been long and weary, at least three days’ journey, whatever route had been taken from Galilee. Most likely it would be the usual route that avoided the area of the hated Samaritans, along the eastern banks of the Jordan and by the fords of Jericho. A sense of rest and peace must have crept over the travellers when at last they reached the rich fields that surrounded the ancient ‘House of Bread,’ (Bethlehem), at the foot of the great castle which Herod had built for himself.

The little town of Bethlehem was crowded with those who had come from all the outlying districts to register their names. Every house would have been fully occupied. The inn was filled up and the only available space was where ordinarily the cattle were stabled. Being poor, this would not have been as great an imposition to Joseph and Mary as we imagine it to be. At least there would have been seclusion and privacy from the noisy, chattering crowds. The whole scenario is one of humility and is a most fitting starting place for the unfolding Divine narrative. Again, if the story had been fabricated, it does not fit in with Jewish expectations at that time, that would have had him born in a palace, in royal splendour!

A passage in the Mishnah leads to the conclusion that the flocks which pastured there were destined for Temple sacrifices and, accordingly, that the shepherds, who watched over them, were not ordinary shepherds, but of a more edgy nature. They needed to be of strong stuff for what they witnessed that night. heaven and earth seemed to mingle, as suddenly an Angel stood before their dazzled eyes, while the outpouring glory of the Lord seemed to enwrap them, as in a mantle of light.

The angelic message was that the long-promised Saviour, Messiah, Lord, was born in the City of David and that they might go and see and recognize him by the humbleness of the circumstances surrounding his Nativity. But first, the heavenly host sang as they had only once before to Isaiah when heaven’s high Temple had opened and the glory of God swept its courts, almost breaking down the trembling posts that bore its boundary gates. The same glory heralded the announcement of the Kingdom coming; now that of the King who has come.

This is an extract from the book, Jesus : Life and Times, available for £10 here (Finalist for Academic Book of the year at 2023 CRT awards)