THE CHRIST- MAS STORY

Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world in those days. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their town to register. Luke 2:1 A decree has gone out to the whole Roman world from Caesar Augustus, for its citizens to return to their place of birth for the census. At this time, Rome ruled over a vast empire that stretched from one end of the Mediterranean sea to the other. Many called the Mediterranean sea a Roman Lake because they had conquered every country around it. When the Emperor spoke, the people listened. Rome had developed a very sophisticated system of taxation to fund the Empire's army, its infrastructure, and various building projects. They would call for a census from time to time, just as we do today here in America. Rome wanted to know how many people they had and where they lived to project the tax revenue they were likely to receive from each province 4, they would raise funds needed to run the Empire.

Because of this, Joseph and Mary set out from Nazareth on a five (5) day journey to Bethlehem Joseph's birthplace, and this would have been a long hot, and tedious journey, especially for Mary being nine months pregnant at this time. Mary's thoughts probably reflected on what the angel said to her in the Annunciation during their journey. The scriptures tell us that Mary, a young Jewish girl living in a Northern Galilee town called Nazareth, would be the first to hear the news that the long-awaited Messiah was about to come into the world. And not only that but also God has chosen her to be the sacred clay vessel through which the long awaited Savior of the world would come. Today we call it "The Annunciation." What surprising and excellent news this is for this young Jewish teenage girl named Mary. The Birth of Jesus Foretold.

Here then, is the biblical account of the birth of Jesus Christ. In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the Angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, Jesus Christ From His Birth To His Ascension a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end." "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail." "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May your word to me be fulfilled." Then the angel left her. Luke 1:26-38 Can you imagine being a 13 to 14-year-old girl and hearing the news that the long-awaited Messiah is about to come into the world, and the LORD God has chosen you to accomplish this great and remarkable feat. This information had to be shocking to Mary, a young girl who has never known (had sexual relations) with a man! Just like Mary, after hearing this news, we would have had some questions too. Questions like, how am I going to get pregnant? How can a virgin have a child not being married and have never had sexual relations with any man? Like any of us, she would have wanted to know just how this will happen in light of the formerly mentioned realities? The angel answers her question, "how will these things be" by telling her God will do it. And she is told to be confident because "no word of God will ever fail." After this, having all her questions answered, Mary humbles herself under the mighty hand of God and says to the angel, "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May your word to me be fulfilled." Then the angel left her.

Now, on the one hand, this is the best news ever. But on the other hand, Mary is engaged to be married to a man named Joseph. And according to Jewish law, she could be in a lot of trouble and could be stoned to death for being pregnant before the marriage. She could be found guilty of having committed adultery, and that would result in the death penalty. Unless Mary and Joseph had grown up in the same village, Joseph and Mary might have never even met each 7 Jesus Christ From His Birth To His Ascension other before they married. They could have even been betrothed to each other at birth. In the Jewish culture, who they would marry was never their choice to make. They did not meet one day and fall in love and decide to marry and then announce their intentions to their family and friends like we do today here in America. Again, unless they grew up in the same village, they might have never even met before marriage. The fathers would get together and negotiate a bride price and a dowry, and would then be written down in a contract called a Ca tuba by a local scribe and signed by two witnesses, and that would be it. For the fathers, a handshake was all they needed. The price could have been for a certain number of animals, work or money. We know from the book of Genesis that Jacob worked seven years for Rachel.

A marriage engagement lasted about a year, giving the husband time to prepare a place for him and his new wife to live, just like Jesus said in John chapter 14 that he was going away to prepare a place for us (the church or bride of Christ). Then he would come again to take us to that prepared place. In the same way, Joseph would do the same thing for Mary, his betrothed. Usually, it would be an addition added to his father's house. An engagement in the Jewish culture was as binding as marriage is today in our culture. You had to give your betrothed a writing of divorcement to end an engagement as prescribed in the law given to the Jews by Moses. All Joseph had to do was give her a piece of paper saying, "I divorce you," and that was it. However, we are told Joseph, being a just man, decided to keep it quiet and pay the Ca tuba pledge, which would provide for her living until she married again and just let it be over. If Joseph had wanted to, he could

have turned Mary in, and he would not have had to pay the pledge that was called for in the Ca tuba contract. This act, however, would have opened Mary up to possibly being stoned to death. Stoning was not as we might imagine it was. Mary would not have been pelted with many small stones, but large rocks dropped from a high height, which was how stoning was carried out. Will Mary be stoned to death? Is this the end of the story? Will the Savior not come into the world? Will Joseph seize his rights and leave Mary to the law? What will Joseph do?

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