Luke 2:1-7
Suggested further reading: Psalm 31:9-20
For six hundred years, the fate of Israel was in the hands of foreigners. Waiting for centuries for a promise to be fulfilled is tiring and discouraging. But delay does not mean denial.
There were advantages under Roman rule. There was peace, a degree of prosperity, no national boundaries, roads leading everywhere and a common language to facilitate ease of the travel. All these advantages would be used by the church in the centuries to follow.
But such benefits were costly and Roman taxes were burdensome. To fulfill this obligation everyone had to return to their hometown to pay their tax. Who would have thought that an irksome task would be used by God to fulfill His promises. Who would have thought that God would use some nameless bureaucrat to create the perfect circumstances to fulfill His promise of sending His Messiah. Such are the mysterious ways of God.
Let us take comfort, even in this day of international unrest and national foolishness, in the thought that God is working all things after the counsel of His own will. God is ever the master of that great rhetorical technique known as the last word. Our times may be bad, and may get worse, but Bethlehem teaches us that God keeps His word. He may not keep it the way we think He should—He sends the Messiah in the weakness of a baby, amid poverty, and to a conquered people, but not without irony, the Bread of Life is born in Bethlehem, “house of bread”.
“Cease, Philip, to try to govern the world,” was a frequent saying of Luther to his friend Philip Melanchthon. God keeps His word with impeccable timing.
Lanny Tanton is the Pastor at The Bible Church of the Lakes in Horseshoe Bay, Texas – just outside of Marble Falls. Pastor Tanton welcomes you to our website and hopes that you’ll enjoy reading these insightful blog posts. Please contact us if you have further questions!!
