Merry Christmas: The Birth of the King
Luke 2:1-20
With all the lights, presents, smell of cookies, and the taste of hot chocolate we are reminded that the holiday season is drawing closer. As the Eve is on its way and the ringing of Salvation Army bells ring don’t forget the famous story of Luke chapter 2. I remember sitting around the Christmas tree reading the story and all I could think about is the “Christmas Eve present” that usually involved a new pair of PJ’s and a little toy. But now growing more mature (God saving me) in my years, I see Luke chapter 2 in a new light. Thinking about the text from a historical level and its implications, Luke appears to be a historian, theologian, and is somewhat of a politician. After reading this short paper I hope that you won’t look at Luke chapter 2 the same way again.
Being birthed within a certain culture tends to have an effect on how someone is raised and viewed. So you cannot deny the history and context into which someone is born; Jesus Himself is no different. The gospel writer Luke, a good historian as most commentators have viewed him, provides his readers in the birth narrative of Jesus Christ in chapter 2. Coming off the heels of chapter 1 where Mary (a poor young woman) is told she is about to give birth to Jesus who is the Anointed One or Messiah. Through this Son, He would fulfill all Israel’s hopes of restoration from exile. Yet it is interesting how Luke sets the context to this birth.
Seyoon Kim describes Jesus in Luke’s birth narrative as “…born as the messianic Son of David and Son of God for Israel’s liberation, in fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel, Luke then narrates the event of Jesus’ birth, highlighting it against the oppressive backdrop of Caesar Augustus’s imperial reign (Luke 2:1-20).” Therefore with this backdrop Luke writes “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered” (Luke 2:1). The history and context of this chapter has the background of a “registration” or “census” that was decreed by Caesar, the Emperor of the Roman Empire. Joel Green states that “The registration of “all the world” asserts Augustus’s sovereignty over all the world.” This sheds light upon the control and power of Caesar in the 1st century. Caesar was in change over the whole Roman Empire and Luke uses words to convey that message. “All the world” is of course an exaggerated statement to show power and every single person in the Roman Empire was to do what Caesar commanded. Within this context, a declared registration by a pagan king was an oppressive gesture to a 1st century Jew in Palestine. The registration was an attempt to tax and force the people into submission to the Roman government. Nevertheless it reminds the readers of the eerie words of Nehemiah:
We are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves. And its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress (Nehemiah 9:36-37).
Israel was still in exile. Even though a remnant came back to the land, they still lived under foreign power. Exile didn’t stop when the remnant came back, it continued. So this sets the stage for the long awaited Messiah to redeem them from her enemies. Luke draws upon the exile theme by using Caesar as the oppressor and enemy. In summary, Israel was oppressed by Rome and Luke opens up his birth narrative with the introduction of Caesars oppression.
“Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child” (Luke 2:4-5). The oppression of Caesar causes Joseph and his wife to go to Bethlehem. Luke uses more Old Testament language by naming Bethlehem the “city of David”. With an Old Testament background, the name David and Bethlehem conveys several ideas.
1) The idea of king and covenant (2 Samuel 7).
2) David himself hails from Bethlehem (1 Samuel 16).
3) Micah’s prophecy (Micah 5:2).
These three just scratch the surface but nevertheless a picture is being painted within the narrative involving a soon to be king. This can be concluded by the immediate context and of course from chapter 1. Luke is building upon each narrative to bring about a climax when the king is finally born. Luke mentions a deeply theological image in the name of David, who was king. He uses Caesar, who is the present king and now Mary gives birth to the one who would be king (Luke 2:6-7). And this is the climax! The birth of the child, the One we’ve waited for! Here He is, the One to redeem Israel from exile.
Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
Yet, this baby is born in an inn, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. This king was born in an animal stable, wrapped in scratchy clothes, and laid in a food trough? A little bit surprising for a coming king. Caesar would have never been born that way! This would have been unheard of within the Roman context. Thomas Yoder Neufeld in his book Recovering Jesus speaks to the irony in Luke’s narrative, “…for the first-century readers the contrast would have been nothing short of shocking. Israel’s king, born in a stable? Watch out, Caesar, your challenger has been born to an insignificant woman in an out-of-the-way village in a stable! How absurd!” Yet Luke keeps alluding that this king was going to be different. He is unlike any king Israel or for that matter, any other nation has seen before.
In the context, Luke pulls away from the birth of the child and focuses his attention on a certain group of people, “Shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock” (Luke 2:8-14). An angel appears with a message of hope and restoration, “And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). This message was not delivered to the most prominent in the culture. It wasn’t Caesar, the Pharisees, or the Priest. But simple shepherds, the lowest of the low in the culture. This message of a king was unlike a Caesar message. Luke, a word-smith nonetheless uses words that were applied to Caesar. Richard Horsley quoted in his book Jesus and Empire a Roman announcement:
[Caesar] who was being sent to us and our descendants as Savior, has put an end to war and has set all things in order; and [whereas] having becoming [god] manifest, Caesar has fulfilled all hopes of earlier times…the birthday of the God [Augustus] has been for the whole world the beginning of good news concerning him [therefore let a new era beginning from his birth).
The angel said that this message was good news that this child was a Savior, Christ the Lord. This has a rich theological context whereas Luke is pulling from an Isaiaic Messiah (Isaiah 40:9, 42:1-9, 43). But Luke has in the immediate context used a parallel between Caesar and the child to provide his readers with hope. The good news or gospel is different between these two individuals. Both proclaimed good news to all people, yet one came by force (Pax Romana) the other by humility. Both were called savior and lord, but only One was the true Savior and Lord. Only One could promise salvation and hope. No longer did Israel have to wait for her redemption from her captives because this child would be her Messiah. “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is end…” (Isaiah 40:1-2) This passage has come alive in the birth of this child whereby the angels sing “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased” (Luke 2:14). The title Christ or Messiah is drawn from a Davidic kingship concept and thus Messiah would come from David and be like David. Needless to say this child fits this description. Therefore from the language in Luke’s birth narrative, the painting is that of a king who was born in lowly regard and whose message is for no one better than a shepherd, contrasted with Caesar who has the power to oppress “all the world” and whose message is constituted by force.
In conclusion, Luke draws upon the Old Testament for his theology. He uses history to tell the story of the Messiah being born to fulfill God’s mission and he uses common language applied to Caesar to convey a very political message. Not of overthrow and rebellion, but of the true Lord, Savior, and King. A King of peace and humility for all the world.
