South End Church of Christ :: Article: Special Delivery

South End Church of Christ 4001 Taylor Blvd Louisville, KY 40215

	Special Delivery Aaron Erhardt “Are we there yet?” That is an all-too-familiar question on many road trips. You know it’s coming when the kids start growing restless in the backseat. They can’t get comfortable. They can’t get along with one another. They can’t get why dad has to sing along to the radio. It is an irritating inquiry from an irritated inquirer, and once the words come out they have a tendency to reappear. Though she may not have verbalized it, I can imagine that Mary probably felt like asking that question on the long trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem. After all, it was about an 80 mile journey over bumpy and hilly terrain, she was riding on a donkey, and she was pregnant. Nine months pregnant! If anybody had a right to cry out “Are we there yet?” it was Mary. Can you even imagine how Mary must have felt being jostled around on a donkey for nearly a week while pregnant? She wasn’t reclining comfortably in a cushioned seat of a spacious SUV. Her ride didn’t have any high-performance tires or power steering, either. It was a rough-riding, slow-moving, fierce-smelling, animal. There was also the threat of bandits and beasts. Jesus mentioned the reality of roadside robbers in one of His parables (Luke 10:30), and lions, bears, and wild boars were lurking in the woods nearby. In fact, archeologists have unearthed documents warning travelers of the forest's dangers. That is why people usually travelled in groups. The reason Joseph and Mary had to make the long trip is stated in Luke 2: “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And 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” (vv. 1-5). An edict was issued by Emperor Octavian that everyone was to be “enrolled” (RSV), which would serve as the basis for future taxation. Some have suggested that there is no proof that people were ever required to return to their original homes for an enrollment. However, papyri discovered in nearby Egypt indicate that taxpayers were to “return to their own homes, that they may both carry out the regular order of the census, and may also diligently attend to the cultivation of their allotment” (see Barclay, Luke, p. 21). Octavian was ruling, but God was in charge. He used the edict to move Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem in time for the birth of Christ. This was to fulfill Micah’s prophecy: “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days” (5:2). Other prophecies were fulfilled in the birth of Christ as well, including Genesis 49:10 (tribe of Judah), Isaiah 7:14 (born of a virgin), and Jeremiah 23:5 (descendant of David). As if the arduous journey were not enough, when Joseph and Mary finally reach their destination there was no place to stay. The town was packed with people for the enrollment and the inn was full. Therefore, Mary was forced to give birth where the animals were kept. “And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (vv. 6-7). In the most humble of circumstances, Mary had a little lamb! Since shepherds were out in the fields (Luke 2:8), it is likely that Christ was born sometime between spring and early fall. They would not have been in the fields during the cold and rainy month of December. It is also likely that Christ was born in a cave rather than the traditional wooden structure we see today. “But when the Child was born in Bethlehem, since Joseph could not find a lodging in that village, he took up his quarters in a certain cave near the village; and while they were there Mary brought forth the Christ and placed Him in a manger, and here the Magi who came from Arabia found Him” (Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, 78, 304). In the second century, Emperor Hadrian built a pagan temple over the cave identified as the birthplace of Christ. Constantine the Great later tore down that temple and built a church over the cave. Today, the Church of the Nativity stands over the cave. The most significant event in human history up to that point unfolded in a seemingly insignificant fashion: an obscure cave, in an obscure village, to obscure people. There was no pomp or pageantry. There was no celebration in the streets. While it certainly garnered all of heaven’s attention (Luke 2:13-14), few on earth seemed to notice. Yet in a wonderful display of grace, the Creator was born as a creature. God became man. Messiah arrived. Bethlehem, which means “house of bread,” brought forth the Bread of Life (John 6). How fitting! Spurious Deception? There have been some who not only deny the events surrounding the birth of Christ — like Mary’s virginity — but they deny the birth itself. They reject the historical Jesus altogether. However, the evidence from both hostile and friendly sources in favor of His existence is overwhelming. Below are 10 examples: Tacitus (Roman historian): “Christus, the founder of the name, had undergone the death penalty in the reign of Tiberius, by sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilatus” (Annals 15, 44). Suetonius (Roman historian): "As the Jews were making constant disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, [Claudius] expelled them from Rome" (Claudius 25.4). Pliny the Younger (Roman magistrate): “Meanwhile, in the case of those who were denounced to me as Christians, I have observed the following procedure: I interrogated these as to whether they were Christians; those who confessed I interrogated a second and a third time, threatening them with punishment; those who persisted I ordered executed… Those who denied that they were or had been Christians, when they invoked the gods in words dictated by me, offered prayer with incense and wine to your image, which I had ordered to be brought for this purpose together with statues of the gods, and moreover cursed Christ — none of which those who are really Christians, it is said, can be forced to do — these I thought should be discharged. Others named by the informer declared that they were Christians, but then denied it, asserting that they had been but had ceased to be, some three years before, others many years, some as much as twenty-five years. They all worshipped your image and the statues of the gods, and cursed Christ” (Letter to Emperor Trajan). Lucian (Greek rhetorician): "The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day — the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account... It was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers from the moment they are converted and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws..." (The Death of Peregrinus 11-13). Josephus (Jewish historian): "Now, there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works — a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribes of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day" (Antiquities 18.3). “Festus was now dead, and Albbinus was but upon the road; so he assembled the Sanhedrin of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others; and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned” (ibid. 20.9). The Talmud (ancient record of Jewish history and law): “On the eve of the Passover Yeshu was hanged. Forty days before the execution, a herald went forth and cried, 'He is going forth to be stoned because he has practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy. Any one who can say anything in his favor, let him come forward and plead on his behalf.' But since nothing was brought forward in his favor he was hanged on the eve of the Passover" (43a). Ignatius of Antioch (bishop of Antioch):"Jesus Christ who was of the race of David, who was the Son of Mary, who was truly born and ate and drank, was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate, was truly crucified and died in the sight of those in heaven and on earth and those under the earth. Who moreover was truly raised from the dead, His father having raised Him, who in the like fashion will so raise us also who believe in Him" (Trallians). Quadratus of Athens (apologist): "The deeds of our Savior were always before you, for they were true miracles; those that were healed, those that were raised from the dead, who were seen, not only when healed and when raised, but were always present. They remained living a long time, not only while our Lord was on earth, but likewise when he had left the earth. So that some of them have also lived to our own times" (Eusebius 4.3). Aristides of Athens (apologist): "When the Son of God was pleased to come upon the earth, they received him with wanton violence and betrayed him into the hands of Pilate the Roman governor. Paying no respect to his good deeds and the countless miracles he performed among them, they demanded a sentence of death by the cross... Now the Christians trace their origin from the Lord Jesus Christ... The Son of the most high God who came down from heaven, being born of a pure [Hebrew] virgin, for the salvation of men... And he was crucified, being pierced with nails by the Jews. And after three days He came to life again and ascended into heaven. His twelve apostles, after his ascension into heaven, went forth into the provinces of the whole world proclaiming the true doctrine... They who still observe the righteousness enjoined by their preaching are called Christians" (Apology 14-15). Justin Martyr (apologist): "There is a village in Judea, thirty-five stadia from Jerusalem, where Jesus Christ was born, as you can see from the tax registers under Cyrenius, your first procurator in Judea... He was born of a virgin as a man, and was named Jesus, and was crucified, and died, and rose again, and ascended into heaven... After He was crucified, all His acquaintances denied Him. But once He had risen from the dead and appeared to them and explained the prophecies which foretold all these things and ascended into heaven, the apostles believed. They received the power given to them by Jesus and went into the world preaching the Gospel" (First Apology 34, 46, 50). The above evidence clearly shows that Jesus was a real person. He was indeed “born of a woman” (Galatians 4:4). To deny that is to deny the obvious. He was not a spurious deception, He was a special delivery. Special Delivery! Jesus gave up majesty for a manger, splendor for a stable, and heaven for a hamlet. He went from being wrapped in glory to being wrapped in strips of cloth. And He did it for us! The angel Gabriel put it like this: “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20-21). He was born to save! It is breathtaking to know that the baby Mary delivered had actually come to deliver her and everyone else. He was born so we could be born again. He lived on earth so we could live in heaven. That helpless infant lying in the manger had come to help the truly helpless! Luke says that “there was no place for them” in the inn (v. 7). That would be symbolic of the Lord’s whole life. There was no room for Him — except on the cross. And so it is with many today. They have no room for Jesus in their hearts because the pursuit of passions, pleasures, possessions, position, and power have taken up all the space. Is that true of you?