As I read Scripture, I am consistently amazed that God’s planning is so incredibly perfect. I can’t even plan my days accurately, let alone the years. We put things on the calendar and sometimes have to cancel because of circumstances outside of our control. All the time each and every one of us deals with interruptions to our plans, or things that happen that we weren’t expecting that mess it all up. Yet, it’s not this way for God. He perfectly fulfills His sovereign will, even using what would seem to us to be interferences in order to bring it about. For God, there are no circumstances outside His control.
Approximately 700 years before the birth of the Christ, the prophet Micah had prophesied,
“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” (Mic. 5:2)
The coming Messiah would be born in the city of Bethlehem, where David was from, this is incredibly clear. Now, 700 years is a very long time. To pronounce something that far in advance would be nearly impossible to fulfill! Our plans for today probably will go awry somewhere and 700 years of planning seems entirely illogical! But not for a sovereign, all-powerful, and all-knowing God.
The Scripture says that Christ came into the world at the “fullness of time” (Gal. 4:4). Exactly in the perfect timing of God, Christ came. So much so, that this prophecy from Micah was fulfilled through a pagan ruler! Joseph and Mary were residents of Nazareth, not Bethlehem (see Lk. 1:26). On the surface, this is a problem. If the Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem, but they’re residents of Nazareth, it just doesn’t line up.
But a census comes. Decreed, not necessarily by God but by Caesar Augustus (Lk. 2:1). Just as God planned. This census takes Joseph and Mary from Nazareth conveniently down to Bethlehem, right where they were supposed to be. (and Luke’s Gospel is the only one that mentions the census and therefore tells us how they got there!)
Now, I’m no expert on biology, but I do know that children come in a window of roughly nine or ten months and Mary and Joseph had a journey upwards of 70 miles to get there. In the perfect timing and providence of God, the Christ is born in Bethlehem, just as God promised. Caesar’s decree came at just the right time, and they traveled at just the right time. Mary didn’t go into labor on the long trek down there. Whether they walked or she rode on some sort of animal, we know there wasn’t modern transportation. Yet, they were in just the right place, at just the right time because of God’s perfect governance over His creation. There’s a nine-month window, with a promise 700 years old, a pagan rulers decree, and all these chess-pieces, as it were, are lined up perfectly to fulfill God’s decree. Checkmate.
Mary gives birth to the Christ, who comes forth as Savior. A group of shepherds get to be the first to hear the good news of great joy, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Lk. 2:11).
The Christ, the Messiah, the Lord, the final anointed One from the line of David, the King, is here. He has come to save. This is good news for all people. Christ has come to save without partiality. The rich, the poor, the proud, the lowly, all need saved, and He is their Savior. I love how the ZIBBC summarizes,
“Born to peasant parents, laid in a feeding trough, visited by lowly shepherds. The commonness of Jesus’ birth reminds us how Jesus, though Lord of the universe, stooped down to our humble level to bring us salvation”[1]
Let us never forget the good news of Christ’s coming and let us never forget that it’s news of great joy. This baby lying in a manger is the long-awaited Savior. This small child whose hands would reach lovingly towards Mary for her to hold Him will be the same hands that were pierced by nails. This small life that came into the world is the same One who would willingly give His life for sin. He is the Christ, He is Savior, and He is Lord. He’s worthy of our adoration and celebration as we remember the work He did that began with His humble birth surrounded by animals and yet heralded by angels.
[1] Clinton E. Arnold, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), 343.