Based on the number of comments received on the last post regarding the story of the Magi, there is another aspect relating to the birth of Christ that should be shared and that is corroborated by the Biblical account and historical documentation. Why did Joseph and Mary go to Bethlehem?
In the half century before the birth of our Savior, there was much political infighting and disarray within the Roman republic. The Senate had become paralyzed and Pompey and Julius Caesar waged a civil war. After Pompey was assassinated in Egypt, Julius Caesar was the unquestioned emperor until he too was murdered by members of the Senate in 44 B.C. He was succeeded by his 19-year old adopted son Octavius Caesar who rose to political and military glory under the acclaimed title “Caesar Augustus” while efficiently consolidating his power. Within the Roman Empire he was exalted as a god.
At the same time his close confederate and political appointee Herod the Great controlled Jerusalem and the land of Israel. Augustus and Herod were friends and companions since their youth and their friendship was maintained as they fulfilled their adult roles. Herod even sent his sons to Rome to be schooled. But as the fortunes of Augustus increased, in contrast Herod encountered increasing domestic troubles in Israel. Within Judaism, there was increasing speculation that a promised Messiah, a “King of the Jews,” was prophesied to be born and this news circulated from Jerusalem to Rome.
It was a time of heartless brutality. The dark power of Caesar Augustus and Herod the Great held Israel in harsh political and superstitious bondage and any potential pretenders to the throne were quickly eliminated to ensure their longevity. Meanwhile, in order to retain his political and military power, Augustus commanded that the entire Roman Empire be scrutinized by a massive census. It was within the context of this backdrop that our Lord came to be born on this planet. Enter the Biblical account:
“And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria). And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem: (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.” (Luke 2:1-5)
Why had Joseph and Mary come all this way from Nazareth when she was in the late stages of pregnancy? Because it was decreed by Roman bureaucrats. Both Joseph and Mary’s genealogies were out of the line of Judah. Joseph’s ancestry can be found in the royal genealogy of Jesus in Matthew coming directly through King David. Bethlehem, the city of David, was the place where Roman magistrates had located themselves to receive those who were of the tribe of Judah. In the legal genealogy of Jesus found in Luke we find that Mary also traces her ancestry through the House of David.
This mandate from Caesar Augustus declaring that the entire Empire be forced to register at designated locations was centered less on taxation and more on identification. Concerning the word “taxed” in verse 1 of Luke’s account, W.E. Vine in An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, explains that it is translated from the Greek word apographo, meaning “to write out, enroll, inscribe, and in register.”
He writes, “Confirmation that this census (not taxation) was taken in the dominions of the Roman Empire is given by the historians Tacitus and Suetonius. Augustus himself drew up a sort of Roman Doomsday Book, a Rationarium, afterwards epitomized into a Brevarium, to include the allied kingdoms, appointing twenty commissioners to draw up the list.” (pp. 32, 33)
In other words, this census was Caesar’s way of insuring that no pretender to any local throne would materialize or claim a following among the Jews which could be raised to claim a regal authority against Rome. For the Romans, such a threat would deserve immediate execution (and which Herod eventually attempted.)
In The Star that Astonished the World, Ernest L. Martin acknowledges a reference made by ancient Jewish historian Josephus: “The oath of loyalty mentioned by Josephus is what brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem…, then it makes sense why Mary had to accompany Joseph. In a regular census Mary would not have needed to go with Joseph, nor would Joseph have needed to travel so far. Some have suspected that since both Joseph and Mary were descendants of David, and were legitimate claimants to the throne of Israel (had such a throne existed), it could easily be seen why Mary, as well as Joseph, was expected to sign the oath of loyalty to Augustus. All “royal claimants” would have especially been singled out to give the oath of allegiance.” (pp. 186, 187).
Taxation was certainly on the Roman agenda, but the control of the Empire was its chief concern. This “taxation” was really a registration, intended to track any and all citizens of the Empire who might have some claim to rulership through family lineage. The royal lineage of David presented a threat to Rome and to Herod.
King Herod was terrified when the Magi announced that they had come to worship the child whom they called “King of the Jews.” To preserve his throne, Herod tried to assassinate Jesus in His infancy, by killing all the children in Bethlehem under the age of two. It would be 30 years later that Roman, Jewish, and Herodian authorities would finally succeed in killing Him. They would execute Him on a cross that held a placard with the very words, “King of the Jews.”
“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.” (Revelation 12:1-5)
Sources: W.E. Vine, Flavius Josephus, Ernest L. Martin, Dr. Randall Price, Gary Stearman, Dr. Michael Heiser, Dr. Ken Johnson