In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.” (Luke 2:1-5, NIV).
Talk about bad timing. Of all the times for the emperor of the Roman world to call for a census, this was the worst time possible for Joseph and Mary. Or was it? On one hand we have a very pregnant woman having to make the long trip to Bethlehem, the town of Joseph’s ancestry. I cannot imagine going on that long of a hike when my wife was 8+ months pregnant; not fun! Regardless of whether Mary walked or rode a donkey (the Bible says nothing about a donkey, by the way), that would have been a very difficult trek. But on the other hand, I’m sure that Nazareth wasn’t the most pleasant place for Joseph and Mary to live. I’m sure they had had their fill of snickers and mistreatment for the shady circumstances of their child. Maybe getting out of town for a while was a welcome relief. Finally they could be just the two of them.
Whatever the situation, Joseph and Mary headed for Bethlehem. The fact that they went together tells us a few things. First, this further illustrates Joseph’s complete faith in what God was up to. Matthew told us that Joseph “took Mary home as his wife” and Luke shows us the same kind of relationship. It wasn’t momentary obedience to God’s word; Joseph is fully committed to God and to Mary. A second thing to note is that Mary went with Joseph. Based on her stage of pregnancy and the fact that they weren’t fully married yet, I’m sure Mary could have found a way to stay home in Nazareth. If there had been tensions or dissatisfaction with Joseph, I suspect she would have welcomed the opportunity for separation. After all, he had wanted to divorce her! But Mary’s willingness to go with Joseph shows that much has changed in their relationship. She definitely sees him as her husband, and is willing to go wherever he goes. A third thing to note is their compliance with the Roman law. We have no record of complaining or resistance to the decree, they did as the law demanded. So this brief depiction of their journey to Bethlehem gives us some good insights into the character of Joseph and Mary – they are devout people, fully committed to God and each other, and compliant with the laws of the land.
But they still had to make the journey. The trip to Bethlehem was somewhere between 80-120 miles. While most of the roads would be major travel routes, the latter parts of the journey would have been rather hilly. They didn’t have rest stops or fast food restaurants along the way, so Joseph and Mary would have needed to pack their food and water, and then find lodging as best they could. Most highways weren’t the safest places to be, especially at night, so that would have added to the difficulty of their journey. And when you consider that Mary is very pregnant, it all adds up to a rather grueling endeavor.
Is that what you would expect from God? Here we have two devout people, committed to Him and to each other, willing to do whatever He asks. Wouldn’t we expect that He would fill their life with blessings and make everything easy because they were being obedient and following His will? Isn’t that what we teach our kids in Sunday School? Isn’t that what we teach our adults – to come to Jesus and He will make your life better? Yet for Joseph and Mary, bearing Jesus had made their lives far more difficult. After enduring months of misunderstanding and probably mistreatment at home, now they had to endure a difficult journey. Is this consistent with God? The answer is – yes! Nowhere in Scripture does God promise that following Him will be easy. If we take a quick survey of Biblical characters, Abraham was called to leave everything he knew, Moses was called to lead a stubborn people bound for disobedience, many of the prophets were killed or shunned for speaking God’s word, James was killed for being a Christ-follower, Paul suffered all kinds of circumstances for the sake of Christ, and the list goes on. And Jesus Himself didn’t have the easiest of lives, unless you call crucifixion easy. God promises to be with us on the journey, and that the journey will be worth it, but He never promises that the journey will be easy. In fact, in every case it appears to be more difficult.
While we might be prone to complain about the difficulties of following God, or how we are “suffering for our Lord,” we see none of that in Joseph and Mary. They just went. That is an important lesson for us to learn, to not “over-spiritualize” our acts of obedience, but to naturally go where God leads, accepting whatever happened, without any big to-do. What sustained Joseph and Mary on their journey? Surely they had time to reflect on the words God had spoken to them through the angel Gabriel, wondering out loud what their Child would be like and how exactly He would save Israel. There must have been excitement and many questions as they continued to process this exciting truth. The same thing can be what sustains us. As we journey to Bethlehem this Christmas eve and reflect on all the Christ’s coming meant, and as we journey wherever God leads us this coming year, we can follow the example of Joseph and Mary. To be Christ-bearers is to be devoted to God, be committed to each other, and to follow His lead, no matter what kind of journey He leads us on. And along the way we can marvel and ponder the wonder and significance of His Son and what He is up to in our lives. This journey for us isn’t decreed by an earthly ruler, but the King of Kings. So let’s go.
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