Only one count mattered

Christmas Mass During the Night

St Luke has no intention of telling the story of Christmas as a work of fiction or fantasy. He intends to place the story of Christmas within human history. The context of the Christmas story, the reason why Joseph and Mary had to travel to Bethlehem was because of a census ordered by the Emperor Caesar Augustus over his whole realm. Some have questioned the historicity of this exercise but we are not going to go down this rabbit hole of historical accuracy. Now, I know that a census doesn’t sound very Christmas-y, but this particular census had profound implications on the birth of the Saviour King.

First, let us consider the reason for Caesar’s order. What would a census serve in ancient times? Certainly, data collection in those times would not be used for the purpose of procuring statistics as a basis of planning and analysis. A census in ancient times usually had a dual purpose - as a prelude to military conscription or taxation. The manner in which this census was conducted in this province under the governance of Quirinius, followed a local custom - everyone “went to his own town to be registered.” The “own town” was not the place where the person lived but the ancestral home of their tribe or clan. Since, Joseph was a descendant of David, he had to make the long track to Bethlehem, the City of David, with his betrothed.

Secondly, for the local Jews, this census was both a sign of their humiliating subjugation under Roman rule and a call back to another humiliating event in Israel’s history - David’s attempt to conduct a census of the people which ended in a disaster - a plague that nearly wiped out his people. God’s displeasure was displayed to its fullest measure. One may wonder why? David had earlier committed an egregious crime of stealing the wife of another man and orchestrating his murder. We can’t imagine how a census could come any way close to this hideous crime of adultery coupled with murder. So, what was the issue?

The problem of a census could be two-fold. It exposed David’s lack of faith and trust in the Lord. The Rabbi Eleazar taught: “Whoever counts Israel transgresses a prohibition, as it is said, ‘Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured.’” Implicit here is the idea that counting people—often done, directly or indirectly, for political purposes or military readiness—seeks to quantify by sight what God has promised by faith. Secondly, the census relied on the world’s standards of power and strength—that is, one gauges a nation’s strength through numbers and the size of its army rather than through the covenantal promise of God Himself.

But this census, instead of being a hindrance to the climax of salvation history, served to bring about its fulfilment. Our Lord’s birth was prophetically foretold in the Old Testament in this passage from Micah (5:2):

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

According to St Matthew, this prophecy was used by the wise men to find Jesus. When the chief priests and teachers of the law gathered with King Herod and the magi from the east to discover where they might find “the king of the Jews,” they knew that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem. It was important, therefore, that our Lord Jesus be born in Bethlehem.

Thus, the census bringing Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, and for our Lord to be born here, was no mere coincidence but an incredibly specific way for all of the prophecies to be fulfilled. The mighty Roman Empire, its taxation machine, and its sprawling governing power couldn’t care less about a poor couple in an outlying province. The authorities were only concerned with numbers - the more the better, the bigger the tax collection. They failed to recognise that only one single count mattered in their entire empire - the One who is counted as the Son of Mary but also the Son of God. No census would have been able to pick this up. Not then. Not now.

However, Caesar Augustus’s census was used by God for a far more important purpose than Caesar could ever know. God used the Roman census to fulfill the prophecy and point to the greatest ruler of all, the Messiah, the King of Kings. God’s prophecy would be fulfilled when two humble citizens simply obeyed the census of Caesar Augustus, but all, unbeknownst to them, were actually obeying God’s Will. That is the sovereign power that God alone has over human history.

Statistics have always fascinated us humans. Size of national populations and adherents of different religions, number of persons infected or who died from COVID 19. But as for us believers of the Good News of Jesus Christ, numbers are secondary. What should be our primary concern is that we have been adopted into an eternal family and given a new and lasting birth right. This is what we celebrate today - God became man so that men may become gods!

God does not need to conduct a census to keep track of this. That’s why we can have confidence in His Kingdom while living in the midst of broken ones. God’s Word and Gospel is a sure foundation of hope and direction for those living in a broken and hopeless world. This hope does not come from the temporary peace made by politicians, and God’s call to humbly submit to imperfect authorities is not an endorsement of them. No—our hope is in Jesus, the only eternal king. Turn from all lesser hopes and trust in Him, knowing that when you do, God has your name written down in His book of life, to be remembered for all eternity.

Jesus may have lived briefly as a citizen of Caesar’s kingdom but He is subject and slave to no one except His Heavenly Father. In fact, He came to establish God’s eternal Kingdom. The kingdom of Caesar Augustus has long lay in ruin, with most of its citizens completely forgotten, but the Kingdom of Jesus Christ is still very much alive, constantly recruiting a list of citizens across the world and throughout human history. Believe it or not, you are on that list! This is why you should rejoice when you hear the words of the angel who first announced this to humble shepherds: “Today in the town of David a saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” And your response should simply echo the heavenly choir: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace to men who enjoy his favour.”