Primary Text: Luke 2:1-20
Memory Verse: Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” Luke 2:10-12
Introduction:
Jesus’ birth was dated by Luke as falling in the reign of Caesar Augustus, who was officially made the ruler of the Roman Empire in 27 B.C. and ruled to A.D. 14. Because Herod the Great’s reign ended in 4 B.C., Jesus was born before that time. The mention of Quirinius as governor of Syria poses a problem. He was governor in A.D. 6-7, much too late for Jesus’ birth. Therefore does the word “first” refer, as in the NIV, to a first, that is, an earlier, census by Quirinius? If so, we would suppose a previous governorship for Quirinius at about 4 B.C. Perhaps a better solution is to take “first” to mean “before,” as it does, for example, in John 15:18. Luke 2:2 would then read, “this was the census that took place before Quirinius was governor of Syria” (i.e., before A.D. 6).
Some scholars dispute whether Quirinius was governor of Syria at this time. Quirinius was certainly governor of Syria during the much-remembered later census of A.D. 6, when Sepphoris and some Galilean patriots revolted against the tax census of that year. This passage seems to refer to an earlier census while Herod the Great was still king (before 4 B.C.); thus Luke’s “first census under Quirinius.”
Luke may have blended the two events or that Quirinius was governor of Syria at the earlier time Luke describes as well as in A.D. 6. Historians dated events by naming current officials, so Quirinius may have been in office at the time without being associated with this census. The governor of Syria is mentioned because the Roman province of Syria included Palestine under its jurisdiction at this time.
Although Egyptian census records show that people had to return to their homes for a tax census, the home to which they returned was where they owned property, not simply where they were born (censuses registered persons according to property). Therefore, Joseph thus must have still held property in Bethlehem.
Studying the Word
Lesson Study
- What did the angel, Gabriel, tell Joseph in his dream about the birth of Jesus? Matthew 1:20-23
- What was Joseph’s response to this dream? Matthew 1:24-25
- What events surrounded Jesus’ birth? Luke 2:1-7
- Describe the setting and events of Jesus’ divine birth announcement. Luke 2:8-14
- Discuss the reason that God chose to share Jesus’ birth with lowly shepherds instead of prominent public or military officials. Luke 2:15-20
- Why did Mary and the baby Jesus follow the prescribed purification ceremonies? Luke 2:21-24
- What happened when Simeon encountered Jesus in the temple? Luke 2:25-35
- What happened when Anna the prophetess encountered Jesus in the temple? Luke 2:36-39