Series: Luke: Following the World Changer (Week 1 of 3)
Dr. Woodrow Kroll
November 3, 2009

Woodrow Kroll: The story of Jesus' birth just never gets old. And we're going to look at it today through the eyes of Luke on this Tuesday edition of Back to the Bible. Hi. I'm Woodrow Kroll.

Tami Weissert: Welcome everyone. I'm Tami Weissert. Now, today, Dr. Kroll, we're going right down the path of your expertise to Greco-Roman history.

Woodrow Kroll: Yes, I used to spend a lot of time in graduate school studying Greco-Roman history. I love to see how the details of this historical period fit so perfectly into the account that Luke writes here.

Tami Weissert: And the thing about Luke is he gives us just enough detail about politics and maybe social customs that it gives someone like you, a history buff, the opportunity to really paint a vivid picture. So I'm looking forward to today.

Woodrow Kroll: Well, I really can't wait to jump into this chapter because, you know, Luke 2, you've got angels; you've got powerful rulers; you've got lowly shepherds. And, of course, you've got Mary and Joseph.

Tami Weissert: Yeah. And when you put all those details of those lives together, you can see that God's hand is directing it all.

Woodrow Kroll: Yes, in fact, God's hand is in the details of all of our lives and if you're experiencing that today, or if you're not, you want to stick around to see what we can learn here on Back to the Bible today.

(Pause)

Woodrow Kroll: You know, often the quality of a play or movie depends almost entirely on the cast. Well, when you get to the story of Jesus and His birth in the second chapter of Luke, the cast of characters is outstanding. If you have a Bible and want to follow along, we're looking at Luke 2 today. We're going to begin right at the very first verse and the first person we encounter is Caesar Augustus.

"And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be [taxed or] registered [for taxation] " (Luke 2:1, NKJV).  Now, let me stop there and let's talk a little bit about Caesar Augustus. I promise I'll try not to bore you to tears with all the details about these historical figures, but they're really interesting people.

Caesar Augustus ruled Rome from about 31 B.C. until August 19, A.D. 14. August 19th friends. Don't lose the fact that we have that specific detail that we can point to from Scripture and from history, as well.

Well, during this Greco-Roman period of history, this man was adopted by Julius Caesar who did not have an heir. Julius died in 44 B.C. Octavius took over but he was not unchallenged. He actually had to share leadership of the Roman Empire with Marc Anthony and a fellow named Lepidus. They called it "The Great Triumvirate."

Eventually, though, Octavius kind of won out over Marc Anthony and Lepidus and the end result was that he became the sole ruler of the Roman Empire.

So the Roman Senate in 27 B.C. said to Octavian, "What would you like us to call you?" You know, they were thinking something like princeps, meaning "principal citizen" (like the first lady or first man). Octavius thought about this for a little bit and he said, "You know what? I think I'd like to be called "The Revered One." Oh, I like that--"The Revered One."

By the way, the Latin for "Revered One" is Augustus. "And it came to pass that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus . . ." His name is Octavius. He is the "Revered One." He is the absolute emperor of Rome.

Everybody knows he's in charge. When Caesar Augustus makes a decree, you pay attention to his decree. OK. Let's go on: Verse 2, "This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria" (Luke 2:2, NKJV).

Now, let me stop there and talk about this man Quirinius because actually his name is either Cyrenius or Quirinius, with a "C" or a "Q". They're the same name--just a variation in spelling. That often happens in historical records. He was elected as the Counsel of Syria, that region to the north, in about 12 BC.

But there's a problem here because the census that is mentioned in Acts 5:37 that this man had, it's a census when a fellow by the name of Judas the Galilean revolted against Rome on behalf of Israel. That census would be much too late for this because Jesus was born before before A.D. and, as a result, there has to be another census or the account is wrong. Those are our two options.

The fact of the matter is, the census mentioned in Acts 5 is later. It takes place in A.D. 6, but there was a census before that somewhere around the time of the death of Herod the Great and that would be 4 B.C.

So, we can either interpret it as a first census and a second and he's referring here to the first, or there's another way. Look at this: The census first took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria. While there could be translated "before." In other words, the decree that all the world should be taxed went out before Cyrenius or Quirinius gave this census that's mentioned in Acts 5.

Either way (it doesn't really matter--either way), it is perfect timing for the fact that one thing is clear: Verse 3, "So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city" (Luke 2:3).

The actual date of Jesus' birth is prior to both of the dates so it's a non-issue really. Caesar Augustus gives a decree, everybody obeys the decree so everybody has to go to their own city. And the city that Joseph went to, verse 4, "And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David" (Luke 2:4, NKJV).

Now, this is not just a history lesson here that Augustus was the Roman Emperor and Cyrenius was the Governor of Syria. I think this is designed to show the perfect timing of God.

Mary and Joseph lived in Galilee in the north, but the Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem in Judea. Somehow they have to get from where they have their home to where Joseph was born and, without even knowing it, Caesar Augustus says, "You know what? It's time I found out how much money I ought to be getting from these Jewish people because they live under my thumb. Let's have a census."

So the census is made and in order to fulfill the census, Joseph has to go from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Mary goes with him because she is engaged to him. (I want to talk a little bit more about that in a minute.)

But we now get to this character, Joseph. And we've seen Caesar Augustus; we've seen Quirinius. But Joseph is the man whose genealogy is presented to us [in Matthew]. I think Luke 3 here presents the family of Mary while Matthew 1 presents the family of Joseph.

I say that because in chapter 3, verse 23, here it says that "he was the son of Heli." But that, apparently--he was the son-in-law of Heli because if you go back to Matthew 1, his father's name is Jacob.

So what we have here is this: We have a second genealogy for Jesus traced through His mother's line, like we have in Matthew a genealogy of Jesus traced through Joseph's line.

Now, guess where the genealogies meet. I mean, the names are all different because there are two different family lines until they meet at King David. So, either way--either family--you are talking about people here who are in the lineage of King David.

We know that Joseph was a carpenter, a wood worker. Don't think of "carpenter" as kind of a construction worker, you know, going out and building houses. The houses in this part of the country were generally not wood; they were stone. When it says "carpenter," He probably made furniture or agricultural tools or something else with wood, with His hands.

And Joseph was the father of others--James, Joseph, Simon, Judas, some unnamed sisters. We learn all that from Mark 6:3. He was a fine man. He was a good man. He did not biologically give birth to Jesus. He simply raised Jesus.

Now that brings us to the key person here and that's Mary. Verse 5, Joseph was "to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child" (Luke 2:5, NKJV). Joseph is a good man, but Mary is a virgin and she is pregnant. She was probably from the tribe of Judah. It says here that she's betrothed to Joseph as she's discovered to be pregnant.

Now, that's not the way we do things normally today. We don't even understand the process of engagement here. So let me read something to you. This comes directly out of Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary. It talks about marriage in the New Testament. This might help you understand their relationship.

It says this: "In biblical times, a betrothal for marriage was a binding arrangement that set the young woman apart for the young man. The arrangement was voided only by death or divorce. When Joseph discovered that Mary was pregnant, he did not want to make a public example of her. Instead, he decided to divorce her secretly. However, he did not carry out the divorce because an angel of the Lord convinced him that the Baby to be born to Mary would be the Son of God."

You don't go through with the divorce when you learn things like that. "The length of the engagement varies" Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary says. "It varied. Usually a period of time elapsed between the betrothal and the marriage ceremony. During this time the young man prepared a place in his father's house for his bride, while the bride prepared herself for married life.

On the day of the wedding, the groom and his friends dressed in their finest clothes and went to the home of the bride. Together, the couple went back to the groom's house. Their friends sang and danced their way back to the house.

Once at the groom's house, the couple was ushered into a bridal chamber. The marriage was consummated through sexual union as the guests waited outside. Once the fact was announced, the wedding festivities continued with guests dropping by for the next week or so for the wedding feast. Usually this wedding party would last about a week."

Now, here's the thing: It's during this period of the engagement, before Mary and Joseph came together, that they discover Mary is pregnant. And the text here is extremely clear that there was no sexual activity between Mary and Joseph prior to the birth of the Lord Jesus. Matthew 1 makes that very clear--verses 18 and 25.

So we get to the first Christmas and the first Christmas is celebrated with Mary and Joseph. A baby is born; and Mary and Joseph, while legally married in the betrothal, have not yet consummated their marriage because of the wonderful thing that's going to happen here.

Look at verse 6. "So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn" (Luke 2:6-7, NKJV). This is a great story.

And the cast of characters, you see, is a pretty strong cast. I mean, you've got emperors here; you've got governors here; you've got a carpenter here; you have a virgin here; and you have the Savior of mankind here.

There are a couple of others. I want to come back in just a minute to take a look at shepherds, angels, and other things that happen in this wonderful story to show us that this is the story of the birth of the World Changer. Nobody, nobody who ever lived or ever will live, is like this Jesus. I'll be right back.

(Pause)

Tami Weissert: You're listening to Bible teacher, Woodrow Kroll, here on Back to the Bible.

Hi, this is Tami Weissert. I hope you are excited and inspired by our study today. This series in Luke lasts three weeks. That's 15 complete studies and I hope you'll be able to catch all of them. But if that's just not possible, we have the complete series on CD or DVD; you just need to call to order it. That way, you can take it in and review it whenever and wherever you want.

I'll give you our 800 number in just a moment, but first, I want to remind you that the printed study guide for Luke is also available. This is a great stand-alone study, but it's also a good companion to the Luke series. So give us a call and ask about our current Luke series on CD or DVD and about Dr. Kroll's printed study guide called Luke: Glory to God in the Highest. Now get your pen; here's the phone number to call. Again, this is for our Luke series on CD or DVD and for the Luke study guide. Here's the phone number: It's 1-800-759-2425.

Woodrow Kroll: Well, we've looked a little bit at the cast of characters in Luke 2, today. Let's go to verse 8. "Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid" (Luke 2:8-9, NKJV). Well, you bet your heart they were greatly afraid. Let's talk about these shepherds.

First of all, they were probably out living in tents; they would move from one place to the other. They kind of put their flocks together at night for safety and that enabled them to kind of sit around and make stew for themselves and tea and whatever else they did.

But shepherds were basically outcasts. Shepherds were not allowed in the city, generally, that's why they tended their flocks out--way out--from the city. They weren't trusted by the general public. Often shepherds were thieves. So if you get an image of a gypsy in Europe today, that same image in this part of the world at this time in history would carry over for shepherds.

So, the fact that God makes the announcement of the birth of Jesus to this social class of people is absolutely amazing. They're out in the fields keeping watch over their flocks by night. Now, you know, probably this indicates that this was not over the winter months. From about Passover in April until autumn, sheep were out in the pastures always.

Now, it is possible, as some argue, it is possible that these flocks were owned by the temple and that they were going to be sacrifices in the temple and that's possibly true.

But it's likely that we're not talking about December here. It's likely that we're talking about another time of the year. It really doesn't matter, though. What matters, though, is the announcement made to these shepherds. Why was this announcement not made to Caesar himself?

Why was it not made to a king if the King of the Jews is going to be born? Why was the announcement not made like this to the temple, to the priests? I mean, after all, this is the Messiah, the Priest of Israel. Why is it made to shepherds?

And I think, as we've been seeing the last couple days, God is in the details in this story. And God is very interested in you, even if you're not a king; even if you're not a priest; and even if you're not very high on the social rung of any given ladder. Characteristically that's the way God works. He works among the humble; He works among the common as opposed to the noble.

Listen to this. Remember when Paul says . . . he reminds the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 1:26-27 (NKJV), "For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise."  

That is simply to say [that] God works among us common people. And God takes great delight in showing His wisdom and His strength through just ordinary people. So He chooses shepherds to be the ones to receive the greatest birth announcement ever made in the history of mankind.

I think this story was given to shepherds for a reason. Jesus would not come as proud and powerful. He would come to the outcasts; He would come to the humble; He would come to the least of those on the social lists.

So, if you don't happen to have, you know, relatives that came over on the Mayflower; you're not making a lot of money--cheer up! God brings this announcement to people just like you and me. "For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11, NKJV).

Well, let's look at the angels finally today in our cast of characters. Verse 9, "And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to'" the kings? To the priests? No. See, the good tidings of great joy that God brings to shepherds He brings to all people.

And here it is: "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. And suddenly there was with the angel [a single angel] a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying: 'Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!'" (Luke 2: 9-14, NKJV).

Now, I don't want you to misread this announcement. Just because the birth announcement of Jesus was given to shepherds--people who were low and least, humble--doesn't mean that this is not a very high-quality announcement. It was delivered to shepherds, but it was delivered by angels. So God has both bases covered here--the high on the rung and the low on the rung.

This was an angelic announcement; this was an announcement that was accompanied by the shekinah glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord shone down around them. It's an announcement that's the best possible news mankind could ever get. There's actually a Savior! We're not in this alone. In fact, there is a solution to the problem of sin and guilt in our lives.

It's an announcement of the birth of the only Savior this world will ever have. It's an announcement that proves to us that God loves us so much that He was willing to leave heaven and come just to be with us. By the way, that's what the name means--Emanuel--"God with us."

God came, took on Himself flesh which He didn't have to, but He chose to, lived among the humble like the shepherds and Mary and Joseph to become the Savior to all mankind. That's the story that we have here. That's the announcement of what will change everything in the world.

Now, after this announcement, the angels went back to heaven. After this announcement, the shepherds went to the stable to see what was going on. Joseph beamed as a proud father and Mary pondered all these things in her heart and life went on.

But there has never been before and there will never be ever again, an announcement as important as this one. Because this is the announcement that God makes--that the "World Changer" has come. Not just another religious leader; not just a good teacher; not just an ethical person. The Person God sends to change everything has now been born.

And, by the way, if you haven't yet met that Person, His name is Jesus and we'd be delighted to introduce Him to you right here at Back to the Bible.

Well, I'll be back and have a few thoughts to close our session today.

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Tami Weissert: You're listening to Bible teacher, Woodrow Kroll, here on Back to the Bible.

Hey, Tami Weissert here. You know, Dr. Kroll's brand new printed study guide on Luke is available to order today. It's called Luke: Glory to God in the Highest and it will really help you soak in all there is to learn from Luke's account of Jesus' life. That's just the beginning, because once you take it in, the Holy Spirit will help you live it out.

So make today the day you order Luke: Glory to God in the Highest. Just give us a call at 1-800-759-2425.

Well, Dr. Kroll, first off, thanks for delivering the details with a little "zing"! You promised that up front and we got that and I love the details, but you know me, I'm kinda all about the application side, so you were just reading the Scriptures and talking today and the thing that really caught me was just this idea that God is the Savior of the world. It's for everyone.

In verse 10 it talks about that it's for all people and I know sometimes that's hard for people to understand. They think they've done terrible things so they think God could never be for them. But that's not true.

Woodrow Kroll: No, it isn't true. You know, one of the things I find so interesting about the Bible is that most of the world sees Christianity as a western religion; you know, here in the U.S. and Canada.

The fact is, this is an eastern religion. This was born out of the Middle East but it isn't even a religion. It's a Person born in a little town--insignificant town--called Bethlehem, who would be the Savior of all regions of the world and what I think we need to see here is not a western religion verses an eastern or other kind of religion. What we need to see here is God only sent one Savior and He's not going to send another one.

And that Savior doesn't pop up in various religions. That Savior was born in a stable in Bethlehem and announced immediately to be the Savior of the entire world--all people.

Tami Weissert: I wrote down a phrase, "God is interested in you." You said that and that just really brings it personal wherever you're at--you!

Woodrow Kroll: You can be a Buddhist. You can be a Muslim. You can be an agnostic. You can be a Christian. You can be whatever you want to be. The fact is [that] what you are is not what interests God in you. What interests God in you is that He loves you; He sent His Son to die for you; and the whole process of salvation--the good news of salvation--is good for you just like it's good for us.

And if you've never really appreciated that news, why don't you get in touch with us here. You can call us. You can e-mail us. You can come to our Web site backtothebible.org; let us know that you want to know who this Savior is and we'll introduce Him to you.

Tami Weissert: Well, we're moving on tomorrow.

Woodrow Kroll: We are.

Tami Weissert: From the ordinary to the extraordinary tomorrow.

Woodrow Kroll: Yeah. This is the birth narrative of Jesus. He's still quite young when we encounter Him tomorrow in our study, but He's also 12 years old. We're going to see two visits to the temple recorded in the same chapter: one when Jesus is still a baby and one when He's 12 years old.

And the interesting thing is, those 12 years doesn't change much in the temple and it certainly didn't change anything in Jesus. I think you're going to find this very interesting tomorrow. Two visits to the temple and both of them amaze everyone each time. Plan to join us, won't you?

Thanks for being here today and thanks for all you guys for being a part of our study group today. It's always good to have you at home as part of that group too. God bless you. I'm Woodrow Kroll. Have a good and godly day, for of what lasting value is a good day if it's not also a godly day?