Day 19: Don't Miss Him...

Luke 2:1-7

1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)3And everyone went to his own town to register.

 4So 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. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The first chapter of Luke reveals some of the cultural expectations during Christ’s day. The Messiah, it was believed, would overthrow enemy occupation, restore righteousness and justice on the earth, set right all wrongs, and remove oppression from the land. The Messiah would then rule and reign over all the earth from the throne of David in Jerusalem.  The cultural expectations were high. Israel longed for it’s Messiah-- Israel longed to be free.

Chapter two of Luke reveals that the birth and life of Christ would not exactly fit the expectations His culture had set. The circumstances surrounding His birth were in no way kingly. Instead, it was a humble, lonely event. 

Christ was overlooked, ridiculed, and neglected by the ones waiting for His arrival. The long-expected Savior came not as a king, but as a baby in a manger. As we celebrate His birth this busy Christmas season, don’t miss Him.