Each December we usually hear the nativity account from Luke 2 read in church. It can become so familiar that we often don’t pay attention. This year, however, I suddenly realized something I had not thought about before.
The first five verses explain that Caesar Augustus took a census, requiring Joseph and Mary (his betrothed) to travel to Bethlehem. This census was a means of taxation. And the taxes enabled the conquering Roman ruler to build extensive roadways and maintain an impressive army. Caesar was considered a benevolent dictator, and later, declared a god. The Roman government imprinted his likeness on their coins.
No one likes paying taxes, and pregnant Mary definitely would have preferred NOT to go on a 97-mile trek for three or four days over mountainous terrain. Yet she and Joseph followed this inconvenient and unfair command. And there, unbeknownst to surrounding disgruntled Jews forced by the government to visit Bethlehem, Mary gave birth to a son—fulfilling Old Testament prophecy.
After reading the miraculous account of an angelic announcement and Christ’s birth, we learn in verses 21-24 that Joseph and Mary completed the days for purification, according to the Law of Moses. Then they traveled up to Jerusalem to present baby Jesus to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice according to that same Law – “A pair of turtledoves or two young doves.”
First, Mary and Joseph humbly obeyed an ungodly government. Then they obeyed the law handed down from Moses. Their obedience rubbed off on their son.
Years later, the religious leaders tried to confound Jesus by asking whether it was lawful to pay Caesar taxes. They hoped He’d either say yes—indicating He agreed with Caesar’s “god” status, or no—immediately making Him guilty of breaking Roman law. Instead, Jesus wisely replied, “Pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17). His answer astounded and silenced His opponents.
While we get more say in the political process than the first century Jews, not all modern-day laws seem just. Like Joseph and Mary, we must pay the government what some deem an unfair amount in taxes every April. (At least we don’t have to travel by donkey to Washington D.C.!) Yet God wants us, with rare exception, to obey the government—whether convenient or not. Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God, that by doing right you silence the ignorance of foolish people. . . . Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. (I Peter 2:13-17).
Joseph and Mary fulfilled prophecy and ushered God’s Son to earth by their willingness to submit to both Caesar and God. And what about the child God gave them? He turned the world upside down through His obedience! May we all cultivate that same humble heart this year and graciously do whatever God asks of us, even in an imperfect world. Who knows what might happen?!
