Here we go, again.
In Bethlehem Township in Pennsylvania, there are protests over the fact that the local government is not providing any money for homeless shelters. Local churches, which should be providing the relief, are among the protesters.
Every year about this time, the hucksters who claim it is government’s responsibility, not the individual’s, to care for the widows and fatherless, use Christmas to insinuate that Mary and Joseph, the parents of Jesus, could find no room for the birth of their child because they were homeless vagabonds.
It’s simply not true.
In fact, read Luke’s account of the birth and you will clearly see why Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem from their home in Nazareth to have the child.
In case you don’t have a Bible handy, here is the relevant part with a little emphasis placed on keywords.
Luke 2:1-6 (KJV) begins:
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
Notice how many times the subject of taxes comes up in that first section of the Christmas story. That was the reason Joseph and Mary were forced – and I use that word advisedly – to travel to Bethlehem from Nazareth, a rough journey of about 70 miles for a young woman in her ninth month of pregnancy. They had to file the equivalent of their 1040 form.
It ought to be referred to as “the Long March to Bethlehem,” because of its familiarity with the forced population movements of so many modern-day tyrannies. Jesus’ birth was marked by the first world tax. The Roman Empire was ready, willing and able to coerce millions of people throughout the world to battle the elements, to travel great distances, regardless of their condition, so they could be counted and taxed. No excuses were tolerated. This was a government operation all the way.
Joseph and Mary were not “homeless,” as some of the modern big-government shakedown artists suggest. They were forced to encamp in a barn because this massive population movement, prompted by the empire’s greed, resulted in a shortage of beds for visitors.
Note the next verse: “And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”
Joseph was a carpenter – a working man – who had money for a room at the inn in Bethlehem. It’s just that there were no vacancies due to the overcrowded conditions caused by this forced population relocation.
Government is not your friend; it is the enemy of freedom. Government is not Santa Claus; it is the Grinch. Government is not your servant; it tends, all too often, to be our master. Government seldom helps people; it often enslaves them.
Even back then, 2,000 years ago, government was heartless and cruel. It forced women to march long distances in the last stages of pregnancy. That’s the way government has always been, and that’s the way it will always be – at least until Jesus comes again.
By the way, I think it’s interesting that it was the first global tax that precipitated the Savior’s first coming.
The world, it seems, through the auspices of the United Nations, is on the verge of imposing only the second worldwide tax. Thanks to the myth of global warming and various plots to make international borders virtually meaningless, the second world tax in history can only be a few years away.
So, let’s see. A global tax preceded the birth of Jesus 2,000 years ago. Might history repeat itself? Might God use this extraordinarily oppressive and onerous idea as the stage-setter for His dramatic return?
If so, it will once again prove the truth of another scripture – Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
So, “Don’t be afraid,” as the angel told the shepherds that night in Bethlehem. There is good news in this season of joy. Truth is truth. Light is light. And God, not Caesar, is still on the throne.
