Road trip! Why on earth did Joseph take Mary with him?

There is one niggling little aspect of the Christmas narrative that has always puzzled me a little.

Why did Joseph take Mary with him on his trip from Galilee to Bethlehem? 
She was obviously nearing her delivery date. Why would he take the chance that she would go into labor on the trip? Why would she choose to endure the discomfort of such a trip? 

Now, remember they weren't just climbing in the ol' minivan for a road trip. At least one of them was probably walking. They may have both been walking. Considering just how pregnant she was, it may well have taken them a week to make the journey. For her that would have been a miserable and dangerous week.

And that is what has always puzzled me just a little. Why? Why not have her just stay with her family (or his) in Nazareth? Wouldn't that have been safer? He was only going to be gone a few days. The purpose for the trip was to register for the census. He could have registered without her at his side. If the baby came she would be safe in a home and have the assistance of a local midwife. A man alone could travel lighter and faster. He could be back in half the time. So why did he take her?

Before I go any farther, let me acknowledge one point. Ultimately she went because it was the plan of God for the baby to be born in Bethlehem as had been prophesied centuries before.

"But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days." -Micah 5:2 esv

While the fulfillment of prophesy was the reason from God's perspective, I doubt that was the reason from Joseph's perspective. 

Frankly, I think she went out of necessity at the last minute. Here is why.

The other day as I was reading in Acts chapter five, I was drawn to something that a Jewish councilman named Gamaliel said.  The council had called Peter and John on the carpet for preaching in Jesus' name and were making it rough on them. Then Gamaliel steps up and makes an argument for the council to back off a little. 

Now his argument isn't all that important for this topic, but part of the evidence for his argument is. He says,

"...After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered." -Acts 5:37

That little titbit of information is very useful. He gives us a window into what was going on in Galilee at the time of Jesus birth. This fellow known as Judas the Galilean was brewing a revolution because of the census (and resulting taxation).

On a hunch I also decided to consult the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus. Here is what I found. Because of this Judas and his followers, Josephus says,

"...one violent war came upon us after another, and we lost our friends...from them arose murderers of men, which sometimes fell on their own people...and sometimes on their enemies...a famine coming upon us reduced us to the last degree of despair as did also the taking and demolishing of cities...They also do not value dying any kinds of death, nor indeed do they heed the deaths of their relations and friends..." 

--Antiquities of the Jews, book XVIII, chapter 1

Now we begin to see things a little more clearly. She went with him because the perils of the road were becoming less than the perils of staying home. Galilee was quickly becoming the proverbial powder keg. It was time for Joseph to take the little woman and get out of town. The census provided them with a good reason to hit the road.

This also explains a few other things.  

1. It explains the pitiful accommodations. If things started going sideways in Galilee right before Joseph planned to leave he would not have had time to send a message ahead and make arrangements for Mary's arrival. Her advanced pregnancy undoubtedly slowed them down. The were the stragglers of the travelers. The inns were all full when they arrived.

2. It explains why they were still in Bethlehem several months after Jesus birth. When the wise men arrived Jesus was already several months old, perhaps as old as two years.  Why hadn't they already went home? With Galilee roiling in civil unrest, Joseph would not have been eager to take his family back to Nazareth.

3. It also sheds light on King Herod's surly mood and infanticidal rage when he receives word of the Messiah's birth.  He had been dealing with revolutionaries for months when the Magi arrived. The revolutionaries were probably making him look bad to Rome. The last thing he thought he needed was for a messiah to show up and further inflame the radicals.



Having arrived at these conclusions there is one more thing I can pull from all of this. God had a plan in motion for Jesus' birth to occur in Bethlehem. It is quite likely that Joseph and Mary were unaware of that plan. 

Imagine all of this from Joseph's viewpoint. 

Do you suppose he felt like a failure as he stared at the baby in the manger? He had had to make a snap decision and chose the lesser of two evils. Should he leave his wife in the middle of a revolution or risk the dangers of a road trip. Had he made the right choice? Had he already failed in his role as guardian? Because of his decision, it would seem, the baby was born in a stable.

I think that it is fair to say that many of our "failures" are not actually failures at all. Instead, they are part of God's plan to put us at the right place at the right time to accomplish his purpose. God has not called us to do all things perfectly. Rather he calls us to the right thing daily, even if it makes us look like a failure.  If we will consistently follow him, I think, it is quite likely that we will someday look back on our lives to discover that our failures weren't really failures at all. They were actually the unexpected detours God used to place us where he wanted us all along.

You Can Do More Than You Think You Can

Ever had a day that just wouldn't end? So did Jesus.

Recorded in the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) is an account of one of the longest days in the Life of our Savior and his disciples. This day is so significant that it is recorded in all four gospels. Each writer illuminates different facets of the story, but it is the same story. It is a day of triumph and sorrow. It is a day of hunger and abundance. It is a day in which a little failure might have been seen as a big relief.

Here is the background to this very long day:

 John the Baptist is in prison...

    At this point in his ministry, Jesus popularity is growing, but his cousin John has been imprisoned  for several months by the local head honcho, Herod Antipas. In his prison on the shores of the Dead Sea, John has heard great things about Jesus from his disciples. Just days before this day John had sent two of his disciples to Jesus asking him to verify that he was in fact the Messiah, and they had returned to confirm this truth to John.

 Jesus' own disciples are on their way back to him...  

   Before we can really appreciate this day, we must also know that Jesus had recently sent his disciples on an evangelistic mission around the towns and villages of Galilee. This is the day they would return.

How the long day begins...

Notice of John’s death…and Herod’s interest

    As dawn breaks on this day, Jesus is awakened perhaps by the running feet of John’s disciples. John has been beheaded and his corpse mistreated. Furthermore, Herod is interested in Jesus now. John’s imprisonment had taken place about seventy miles due south of where Jesus was. It is possible John's disciples with the question did not make it back to the prison before his execution.  Jesus begins to grieve for his forerunner.

News of successful evangelism...

   Just then his own disciples arrive with joyous news about the success of their missionary foray. Stories of evangelistic preaching and miracles abound. They decide to make breakfast. 

Then, the crowds arrive. They are pounding on the door. They are crowding in.

Solitude sought...

   Jesus commands that they row out of town to a stretch of abandoned shoreline. The crowds figure them out and beat them to the location.

Extemporaneous ministry...

    Jesus teaches and heals the multitude all day long.

Hunger and exhaustion...

    As evening approaches the disciples plead with the Lord to send the crowds away that they may go buy food. Luke records it by saying, “And when the day began to wear away…” Luke 9:12.

Vision-less disciples and catering...

    Jesus then tells his cadre of miracle working evangelist, “You feed them”… and they grab their wallets in dismay. (I’m paraphrasing here) “Lord it would take $20,000 to feed this bunch. We don’t have that kind of cash.”

    One disciple, Andrew, finds a boy with five biscuits and a couple of  sardines. Whatever the disciples planned to eat on their original picnic outing is now missing.

    Jesus blesses and multiplies the loaves and fish.

    The disciples now get to play waiter to 5000+ people.

    Then they get to play busboy to 5000+ people. They collect 12 baskets of leftovers.

Bed is an hour away...

    Jesus then commands his disciples to make a five mile journey in their ship while he dismisses the crowd. The disciples leave.

The kingmaker crowd...

    The crowd turns kingmaker and wants to force Jesus to be king. He retreats up the mountain to pray.

Jesus sees the disciples toiling on the lake as the sun goes down...

    As dark settles in Jesus can see the disciples a good distance from shore battling a head wind. He prays all night while they toil in the sea.

Jesus bails them out at dawn...

    Sometime between 3am and 6am he walks past them on the sea. They get scared. Jesus calls out. Peter gets bold. With the Lord’s permission he walks on water, then sinks, then walks back to the boat just in time to get off again.

And then it all starts all over again

   The disciples beach the boat as day breaks and the crowds begin to form again as the locals realize who has shown up. Later in the day, the folks from yesterday will show up as well.

Lesson we can learn from this very long day:

1. Perfection is the enemy of ministry. God did not call us to be perfect. He called us to be obedient. We cannot make the ministry failure-proof and be effective.
2. When the Vision is from the Lord, money is of no consequence. Jesus can turn a sack lunch into a catered fish fry.
3. Leftovers taste pretty good at 3am. I am quite certain that the disciples didn’t make it to the far shore with twelve baskets of fish and bread. The memory of the miraculous will sustain us in when battle headwinds.
4. Sometimes we row against the head wind. Just because we are battling the headwinds doesn’t mean Jesus isn’t watching. He is on the mountain interceding on our behalf.
5. Jesus calls “come” to the bleary eyed and exhausted. You will not be pretty in the hour of your greatest faith, and your not likely to walk on water when you are thinking straight.
6. Its okay to approach the work of the Lord with a plan, but once contact is made minister to the needs that present themselves. Jesus can “mess up” your day anytime he wants.
7.  The end is only the beginning. They returned for rest only to find the real work beginning. Your job in the kingdom of God may change, but it never ends.
8. You can do more than you think you can.

"I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious!" -Vince Lombardi

[If you want to read about Jesus' "very long day"  you can do so in these passages in the Bible Matthew 14, Mark 6:30-37, Luke 9, John 6]