THE YOUNG JESUS
by Charlene & Friedhelm Dohmann

Index

• The Journey to Bethlehem
• Zacharias and Elisabeth
• Joseph and his Mandate
• Mary and Elizabeth
• John the Baptist
• Cave or Stable
• The Shepherds in the Field
• The Message of the Angels
• Date of Birth
• Early Weeks
• The Star in the East
• King Herod
• The Adoration of the Magi
• The Murder of the Children
• Flight to Egypt

The Journey to Bethlehem

Jesus was born in a world of peace, but a peace enforced by Roman legions which suppressed any uprising even in remote corners of the empire. The peace brought a noticeable prosperity to larger provinces, even wealth; however, not for Palestine, an area at the eastern edge of the mighty Roman Empire. The Jews who lived there were under the dominion of Rome since 63 BC when Pompeii troops took the city of Jerusalem. Palestine played no roll. The inhabitants became useful only as taxpayers. The large Roman buildings, high rising aqueducts, magnificent marble palaces, impressive public places and an expanded road network were all financed through taxes. As the Roman appetite grew, the taxation from Rome was relentless. The governors of the provinces were regularly commanded to take a census to collect new statistics for taxation.

Following such an order, Joseph and Mary began the long journey to distant Bethlehem. As it is written in the Gospel of Luke: "...there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the subjects in the Holy Land should be taxed. They should return to the home of their fathers, to be recorded there". The Apostle Matthew, who at the beginning of his gospel also wrote about Jesus' birth, does not mention this Census. His gospel only stated that an Old Testament prophecy in the Book of Micah was fulfilled with the birth in Bethlehem. "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." It did not say why Mary and Joseph went there.

It is not important whether the reports do agree with each other. The intent of Luke and Matthew is clear: both demonstrate this birth was the actual, promised Messiah. When Luke points to the imperial decree which forced Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, he is stating that God utilized the greatest worldly power of those days so Jesus would be born in the City of David as prophesied. Both reveal that God intervened through promises and warnings. Both emphasize that the life of Jesus began like that of other persons. Luke shows, for example, that Mary was no different from her neighbors except through her piety and purity; and according to Matthew, it was because of Joseph's faith that he was selected. Both apostles make this point; the choice of parents for Jesus reveals the importance of inner truth in contrast to outward appearances which is an important message of the New Testament.

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