Subject: Why did Joseph and Mary travel from Galilee to Judea when Jesus was to be born?
Complement: To be registered/taxed and to be at the right place at the right time to give birth to Jesus.
Idea: Joseph and Mary traveled from Galilee to Judea to be registered/taxed and to be at the right place at the right time to give birth to Jesus.
Homiletical Idea: We need to be at the right place at the right time when God wants to give birth to the vision that He has already conceived in us.
Introduction: Have you ever wondered why should a pregnant woman and her husband travel a long distance during the last days of the delivery? Was it just to be registered / taxed at their ancestral home or was it for their honeymoon or was there some other underlying reason? In many Asian countries it’s a cultural trend for women to travel to their parents’ home just few weeks before they deliver. And usually they would stay there for forty days or more after the delivery. In today’s passage we will see both Joseph and Mary going to their ancestral home in order to be registered and taxed. Not only that, they had to be at the right place and at the right time for Jesus to be born.
Let’s take a closer look at what did it take Joseph and Mary to give birth to Jesus (vision)?
(A) To be Registered / Taxed
1. Caesar taxed the entire world.
2. Not because he wanted tax.
3. Because one person (Mary) was out of place (to fulfill Micah’s prophesy).
When we use the word taxed or registered as a metaphor, we can easily see why we as individuals and as a church constantly face trials and tribulations – just because we are not in the right place. Why have we been having numerous problems – 9/11/Afghanistan/Iraq/Israel etc. and constant natural disasters? It’s just because we as a church are not in the right place. We are fighting against the will of God! We are fighting against our trials and tribulations. It’s the act of being taxed (facing trials and tribulations) and yielding to it, brings us to the right place - just the place where we need to be in God’s plan.
The first 28 years of my life I lived in India. In 1990 there was an opening for me to teach in the Middle-East*. I was the only graduate candidate selected amongst all the others who had doctorate degrees. God was beckoning me to move. I yielded to His call and made the move.
Application: Why is the world being constantly taxed (ongoing global social and environmental problems)? Because the Church i.e. the ‘Body of Christ’ is out of place.
The act of being taxed and yielding to it leads us to the next level of being in the right place-
(B) To be at the Right Place
1. Joseph and Mary went from Galilee (in Hebrew it means circuit), which was the wrong place.
2. Mary was at the wrong place at the wrong time. (Galilee)
3. Mary went to Judea or Judah (in Hebrew it means praise) even in the pain of rejection and birth pangs she walked that road to Judea. No wonder Mary sings the ‘Magnifica’ in Luke 1: 46 where she says, ‘My soul doth magnify the Lord!’
The act of being taxed is to break that circuit (routine of life) to bring us to the place where the Church falls in line with its calling and the will of God. For Jesus to be born, Joseph and Mary had to get out of Galilee, which was the wrong place and travel to Judea – the right place. God wants to take us to a different level and He can’t do it as long as we continue to stay in Galilee (daily routine of life with no spiritual growth). He wants us to be in Judea (place or act of worship) so that we can bring forth what God has already conceived or planned for us.
It could be a worship ministry, arts ministry, prophetic ministry, healing ministry, a prison ministry or even a church plant. No matter how hard we try, it can’t take birth in the land called Galilee but only when we move into the land of Judea, that is the dimension of praise and worshipping God in whatever circumstances we are in.
After my life of 28 years in India, God showed and moved me into the right place - the Middle-East* (My Judea). The teaching position there, gave me enough time to give birth to establish numerous underground churches and the ministry to Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and nominal Christians in a persecuted land. I had to be taxed there thoroughly (undergo trials & tribulations) because now I was in the right place for God’s ministry to germinate. I had to move from my dimension of Galilee (India) to the level of Judea (Middle-East*) where I could praise God even in the most difficult situations that I had been through during that phase.
Application: In order for the vision that God has conceived in us to take birth, we need to come out of the land of Galilee meaning ‘Circuit’ (i.e. daily chores of life with our spiritual life being dead). We can’t afford to be in a land called programs, banquets and parties. But move to a land of Judah meaning ‘Praise.’
To be in the right place was not enough, Joseph and Mary had to be there at the right time.
(c) To be there at the Right Time
1. Beginning of birth pangs.
2. Perfect for the birth of Jesus (as prophesied by Micah).
3. So that the ‘Word of Prophesy’ is fulfilled.
For Mary giving birth outside Judea could easily result in a miscarriage and abort the baby. This could jeopardize the plan of God. Jesus had to be born in Judea as prophesied by Micah. Only in that aura of praise and worship to God, could it be fulfilled! I had to move to the Middle-East* in 1990 (the right time) so that the ministry to lost souls could be established. If I hadn’t moved to that place at the right time, the ministry would have easily aborted even before it could take birth.
Application: We need to understand what God does in our lives so that we can be in the right place at the right time for ‘His Will’ to be done in and through our lives.
Finally, after Joseph and Mary had been taxed, arrived at the right place at the right time it was time to give birth to Jesus (their mission). Verse 7 says He was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. Why was Jesus placed in a place where beasts come to eat? It was very prophetic, signifying that He would die and His flesh and blood would redeem us from our sins. So that you and I would come in our carnal flesh as beasts to consume Him in that Eucharistic feast (at the table of the Lamb). And we shall be changed from this vile image into that glorious image of being Christ-like. We shall become like Him.
Conclusion: So why did Joseph and Mary travel from Galilee to Judea when Jesus was to be born? They had to make this tiring and tedious trip to Judea to be taxed, so that they could be at the right place at the right time to give birth to what God had conceived in them – Jesus Christ (the Savior of the world was the ministry God had given them).
Taking their example, I believe we need to be obedient and yield to God when we as individuals or as a body of Christ are taxed (i.e. undergo trials and tribulations) so that God shifts/puts us in the right place at the right time in order for that, which He has conceived (vision - any sort of ministry, which God is calling us into) in us takes birth.
