Advent Day 12
Bad News to Good News
Luke 2:1-3 In those days
Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire
Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was
governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to his own town to register.
THIS seems fairly simple, doesn’t it? Orders are given; it’s
time to go pay the tax.
But when you read
these words, do you see the bad news? It’s not simply the bad news of the tax.
It is Rome’s bondage over Israel. Caesar Augustus and Quirinius are Romans.
Rome controls Israel. Israel’s people are subject to an outside force intent on
taking as much wealth out of the country as it can to build the riches of Rome.
That’s bad news.
But now see the
good news. The other aspect of this “simple” sentence represents a turning point
in history. Luke gives clear evidence of the year and month (actually October)
when Jesus was born. The more deliberate he could be of the circumstances and
time, the more we can trust the reality of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem.
Of course, the
reality is that God sent his Son into the midst of bad news in Israel to bring
good news to the world. Amazingly, God would use Rome as a means to spread the
Gospel (Good News) and to begin his church. This bad news nation would become
one of the first to proclaim Christianity as a state religion. The Roman Empire
would be the home of many new churches and the Good News would spread further
and further—even to you this day.
Pause and Consider: You
intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. (Gen 50:20 NLT)
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