The Journey to Bethlehem | The Wolfe Notes
These notes follow our 7-step rhythm for Bible study. Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotes are from the English Standard Version (ESV) translation.
The Journey to Bethlehem(From Luke 2:4-7)
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| Brothers Walking by jatocreate at Pixabay |
1. Annotation Notes
? Denotes a question, * a personal thought, x a cross reference, ! a connection, and italics a referenced source.
- ? Why is this the first mention of Joseph? Is his story not as important to Luke? (Luke 2:4)
- ? How long was the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem? (Luke 2:4) Four or five days to travel 65 miles. (From "Mary & Joseph Go to Bethlehem" at TheBibleJourney.org)
- The KJV says "taxed" instead of "registered." The NIV Cultural Background Study Bible's footnotes concur. Typically, a tax would be collected at registration, or during the census.
- ? Why does Luke choose not to focus on Joseph and Mary. *Perhaps to focus on the everyday, overlooked people instead. To reinforce the idea that God's story belongs to all of us!
2. Summary
Joseph and Mary, now engaged, must travel to Joseph's hometown of Bethlehem where his ancestor, David, was also born. Having arrived in Bethlehem, Mary gave birth to Jesus, making a manger His bed.
3. N/W/L Statements
- I NOTICED this is the first mention of Joseph in Luke's account.
- I WONDER why Bethlehem was crowded? Surely not every town could be. Is it because it's David's ancestral home? I thought it wasn't an important city. *The ESV footnotes say the inn should (or could) be translated "guest room". The BEMA podcast suggests that Joseph was on the outs with his family, and they didn't allow him to stay in the house but forced him to the stable. Perhaps because of Mary's unwed pregnancy. So, perhaps the city wasn't crowded. Perhaps, Joseph's relatives refused hospitality.
- I think God wants us to LEARN that
- Marriages can endure seemingly impossible and socially unacceptable circumstances.
- Jesus was born in humility.
- Life often is not ideal, but our act of worship is to find God in every moment - even the unwanted ones.
4. Key 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. Luke 2:7 KJV
This verse reminds me of the fulfillment of God's promise to Mary; that Mary's firstborn Son was also God's firstborn Son; that on this day God became fully human, in need of a mother and father to care and provide for Him; it allows me to picture the humble, inhospitable scene into which our Savior arrived on earth.
5. God's Character
- God does not act the way we expect Him to. (Unwed parents birthed His firstborn and only Son in humble and inhospitable conditions.)
- The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor. Proverbs 15:33
- But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. I Corinthians 1:27-29
- But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Matthew 20:25-28
- God keeps His promises. (He told Mary she would birth His Son through the Spirit, and she did.)
- 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
- I will not violate my covenant or alter the word that went forth from my lips. Psalm 89:34
- ...you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. Joshua 23:14
- God values humility.
- The LORD lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground. Psalm 147:6
- For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. Isaiah 57:15
- Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:5-8
6. Pray
Father God, in this moment You Fathered Your very own child. I wonder what You felt. Misery, because You knew how it must end? Jubilation, because You knew what His end would bring? Pride, because of the loyalty and love Your servants displayed? We forget that Your story is our story. We fill our minds with our stories and omit You from them. Yet, without You, we have no story. Teach us to seek You in every moment, because only then can we begin to understand our own story - when we finally see that our life is lived through You.
7. Act
- Practice seeing how you fit in God's story instead of how He fits in yours.
- Start praying for an awareness of God in every circumstance instead of asking Him to remove you from it.
Sample these related posts:
- To reflect on the journey to Christ's birth.
- To remember His story is our story.
- To encourage humility.
- To complete a self-assessment of your character.
- To connect with an expectation-rattling God.
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