MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/31/2026
9:19 AM
My
Worship Time Focus:
“The
National Setting”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: Luke
2:4-5
Message of the verses: “Joseph also went up from Galilee,
from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called
Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to
register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.” (NASB)
It is true that Israel is ever linked with the Old
Testament Scriptures, which were written by Jewish writers, and they clearly
predicted where the Messiah would be born.
It was centuries earlier that the prophet Micah had written, “But as
for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah [Bethlehem’s original name; cf. Genesis 35:19],
too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go firth for Me to
be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are
from long ago, from the days of eternity” (Micah 5:2). Although Bethlehem was a small,
insignificant village, too little to be among the clans of Judah,” God declared that it would produce a
ruler in Israel. Now we find as we look
at the kings of the Southern kingdom that only David came out of
Bethlehem. However David cannot be in
view in this passage. David had died
long before Micah’ day, but the ruler of whom the prophet wrote was yet to
come. Micah’s reference is to the
Messiah, whose “goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity”—a
statement that could not apply to any human, since only God has existed from
all eternity.
Now Luke wrote that Joseph…went
up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David
which is called Bethlehem, because Bethlehem, located in Judea, southern
Israel, very near Jerusalem, is higher in elevation than Nazareth, and
this was located in Galilee which is in Northern Israel. Though in the Old Testament, the city of
David was a title given to Mount Zion in Jerusalem, because David actually
reigned there (cf. 2 Samuel 5:7-9; 1 Chron. 11:7), Luke used the term to
identify the town where he was born and raised (cf. 1 Samuel 17:12, 15;
20:6). Joseph went to Bethlehem because
he was of the house and family of David (1:27), in order to register for
the census, along with Mary. It
was the Lord God who sovereignly directed the couple to where they needed to be
to fulfill Micah’s prophecy.
John MacArthur writes “Some have
questioned whether it was necessary for Mary to make the long (at least seventy
mile) trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem, especially since she was with
child. As head of the family, they
argue, Joseph alone needed to register.
There is, however, evidence that in Syria (the province that included
Israel), women twelve years and older were subject to pool tax (Marshall, The
Gospel of Luke, 102). Thus Mary may
also have been required to register.
Several personal considerations may also help explain why she went to
Bethlehem with Joseph. Perhaps she was
uncomfortable staying behind in Nazareth where her unexpected and—humanly speaking—unexplained
pregnancy was undoubtedly the subject of a good deal of gossip. Joseph certainly would not have wanted to
miss the birth of the Son of God, whom the angel had told him was conceived in
Mary by the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:20-21).
Finally, as devout Jews, Joseph and Mary were familiar with Micah’s
prophecy and knew their child needed to be born in Bethlehem. Whatever human factors may have influenced
Mary to travel to Bethlehem, ultimately she did so to fulfill God’s
purpose. Leon Morris writes,
“We should
perhaps reflect that it was the combination of a decree by the emperor in
distant Rome and the gossiping tongues of Nazareth that brought Mary to
Bethlehem at just the time to fulfil the prophecy about the birthplace of
Christ (Mic. 5:2). God works through all
kinds of people to effect His purposes (The Gospel According to St. Luke, The
Tyndale New Testament Commentaries [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975], 84).
“Luke wrote that Mary was engaged
to Joseph, while Matthew 1:24 states that Joseph had already married her.”
Matthew 1:24-25
“24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the
angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to
a son. And he called his name Jesus.”
“There is no contradiction between the two accounts,
however. First, it must be remembered
that the distinction in Jewish culture between engagement and marriage was not
as clear-cut as it is today. Engagement
was a legally binding contract, though the physical union was not
consummated. For example, to end their
engagement, as he contemplated doing after discovering that she was pregnant,
Joseph would have had to divorce Mary (Matt. 1:19).”
(Matt. 1:19)
“19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and
unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.”
(“Note
that Matthew in that same verse refers to Joseph as Mary’s husband before they
were married.) Since a covenant to be married
had taken place, Matthew could properly refer to the couple as married. But since the marriage was not physically
consummated until after Jesus’ birth (Matt. 1:24-25), Luke could refer to them
as engaged, since they were conducting their relationship as appropriate to the
betrothal period.”
(Matt. 1:24-25)
“24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the
angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to
a son. And he called his name Jesus.”
Spiritual Meaning for my life
today: It took great faith for both
Mary and Joseph to do what they did, and it takes faith to believe the Word of
God concerning this wonderful section of the Word of God.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: I’m trusting the Lord for the issues that I
am having with my guts, and mostly for the cancer that Sandy has, that God will
have mercy on both of us.
3/31/2026
10:10 AM
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