When Mary and Joseph were making that 80-100 mile trek to their hometown of Bethlehem, it surely tugged at their heart. The reason they were headed back was because that land was no longer theirs. Land was life in their day, and you only got rid of your land if you couldn't pay for it any longer, or it was seized. Caesar Augustus called for that census to know how to better tax his subjects--although something like 97% of them were impoverished. Taxes in that day were around 80ish percent of earnings. The steep rate of taxation, the long walk "home" because it was no longer their home, and the harsh reality that tax rates were likely to be hiked again were all cause for heavy hearts.
Joseph and Mary were likely traveling with a group to ensure safety. Yes, they were living in the time of the Pax Romana, that time of peace instituted by the Roman government. When Caesar Augustus acquired new subjects, he ensured they would not revolt and start war by preempting them. The best and the brightest, the strong and smart--men, women, elderly, and young--any that posed a potential threat were torturously executed on the Roman creation, the cross. So many were executed that at times crosses were used twice a day. A time of peace? Yes, in the sense that no one was warring. But this was not life-nurturing, hope-generating peace. It was sanctioned terrorism and oppression.
As they made the trek through these bleak circumstances, it's possible the travelers turned their talk to recounting stories of old. As they crossed the Jordan they might have remembered how Joshua crossed with the Israelites on dry ground--in the middle of flood season! But it had been 400 years since God had publicly been active in the Jewish nation. God seemed silent. Mythical. More story than reality. They were the chosen people, but it surely seemed as though they were the forgotten chosen. They were a people in need of hope, of light, they were in need of a savior.
Supposedly they already had a savior though. The titles of the caesars were so grandiose and a dirty reflection of God's promise. The Roman nation institutionalized the Imperial Cult--the worship of the caesars. Caesar Augustus was named god while he was living, and as his father before him was deified, he was christened the son of god. With his strong government armies and rule, he was known as the prince of peace, savior and lord. People worshipped him. Daily people greeted each other with the proclamation "Caesar is Lord." People would meet together for times of caesar worship in groups known as ekklesias--the Greek word for church. The twelve days prior to Caesar's birthday were known as advent--the celebration of his coming. It was a time steeped in hardship with a hopeless worship of a man that was a far cry from the true God.
In this culture revolving around this powerful, deified Caesar, the arrival of a Savior, the Prince of Peace, the Son of God would have been ground breaking. It would have been a call for revolution. Into this darkness, Jesus came, upsetting the idolatrous worship of the time and bringing hope and life. Instead of taking and demanding, He gave and loved.
"Behold, unto you a Savior is born. Immanuel, Prince of Peace."
I could go with the flow this season, or I can raise my eyes and recognize the radical Savior that was born to free me from the darkness of this world.
Long live the King! Forever will he reign!
