“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world” (Lk. 2:1, NIV).
Thus begins the simple story in the Gospel of Luke about the birth of Jesus. We can tell that this is an event happening in our world, for even though times change some things stay the same. The powerful still move people around at their pleasure; governments still want their taxes.
Caesar Augustus is the mover on the face of the story–the most powerful man in the world, leader of the Roman Empire. Yet he is himself subject to a higher power. Through Caesar’s decree, God is moving events so that His Messiah will be born in Bethlehem as promised. The world does not see, does not know, does not intend–but God’s will shall be done.
God has brought redemption into our dark world. He has done it in a way simultaneously startling and subtle. The world sees a peasant couple moved by the will of the powerful, a story too common to notice. Those who have the eyes of faith see the strange and wonderful work of God, the Savior born among the lowly for the salvation of all who believe.
How beautifully unexpected is the saving work of God.