Angels and Shepherds: Journey Home

Angels and Shepherds
Journey Home
December 22/23, 2007
Digging Deeper (Questions are on the last page)
Journey Home: Angels and Shepherds
(Robert Ismon Brown)

Study Notes
Key Scripture Text: Luke 2:1-20

1 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. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. 21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived.

Introduction
Novelists commonly introduce their characters piecemeal. An opening chapter might begin with a mysterious, unnamed figure, shrouded in a dark alley, engaged in espionage for a foreign government. Flashback. A young college graduate takes her first job with the trade consulate of a friendly nation, and makes travel plans for one, Rashid Maksil. Around the corner, at a Starbucks, handsome Jason Rice prepares his resume while surfing the internet through the WiFi. A dozen chapters later, in some bizarre turn of events, all of these meet in a vacant warehouse outside Jersey. Go figure.

Luke's handling of the Advent story reaches a critical turn in chapter 2. He has not yet, on careful reading, introduced all his key players, but suddenly they appear and converge in twenty brief verses, bringing to a climax the birth account of Jesus. Real human beings, real stories, set against the backdrop of what reads like real history. The imaginations of countless centuries have played with this episode, improvising the props and eavesdropping on the streams of consciousness of its characters. How many different ways can we bring to life "no room in the inn"? Or where do we place Mary and Joseph? A cave? A lean-to cow stable? An adjunct vestibule attached to a crowded inn or bed and breakfast? So what's with the manger? A feeding trough? A crib for hay? Cultural historians have tried to unravel the fine points for us. And to a large extent have succeeded in substantiating a credible scene played out one night more than two thousand years ago. Of course, there are plenty of invented scenarios as well. Even the journey of the expectant couple from Nazareth to Bethlehem has suffered from idealization, right down to the donkey Mary rode! Then there are the shepherds, set on idyllic hillsides. Can't you feel that cold, wet snowflake melting on your face while wooly lambs nuzzle your leg? Perhaps not. When these events happened, we can be sure, they was quite unexpected. No one directed the lines or choreographed the movements from a canvas seat. No one harmonized heavenly choirs from a grazing perch.

Yet Luke now wants to bring all of his principal actors onto the stage for this final performance before he invests the rest of his Gospel in telling the rest of the story, perhaps the most important part. Which leaves the contemporary reader with the wonderful task of making sense out of the people, places, plot and props. Fortunately, we are not left to our own devices since Luke has already invited his readers to take quite seriously the factual nature of his writing. Consider how he began his Gospel:
1 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught (Luke 1:1-4).
And so when Luke opens with "In those days" and then offers an historical setting for the birth of Jesus, he expects his readers to take him seriously. Of course, that involves us in investigations of Caesar Augustus, a provincial ruler named Quirinius, and the impact of a census which brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem. Naturally we want to know when all of this happened, and whether the players in the story had any idea what the others were up to. Frankly, Luke won't easily yield us answers, determined to tell us just what he plans, and in some cases, leave us to wonder about the rest.

We would be less than honest if we charged ahead, acting as if all of the historical questions about the census or Caesar or Quirinius had been fully answered by historians. They have not. The historical tire tracks are all over chapter two, and some of the evidence is obscure at best. Just read half a dozen commentaries on Luke 2 and you will find a digest of possible explanations, followed (if we are fortunate) by a new proposal for making all of the pieces fit together. Or, we might be disappointed or even angered by what some scholars tell us about the "misinformation" Luke got from sources he used or how he botched his story by confusing a later census with the one he talks about here. Trust me, there's plenty of anxiety in the theological community about those kinds of questions! We might be tempted to resolve this with a novel proposal of our own. Relax. I have no intention of adding new solutions to the overstocked inventory in the historians' closet. We will need to trace the facts, however, even if we don't find answers. Patience is a virtue in doing this kind of spadework. Not everybody cares about the history of Luke 2. A few commentators make it clear that they are all about the "story" as Luke tells it, and are perfectly willing to lay aside the controversies. Certainly Luke would want his readers to "get the point" of his story. He made it clear to Theophilus that he wanted him to "get it".

So what is Luke's point? He certainly wants to show how God brought together the "big events" of human history so that "little people" like Mary and Joseph, and, yes, the shepherds, might become participants in the "big story" God was unfolding on earth. For historians, and for theologians, there are "stories" and then there are "Stories". Or, as the more sophisticated like to phrase it: "narratives" and "meta-narratives". As one scholar aptly put it, there's "what happened", and then there's "what's really going on". To be sure, Luke wants to tell us both. And to do so, he must draw from history, Old Testament Scripture, personal lives, and converging events. He does all of this, not just because he wants to write a piece of history, but rather because he wants to include his readers in the fulfillment of something much bigger than themselves. That God was, at last, bringing to fruition, the long history of His people, Israel--a history that would bring them home.

The Baptizer's Backdrop
When Luke starts chapter two he writes "Now it happened in those days" (Greek: egeneto de en tais hemerais ekeinais), forcing the reader to flip back to chapter one and remember the larger context of the passage. "Those days" refer to the events in the life of Elizabeth and Zechariah, leading up to the birth of John (the Baptizer). The final section of Luke 1 contains the circumcision scene in which John is named by his mother, drawing questions from those standing around. Neighbors and relatives in attendance wonder why he wasn't called "Zechariah", after his father. You will recall that Zechariah was struck speechless after the angel announced John's birth. But when offered writing materials, Zechariah confirms, "His name is John". Immediately, Zechariah can speak and begins to offer praise to God. Luke narrates the wonder and awe provoked by these developments, events which reverberate throughout "the hill country of Judea" (1:65). There was nothing private about the revelation of John's name. Furthermore, it led people to ask "What is this child going to be?" It is of some note that the Hebrew word for "John" is Yohanan and means either "Yahweh favors" or simply, "the one who brings favor". The Hebrew word hanan points to the grace of Yahweh in granting favor to His people. This explains Luke's additional comment, "For Yahweh's hand was with him" (1:66).

What follows, as we have seen elsewhere, is an outpouring of song. Luke tells us two things about Zechariah as he breaks out in praise:
He was filled with the Holy Spirit.
He prophesied.
Echoing the sentiment of Mary in her earlier Magnificat, Zechariah's Benedictus (as it is called, 1:67-79), announces God's coming to redeem His people. God's arrival takes place "in the house of his servant David" through a person called "a horn of salvation for us", just as the ancient prophets predicted. What sort of salvation does Zechariah foresee being brought by David's Son?
Deliverance from our enemies, those who hate us.
Mercy from God who honors His covenant with the "fathers" (Abraham, etc.).
Ability to serve God "without fear" of our enemies, in holiness and righteousness.

But Zechariah is careful to distinguish what the "Coming One" will accomplish from the special role his son, John, will undertake. Of John, he sings:
You will be called a prophet of the Most High.
You will go before Yahweh to prepare His way.
You will give His people "the knowledge" of salvation.
You will offer forgiveness of sins through the "tender mercy of our God".

It is this mercy, prophesies Zechariah, which will bring the "Coming One", that is,
The rising sun to us from heaven.
This sun will shine on those living in darkness, in the shadow of death.
This sun will guide our feet into the path of peace (Hebrew: shalom).

Momentous words, spoken by the father of John. Momentous days in which he spoke them! Everybody who heard and knew the circumstances no doubt waited with rapt attention for something remarkable to happen. Oddly, this John, once he was old enough, made his way into the desert of Judea where he remained until "he appeared publicly to Israel" (1:80).

Luke sees "those days", the days of Zechariah's prophecy, as enormously significant. The way Zechariah phrases his hymn of praise shows his acquaintance with the Old Testament prophecies from Isaiah and Malachi. From the Jewish perspective, these are "the last days", the days when Yahweh "comes to His people" and becomes their King once again. These "days" are part of God's agenda for the salvation of Israel and for the world. When he chooses language to describe the coming of Yahweh, he speaks of "the rising sun…come to us from heaven". That is cosmic language; world-wide language. Darkness becomes light, he sings to his family and friends gathered for John's brit milah ("covenant of circumcision"). This is not merely a covenant-sign celebration for John: Yahweh is about to renew His covenant with Israel, and John is the "forerunner" of that astonishing event. These are the "days" when Yahweh takes up His work of bringing his people home. Whereas the ancient prophets would write: "The days are coming…", we now hear Zechariah telling us that "a new day is dawning" because "the rising sun will come to us from heaven". "In those days…"

Caesar's Census
Yes, that is how Luke 2 begins, and now we can speak with some confidence what sort of days they were. That's why Luke's literary strategy is rather clever. He doesn't begin with "In the days of Caesar Augustus", as if Caesar and his agenda was the main event. Instead, he reaches backward into chapter 1 to the days of Zechariah's song over the birth of his son; to the days of Mary's virginal conception of Jesus; to the days when Zechariah was first told about John's coming birth. Those are the really important days, Luke seems to be telling us in Luke 2:1. "In those days…": the days of Yahweh's own choosing, when His salvation will come to His people, and they will be delivered from their enemies; the days when His Messiah will come from heaven and shatter darkness with his light; the days when "our feet" will be guided "into the path of peace". "In those days"! Luke seems to be shouting from this first verse. No, not Caesar's days, but "those days".

Thus, Luke wants to insinuate what Caesar is doing into the big story God is unfolding, and not the other way around. And what is Caesar up to? We must first identify this powerful Roman leader. Born September 23, 63 B.C.E., and named Gaius Octavius Thurinus, he was later adopted by the famous Julius Caesar, his great-uncle, and renamed Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, or simply, Octavian. But, as we know, Julius Caesar met his death at the hands of traitors in 44 B.C.E. Thereafter, Octavian forms a Triumvirate with Mark Antony and Marcus Lepidus. But events turn sour for his colleagues, and soon Octavian holds the supreme power of the Roman consulate, defeating Antony at the Battle of Actium in 31 B.C.E.

After the fall of the Triumvirate, Octavian restored the Roman Republic, in 27 B.C.E., with governmental power vested in the Roman Senate, but in practice retained his autocratic power. It took several years to work out the exact framework of the Roman Empire. The emperorship was never an office like the Roman dictatorship which Caesar and Sulla had held before him; indeed, Octavian refused it when the Roman populace begged him to become dictator. By law, Augustus held a several powers granted to him for life by the Senate, including those of tribune, censor, and consul, without being formally elected to any of them. His main power derived from monetary success and plunder gained in conquest, patronage, the loyalty of soldiers, the honors conferred by the Senate, and the respect of the people. Augustus' control over Rome's legions established an armed threat that could be used against the Senate, allowing him to force the Senate's decisions. With his ability to eliminate senatorial opposition by means of arms, the Senate caved to his leadership.

The rule of Augustus began an era of relative peace known as the Pax Augusta, or "Augustan peace". Despite continuous frontier wars, and one year-long civil war over the imperial succession, the Mediterranean was at peace for more than two centuries. Augustus expanded the boundaries of the Roman Empire, secured the Empire's borders with client states, and made peace with Parthia through diplomacy. He reformed the Roman system of taxation (involving the census), developed networks of roads with an official courier system, established a standing army (and a small navy), established the Praetorian Guard, and created official police and fire fighting forces for Rome. Much of the city was rebuilt under Augustus; and he wrote a record of his own accomplishments, known as the Res Gestae Divi Augusti, which has survived. When he died in 14 AD, Augustus was declared a god by the Senate, to be worshipped by the Romans. His names Augustus and Caesar were adopted by every subsequent emperor, and the month of Sextilis was officially renamed "August" in his honor. He was succeeded by his step-son Tiberius.

From the Jewish historian Josephus we learn about his relationship to Herod the Great, "king of the Jews" at the time of Jesus' birth. Herod, you will remember, came to power in 37 B.C.E., having appealed to Caesar and the Roman Senate after having first supported Mark Antony. He was granted authority over Judea, and such other regions as Augustus was willing to grant him. As long as Herod conducted his own policies with peaceful outcomes, Augustus was satisfied. But near the end of Herod's life, he became increasingly paranoid (see our previous study on the Magi and Herod), leading to a number of accusations against his own sons which resulted in their executions. On these occasions, Herod sought the counsel of Caesar who, it turns out, urged moderation and not execution. Octavian depended on Herod to help administer the eastern part of the Empire, along borders often threatened by the war-like Parthians. Unfortunately, Herod became careless, impulsive, and at one point he invaded Parthia without Octavian's permission. Coupled with Herod's family troubles, this led to a short-term change in policy by the Empire toward this Judean client-king. In Octavian's own words, cited by Josephus, "Whereas of old he had used him as his friend, he should now use him as his subject" (Antiquities, xvi., ix., 3). This falling out happened close to 9/8 B.C.E. Eventually Octavian and Herod mended fences, but the change in status, described by Josephus may imply yet further developments. Sometimes, when client kings failed to perform for Caesar as he intended, he would depose them, take a census for inventorying their property, and then annex their territory as a full-fledged province. We know this happened to Herod's son, Archelaus, after Herod's death, in 6 C.E. What we don't know is whether Octavian felt the need to take a census of Herod's kingdom during the final years of his rule. Ordinarily, any such census taking was left to the client-king. But since such kings, like Herod the Great, served at the pleasure of the Empire, such an intervention was not out of the question.

And so, when Luke makes reference to a census in Luke 2, historians are left wondering what this meant. For you see there is no documented census of the sort Luke describes in the records we have available to us. We certainly know that Octavian documented at least three census takings during the course of his rule. But the precise nature of them, how they were carried out, and whether they affected Judea in the way Luke portrays his census--these are unanswered questions. One of the problems is the language of Luke's record:
Caesar Augustus issued a decree (Greek: dogma, "public decree, ordinance")
That a census should be taken (Greek: apographesthai, "to write off, to copy, to enter in a list, register")
Of the entire Roman world. The Greek word is oikoumene which can mean "inhabited world", "the civilized world", or "the Roman world". The New Testament is consistent is using the word to describe more than just some local region.
We have no specific edict decreeing the enrollment or registering of the "whole Roman world" coming from Octavian. However, we certainly have evidence that he wished to take whatever measures would be required to properly account for everything Rome ruled, owned, and controlled. Taxation, military conscription, and participation in Roman politics required proper registrations. Could we assume that this is what Augustus "wanted" in his Empire? It would appear so, bearing in mind we have no comprehensive, dogma, decree, stating that objective. Policy? Yes. Actual decree? None are known to historians. We might imagine Octavian systematically implementing such policy in each of the various provinces, requiring an extended period to complete. We do know that Egypt cycled through fourteen year census-taking periods, according to records published by the scholar, Adolph Deissmann. It is plausible that others were conducted as well.

However, our problem is with the passage which reads:
"This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria".
Taken in this translation, the passage does not square with the history we know. Such a census under Quirinius did not take place in the time period implied by Luke, namely, 7 to 4 B.C.E., since Quirinius was not in power in Syria at that time, but rather, as Josephus confirms in his history, was "governor" of Syria from 6 to 12 C.E., after Herod's death and the banishment of his son Archelaus. During his tenure in Syria, in the aftermath of Archelaus' abrupt removal, Quirinius (he's called Kurenios by Luke) conducted a census to assess the new province formed by Judea, Samaria and Idumea, now under direct Roman rule. But, as the dates show, this census came too late to line up with the timeline Luke requires. Yet, the more recent census was confirmed by Luke in Acts 5:37, where it was the cause of a Jewish revolt led by Judas the Galilean. Could Luke have been confused about what he wrote in Luke 2 but have gotten Acts 5 correct? It seem unlikely.

So what do we do with the problem of the census in Luke 2? One answer, which has gained some support, changes the way we translate the passage cited above. The word translated "first", according to Greek grammarian Nigel Turner (Grammatical Insights Into the New Testament, pp.23-24), might also be translated "before" or "prior to", thus resulting in the following reading:
"This census took place prior to [the one] taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria."
The idea, explains Turner, is that the census Luke references is "the first of two", while Quirinius' census was "the second of two". What we must grant here is that there is no documented first census. And so the most this argument does, is make possible a future discovery confirming the first census. What we have, then, is Luke's own testimony, the only one of its kind; that in the span of time, circa 8 B.C.E. until close to Herod's death in 4 B.C.E., a census took place minimally affecting persons with hometowns in Judea. This is Luke's claim, and nothing precludes it; the grammar allows for it. Beyond this, scholarship has nothing more to offer at this time. The only other significant argument comes from the church father Tertullian, writing much later (200 C.E.) in his Adversus Marcion, Book iv., Chapter xix.), he says "there is historical proof that at this very time a census had been taken in Judaea by Sentius Saturninus, which might have satisfied their inquiry respecting the family and descent of Christ". Sentius Saturninus was Roman legate in Syria, 9 to 6 B.C.E., placing the birth of Jesus in an acceptable timeframe to coincide with Herod the Great, as well as the census.

We incorporate these historical footnotes simply to clarify the issues surrounding Luke's mention of Caesar's decree, the census, and the travel of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem. Luke wants the reader to look beyond the particulars to the larger point he is making. God's cosmic purposes, begin "in those days", become the backdrop for whatever else takes place in the world. The census of Caesar, whenever it was taken, and by whomever it was executed, took place "in those days". Therefore, Luke seems to be telling us, when Mary and Joseph make their journey from Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem in Judea, they do so because God in His wisdom has guided not only their lives, but that of Caesar as well. For his own reasons, Caesar called for a census policy in his Empire, but God had even higher purposes in mind. Caesar wanted Pax Romana ("Roman Peace"), but, as Zechariah has already told us in 1:79, the Coming One will "guide our feet into the path of peace" in ways Caesar could not possibly imagine. For the Shalom of Yahweh exceeds the Pax of Caesar. And we will hear more about this Coming Peace is the rest of the chapter.

Mary and Joseph: The Ultimate Journey
"How far is it to Bethlehem?", the poet Frances Alice Chesterton (1875-1938) asked, answering her own question with "Not very far". Had we asked the young couple, they might have answered differently. From Nazareth to Bethlehem they traveled some 100 miles (70 miles as the crow flies). One writer offers this travel log:
The exact route used by Mary and Joseph is not recorded in the Bible story. But the most likely route would have been straight through the Jordan Valley. While that route would have forced the devout Jewish couple to pass through the despised region of Samaria, it offered a straighter path with fewer ups and downs. Nazareth lies about 1,200 feet above sea level. A traveler leaving Nazareth descends to about 700 feet below sea level in a short amount of time. Passing over Mount Tabor, Mary and Joseph would have headed then for Bet Shean, a modern architectural site where digging has uncovered the accumulated debris of 28 civilizations layered on top of each other.

From there, Mary and Joseph might have traveled down the Jordan River Valley to a crossing known as the Adam Bridge. Here they would have connected with the Pilgrim Road running along the east side of the Jordan and then crossed the Jordan again at Allenby Bridge. From Jericho Mary and Joseph would have followed the Roman road running along the Waddy Kelt. This is the area where King David tended his father's sheep as a child, and the site of deep canyons which some think were David's inspiration as he wrote about the "valley of the shadow of death" in the 23rd Psalm.

From the floor of the Jordan River Valley near Jericho, about 1,300 feet below sea level, the couple would have traversed Mount Olivet, which at its peak is 2,800 feet above sea level. It is unlikely that Mary and Joseph would have passed through Jerusalem on their way to Bethlehem, because of the threat posed by King Herod. Instead, they would have taken a cut-off leading to Bethlehem just outside Jerusalem. [Mark Wingfield. Biblical Recorder. December 24, 1997].

Such a journey might taken up to ten days. The couple likely traveled with a group to avoid the threat of robbers attacking a solitary pair. Taking a journey for religious festivals in Jerusalem (a few miles nearby) would have been common practice for a devout, Torah observant Jew. Pilgrim festivals marked the calendar throughout the Jewish year. In Temple times, all males were required to appear at the Temple three times annually and actively participate in the festal offerings and celebrations. These were the joyous pilgrim festivals (known as Shalosh Regelim) of Pesah ("Passover"), Shavuot ("Weeks", "Pentecost"), and Sukkot ("Booths", "Tabernacles"). Traveling with other pilgrims, did Mary and Joseph make their journey in conjunction with one of these festivals? Nothing in the Roman census decree would have specified an exact time of visitation. Messianic scholars identify the feast as Sukkot, the "Festival of Booths or Tabernacles" (See Appendix 1 at the end of these Background Notes for a complete analysis of the feast and the likely season of Jesus' birth). This was a joyous harvest festival of thanksgiving, during which families lived in "booths" (make-shift shelters), or at least had their meals in them. When a sukkah was not in use, it was available for travelers to the festival. Had Mary and Joseph come to Bethlehem during Sukkot, and found no room in a regular "inn" (Greek: kataluma) or "guest house", these booths would have been offered, complete with food, as alternative lodging. In which case, the "manger" mentioned in Luke 2:7 (Greek: phatne; Hebrew: marbek) would have been the "feeding trough", either for livestock or guests, found within the sukkah. Though these "booths" (or "tabernacles") were crude, they would have been plentiful, and an acceptable lodging for keepers of Sukkot. Of course, connecting this festival with the birth of Jesus, moves the timeframe to the September/October season, or Tishri 15-22 on the Jewish calendar. For example, in 2007, Sukkot falls between September 27 and October 4.

Recall how John described the birth of Jesus in his Gospel:
"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).
A more literal rendering of the highlighted words would be "Tabernacled" or "Sukkot-ed" among us. How fitting it would have been for God's Son, the one called "Immanuel", "God with us", to be born during this all-important Jewish pilgrim feast which celebrated God's abiding Presence among His people, this time, through Jesus His son. Just as the people are commanded to build a sukkah and make it their home, so Jesus through his "incarnation" made his home as a human being His body was a sukkah "among us". The Torah identifies the sukkah with the temporary dwellings in which the Israelites lived in the wilderness after they left Egypt on their way to the Promised Land (Leviticus 23:42; Deuteronomy 31:10-13). Historically, sukkot was to remind the people of their Exodus from Egypt. Prophetically, the sukkah pointed toward the future and the Messianic kingdom. Spiritually, sukkah reminds God's people that they are but strangers and pilgrims on the earth, this being a temporary dwelling place. (Hebrews 11:8-10,13-16; Genesis 23:3-4; 47:9; 1 Chronicles 29:10,15; Psalm 39:12; 119:19; 1 Peter 1:17; 2:11). To the believer in Jesus, our earthly physical body is only a temporary tabernacle. At the future coming of Messiah, we will receive a new and heavenly house, a glorified body (1 Corinthians 15:39-44,51-57; 2 Corinthians 5:6; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18).

If we follow this Messianic reading of the text in Luke 2, there opens up for us a wealth of understanding about our journey home. When Mary and Joseph took up temporary residence in their sukkah, they were also reenacting their forefathers' journey through the wilderness on the way to Canaan, their promised home. Sukkah in Bethlehem was God's provision for His faithful servants, but also the powerful sign that in Jesus, the one laid inside the sukkah, God had indeed come to live among His people. For besides the individual sukkah, God had commanded Israel to make for Him a mishkan, the Tabernacle (a "big sukkah"!), where He would place His presence wherever Israel might travel on its pilgrim journey.

As a pilgrim festival, this journey for Caesar's census takes on new significance. Whereas, The Empire was interested in "how many people" and "how much wealth" resided within the provincial borders, Yahweh during the Festival of Booths invites His people to joyously celebrate the "ingathering of the harvest": His harvest given by Him for their blessing. While the Roman system of taxation, represented by the census, was perceived by later generations of Jews as oppressive and unfair, the offsetting celebration of Sukkot would have been the Jewish response to Caesar's imposition. Jesus would later counsel: "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, but to God the things that are God's" (Matthew 22:21; Mark 12:17; Luke 20:25). On the first Advent night, when God became a human being, and took up His home among His people, God received His "proper due", while, in Luke's words, Caesar's census merely took place "in those days". Whose days? Yahweh's days. The days Zechariah's song yearned for, and now, in Bethlehem, are coming to fulfillment.

Shepherds of Israel
"Nearby" (Luke 2:8) is Luke's way of introducing the shepherds: the topic of his next section. Actually, the Greek uses the longer phrase: esan en te chora te aute agraulountes, "there were in the same region living outdoors…". One can only imagine the life of a shepherd during Second Temple Judaism. A few observations follow:

Tending flocks, with agriculture, formed the basis of the Palestine economy, and sheep raised on the hillsides around Bethlehem may well have been destined for temple sacrifices in Jerusalem, only six miles to the north.
New Testament scholar Joachim Jeremias describes a shepherd's life: "The dryness of the ground made it necessary for the flocks of sheep and cattle to move about during the rainless summer and to stay for months at a time in isolated areas, far from the owner's home. Hence, herding sheep was an independent and responsible job; indeed, in view of the threat of wild beasts and robbers, it could even be dangerous. Sometimes the owner himself (Luke 15:6; John 10:12) or his sons did the job. But usually it was done by hired shepherds, who only too often did not justify the confidence reposed in them (John 10:12-13)."
Some of Israel's great heroes were shepherds -- Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David. Both Psalm 23 and Jesus compare God's care to that of a Good Shepherd. But in the First Century, it seems, shepherds -- specifically, hireling shepherds -- had a rather unsavory reputation.
New Testament scholar, Joachim Jeremias, cites Rabbinic sources to the effect that "most of the time they were dishonest and thieving; they led their herds onto other people's land and pilfered the produce of the land." Because they were often months at a time without supervision, they were often accused of stealing some of the increase of the flock. Consequently, the pious were warned not to buy wool, milk, or kids from shepherds on the assumption that it was stolen property. Shepherds were not allowed to fulfill a judicial office or be admitted in court as witnesses. A midrash (that is, a "commentary") on Psalm 23:2 reads, "There is no more disreputable occupation than that of a shepherd." Philo, a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher of Alexandria (25 B.C.E. - 45 C.E.), wrote about looking after sheep and goats, "Such pursuits are held mean and inglorious."
In contrast to rabbinical contempt for shepherds, however, Jesus distinguishes between the good shepherd and the hireling (John 10:11-13). He tells a parable of the shepherd leaving ninety-nine sheep in the fold while searching the hills to find the missing one (Luke 15:3-7). Perhaps this is because Jesus, who has fellowship with the despised and sinners, knows and appreciates them as people. There is no suggestion that the shepherds to whom the angels appeared were not devout men, though they were from a despised class.
They lived most of the year outside, away from the townspeople. "Abiding in the field" (KJV) is the Greek verb agrauleo, "live outdoors". Flocks were kept outside in this way from April to November, and, sometimes during the winter in suitable locations. They were constantly with their sheep, since the sheep were vulnerable to all kinds of trouble. "Keeping watch" is a combination of two related Greek words. The verb is phulasso, "to carry out sentinel functions, watch, guard". The noun is phulake, "the act of guarding." Together they carry the idea of "keep watch, do guard duty". The shepherds made sure that the sheep were safe from wandering off and injuring themselves, as well as dangers from thieves and wolves.

We must not forget what we have already said about the festival celebrations. Would not shepherds have constructed their sukkot as well? Though largely held to the margins of Jewish life, they still had strong ties to the traditions of their faith. During this festival their normal "outdoors" existence actually matched the religious ritual they were asked to keep! What more natural experience for a shepherd than to create a make-shift shelter. And now they can do so with God's blessings! Little did they know what was about to take place. Even as Yahweh promised to shine his glory on the sukkot dwellers in the wilderness, on this occasion, Yahweh's angel (Greek: aggelos; Hebrew: mal'ak, that is, "messenger") "appears" (Greek: epeste from ephistemi, "come up", "come before", "approach", "stand by or near", "appear", "be present", "be imminent") to them. This "presence" of the divine messenger brings with it doxa kuriou, "glory of the Lord". If this were written in Hebrew, Luke would have worded this phrase: kabdey Yahweh. Appearing as it did at night, the presence of Yahweh would have seemed like the Old Testament descriptions of the "Glory Pillar " which guided and shielded Israel under a cloud by day, but as a fiery pillar at night. To have this "glory pillar" appear during Sukkot must have been dramatic beyond belief. Had not Yahweh once shown His glory in this way when Israel kept the first Sukkot celebrations in the wilderness? And did he not overshadow His own Sukkah the Mishkan (Tabernacle) with this "Glory Pillar" as well? The shepherds could only wonder aloud, what does this mean, as the text tells us, "They were terrified".

Messengers of Yahweh in the Old Testament often followed their appearances with the familiar words, "Fear not!" The sort of "fear" the Presence of God should inspire is reverential respect and awe, but not terrifying paralysis. After all, Jesus has come as Immanuel, and that is very good news for Israel. At last, the One who once lived in His glory among them, has returned. "Do not be afraid!" And the reason lies in the messenger's mission: to bring "good news" (Greek: euaggelizomai, from the root words for "good news"). This was no ordinary news. The ancient prophets promised that one day Yahweh's messengers would appear and bring with them a joyous proclamation:
You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, "Here is your God!" ((Isaiah 40:9)

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!" (Isaiah 52:7)

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. 4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. 5 Aliens will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards (Isaiah 61:1-5).

Look, there on the mountains, the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace! Celebrate your festivals, O Judah, and fulfill your vows. No more will the wicked invade you; they will be completely destroyed (Nahum 1:15).

These Old Testament texts weave the familiar themes found in the angel's announcement to the shepherds: good news, shepherds, and the joyous festivals.

Another curious connection lies in the correlation of "good news" and "Caesar Augustus". In an inscription which dates from 9BC, the Roman emperor is honored by an unknown writer with these words:
The providence which has ordered the whole our life, showing concern and zeal, has ordained the most perfect consummation for human life by giving it to Augustus, by filling him with virtue for doing the work of a benefactor among men, and by sending in him, as it were, a savior for us and those who come after us, to make war to cease, to create order everywhere…; the birthday of the god [Augustus] was the beginning for the world of the glad tidings that have come to men through him. (Priene Inscriptions, edited by F. Hiller von Gärtringen, 104, 40)
No coincidence placed the census of Caesar Augustus and the announcement of good news by the angels in the same passage. Luke knew what he was doing by juxtaposing these conflicting understandings of what "good news" actually means. For pagans, good news meant the world ruled by Caesar whom they called "benefactor", "savior", and "god". But for Luke and the angelic messenger, it was quite a different story. God was bringing good news into the world, but it was not the work of Caesar, as the angel will now explain to the shepherds.

"Great joy" (Greek: chara megalen) is coming "to you", the messenger proclaims. Once more we see the themes of the Sukkot festival breaking through Luke's narration. Israel referred to the Feast of Tabernacles as "the festival of joy", and the angel picks up that same theme, but gives it added meaning with the words "which is for all the people". Unlike the Empire where only a few privileged persons of power endowed themselves with honor and glory, the good news offered to the shepherds is, in turn, available to all of Israel. Even within Judaism, distinct social classes had formed, marginalizing some while giving privilege to others. As we have already observed, shepherds were not exactly a popular social class. Yet, to persons such as these, God's angel announces the wondrous news about the birth of Jesus.

The birth is placed in David's town, Bethlehem. Although Luke does not cite Micah 5:2, he no doubt has it in mind by underscoring the birth of Jesus in "the town of David". From the theological perspective this places Jesus in the town required by the census, but more importantly, connects Jesus to the Davidic family. Additionally, David was a shepherd, called from his father's flocks to shepherd Israel instead. These awestruck observers might have thought, "That makes him one of us." And indeed in his incarnation he was.
The one born is described as:
Savior: The inscription we cited above used this term in reference to Caesar. The Greek soter has a range of meanings. Essentially it refers to a "deliverer", "one who saves, preserves, restores", based on the verb form sozo. A number of famous Greeks appended this word soter to their names, including Demetrius in Syria and Ptolemy in Egypt, because they delivered their citizens from the tyranny of their enemies. From a Jewish perspective, only God is Savior, having delivered His people from slavery and exile (Hebrew: moshia', one who causes deliverance). An Old Testament text illustrates this belief: "'11 I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior. 12 I have revealed and saved and proclaimed-- I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,' declares the LORD, 'that I am God. 13 Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?'" (Isaiah 43:11-13). That means Caesar's attribution as Savior fails, along with the earlier claimants to this title. What's striking in Luke's account is that this title now is given to the baby who is born in Bethlehem. In some mysterious way God has become a human being in His role as Savior.
Christ: This is the more familiar Hebrew word hamashiah, "the anointed one", "the Messiah". In Jewish thought, he is the coming one who promises to restore David's kingdom and establish the righteous rule of Yahweh in the world. This connects the "baby" with David's throne, but also with the covenant hope traced back to Abraham's "seed" through whom blessing would come to the whole world. "To anoint" means to choose and empower. Messiah is God's choice, and is empowered by God's Spirit (see Isaiah 11 for a detailed listing of the Spirit-endowed gifts of the "branch", another designation for Messiah).
Lord: Greek-speaking readers of Luke's Gospel would recognize the word kurios, derived from kuros which means "supreme power or authority". The Hebrew Adonai carries similar meaning. Once we unpack the details, the word implies: he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord the possessor and disposer of a thing the owner; one who has control of the person, the master in the state: the sovereign, prince, chief, a title of honor expressive of respect and reverence, with which servants greet their master. By applying this word to the newborn, Luke makes clear that if Jesus is Lord, then Caesar is not.
"To you": As if to completely turn the cosmic order on its head, the angel finally tells the shepherds that this baby who is Savior, Christ and Lord is born to them. He is not born for the benefit of Caesar and his census, but for ordinary keepers of sheep who were doing what they always did: kept watch over their flocks at night. And why not? Does not God choose such persons to silence the mighty aims of tyrants? Does He not turn the world upside down so that His eternal values might prevail?
The sign: In what sense? Luke combines three distinct "tokens" to assemble the sign, namely, 1) the baby, 2) the swaddle, 3) the manger. By themselves they don't amount to a sign, but combined, they form a prediction, a prophecy made by the angel, so that when the shepherds encountered all three together they would know the truth of what the angel had spoken.
A baby wrapped in cloths: By itself, not especially remarkable. Any considerate Jewish mother would have wrapped her newborn in such strips of cloth (Greek: espargonosen). The following text reveals (using negative language) the common events in a birth: "On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths" (Ezekiel 16:4). So what makes this so "significant"? Weren't all babies treated this way at birth? Exactly. What Luke wants to communicate to the reader is that the newborn Jesus is born just like every other ordinary child as signified by the ordinary wrappings used by Mary to swaddle him. But this ordinary fact places the next element of the "sign" into greater relief and deeper contrast.
A baby lying in a manger: Finding a child lying in a manger is, on the other hand, not ordinary, nor is it expected. The Greek word phatne properly describes the ledge or projection in the end of the room used as a stall on which the hay or other food of the animals of travelers was placed. Three Old Testament passages use the word "manger": "Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will he stay by your manger at night?" (Job 39:9). "Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest" (Proverbs 14:4). "The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner's manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand" (Isaiah 1:3). Mangers are associated with the feeding of livestock. Shepherds would have been familiar with manger feeding when grazing land diminished at certain seasons of the year. For the angel to include the manger as part of the "sign" connected the shepherds to Jesus in a humble and ordinary way. "He's our little sheep", they might have thought, "part of our flock".
Bolstered by this "sign", the shepherds had in hand the confirmation they would need that the angel's words were true. The marvelous swaddled in the ordinary: baby, diapers and a manger.

But before we leave the topic of shepherds, we ought to consider the familiar pastoral themes found throughout Scripture. We note a few key points in this regard:

Yahweh's warning to Israel's shepherds (Ezekiel 34; Jeremiah 10:21; 23:1; )
Israel in the wilderness: "shepherds for forty years" (Numbers 14:33)
David shepherded Israel "with integrity of heart" (Psalms 78:72)
Yahweh promised to give Israel "shepherds after my own heart" (Jeremiah 3:15)
14 “Return, faithless people,” declares the LORD, “for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion. 15Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding.
Jesus saw Israel as "sheep without a shepherd" (Matthew 9:36)
Jesus called himself the "good shepherd" (John 10)

At last the heavens are thrown open and the shepherds hear from God's "heavenly host". What is a host? Simply, it is an "army". When the Old Testament spoke of the "Yahweh of hosts", it meant Yahweh and His heavenly armies. Appropriately, as Yahweh's royal son enters human history, the angel armies attend his way, and through music serenade his arrival. Their poem is elegant, yet simple:
1. Glory to God in the highest: God is the highest, not Caesar, Luke seems to be telling us. He is the one deserving of credit, worthy of glory. "Glory" in Hebrew is kabod and means "worth, weight, dignity". The idea of "heavy" is embedded in it. God is worth His weight, we might say, and so He is glorious. Such language also points to "majesty". The Greek doxa points to the blinding brightness of the sun. The arrival of God's son in the world is the unveiling of His majesty, but it is a heavenly glory he reveals, not an earthly one. "Don't look for glory on earth," the angels seems to be telling their audience, "not from the baby in diapers lying in the manger". But that ordinary little baby conceals the heavenly glory which, one day, will be revealed.
2. On earth peace to those on whom His favor rests: But earth is where he comes. Earth has become his home. It's not a very hospitable place. Shepherds knew that first-hand. The distance between shepherds and Caesar was great. Even more divisive were the several classes which separated ordinary people from their leaders. But more significantly was the distance between God and human beings. That's why the angelic song is so encouraging. On earth, peace has come and human beings have become the precious objects of God's "favor", that is, his grace. A sovereign is in a position to bestow favor by virtue of his eminence. In this case, God in heaven above, full of glory, chooses to endow His earthly subjects with gracious favor and with peace. Roman citizens knew all about Pax Augustus and Pax Romana. Through efficient and often brutal administration, Rome welded together an Empire, cobbled from the variety of ethnic groups living in the diverse provinces around the Mediterranean. Conformity to the Roman will and freedom from revolt: these were the values of Caesar's world. But the peace, shalom, brought by the newborn, flowed from God's gracious love for the world. As the shepherds witness this heavenly chorus, they are invited by its very words to experience the favor resting on them.

What follows in Luke's account is a mission to confirm the message, followed by a mission to communicate the message.
1. "Let us go to see what the Lord has made known to us". These are the words of faithful shepherds. What they heard became their sacred trust, and deserved to be confirmed. Nothing in the text informs us how they "found" the newborn Jesus. Perhaps there was something in the three-fold sign that guided them. Unlike the Magi who "followed the star", the shepherds "followed the word" made known to them "by the Lord". These were Jewish shepherds, familiar with Torah, and open to the living word spoken by Yahweh's angel. Yahweh desired that such shepherds lead His people. As the prophets foretold (see the "shepherd" texts above), Yahweh would raise up new shepherds to replace the unfaithful leaders of His people. By saying "let us go", these shepherd-witnesses fulfill Yahweh's desire for all His people.
2. "Hurried, found, seen, spread the word, returned, glorified, praising God". Luke strings together these verbs of positive response. The shepherds are eager to find the "Savior who is Christ the Lord". Once they find him, they become genuine missionaries, spreading the word, while returning to their flocks filled with praise and glory for God. It is not difficult to see how God had already begun to gather a renewed Israel around Jesus, even in his infancy. Inside the little sukkah, these shepherds gather around their Lord. But on their way home to their flocks, they "preach the good news", and create a stir of amazement. No doubt the rough and crude manner of the normal shepherd did not match the eloquence of their words or the power of their delivery. Not far in the future others would join their number: simple fisherman, despised tax collectors, and unrefined human beings. From such persons God determined to make a home for His people.

During the Feast of Tabernacles (that is, Sukkot) Jewish people have a tradition of imagining the arrival of seven shepherds, one each night (see the Appendix at the end of these Notes), ancient worthies like Abraham, Moses, and David. In so doing they remember the ways Yahweh cared for His people and provided them with shelter on their journeys. This practice belongs to the larger value of hospitality, the providing of lodging for the weary traveler. How amazed must Joseph and Mary been when these unexpected visitors showed up, and they were shepherds no less! Perhaps this is why Luke tells us about Mary's own reaction: "Pondered, treasured these things in her heart", he writes. This sort of language implies an ongoing reflection. More had happened that night than Mary could absorb in a single sitting. How long did it take the early followers of Jesus, Mary included, to put together the pieces and arrive at a coherent understanding of God's purposes, freshly revealed in this most recent visitation?

The Empire of Caesar was hardly home to the people of God. They were, by all accounts, pilgrims and strangers in a world grown secular and pagan, unified by a peace secured through Roman might. But into this suffocating atmosphere comes a decree mightier than Caesar's, offering a peace more lasting than his. Unsuspecting shepherds encounter the divine messengers who guide their hearts and their steps to an ordinary birth in a less than ordinary birthplace. What transpired beneath the "little tabernacle" that night scattered a light that not even Rome could extinguish. From the manger shown an even brighter light, wrapped in common cloth. And when the shepherds found him, they found hope: hope for a home more lasting than the temporary one they found in Bethlehem. How hard it must have been to conceive this little one as Lord, Savior and Christ! But for shepherds accustomed to providing shelter and a home to flocks of sheep in the most inhospitable places, the message must have rung truer than we might imagine. And finding their home at the manger gave them reason to announce homecoming to all they met.

Set as it was during the Feast of Tabernacles, the birth of Jesus stresses the transient and temporary nature of our life in this world. Even as ancient Israel re-enacted its journey through the wilderness, on the way to Canaan, so in their journey to Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph traced the pilgrimage of their forebears. Having to make do with the temporary shelter of sukkah was in itself not unusual, for it belonged to their traditions and to their sacred history. But that night, the makeshift shelter took on new meaning when God's own Son took up his home in the rustic setting of their own experience. Joined by shepherds, who themselves knew a great deal about be transients, for a brief while, they discovered the joys of being home in new and different ways. This baby boy was "their baby", he chose to identify himself with their circumstance. Ironically, he would one day become their Shepherd and provide a sheep-fold, secure and everlasting (see John 10). The closing words of Psalm 23 epitomize their experience: "…and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever".

Glory to God! Amen.

Appendix 1: More About Sukkoth ("The Feast of Tabernacles") and the Birth of Jesus

Sukkot (also known in popular usage as the "Feast of Tabernacles") is the third of the three "Pilgrim Festivals" in the Jewish tradition (the other two are Passover (or Pesach), and Shavuot). While Passover is celebrated in memory of the exodus from Egypt, and Shavuot celebrates the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai, Sukkot is a celebration recalling the huts where Moses and the Israelites lived, as they journeyed through the desert for 40 years. According to the Bible, Moses and the Israelites traveled in the desert for forty years before they were allowed to enter the Promised Land. During that time, they slept in shelters made of branches, which were relatively easy to construct and carry around with them. That is why the holiday of Sukkot is celebrated until today. The celebration of Sukkot begins on the 15th day of the Hebrew month Tishri, 5 days after Yom Kippur ("Day of Atonement"), and lasts nine days (in Israel 8 days). This normally takes place in September, which is also the beginning of winter in Israel.

Sukkot is also called Chag Ha'Asif ("The Holiday of the Harvest"), because it takes place at the time of year in which the crops were collected from the fields, and in ancient times some of them were brought to the Temple. The main tradition related to this holiday is building a sukkah, a temporary home (or better, "hut") in which it is customary to live for seven days. In most places, Jews don't actually sleep in these huts, but eat their meals there every day. This also depends, of course, on the climate zone.

A second important tradition in Sukkot is hospitality. While traveling in the desert before entering the Promised Land, the Israelites were considered the guests of God, who looked after them and provided them with food and water. Therefore, Sukkot is a holiday of sharing meals and inviting in guests. This is also the basis for the custom of hosting the Ushpizin ("The Guests"). These are also called the "Seven Shepherds" and refer to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, and David. During each of seven days during Sukkot, one of these "guests", in turn, is symbolically invited to enter the sukkah.

In each of seven days of Sukkot, other than Saturday, it is commanded to say a blessing for "The Four Species". Three of these species are held together in one hand, and the fourth (the etrog) in the other. Blessings for these species are said both in the sukkah and in the synagogue. On the 8th day there is no obligation to sit in the sukkah, but it is still a holiday in which no work should be done. On this specific day the people pray for rain. In Israel this is the time of year when winter begins, and since there is not much rain there, Jews started praying for rain as soon as Sukkot ended. The 9th day of Sukkot is called Simchat Torah (meaning "The Joy of the Torah"). On this day the reading of the Torah is completed and begun again. During the celebration it is customary to circle the sanctuary seven times with the Torah, while singing and dancing.

In Israel the 8th and 9th day are celebrated together, whereas in other countries they are celebrated separately. The reason for this separation is that in the days of the Talmud, Jews who lived outside Israel couldn't know for certain when the first day of the month (Rosh Chodesh) was declared, and they did not want to accidentally work on a holiday when working is forbidden. As a precaution they did not work on either of the two days.

Is there any evidence from the Bible that Christ's birth took place during Sukkot?

1. Luke's account of Jesus' birth has a prequel, as we have seen, in the birth of John the Baptizer. John's father, Zechariah, Luke tells us, belonged the priestly "division of Abijah" (Luke 1:5, 8). In the time of King David day, the priests were separated into 24 rotations, beginning in the first month of the Jewish calendar (1 Chronicles 27:2), March or April of our modern calendar. According to Jewish sources, the rotations continued every week until they reached the end of the sixth month, when the cycle was repeated again until the end of the year. This would mean that Zechariah's division served at the temple twice a year.
2. From 1 Chronicles 24:10 we learn that Abijah was the eighth division of the priesthood. Thus, Zechariah’s service would be in the tenth week of the Jewish year. Why the tenth week? Because all divisions served during primary feast weeks of the Jewish year. So all of the divisions of the priesthood would serve during Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread (the third week of the year). Likewise, all of the divisions of the priesthood would serve during the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost (the ninth week). Thus, the eighth course of the priesthood would end up serving on the tenth week of the year.
3. Now we must make an assumption here. Remember we said that Zechariah's division served at the temple twice a year. The Bible does not specify which of the two shifts of service it was. Regardless, nine months after one of the two dates John the Baptist was born. This would place his birth in March or September. We will assume that Luke is recording Zechariah's first shift of service for the year. We will find that assumption proves fruitful when we discover the dates for John the Baptizer's and Jesus' birth. Therefore, the date of Zechariah's service would be the Jewish date of Sivan 12-18.
4. After his service in the temple, Zechariah went home to his wife. Due to the laws of separation (Leviticus 12:5; 15:19,25), two additional weeks have to be counted. So we will make a second assumption, that Elizabeth conceived a child two weeks after Zechariah's return. Allowing for this and going forward a normal pregnancy places the birth of John the Baptist at the time of the Passover (Nisan 15). Of additional interest: the Jews always looked for Elijah to return during Passover. Even in modern times there is an empty chair and a table setting for Elijah whenever Passover is celebrated. Little children also go to the door of the home and open it in anticipation of Elijah's coming. The Old Testament prophets had said that God would send Elijah before the coming of the Messiah (Malachi 3:1; 4:5-6). According to these calculations John the Baptist was born at Passover. Remember the angel's words to Zechariah? The angel said that John the Baptist was to come "in the spirit and power of Elijah" (Luke 1:17). As it turns out, Elijah did, in fact, come at Passover, in the person of John the Baptizer (compare Jesus' words in Mark 9:11-13; Matthew 11:12-14).
5. Luke tells us that Elizabeth was six months pregnant when the angel Gabriel visited Mary. The beginning of Elizabeth's sixth month would have been the celebration of the Jewish feast of Hanukkah, which occurs in December of our modern calendar. Hanukkah is known as the "Feast of the Dedication" (John 10:22) because it is connected with the dedication of the second Jewish temple and the rededication of the temple after the Maccabean revolt. Mary was being dedicated for a purpose of enormous magnitude: God's presence in an earthly temple, i.e. a human body (John 2:18-21).
6. If Mary did conceive on Hanukkah, John the Baptizer would have been born three months later at Passover. And assuming a normal pregnancy of 285 days, Jesus would have been born on the 15th day of the Jewish month of Tishri (September 29 by modern reckoning). This is significant because it is the first day of Sukkot. It is a high holy day, a special Sabbath, a time of great rejoicing.
7. As we have seen, the birth of our Lord can be reasonably shown to have occurred in the autumn of the year on the first day of Sukkot. This feast is a joyful feast. As we have already observed, Jewish believers would build a shelter known as a sukkah out of green tree branches. They would eat their meals and sleep in this sukkah during the feast.
8. There are some very interesting connections in Scripture with Jesus and aspects of the Feast of Tabernacles.
a. John 1:14a says: "And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. [a literal translation of the Greek word, skenoō]". To introduce the nature and mission of Christ, John in his Gospel employs the metaphor of the "booth" from the Feast of Tabernacles. He explains that Christ, the Word who was with God in the beginning (John 1:1), appeared in this world in a tangible way, by pitching His tent in our midst: "…we have beheld his glory, as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14b).
b. This Greek verb skenoō used by John means "to pitch tent, encamp, tabernacle, dwell in a tent." The allusion is to Sukkot when the people dwelt in temporary booths. In his article "The Feast of Tents: Jesus’ Self-Revelation," published in Worship (1960), David Stanley notes that this passage sets the stage for the later self-revelation of Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles in John 7 and 8. Stanley writes: "The most basic clue to the mystery pervading this entire narrative [John 7 and 8] is provided by the symbolic action that gives this feast its name: the ceremonial erection of little bowers, made with branches of trees, in which every Jew was expected to live during the festival. These shelters were commemorative of the forty years’ wandering in the desert when Israel had lived as a nomad in such intimate union with her God. For John this dwelling in tents is a primordial symbol of the Incarnation: ‘Thus the Word became a mortal man: he pitched his tent in the midst of us’ (John 1:14). It is this insight which presides over the composition of John’s narrative which we are considering [John 7-8]. All that happened, all that Jesus said on this occasion has some reference to the Incarnation."

In seeking to describe the Messiah’s first coming to His people, John chose the imagery of the Feast of Booths since the feast celebrates the dwelling of God among His people. This raises an interesting question on whether or not John intended to link the birth of Jesus with the Feast of Tabernacles.

The Circumcision of our Lord took place therefore on the eighth day, the last day of the Feast, the "Great Day of the Feast" of John 7.37 ("Tabernacles" had eight days. The Feast of Unleavened Bread had seven days, and Pentecost one. See Leviticus 23).

As we have stated earlier in these Notes that the Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles) is called "the season of our joy" and "the feast of the nations." With this in mind, in Luke 2:10 it is written, "And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings [basar in Hebrew; otherwise known as the gospel] of great joy [Sukkot is called the 'season of our joy'], which shall be to all people [Sukkot is called 'the feast of the nations']." So, we can see from this that the terminology the angel used to announce the birth of Jesus were themes and messages associated with the Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles).

Light was also a prominent feature of the Feast of Tabernacles. At the end of the first day of the Feast, the Temple was gloriously illuminated. According to the Mishnah (Sukkah 5:2), gigantic candelabras stood within the Court of the Women in the temple. Each of the four golden candelabras is said to have been about 75 feet tall. Each candelabra had four branches, and at the top of every branch there was a large bowl. Four young men bearing 10 gallon pitchers of oil would climb ladders to fill the four golden bowls on each candelabra. And then the oil in those bowls was ignited. Picture sixteen beautiful blazes leaping toward the sky from these golden lamps. There was not a courtyard in Jerusalem that was not illuminated by this light (Sukkah 5:3).

According to Alfred Edersheim (Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, chapter 8):

...the Court of the Women was brilliantly illuminated.... In connection with this we mark, that the term 'light' was specially applied to the Messiah. In a very interesting passage of the Midrash we are told, that, while commonly windows were made wide within and narrow without, it was the opposite in the Temple of Solomon, because the light issuing from the Sanctuary was to lighten that which was without.

This reminds us of the language of devout old Simeon in regard to the Messiah, as 'a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of His people Israel.'

John 1:6-9 says:
"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world."

In these verses John refers to Jesus as "the light"; and, as we have also seen, verse 14 says that he "became flesh and tabernacled among us". Since John chapter one is a passage about Jesus' coming, these verses imply a setting during the Feast of Tabernacles when Jesus was born.

Appendix 2: The Jewish Calendar
Since we have made numerous references to Jewish months in our analysis of when Jesus was born, the reader would benefit from a simple listing of the Jewish months, with some brief comment and correlation to our calendar.

Religious Year
Civil Year
Hebrew Month
Western Correlation
Seasonal Activities
Climate
Festivals
1
7
Nisan
March-April
Barley Harvest
Later Rains
(Malqosh)
14-Passover (Pesach)
21-First Fruits
2
8
Iyyar
April-May
General Harvest

3
9
Sivan
May-June
Wheat Harvest
Vine Tending
Dry
Season
6-Pentecost (Shavuot)
4
10
Tammuz
June-July
First Grapes

5
11
Ab
July-August
Grapes, Figs, and Olives

6
12
Elul
August-September
Vintage

7
1
Tishri
September-October
Ploughing
1-New Year (Rosh Hashanah)
10-Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)
15-21-Tabernacles (Sukkot)
8
2
Marchesvan
October-November
Grain Planting
Early Rains
(Yoreh)

Rainy
Season

9
3
Kislev
November-December

25-Dedication (Chanukah)
10
4
Tebet
December-January
Spring Growth

11
5
Shebat
January-February
Winter Figs

12
6
Adar
February-March
Pulling Flax
Almonds bloom
13-14-Purim


Adar Sheni
Added to realign calendar with the seasons. Lunar vs. Solar



(Adapted from John Walton, Chronological Charts of the Old Testament)
Digger Deeper: Journey Home: Angels and Shepherds
(Bob Brown)

To gain a deeper understanding of Journey Home: Angels and Shepherds, carefully read the selected passages below. To aid you in your study, we invite you to visit the website http://notes.chicagofirstnaz.org, or pick up a copy of the notes at the Connect desk, or from your ABF leader. Now consider the following questions, as you ask the Lord to teach you.

Special Note: The Background Notes are especially useful in working through some of these questions. You are encouraged to secure a copy as you begin.

1. Carefully read Luke 2:1-20, our main study text for these Background Notes.
2. List the main characters Luke brings together in his account of Jesus' birth.
3. How does Caesar Augustus figure into the unfolding of the story?
4. Read the Background Notes related to the census. How important is it that we solve the problem of when this census took place? Do you think Luke intended the reader to see this an historical event or simply as a prop for his story? (Refer to Luke 1:1-4 as you consider your answer).
5. Discuss the personal impact felt by Mary and Joseph as they made their journey to Bethlehem and shared in Jesus' birth. How does their experience illustrate our theme of "The Journey Home"?
6. What importance do you see in Joseph's connection to the line of David as it is told in this passage?
7. Read the Background Notes as they apply to the feast of Sukkot. Why would the birth of Jesus during this season be significant? What themes of "home" and "journey" grow out of that festival tradition?
8. Read the Background Notes as they pertain to shepherds in the Jewish culture. What sort of life must they have lived? How were they perceived by others? What kind of "home" could they possibly have known?
9. Read and meditate on the angel's announcement and the angelic chorus' song. Identify the key points of their message to the shepherds.
10. How do the angels describe Jesus? (List the words they apply to him).
11. How often does the phrase "to you" appear in the message of the angels to the shepherds? Why is this important? How would the shepherds have reacted to this?
12. Read these Old Testament texts: Isaiah 40:9, 52:7, 61:1-5, and Nahum 1:15. What do they tell us about the Jewish understanding of "good news" (our idea of "gospel")?
13. Write some thoughts on the topic: The Shepherds as Missionaries.
14. Why do you think the following elements appear in the story Luke tells (refer to the Background Notes if you have difficulty)?
a. Baby Jesus wrapped in cloths
b. The manger
c. No room in the inn
15. How would the shepherds have connected with each of the three items listed in the previous question?
16. Is there an implied comparison between Caesar's decree and the angel's announcement? What point might Luke be making by such a comparison?