Caesar Augustus issues decree for census (Luke 2:1-3)

ouples who have pictures of their wedding day have often been surprised when they compare themselves to those early pictures. I have looked at my pictures and said to myself, “Wow, you sure look different now!” Today I am slender, but in those days I was skinny. On our wedding day our automobile had a mechanical failure. The radiator had a leak, and we had to spend a majority of the money that we had planned to use for our honeymoon for the repair. It was an unwelcome expense for a newly married couple with limited funds. But God used that experience in our lives.

We do not know much about Joseph and Mary, but we know that they were poor, because they offered only birds at Jesus’ dedication in Jerusalem (Luke 2:21-24). Their marriage also started with a misunderstanding over Mary’s pregnancy. God solved this by speaking to Joseph through a dream, and he probably apologized for doubting Mary. This was really about trust - a personal issue. It is doubtful that the family was able to stop the gossip about Mary in the community. People enjoy bad news more than holiness. The marriage had a difficult start and now it was going to get worse.

The Decree. Luke 2:1-3 tells us that the bad news came in the person of Caesar Augustus who had issued a decree that a census be taken. Quirinius was responsible for making it happen.

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. (NASB) Luke 2:1-3

Most likely the census was part of a taxation program. This was not good news for Joseph and Mary because they were poor and because Mary was in the last month of the pregnancy. The trip to Bethlehem was probably not welcome, except that it did give them a reason to escape the gossiping community. Both Joseph and Mary were descendants of King David and therefore they had to go to Bethlehem, David’s home town (1 Sam. 17:12). Why did this happen to Joseph and Mary? Was this just one more “bad thing”?