I had always thought of Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem and finding an overcrowded city, so that there was no room available for them. But Pastor has pointed out the last year or two that Bethlehem was the place Joseph's family was from. The reason Mary & Joseph were there was because it was time for Joseph's family to be registered in the census. It wasn't necessarily strangers who were refusing a pregnant Mary a place to stay. It was the extended family. And it's very likely they were disgusted with the behavior of Mary & Joseph, not wanting to countenance the apparent adultery between the two that resulted in Mary's huge tummy.
He came to His own, and His own received Him not.
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God.
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Perhaps, but then it is also possible that "Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example," avoided his family intentionally. He *did* have a Jewish mother. Perhaps he didn't want the guilt trip so close to the holidays? ;-)
ReplyDeleteScripture doesn't say.
Joseph may not have had any family there anymore. I was born in Indianapolis but there is no family there. If I had to return there for a census there would be no place to stay. But that doesn't change the pastor's point. He was refused at Bethlehem. Foxes have holes . . . He came unto His own . . . Men loved darkness rather than Light. And it could well be exactly as the pastor has speculated, that Joseph had extended family there who despised him and His adopted Son. My brothers and sisters are those who hear the Word of God and keep it.
ReplyDeleteDave, I agree with you about the possibility that Joseph didn't have family in Bethlehem anymore. But it still seems likely that, if the families were to go back to the old hometown to register, that maybe one of Joseph's cousins or uncles or somebody might've had a hotel room that they could've shared with a woman in labor. But like Scott said, Scripture doesn't say. It does seem to me, though, like a reasonable speculation. :-)
ReplyDeleteGod grant that we and our loved ones rejoice in the Morning Star who shines in the darkness.