Luke 2:3-5

‘And all went to enrol themselves, every one to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the town of Nazareth, to Judaea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to enrol himself with Mary, who was betrothed to him, being great with child.’

‘All’ went to enrol themselves. This may mean all leaders and people considered to be of importance, or it may have looked wider. Each had to go to his ‘own city’, that is in this case his tribal inheritance. In Joseph’s case he had to go to Bethlehem because he was of David’s line and David’s tribal roots were in Bethlehem, and it was no doubt where Joseph’s family still had land.

This does raise the question as to Joseph’s connection both with Bethlehem and Nazareth. It is true that in Luke 2:39 we are told that Joseph and Mary, with Jesus, ‘returned to their own town Nazareth’. And certainly Nazareth was Mary’s home town from the beginning. And equally certainly it was Joseph’s home town when they came down to Jerusalem when Jesus was twelve years old. But that does not necessarily mean that it was so for Joseph at the time of Jesus’ birth.

There are a number of possible scenarios. Joseph may have been living in Nazareth, where he courted Mary, but with his father and other family living in Bethlehem. He himself may have been living in Bethlehem and simply have come up to Nazareth on hearing of his betrothed’s condition, marrying there and returning to Bethlehem speedily because of the enrolment. Or he may have had business interests in both Nazareth and Bethlehem and have moved often between the two (as Aquila and Priscilla appear to have done in Acts between Rome and Corinth), sharing his time between Bethlehem and Nazareth.

While the fact that they ‘returned to their own town Nazareth’ (Luke 2:39) may be seen as militating against the idea that he lived in Bethlehem all the time, that verse is a very summarised explanation as to how they were in Jerusalem for the purification and were in Nazareth for Jesus’ visit to Jerusalem twelve years later, at which point it was their home town. It may not mean that they went there immediately or lived there all the time. They ‘returned’ may simply refer to the fact that they had previously left it together for the enrolment.

Thus it could be that at the time of the birth Joseph lived in Bethlehem at the family home, and Mary lived at Nazareth. Then that on hearing that she was pregnant he went to Nazareth, where God put her in the clear in his eyes, after which they married rather hurriedly, and that that was why he was there when the enrolment call came, which explains why they came together to Bethlehem, in order to enrol and possibly live there. This would also explain why they were still in Bethlehem after forty days. It further explains adequately why Mary accompanied Joseph even though she was pregnant. Then after the visit of the Magi they fled to Egypt, and when they finally returned from Egypt they ‘returned’ to Nazareth where they had married which now became ‘home’ to Joseph as well as Mary. From then on it was seen as ‘their own town’ (Luke 2:39). That is one possible scenario. Another is that Joseph was more closely connected with Nazareth for reasons given earlier.

Whatever way it was what a come down this was for the house of David. He who should have been God’s firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth (Psalms 89:27) was trudging slowly along the dusty roads to pay allegiance to another. Such were the consequences of Israel’s disobedience. He took with him his betrothed wife who was at the time pregnant. It is possible that she was required to be ‘enrolled’ as well, which did sometimes happen, although we do not know one way or the other for sure. It may simply be that they wanted their firstborn to be born in their tribal portion, or that they were returning to Joseph’s home. Whether they knew of the prophecy in Micah 5:1 we do not know. God certainly knew. Furthermore they may have been escaping disapproval from some more staid people who frowned at their having (in other people’s eyes) conceived a baby while still only betrothed. And the kindly Joseph may have wanted his child bride to be where he could protect her from such calumniations.

It would appear that they then settled down in Bethlehem, for the appearance of the wise men and the slaughter of the children (Matthew 2:0) occurred some time after the birth (it must have been after the forty days of purification). And in fact it was only the warning from an angel that later caused them not to return to Bethlehem, but to go back to living in Nazareth, when they returned from taking refuge in Egypt (Matthew 2:22-23).

So this does raise the question as to where Joseph actually lived. As we have already seen it is quite possible that in fact he normally lived at the family home in Bethlehem, but that he had gone to Nazareth when he heard that Mary was pregnant so as to divorce her (or he may have gone after he learned the truth). On learning from God that her story was actually true he may then have stayed with her for a time in a supportive role, during which time they were married. The marriage would probably have been a quiet one due to the bride’s condition, and it was unconsummated. But the demands of the census may then have meant that he had to cut short his visit and return to Bethlehem, naturally taking his wife with him. When they arrived back at the family home it may have been crowded out because of the census so that the guestroom was full, which would explain why, in spite of Mary’s condition, they had to sleep on the ground floor where the domestic animals were also kept. This might well have been where Joseph was used to sleeping anyway, and was quite regularly used for sleeping in. If his father was still alive he, and his wife, would merit the use of the main ‘guestroom’.

Luke probably still uses the term ‘betrothed’ in order to indicate that they had not yet consummated their marriage (although some witnesses have ‘wife’ or ‘betrothed wife’). He is technically aware. As far as he is concerned they were not yet fully married. Matthew tells us that a marriage ceremony had taken place although Joseph did not consummate the marriage until after Jesus was born (Matthew 1:24-25). It is, however, unlikely that she would have accompanied Joseph if the wedding had not taken place. The distinctions are only technical.

The chiasmus brings out that the stress is finally on the fact that Jesus was of the house and family of David, and that He therefore had to be born in Bethlehem because of His Messiahship. There is as yet no evidence that the Jews were actually previously expecting the Messiah to be born in Bethlehem. It may well be that the discovery by the ‘wise men’ of Jerusalem in Matthew 2:5 was the first recognition of the fact. But Luke’s readers would certainly know it, and would recognise that the Scriptures had said it.