Caesar Augustus
“Since well I’ve played my part, clap now your hands, and with applause dismiss me from the stage.”[1] These were the last words of one of the greatest men to ever live. Gaius Octavius, who came to be known as Caesar Augustus, died at the age of seventy-five, and these were his dying words. After he died, his corpse was carried through the streets of Rome on the shoulders of senators as children sang songs of lament. His death was grieved by all because his life literally changed the world.
Octavius was in military school when his great uncle, Julius Caesar, was assassinated in Rome on the Ides of March, or March 15, 44 BC. He was only eighteen years old, but over the next ten years or so he would position himself as the ruler of the Roman Empire.
These were turbulent times in the Empire. Chaos and uncertainty reigned. People were anxious. Politicians couldn’t be trusted. The economy was faltering. Would Rome make it through this period of civil war and unrest and disintegration?
The answer is yes, they would, and Octavius was the reason why. Julius Caesar didn’t have an heir, so he adopted Octavius and made him his heir. After Julius’ assassination and the crumbling of the Republic, Octavius persevered over his rivals, men like Mark Antony, and rose to power in 31 BC. Four years later, in 27 BC, Octavius said this about his rise to power:
“When I had extinguished the flames of civil war, after receiving by universal consent the absolute control of affairs, I transferred the republic from my own control to the will of the senate and the Roman people. For this service on my part I was given the title of Augustus by decree of the senate.”[2]
Whether Octavius actually gave control of the Empire to the senate and the people is highly questionable. No doubt he ruled well, but he ruled with almost total authority. “Augustus” means something eminent or majestic, even something mystical or supernatural, something great that can’t be precisely defined. So Gaius Octavius became Caesar Augustus and ruled as the first Roman Emperor for forty-one years.
His rule inaugurated the Pax Romana, or “Roman Peace.” His rule was marked by peace and prosperity. He reportedly said, “I found Rome as a city of brick and left it one of marble.”[3] His authoritative rule established the peace and prosperity that would characterize Rome for the next two hundred years.
And the Romans loved Augustus for it. One historian says, “The Romans were grateful to Augustus because he had cured, even if by a major operation, the cancer of chaos that had been consuming their civic life.”[4] Philo of Alexandria, a contemporary of Augustus, said of him:
“This is he who exterminated wars…This is he who cleared the sea of pirate ships and filled it with merchant vessels. This is he who reclaimed every state to liberty, who led disorder into order…the guardian of the peace…He was also the first and the greatest…in that he displaced the rule of many and committed the ship of the commonwealth to be steered by a single pilot, that is himself, a marvelous master of the science of government.”[5]
In Augustus, an old era had ended and a new era had begun. His greatness is hard to quantify but it’s questioned by none. His rule changed the world. Caesar Augustus was a truly great king.
Another King
But little did he know that during his reign another King was stepping onto the stage of world history. This other King would make his entrance in the backwaters of his Empire. His entrance was unexpected and unnoticed by most, far away from the halls of power and prestige. This King was born to parents who trusted in God even though they lived in poverty and subjugation.
In a plot twist no Roman could’ve anticipated, during Caesar Augustus’ reign a King would be born who’d out-rule every other king. About thirty years into Augustus’ reign, in a tiny village called Bethlehem in the far-off province of Judea, a King was born who wasn’t like any other king.
Today we’re going to read about the birth of this King in Luke 2:1-7. The main point of this text is that the true King of the world is not like any other king. We’ll learn that, while the world’s kings are enamored with power, God’s King is clothed with humility. In this text, Luke is contrasting Caesar’s power with God’s humility. We’ll see a proud king in verses 1-5 and a humble King in verses 6-7.
A Proud King
In verses 1-5, we see a proud king. In these verses, Luke sets the context for the birth of Jesus. He situates Jesus’ birth in relation to the rule of Caesar Augustus (v. 1). Why does he do this? Because he’s a good historian, bold writer, and faithful theologian. Let’s take these one at a time.
Luke is a Good Historian
Luke tells us at the beginning of his Gospel that he’s done his research and his goal is to “write an orderly account” (v. 3). He’s a physician (Col. 4:14) so he likes to be precise. Like a good doctor, he wants to get the facts right before he proceeds with a diagnosis. Good doctors investigate before they prescribe. They ask about our sleep, diet, and exercise. They want the facts before they proceed.
This is what Luke is doing in his Gospel. He likely interviewed Mary herself to get the background information on Jesus’ birth (2:19, 51). These pieces of the birth story are only found in Luke. Luke isn’t interested in writing philosophy or ideas or theories. True to his profession, he’s only interested in facts. His Gospel is an honest account of actual events.
Luke knew that Jesus’ story was changing people’s lives all over the Roman Empire, and I suspect that through his association with Paul he knew there were parts of the story that weren’t yet published. This is why over 40% of Luke’s Gospel is unique to Luke and not found in the other Gospels. As a good historian, Luke sets out to write Jesus’ history in a way that honors his story as real history.
Luke is a Bold Writer
The second reason Luke situates Jesus’ birth during Augustus’ reign is because he’s a bold writer. Setting Jesus’ birth against the backdrop of Augustus’ reign as Emperor was a bold literary move because, especially for first century readers. By doing this, Luke is making a bold theological and political claim.
After Julius Caesar died, he was declared to be the “son of a god,” leading Augustus to adopt the title for himself. This was the beginning of the imperial cult, or the worship and veneration of the Roman Emperors. There are numerous archeological records showing that Augustus took the title “Son of God” and “Savior.” One inscription reads like this, “Divine Augustus Caesar, Son of a God, Imperator of land and sea, the Benefactor and Savior of the whole world.”[6] When Jesus was proclaimed as Savior and Lord it could be seen as an act of sedition against the Roman Emperor. In a document designed to be read publicly and circulated widely, Luke is intentionally contrasting Caesar’s lordship with Jesus’s. This is bold writing.
Luke Talks Politics
Luke’s bold writing is tinged with subtle irony to make a political point. The greatest ruler in the known world at that time, Caesar Augustus, is only mentioned in passing. He’s a background prop on the stage of God’s plan for the world. A baby born in poverty will soon take center stage and his glory will make Caesar’s look like a candlelight compared to the sun.
By associating Caesar with Jesus, Luke is also suggesting that the real bringer of peace is Jesus. Augustus established the Pax Romana, but he didn’t bring the kind of eternal peace that the King born in Bethlehem would (2:14, 19:38). Jesus, not Augustus, was the true Prince of Peace, and his peace would be established through suffering, not through force.
By connecting these two kings, Luke is boldly drawing a contrast between them and pushing back on the political idolatry of his day. Augustus may’ve proclaimed himself as the Savior of the world, but Luke says that he’s background player in the drama God is conducting in the world.
Political idolatry is still alive and well today, even in the churches of Jesus Christ. Anytime we set our ultimate hopes and affections on what an earthly king may do for us or our nation we’re failing to understand the supremacy and beauty of Jesus. How do we know if we’re struggling with political idolatry? Some things to look for in our hearts and lives are whether or not we have the ability to critique whoever is in power. If our guy or our party is always right and never wrong and the other guy or other party is always wrong and never right, then we may be overly enamored with a person rather than lovers of truth wherever it’s found. When our affections are stirred more by political rhetoric than by worship with the church and biblical preaching, or when we’re quick to talk politics and slow to commend Christ, or if when someone disagrees with us politically we’re quickly agitated and are tempted to question their integrity, intelligence, or even their faith, we may be idolizing politics or politicians.
Luke is helping followers of Jesus see that Caesar is only and always a background player in God’s story for the world. To be a follower of Jesus, you have to understand that only Jesus deserves our ultimate allegiance and your hope and joy must be a result of knowing him, not what politicians are or are not doing.
Luke Is a Faithful Theologian
The third reason Luke situates Jesus’ birth during Augustus’ reign is because he’s a faithful theologian. Luke understands that everything that happens, happens by divine design.
Luke gives us this little historical introduction because he wants us to see that, though Augustus may think he’s the king of the world, he’s actually a pawn on God’s chessboard.
What do I mean? The Old Testament prophet Micah said that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (5:2-5a). God’s king would come from Bethlehem, just like David. But Mary was in Nazareth, ninety miles north of Bethlehem. How is she supposed to give birth to the Messiah in Bethlehem if she’s in Nazareth? Because the King of Heaven controls the kings of earth.
God moves Augustus to enact the registration when he did so that he could get Mary to Bethlehem. And he uses a painful process to do so. Notice the repetition of the word “registration” in verses 1-5. It’s used four times in these five verses.
This registration, or census, was for the purpose of taxation (KJV, verse 1, “that all the world should be taxed”). The people had to be registered in their hometowns for the collection of taxes. So because Joseph was a law-abiding citizen, he took Mary to Bethlehem to register so he could pay the taxes he owed Rome.
This registration is evidence of Israel’s painful subjugation under the Romans. Joseph wouldn’t have to make this trip or pay these taxes if Israel was free. But if Israel was free, or if Caesar was less greedy, Mary wouldn’t have given birth to the Messiah in the place God said he’d be born. So Caesar’s pride and power are under God’s sovereign hand because “the king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will” (Pro. 21:1).
A census that signified oppression was part of God’s plan of salvation. This reminds us that the rulings and laws of earthly kings are under the sovereign control of God, and God always knows what he’s doing.
So Luke situates Jesus’ birth in relation to the rule of Caesar Augustus because he’s a good historian, bold writer, and faithful theologian. He wants his readers to see that, while Caesar was a great savior of the Roman world, Jesus was a better Savior for the whole world. He wants us to see that the true King of the world is not like any other king.
A Humble King
Second, in verses 6-7, we see the birth of a humble King. Most versions of the Christmas story go something like this: Mary and Joseph arrive in Bethlehem late at night and go from inn to inn and can’t find a room so they end up out in a barn somewhere surrounded by animals and all alone. But that’s not what we see here.
It says in verse 6 that the time to give birth came “while they were there,” so who knows how long they were in Bethlehem before Jesus was born. But then in verse 7 it says that Mary laid Jesus in a manger “because there was no place for them in the inn.”
The word for “inn” can also be translated “guest room.” Luke doesn’t use the word here that he uses in the parable of the Good Samaritan for “inn” (10:34). Rather, he uses the word he uses for the upper room where Jesus and his disciples celebrate the Passover (22:11).
Most of the ordinary dwellings at that time had one big room on one level with a smaller area for animals on a lower level (think of this as a sunken animal garage). Sometimes a guest room would be added on the side or on the top of the house. This is the kind of room Mary and Joseph couldn’t find.
They likely went to stay with some of Joseph’s relatives only to find that other relatives beat them there and were in the guest room, so they stayed in the larger family room with the animals nearby. Hence the presence of the manger, or animal trough. The mangers were set up between the upper and lower level so the animals could reach them more easily.
If you’ve ever fed farm animals you know what these troughs are like. One of my favorite things to do with my grandfather was go to his barn and help him feed his horses on Saturday mornings. We’d use old coffee cans to scoop out the sweet feed and pour it into the trough and then pet their noses while they ate. The horses loved it and didn’t seem to mind how dirty and dusty the troughs were. When they were done, they left behind slobber and parts of the food that fell out of their mouths. Surely at night all kinds of critters scoured the troughs looking for leftovers.
Those were glorious mornings for me. But I wouldn’t want to put my newborn down to sleep in one of those things! We parents are picky about where our babies sleep. One time someone tried to give Suzy and I an old pack-and-play and when they brought it out of the garage it was covered with dust and cobwebs and when they opened it bugs scattered. So we politely declined because we preferred that our babies sleep in something cleaner.
Yet here we see that Jesus’ first stop on planet earth outside his mother’s womb is an animal’s feeding trough. As we sang earlier, “From a throne of endless glory to a cradle in the dirt.”
Do you see the contrast Luke is drawing for us? While Caesar lives in his city of marble, Jesus lays in an animal trough. While Caesar pursues power and pleasure, Jesus is surrounded by animals and family. Ironically, one king thinks he rules the world but is only a pawn while the other king is born into poverty but actually rules the world. David Helm, in The Big Picture Story Bible, says it perfectly: “While Caesar, the King of the Roman world, was showing everyone how great he was by counting all his people, God, the King of the universe, was showing the world how great he was by sending his Son into the world as one of his people.”[7] The fact that the King of Heaven was placed in an animal’s feeding trough tells us that he’s a King unlike all other kings.
What Does the Manger Teach Us?
What does the manger teach us about God, about ourselves, and about our church?
God Is Humble
First, the manger teaches us that God is humble. The timeless and spaceless God entered time and space as a servant king, not a proud king. The God who cannot be contained in temples chose a manger for his first bed.
God’s humility is great news for people like us. When Jesus says in Matthew 11:29, “I am gentle and lowly in heart,” the word for “lowly” is typically translated as “humble,” in the sense of being down and out in life. This is how Mary uses the word in her song in 1:52. Jesus says his deepest heart is humble in the sense that he relates with those who the world passes over. In his book Gentle and Lowly, Dane Ortlund draws this conclusion:
“The point in saying that Jesus is lowly is that he is accessible. For all his resplendent glory and dazzling holiness, his supreme uniqueness and otherness, no one in human history has ever been more approachable than Jesus Christ. No prerequisites. No hoops to jump through.”[8]
This isn’t how Jesus is sometimes. It’s his deepest heart. The Most High God became “lowly” and “humble” in Jesus so that anyone can approach him. All you have to do is approach him and you can have him. The King in a manger wants to live with anyone who’ll have him.
Humility Is the Way
What does Jesus in a manger teach us about ourselves? That the only way to get an audience with this King is through humility. Only humble people get to live with the humble King.
What does a humble person look like? A humble person looks like someone who’s given up trying to be impressive, someone who takes off their mask and lives in honesty, someone who stops pretending everything is okay when it’s not okay, someone who gives up control, someone who’s laying down their cover of cynicism and smugness and bitterness, someone who’s done playing religious games and would rather be known than be impressive.
If you’re tired of pretending, the King in the manger has grace and freedom and rest for you. But you have to stop pretending first because he didn’t come to help you make yourself look better. He came to make you something new.
Associate with the Lowly
And thirdly, what does the manger teach us about our church? It teaches us to be like our King by humbling ourselves and moving toward the lowly. Paul says it this way, “Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly” (Rom. 12:16). We as a church must lay down our pride and move toward people everyone else is moving away from. When we do, we’re imaging our King.
This means we must sincerely welcome any kind of person into our gatherings. It means we’re not trying to be a socially impressive church but a church that looks like its King by moving toward the socially unimpressive, by moving toward the people who we impulsively try to avoid.
What if our King was like that? Well then he wouldn’t be our King because we’re unimpressive people! And we’re not just unimpressive, we’re evil and spiritually sick. But Jesus associated with us anyways. He became a man and died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead so that anyone who repents and believes can be brought back to God.
Those who truly get this will turn outward toward those in need. Whether it’s serving our homebound members or expectant moms at the pregnancy center or giving money to homeless shelters or working to stop human trafficking in our city or praying for immigrants and refugees or going to sit next to someone sitting all by themselves during worship, the gospel compels us to always be on the lookout for how we can “associate with the lowly.”
God has brought many into our church with sharp minds, but we’ll be an imbalanced and incomplete church if we don’t also have humble hearts and active hands. Followers of King Jesus must know him and love him and serve others.
Augustus essentially asked at the end of his life, “How did you like the performance?” He lived to impress. Jesus, the true king of the world, came for the unimpressive because he’s not like any other king. He’s a humble King and he loves the humble. Do you know him?
[1]Quoted in Will Durant, Caesar and Christ: A History of Roman Civilization and of Christianity from their Beginnings to A.D. 325 (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1944), 232.
[2]Quoted in Everett Ferguson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993), 26.
[3]Michael Kerrigan, A Dark History: The Roman Emperors from Julius Caesar to the Fall of Rome (New York: Metro Books, 2008), 33.
[4]Durant, 233.
[5]Quoted in Ferguson, 29.
[6]Quoted in Diane G. Chen, Luke, New Covenant Commentary Series (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2017), 31.
[7]David R. Helm, The Big Picture Story Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2004), 255.
[8]Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020), 20.