And It Came to Pass...Part II Trivia Quiz

Answer:

It has already been determined in the first quiz, "And It Came To Pass...", which covered Luke 2:1-4, that at the time of Christ's birth, Judea was under control of the Roman Empire and Caesar Augustus, or Octavian, was Emperor. He had proclaimed that people who lived in the Roman Empire needed to pay their taxes, and they were to go to their ancestral city to do so. And so Joseph and Mary made their way to Bethlehem.

Continuing with the story in Luke 2:5, readers are told that Mary was Joseph's espoused wife. What does this mean? The couple was basically engaged or betrothed. To the ancient Hebrews, this was the first step in marriage, a commitment to do so, however, the marriage could not be legally consummated until the second step or formal ceremony was completed. But Mary was "great with child". And the terms of the espousal were so strong, that Joseph could not easily divorce her; according to Matthew 1:18-24, after the visit by an angel, Joseph took Mary into his home, but did not consummate the marriage until after Jesus was born.

While the couple was in Bethlehem, paying their taxes and presumably visiting with other family members who were doing the same, Mary gave birth to Jesus, her first son in Luke 2:6-7. The term "firstborn" seems to indicate that Jesus had siblings; Bible scholars continue to debate whether this is true, and different religions have different beliefs about this topic. Putting that issue aside, the custom at the time was to wrap a newborn in swaddling clothes, pieces of cloth that were wrapped tightly around the child to ease the transition from the mother's womb to the outside world. While it may seem barbaric to us today, updated versions of swaddling clothes, such as swaddle blankets, are used today. They presumably help babies sleep better, make them feel more secure, and keep them from scratching themselves. The fact that Mary swaddled her baby means that she was a careful and loving new mother.

In Luke 2:7-8 we are told about the angel appearing to the shepherds, humble people who were the first people to view Christ's birth. This is probably a reference to the future role as the Good Shepherd of Jesus to his followers. It also shows that Jesus would be the savior of the common people, as well as others. Of course, these humble people were terrified when the angel appeared. It must have been quite a wonderful, but totally unexpected spectacle!