Day 303: Galatians 4:3–7

But when the completion of the time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law (vv. 4–5).

God purposed that His Son would come out of Nazareth but be born in Bethlehem. So He caused a census to require everyone in the Roman world to return to the place of his or her family’s origin. Probably the timing was too close to the birth of the child for Joseph to leave Mary behind. One commentary tenderly suggested that Joseph may not have wanted Mary left behind and subjected to gossip.

Bethlehem is about five miles south of Jerusalem, quite a distance from Nazareth, with chains of hills and mountains in between. Theirs was no easy trip. Women could be tempted to picket the New International Version for leaving out one little detail that had a profound influence on Mary’s trip: “Mary . . . being great with child” (Luke 2:5 kjv). We have to appreciate the fact that the verb tense indicates a continuous action. We might say she was getting greater by the minute.

I certainly remember feeling that way. I’ll never forget catching a glimpse of myself, great with child, in the distorted reflection of the stainless-steel faucet on the tub. My stomach looked huge, and my head and arms appeared like nubs. From then on I took showers. Taking “great with child” on the road is no easy task.

Whether or not Mary and Joseph planned Christ’s birth this way, God certainly did. One of my favorite phrases in the birth narrative is humbly tucked in Luke 2:6: “While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born.” The time. The time toward which all “time” had been ticking since the kingdom clock struck one.

These words refer to the most important segment of time since the first tick of the clock. The second hand circled tens of thousands of times for thousands of years, then finally, miraculously, majestically—the time came. God’s voice broke through the barrier of the natural realm through the cries of an infant, startled by life on the outside. The Son of God had come to earth, wrapped in a tiny cloak of human flesh. “She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (v. 7).