The Imperial Census / Paul Thomas Smith

Excerpt from Birth of the Messiah by Paul Thomas Smith. 
(reading only)

Many months earlier, Caesar Augustus had ordered a census taken throughout the Roman Empire. It is estimated that Caesar had 55 million subjects,¹³ Rome's 30 provincial governors were periodically authorized to conduct a census that would determine how much tax the people should be assessed. Taxes raised were designated to fund imperial projects such as roads, aqueducts, buildings, and armies.¹⁴

On the eastern edge of the empire, the 8,000-square-mile kingdom of Judea had a population of about one million Jews.¹⁵ Citizens there were ordered to enroll in the towns of their ancestors' origin, so Joseph was required to journey 90 miles to Bethlehem, the home of his forefathers.¹⁶ Although Bethlehem was small, it had been continuously inhabited for centuries.

The annual festival of Passover was an ideal time to conduct the enrollment, since all males were required by Mosaic law to assemble in or near Jerusalem at that time and the ancestral homes of most families were in Judea. Women were not required to attend, although traditionally families celebrated together.¹⁷

Since Mary was near the end of her pregnancy, wisdom dictated that she remain in Nazareth while Joseph fulfilled his Passover and enrollment obligation in Judea. Yet Mary accompanied her husband on the journey. Why? Surely inspiration guided the decision so that the ancient prophecy of Micah and others might be fulfilled: the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (see Micah 5:2).

It would have been strange for Joseph and Mary to have traveled by themselves, for the route would have been crowded with friends and relatives headed for Jerusalem and the Passover celebration. Perhaps Joseph secured their belongings upon some donkeys; Mary likely rode upon one of the animals. A straw basket could have held food for the journey, and a goatskin could have held water.

As the travelers approached Jerusalem, they may have been greeted by a sea of goatskin tents pitched in the valleys. Just ahead, thousands of people, along with braying donkeys, bleating sheep, and crying children, would have crowded the narrow streets and byways of the Holy City.