God has already written the names of all believers whom He has saved
in the Book of Life of the Lamb who was slain.
“As it came to pass in those days, that Caesar Augustus issued a decree that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child” (Luke 2:1–5).
While meditating on these words, I want to receive the lesson given here:
(1) Here the word “to register” (Greek verb ἀπογράφεσθαι, apographesthai) means “to enter in a public register or record; specifically, to enroll the names of men, their property, and income into the official records.” This verb appears only four times in the New Testament, and it always marks a decisive act of official registration—whether it is earthly authorities conducting a census, or God Himself inscribing the redeemed in heaven (Internet).
(a) The historical and cultural background of this word is that in the Greco-Roman world, governments maintained systematic lists of citizens, property, and taxable persons. Enrollments were usually carried out by imperial decree and carried legal authority. The opening of Luke’s Gospel situates the birth of Jesus Christ within such an enrollment under Caesar Augustus, rooting the gospel account in verifiable history and showing how God directs earthly powers to accomplish His prophetic purposes (Internet).
(i) This verb “to register” occurs only four times in the New Testament, three of which are in today’s passage—Luke 2:1, 3, and 5. The background is that “Caesar Augustus” (Roman Emperor, 27 B.C.–A.D. 14) issued a decree that “all the world should be registered” (v. 1). So everyone went to be registered in their hometown (v. 3). Joseph, being of the lineage of David, also went up from Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem, the city of David, together with Mary, his betrothed, who was already pregnant (vv. 4–5). This reflects the earthly authority of Caesar Augustus conducting a census.
· The remaining usage of the verb “to register” appears in Hebrews 12:23, which refers to God Himself inscribing the redeemed in heaven: “to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect.”
- Here, the Greek participle ἀπογεγραμμένων (apogegrammenōn, “registered”) is the same root word as the verb “to register” used in Luke 2:1, 3, and 5. The church—the gathered assembly of believers—approaches God as one complete community in Christ Jesus [redeemed by the blood of Christ (cf. Heb. 12:24)]. This “church” is described as “the assembly of the firstborn who are registered in heaven” (v. 23).
n In conclusion, Hebrews 12:23 teaches that the gathering of believers who approach God already belongs to the heavenly assembly of the firstborn whose names are recorded in heaven. This emphasizes that through Christ all believers are united into one complete community, living as eternal citizens of heaven even amid the struggles of this world, pressing on toward the promised heavenly glory (Internet).
(2) Thus, when I meditate on the New Testament passages where the Greek verb “to register” appears—Luke 2:1, 3, 5 (three times) and Hebrews 12:23 (once)—I am reminded that just as Caesar Augustus once commanded the entire Roman Empire to be registered [“to conduct a census” (Modern Korean Bible)] (Lk. 2:1), so too the “King of kings” (Rev. 19:16), the “Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (22:13), the Lord of all, has already written in the Book of Life of the Lamb who was slain the names of all believers whom God chose in love before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4) (cf. Rev. 13:8; Phil. 4:3, Modern Korean Bible).
(a) And when I meditate on the words: “All went to be registered, each to his own town. Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child …” (Lk. 2:3–5), in connection with Hebrews 12:22: “You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,” I am reminded of Hebrews 11:13–16 (Modern Korean Bible): “All these people died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them from afar and rejoiced. They admitted that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. They showed that they were longing for a homeland of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they could have returned. But they longed for a better homeland, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”
(i) Meditating on the words “they longed for a better, heavenly homeland” (v. 16), I too share in this same longing, like the ancestors of faith. This brings to my mind hymn “I’m but a Stranger Here”:
(v. 1) I'm but a stranger here, Heaven is my home;
Earth is a desert drear, Heaven is my home.
Danger and sorrow stand Round me on every hand;
Heaven is my fatherland, Heaven is my home.
(v. 2) What though the tempests rage, Heaven is my home;
Short is my pilgrimage, Heaven is my home.
Time's cold and win-try blast Soon will be over past;
I shall reach home at last, Heaven is my home.
(v. 3) There at my Savior's side, Heaven is my home;
I shall be glorified, Heaven is my home.
There are the good and blest, Those I love most and best,
There, too, I soon shall rest, Heaven is my home.
Amen.