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Mary returned to Nazareth in her 3 to 4 month of pregnancy, at a time when it would become
obvious that she was with child. As Joseph observed or was informed about Mary’s pregnancy, he was
prompted to “put her away” or divorce her, rather than have her stoned. Most marriages were
arranged by the parents so Mary and Joseph probably did not know each other very well, so Joseph
should not be blamed for mistrusting Mary.

The commitment of a betrothal was so legally binding that a divorce breaking that commitment was
required (1:19). Joseph had little choice. If a man’s betrothed became pregnant, people would assume
that she had regarded him as an inadequate man, and this would publicly humiliate him. It also spoke of
her lack of discretion and unwillingness to keep herself pure for her husband. Worse yet, if he did not
divorce her, people would assume that he was the father of the child, and he would bear great shame in
a culture that was obsessed with shame and honor. He would bear this shame for multiple years to
come.

Jewish law required a man to divorce a wife who had been unfaithful. Joseph could have divorced Mary
publicly in a court of justice. The court would not only establish his innocence, but also, he would get to
keep Mary’s entire dowry. By planning to divorce her privately, Joseph elected to forfeit the profit of
her dowry rather than to shame her any further.

Mary trusted in the Lord and He resolved her issue with Joseph. The same angel informed Joseph that
the child was not as a result of infidelity but was to be the miraculous birth of the coming Messiah.
Willing to endure public shame along with Mary, he took her for his wife into his own home and cared
for her as if the child were his. Joseph was a loving man of God.

It is interesting that while Augustus Caesar was the Roman Emperor, Quirinius, the Roman governor of
Syria, ordered a registration of all people to sign up for a tax. Archeologists have found an Egyptian
papyrus which talked about a registration for taxation every 14 years as a general practice of Rome.

Ted Wright, “Was there really a census During the Time of Caesar Augustus?,
https://crossexamined.org/really-census-time-caesar-augustus/

Many actual census returns have been found supporting the practice. However unique in this second
registration ordered by the Syrian governor is that every person had to return to the city of their
birthright or family heritage. Normally when registering for the Roman tax, the Jews signed up in the
town in which they lived. But this one time in history, the governor required every person, including
men and women, to return to their family heritage city to register. We cannot say why he did this, other
than it was the providence of God to bring both Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem – the prophesized city of
the birth of the Messiah.

Both Mary and Joseph were distant relatives of King David (we will look at their genealogies next) whose
heritage city was Bethlehem. Joseph was required by Roman decree to return to Bethlehem because he
was a descendant of King David through Solomon. Mary was required to register because she was a
descendant of King David through his son Nathan. Thus, their son is qualified to sit on the throne of
David by blood through his physical mother, Mary, and by legal right through is adoptive father, Joseph.
There was no way around it. Even though she was great with child, they both would have to make the
4-day journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem to obey the decree.

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