Luke 2:6

‘And at about that while they were there, the days were fulfilled that she should be delivered, and she brought forth her firstborn son.’

And it was while they were in Bethlehem, possibly at the family home, that the time came for the baby to be born (it is not said that it happened immediately on their arrival, nor is that the impression given). Note that He is described as her firstborn son. This may be emphasising the fulfilment of the promise, as promised to her, or it may be hinting at the fact that Joseph had had no part in His conception.

They were there because of Quirinius ‘first’ great act of establishing his, and Rome’s, authority. Here is an example where in the sovereignty of God the Roman Empire was unwittingly used in order to bring about the fulfilment of prophecy. Rome saw itself as by this act making clear its supremacy, but through the ‘firstborn’ son of the line of David God was also, unseen by the world, establishing His authority in the very house of David, and revealing His supremacy by bending Rome to His will. The ‘first’ of Quirinius was paralleled by the ‘first’ of God. We should note here that as a result of His adoption by Joseph, who would acknowledge Him as his firstborn in the Temple, He would in Jewish eyes be seen as Joseph’s main heir.

In view of the great heralding of His coming in chapter 1, and indeed of Whom Luke knew Him to be, the restraint of this account is quite remarkable. It suggests that he stuck firmly to the tradition which he received from eyewitnesses, and wanted it to be quite clear that He was born as a true man without any frills. (No inventor would have put it so simply).

‘The days were fulfilled that she should be delivered.’ Compare Genesis 25:24; Luke 1:57. God was seen as the One Who fulfilled the days. Note that it happened ‘while they were there’. But they actually remained in Bethlehem for some considerable time. So the birth may not have taken place until some time after their arrival. There is actually no reason at all for thinking that it happened on the first night.

‘Firstborn son.’ Had Luke wished to stress that this was her only son he could have used monogenes. Thus it would appear that at the least he did not see the question as important, and at the most knew that she later had other children. This last suggestion is supported by the fact that in Matthew 1:25 we read literally, ‘and Joseph was not ‘knowing’ her until she had brought forth a son’, with the thought being that after that he was ‘knowing’ her. This ties in, of course, with the fact that all the Gospels speak of her other sons, and even name them (Luke 8:19-21; Matthew 12:46; Matthew 13:55; Mark 3:31; Mark 6:3). The myth of a perpetual virgin has no place in Luke’s Gospel.