In those days
a decree went out from Caesar Augustus
that all the world should be registered.
Luke 2:1

For more than four decades, Caesar Augustus ruled over the Roman Empire as its first Emperor. He reigned in a time of relative peace and stability within the expanding kingdom.

But Caesar Augustus was not his name. It was the title given to him when he took control of the empire following a bitter civil war.

His given name was Gaius Octavius. Orphaned as a child, he was adopted by Julius Caesar when he was 19. The emperor changed his name to Gaius Julius Caesar Divi Fillus (son of the divine). And later, when Gaius claimed the throne, he became known by his title - Imperator Caesar Divi Filius Augustus, which translates as, “Emperor Caesar, son of the divine, worthy of reverence.”

This is who ruled Rome when Jesus was born to a virgin in Bethlehem.

And the irony of the situation was not lost on Luke, the writer of the third gospel.

“A decree went out from Caesar Augustus,” Luke writes, “that all the world should be registered” as part of a Roman census.

In other words, most powerful ruler on earth, a man who fancied himself a god in human flesh, set in motion the events that would fulfill centuries-old prophesies about the birth of the one and only, truly divine Son of God.

Augustus was known throughout the empire as the emperor who had established and now ruled over the celebrated Pax Romana. Meanwhile, in an obscure town in Israel, the real Prince of Peace was born. He would bring a deeper peace than any human king could establish. An eternal peace, not a temporal peace.

Most people in our day who know anything about Caesar Augustus know of him because Luke included his name in his account of the birth of Jesus. The once revered and worshipped Roman emperor is no longer considered worthy of reverence as he once was. His birth is ignored. No one thinks of Augustus today as the savior of the world.

But a baby born to Joseph and Mary during the esteemed emperor’s reign is known by that title by people all over the world. He rules over an eternal kingdom as the true Prince of Peace.

That’s what our celebration of Christmas is all about.

Prayer: God, help me to see greatness as you see it. Not in the applause of men, but in the applause of heaven for those who serve.