If Jesus had not come the first time back then but would come today, it would not mean the end of wars, persecution, or death. But it would mean this: God is with us—Emmanuel. And God shares in our suffering and has prepared something better.Jesus entered this world during the lifetime of Herod, a man who killed his own wife, his sons, and later ordered the slaughter of all children two years old and under. He even gave instructions that, upon his own death, all notable Jews be executed so that the day of his passing would be marked by national mourning. Because of him, Joseph and Mary had to become refugees and flee to another country. Thus, part of Jesus’ childhood was spent as his family escaped to a foreign land in order to preserve the life of their son.
After Herod the Great died, another uprising broke out against Rome, and the Roman governor Quinctilius Varus crucified 2,000 Jewish rebels around Jerusalem. Herod’s son Archelaus began to reign. Joseph and Mary returned, but this Herod was also cruel. He killed three thousand people in the Temple during Passover. Therefore, out of fear of Archelaus, Joseph and Mary did not return to Judea, but went instead to Galilee (Matthew 2:22). Herod Archelaus was so unbearable that even the Romans saw he was incapable of ruling, and they exiled him. Judea then became a directly governed Roman province, and Quirinius conducted a census of property and population.
This census was used to collect taxes directly for Rome. It caused deep resentment and resistance among the Jews, because it signified direct submission to a pagan authority and taxation by it. One of those tax collectors would later write a Gospel as a disciple of Christ. Judas the Galilean led a revolt, calling on the people to recognize no master but God alone. We read about him in Acts 5:35–39. His rebellion was brutally crushed and is considered the beginning of the Zealot movement—one of which would later become a disciple of Christ.