I hate to do two football-related posts in a row, but...

... let's polish up the college football weekend just finished. Here are our rankings and tiers for the Power Five conference teams (the full set, #1-67, is viewable on College Football tab, on the blog header):

	Power Five	Oct 30
1	Alabama	A+5
2	Michigan	A+2
3	Clemson	A +
4	Ohio St	A
5	Washington	B +
6	Oklahoma	B +
7	Louisville	B -
8	Auburn	B -
9	Wisconsin	C
10	LSU	C
11	Baylor	C
12	Ole Miss	C -
13	Florida St	D +
14	Oklahoma St	D
15	USC	D
16	Texas A&M	D -
17	Florida	D -
18	Virginia Tech	D -
19	West Virginia	E +
20	North Carolina	E +

Our only difference in the top four as of now is that we still have Ohio State above Washington, on their complete body of work. They may be squeezing out victories by their teeth, but they still win. As everyone else reminds you, the Michigan/Ohio State situation will probably take care of itself when they play in a month...but our FOLLOWING FOOTBALL tier system doesn't punish teams for losing games by small margins as underdogs, as voters do - so we'll see what happens! Again, the entire list for each category is available on our "College Football" tab.

Here's the current top teams in the Group Of Five conferences, currently fighting it out for the guaranteed New Year's Six bowl berth:

	Group of Five	Oct 30
1	Western Michigan	D +
2	Houston	D
3	Western Kentucky	E +
4	Navy	E
5	San Diego St	E
6	Louisiana Tech	E -
7	Toledo	F +
8	Boise St	F
9	South Florida	F -
10	Appalachian St	F -
11	Temple	G +
12	Tulsa	G
13	Memphis	G
14	Georgia St	H
15	Middle Tenn	H -
16	Wyoming	I

With Boise State's loss to Wyoming (by a safety? Weird...), it becomes Western Michigan's to lose, if they can stay unbeaten and win their conference title. Houston and Boise will have to hope for losses ahead of them, as one of the primary criteria is winning your conference title, no matter how pretty the rest of your record is. As always, the other 44 teams are listed in the "College Football" tab.

Finally, here are the top teams in the FCS rankings, as determined by the FOLLOWING FOOTBALL tier system (patent pending, your mileage may vary)...

	FCS rankings for	Oct 30
1	North Dakota State	F -
2	Jacksonville State	G
3	Northern Iowa	H +
4	South Dakota State	I
5	Eastern Washington	I
6	James Madison	I
7	Charleston Southern	I -
8	Central Arkansas	I -
9	Richmond	J +
10	Youngstown State	J
11	Sam Houston St	J
12	Chattanooga	J
12	The Citadel	J
14	Coastal Carolina*	J -
15	Montana	J -
16	Lehigh	J -
17	Illinois State	K +
18	Western Illinois	K
19	New Hampshire	K -
20	McNeese State	L +
21	Northern Arizona	L +
22	Penn	L +
23	Harvard	L
24	Princeton	L
25	North Dakota	L
25	Villanova	L
27	UT-Martin	L -
28	Colgate	L -
28	Samford	L -
30	Indiana State	M +
31	Cal Poly SLO	M +
31	Southern Utah	M +

The bold teams are currently leading or tied for the lead in their conferences; St. Francis-PA, Liberty University, and the University of San Diego are also leading their respective conferences and would get an automatic playoff bid to the field of 24 if the playoffs started this week. But they don't, so there's still plenty of time to shuffle these teams around before Thanksgiving! (Coastal Carolina is transitioning into FBS next year, so they're not eligible for the playoffs; additionally, the Ivy League, SWAC, and MEAC do not choose to participate in the playoff schema of their own volition.) Given all of that, the 21 teams dabbed in yellow, along with the three conference winners above (the Northeast, Big South, and Pioneer leagues), would be the most obvious choices for the 24-team playoff field were the season ending today.

FINALLY, let's see how our predictions did...For the FIRST TIME all season, we beat the odds makers with our point spread lines, after a couple of ties and near misses the last three weeks: 24-23. (Hey, a win's a win!) Here's the copy from last week, with our comments in BLACK...

ACC) Clemson by 3 over FSU (PERFECT!); Georgia Tech by just 1 1/2 over Duke (NEAR PERFECT!); we favor Pitt by half a point over VaTech (Hokies won. Shoot.); and our big upset pick is Notre Dame over Miami by 2 (NAILED IT! Won by three!)

Big Ten) The three most interesting games are Illinois over Minnesota by one on our board (completely wrong); Wisconsin by 8 over Nebraska (WON in OT); and Michigan whomps MSU (not much of a whomp, but UM won),

Big 12) Our upset pick is Oklahoma St over West Virginia by two (or MORE! GOT it!). We also like Baylor at Texas by 3-4. (Got it wrong because UT nailed a last minute kick. Oh well.)

Pac 12) With Las Vegas sinning sitting in the middle of Pac-12 territory, you sometimes get odds that don't match reality because there are too many local fans of certain teams. USC is one of those - betting on the underside of their spread is usually a good idea just because that's how Vegas sets those odds. We have USC by 7.5 over Cal; Vegas has the spread at sixteen points! (And they were right. THIS time...) Similarly, we have UW over Utah by four, Vegas favors them by ten. (Split the diff - they won by seven!)

SEC) Two major upsets in the SEC where we are WAY different than the oddsmakers - we like Georgia over Florida by one (WHOOPS!) and Ole Miss over Auburn by four (Whoops again!).

AAC) Three important games in the American conference this weekend - Houston is favored by nine over UCF; we have the line at 17. (We were wrong.) We disagree completely on the other two: we like SMU by 2.5 (NAILED it); Vegas likes Tulane by 2.5; and in the most critical game, we'll take the Naval Academy (-2) over USF (ended up wrong on this one, but I'd pick them again tomorrow.)

C-USA) No significant differences from the Vegas lines in our forecasts: we think Southern Miss and MTSU should only be one TD favorites instead of two over Marshall and FIU, respectively. (NAILED IT - FIU lost by seven, Marshall by ten.)

MWC)  See previous comments about certain teams: Boise St is one of them, as the oddsmakers seem to think they're 14 points better than Wyoming (we have it at -4, and they LOST BY 2!). New Mexico -0.5 @ Hawaii should be interesting, (UNM won) but not as much as the dead man walking in Fresno St: FF says +7, Vegas says +14 against Air Force, and this time I'm thinking Vegas is right: the coaching situation's worth at least that extra TD. (Split the diff - ten point Air force win)

Here's Your ALL-PURPOSE INTRODUCTION to the eighteen pro AUSSIE RULES football teams!

Alright, it's time to share some of my love for the ultimate sport - that manly combination (played by both genders and all ages) of soccer, rugby, American football, and basketball, played on an oval cricket pitch, called Australian Rules Football, or Aussie Rules, or just "footy" for short!

Some of the basics are described in my first post on the subject, and it and all of my Aussie Rules posts are found here, on its own page, so as not to clutter up the rest of our posts (or vice versa!).

But I'd like to share some information about the major league version today - the Australian Football League (or AFL, not to be confused with the US's "Arena Football League", another high-scoring, fast-paced version of the sport, differing dramatically from footy in that footy leagues are not bankrupt or lacking in attendance). The AFL currently contains eighteen teams, scattered from Perth to Queensland but with the lions' share in the league's origin point of Melbourne, in the state of Victoria. In fact, the league's origin was as the "Victorian Football League", which thirty years ago or so changed its name to reflect its growing footprint, and eventually swallowed up the other major leagues around the country. (Many of those, including a version of the VFL, still exist as 'minor league' football, with a similar structure to some extent as our minor league baseball does here.)

While as I noted recently, the 2016 Premier is the Western Bulldogs (a Chicago Cubs-like story, having gone 62 years since last winning the Grand Final), the recent decade or so has been dominated by three teams: the Geelong Cats, the Sydney Swans, and the three-time-defenders coming into this season, the Hawthorn Hawks. AFL isn't like the NBA, where a very few teams have a real chance to win in any season, but neither is it the NFL, where any team can win any season, almost unpredictably.


So, for your benefit as you dip your toe in this world halfway around the world, let me give you some American analogies for each team. Imperfect though they may be, I hope you'll find them enlightening and entertaining. Enjoy!

Here's a set of links showing how the teams line up with their American counterparts...

The ADELAIDE Crows = the Minnesota Vikings (of the NFL) - click here!
The BRISBANE Lions = the Los Angeles Lakers (of the NBA) - click here!
The CARLTON Blues = the Chicago Bears (of the NFL) - click here!
The COLLINGWOOD Magpies = the New York Yankees (of MLB) - click here!
The ESSENDON Bombers = the Oakland Athletics (of MLB) - click here!
The FREMANTLE Dockers = the Kansas City Royals (of MLB) - click here!
The GEELONG Cats = the New England Patriots (of the NFL) - click here!
The GOLD COAST Suns = the Cleveland Cavaliers (of the NBA) - click here!
The GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY Giants = the Los Angeles Clippers (of the NBA) - click here!
The HAWTHORN Hawks = the San Antonio Spurs (of the NBA) - click here!
The MELBOURNE Demons = the Oakland Raiders (of the NFL) - click here!
The NORTH MELBOURNE Kangaroos = The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (of MLB) - click here!
The PORT ADELAIDE Power = the Oregon Ducks (of the NCAA FBS) - click here!
The RICHMOND Tigers = the San Diego Chargers (of the NFL) - click here!
The ST. KILDA Saints = the New York Jets (of the NFL) - click here!
The SYDNEY Swans = the Boston Red Sox (of MLB) - click here!
The WEST COAST Eagles = the Dallas Cowboys (of the NFL) - click here!
The WESTERN Bulldogs = the Chicago Cubs (of MLB) - click here!

As you progress through each club and its American doppelganger, we hope you'll come to understand more about the particular teams that represent the great sport of footy in Australia and around the world. Before the season starts next March, you'll get a firm background in the sport - and we'll provide content on the AFL page to help novices understand the sport. 

IMAGINE (part three of three)

            Imagine you are Remiel.

            You may not know who Remiel is by name. But while Gabriel had the task of being the archangel informing the key participants of their roles in the births of Jesus and John, Remiel was the archangel given the task of protecting and announcing the birth of Christ.

            And Remiel is slightly confused.

            “O God Almighty, I do not understand.”

            Tell Me what troubles you, Remiel. All is as it should be.

          “But why must He be born in such squalor? This cavernous stable is not fit for a peasant’s birth, much less the King of Kings!”

         His birth cannot be in a place owned or created by man, or else man might claim credit for His arrival. The 'stable' itself is a cave, carved by no human hands, so that no man may boast. No, Remiel, the glory of His birth belongs solely to God, not man. Mary and Joseph are more than capable of their part in this, and you are there to cleanse the Child and mother, to comfort their pain, and to protect them against harm.

            And so Remiel set about his task, providing the Lord Jesus with a safe and healthy birth, protecting his mother from harm, aiding the holy step-father Joseph supernaturally as necessary, and keeping the livestock safely at bay. Then when he felt it safe to do so, he proceeded to the nearby fields, and in the same place where King David once tended sheep as a lad, Remiel announced to the most recent Bethlehem shepherds:

      “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 

        And as Remiel was joined by a host of brethren to sing “Glory to God in the highest”, a wave of satisfaction and joy rushed through the archangel for a job well done.

            The Lord had been born.

†

Imagine you’re Simeon.

The Lord God has shared a secret with you! (And why not? You are as devout as they come! Praying at the synagogue for the consolation of your beloved Israel!) God has told you that you shall not die until you have seen the Lord’s Christ.

Would you want to see Him, or not?

Think about it for a second. You’ve lived a long and generally happy life. Things are great. You know you won’t die in an accident, or of food poisoning, or from a water-born illness. God has told you so! You shall not die until you have seen the Lord’s Christ!

You may well be immortal!

And then, one fine day, the Holy Spirit leads you to the Temple, as He often does…and there He is! The Spirit leads you to Him.

You have awaited this day for years! To gaze upon the literal Son of God!

And yet… And yet…

Is Jesus’ birth a death sentence for you?

You take the young Jesus into your arms, and bless the child as well as The Lord: “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to Your Word; for my eyes have seen Your Salvation that You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a Light for revelation to the Gentiles and for Glory to Your people Israel.”

Your own time is now coming to a close, so the Holy Spirit shares something curious with you: the Messiah will not do what many think He is supposed to do. As you hand the Child back to His mother, you decide to share what the Spirit shared with you…

“Behold, this child is appointed for the fall AND rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

Why tell Mary that her heart and soul will be pierced as well? That just seems cruel!

Maybe you’re just feeling a little cruel right now. You were waiting for the Son of God to appear – and at that moment of glory, you learn that He will not be the salvation of the nation of Israel after all?

Bitter, perhaps?

†

Imagine you’re Anna, the prophetess.

            You have led a life of solitude from your twenties, when your husband of seven years died, until the age of eighty-four, and in those sixty or so years your life has been spent in prayer within the confines of the Holy Temple. An early model of what a nun of later Christian orders would look like, in fact – your days spent in prayer and frequent fasting, your life promised to your sole living ‘husband’, the Lord Jehovah.

            And as you are nearing the end of your ‘engagement’ period, preparing to meet your God after the death which will probably come soon, a young couple and their child enter the Temple to bless the child’s birth.

            You approach the family, and if you were in a Star Wars movie, you’d hear Obi-wan saying how “the Force is strong with this one”. The sheer energy emanating from the child is unbelievable, and the Holy Spirit makes clear the reason why. This is the Messiah – the literal Son of God!

            What would your reaction BE? Can you even imagine how you’d feel?

            Anna’s reaction was to come up to the couple and immediately give thanks to God and to speak of all who were waiting for Him to redeem Jerusalem and all of Israel. Her own life was almost over, and she would undoubtedly miss this seminal event in the history of the world, but she understood the overriding importance of what God had done. The Messiah had come. And great things would soon come to pass.

†

     The lives of the individuals surrounding the seminal event were unimportant in comparison to what was to take place over the course of the life of Jesus Christ, Immanuel, the Son of God. Time itself would forever be measured from this event, the birth of Christ – B.C. (before Christ) and A.D. (anno dominae, the ‘year of our Lord’). In the end, Mary, Elizabeth, Zechariah, Joseph, the innkeeper, Herod, Simeon, and Anna are all just “bit players” in the Gospel, mere props in the overriding story of salvation.

            It is the story of the human race itself, conceived by God when Adam and Eve fell from grace in the Garden, and awaiting its conclusion with the Second Coming and the events of Revelation, that is the point of importance in Christ's story. 'For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.' The implication is that without the birth of Christ on earth, no one would have eternal life. And through these individuals, and many many others, God arranged for Jesus Christ to be the savior of mankind and change the eternal destiny of every man, woman, or child who accepted His gift of salvation. 

Looking into our crystal (foot)ball for Hallow'een weekend!

Let's start north of the border!

In 2016, the Canadian Football League has been dominated by the often-dominating Calgary Stampeders, who lost their first game and haven't lost since. They went into their first of two byes (in mid-July) at 1-1-1, having lucked into a tie with the Ottawa RedBlacks, who lead the West still today. 

They haven't lost since.

Their final game of the regular season comes Sunday night, at 5-11 Montreal, and the odds of the horses not finishing the season on a fifteen-game winning streak at 16-1-1 are longer than Mr. Trump's of winning the election November 8th. FOLLOWING FOOTBALL has Calgary as 10 point favorites, but personally, I'd double that. 

We also have Edmonton winning on the road at Hamilton by 3, and if so that's probably a preview of the first round of playoffs on November 15th... Ottawa travels to surprising Winnipeg, and although they're leading the East, they enter this game as an 8-point underdog on our books... finally, the British Columbia Lions go to surging Saskatchewan, hoping to hold the RoughRiders off (BC is a four point favorite in our books) and stay up with Winnipeg for homefield advantage in the first round, where they'll fight for the right to be dismembered by Calgary in the division finals the next week.

What about the NFL?

Here's where we differ significantly from the Vegas odds...we think Arizona beats Carolina by 2, unlike Vegas, who favors the home team by 2...we have Kansas City by seven over the Colts, not just two...the Jets by five over Cleveland, not 2 1/2...Seattle by eight over the Saints, not three...and we like Oakland over Tampa by 1, not the other way around. Otherwise, we're pretty much in sync with their lines: Tennessee over Jax, ATL over Green Bay, Pats over the Bills, Cincy over Washington, Dallas over Philly, Denver over SD, Houston over Detroit, and Minnesota recovering to beat the Bears.

Let's move to the FBS collegiate teams, by conference:

ACC) Clemson by 3 over FSU (line is - 4.5); Georgia Tech by just 1 1/2 over Duke (line is 6 1/2); we favor Pitt by half a point over VaTech (line is 4.5 towards the Hokies); and our big upset pick is Notre Dame over Miami by 2 (the line is Miami by six).

Big Ten) The three most interesting games are Illinois over Minnesota by one on our board; Wisconsin by 8 over Nebraska (line opened at nine); and Michigan whomps MSU (the line keeps going up - if it's over 24, take MSU),

Big 12) Our upset pick is Oklahoma St over West Virginia by two (the line favors WVU by 4). We also like Baylor at Texas by 3-4.

Pac 12) With Las Vegas sinning sitting in the middle of Pac-12 territory, you sometimes get odds that don't match reality because there are too many local fans of certain teams. USC is one of those - betting on the underside of their spread is usually a good idea just because that's how Vegas sets those odds. We have USC by 7.5 over Cal; Vegas has the spread at sixteen points! Similarly, we have UW over Utah by four, Vegas favors them by ten. (It's possible they're right on that one - we'll have to see!)

SEC) Two major upsets in the SEC where we are WAY different than the oddsmakers - we like Georgia over Florida by one (the line is FL by 7.5) and Ole Miss over Auburn by four (the line was swayed by Arkansas quitting on their 56-3 loss to Auburn last week, favoring the Tigers by nine!).

AAC) Three important games in the American conference this weekend - Houston is favored by nine over UCF; we have the line at 17. We disagree completely on the other two: we like SMU by 2.5; Vegas likes Tulane by 2.5; and in the most critical game, we'll take the Naval Academy (-2) over USF (who's favored -8).

C-USA) No significant differences from the Vegas lines in our forecasts: we think Southern Miss and MTSU should only be one TD favorites instead of two over Marshall and FIU, respectively.

MWC)  See previous comments about certain teams: Boise St is one of them, as the oddsmakers seem to think they're 14 points better than Wyoming (we have it at -4). New Mexico -0.5 @ Hawaii should be interesting, but not as much as the dead man walking in Fresno St: FF says +7, Vegas says +14 against Air Force, and this time I'm thinking Vegas is right: the coaching situation's worth at least that extra TD.

SunBelt) The only interesting game is Thursday's App St @ GA Southern; we have ASU -1, and the oddsmakers have them -5.

Finally, here are the most interesting FCS games, with OUR point spreads and predictions for comparison:

Big Sky) Montana @ Eastern WA (- 3); Weber St @ North Dakota (- 10). Colonial) Maine @ William & Mary (- 7); Stony Brook @ New Hampshire (- 6). MVC) The biggest game - North Dakota St as an underdog @ Northern Iowa (- 0.5!); Western Illinois@ South Dakota (+ 1). NEC) St. Francis (PA) @ Sacred Heart (-5); and CCSU @ Robert Morris (even). OVC) Eastern Illinois @ Jacksonville St (- 16, and they're probably the closest competition); EKU @ UT-Martin (- 2). Patriot) The big one - Fordham @ Lehigh (- 6). Pioneer) Both unbeaten in the PFL, San Diego @ Marist (+ 10.5). Southland) SFA @ Incarnate Word (even!). Ivy League) Two fascinating games: the oft-times title game, Harvard @ Dartmouth (even!), and the only time in history when Yale @ Columbia is Columbia - 2! MEAC) Three close games: SC St @ Hampton (- 2), Morgan St @ Norfolk St (- 1), and Howard @ our personal favorites, Savannah St (- 2). SWAC) Southern @ Alcorn St (+ 4), PV A&M  @ Jackson St (+ 4), and the annual neutral site clash between Alabama A&M and Alabama State (-3).

IMAGINE (part two of three)

Imagine you’re Joseph.

Like every other teenaged Hebrew male, your marriage has been arranged – but you feel fortunate that it was to Mary. Besides being a well-versed Jewish girl, intelligent, a good cook and well-trained by her mother in the finer skill of home care that she will need as a wife, she’s also rather pretty, perhaps even beautiful. And, a virgin. Even at our ages, in a crossroads town like Nazareth, that's no given. And she's a real one, not just a girl whose parents think she’s still a virgin, but a girl who by all accounts has kept both body and mind pure in anticipation of her husband-to-be.

Which, needless to add, is you.

And then, out of the blue, Mary comes to you one day and says, “um, we need to talk.”

Uh-oh. That’s never good.

“Sure, Mary – what is it?”

Mary, usually so confident in her speech, is staring at the ground and reluctant to say anything. So you start her off. “Mary? Mary? Dearest, whatever it is, we can face it together, I promise. We can –”

“I’m pregnant.”

(Pause. Jaw hits the floor.)

“Um….pregnant? Mary, uh…”

“I swear to you, Joseph – I have not cheated on you!”

“Mary, ah, by definition, you have, dear….”

“No, I swear to you, by all that’s holy, I haven’t, Joseph.”

(Pause.)

“Okay -----I’m waiting.”

A smile breaks over your betrothed’s face, and she reaches up to kiss you. “Thank you, dear. That’s as much as I could have possibly asked for from you.”

And the tale she tells you is beyond reasonable…but she is so earnest, so authentic in her telling of the events of that night not that long ago, that you can’t help but believe her. Mary has never lied to you. She has been exactly what she was purported to be when the marriage was arranged. It would be completely out of character to make something like this up.

Yet…it could be a cover-up for an affair.

So… what to do? I don’t want to be cast as a cuckhold, but I will not have Mary shunned as an adulterer – 0r worse – when I can’t be sure.

And – I trust her.

Days later, you come up with a compromise plan: Quietly break off the betrothal, the engagement, and do whatever needs to be done so that she can have the child in secret without the stigma of her having the child as a bastard. But before she can be told about his plan, you are visited by a vision from an angel of the Lord Himself:

“Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

When he awoke, Joseph came to his fiancée and apologized for doubting her. He took Mary into his arms and promised to stand by her, no matter what. As the angel had told him, he refrained from relations with her until after the birth of her son, so as to maintain her virginity as the Scriptures forecast.

 In the spring, as Mary’s pregnancy was approaching its completion, Caesar Augustus ordered that all within the Roman Empire must go to the town of their birth for a census.

 What kind of husband are you? This is going to be a seventy-mile journey, mostly by foot, although Mary would have a donkey to ride. Are you up to this? Can you take care of her the whole trip? What if her water breaks while we’re in the middle of nowhere? Can you handle that, ‘bridegroom’? Lord God Almighty, I’m scared. Please be with me – with both of us – as we journey to Bethlehem Ephrathah, home of my ancestors. Lord God Almighty, will we be all right?

  The answer, it seems, is yes.

  Joseph and Mary travel for five days, alongside a pack of about one hundred fellow Judeans, across treacherous territory, to reach the city of his forefathers, tiny Bethlehem, of which the prophet Micah foretold would be the birthplace of the “ruler of Israel, whose coming forth is from old, from ancient days.” Along the way, as he leads the burro his wife-to-be and child-t0-be ride on, he wonders about that prophecy, and if that’s who his betrothed is bearing. If so, he’d best be sure to find a good place to stay when they reach Bethlehem, because that’s where Mary will most likely give birth.

†

Imagine you’re the innkeeper who has to turn Joseph and Mary away.

You feel terrible about it. You can see that the young man is exhausted, having come all the way from Nazareth for the census, and that his lovely bride is heavy with child. Your wife is nagging you from the kitchen (what turn-of-the-millenium Jews call the kitchen, anyway) to find a place for them somewhere.

But you know better.  There is no room for them here. The phrase “innkeeper”, to a 21^st century reader, may be misleading – the couple doesn’t run a motel or anything remotely like one. But they do have a large home, and during Passover and other feasts, or events such as this one, they do allow fellow Judeans from afar to use the upstairs rooms as a base of operations and a place to sleep.

And this couple, arriving just the day before the census begins, has come too late for any of the three rooms they can offer to be available. And certainly, they’re not in shape to deal with the needs of a highly pregnant mother. Not to mention the donkey would have no place to stay, either, as he gave out his last stall with the last family who arrived.

They’re young. They’ll manage, he hoped.

They’ll find somewhere else in town.

†

Imagine you’re Herod.

You have Judea in the palm of your hand. The Roman Empire has complete control of this region of the world, and Caesar Augustus has given you complete control of Judea, as they did your father before you. You have lived this life of power and luxury your entire life.

But now something has happened that has shook you to your very core.

Three astrologers, wise men from far-away lands, have in conjunction come to Bethlehem in search of a King – and they don’t mean you. No, it seems they are of the united opinion that because of a star planted above the town, they would find an infant born here that would grow up to be, as they put it, “King Of The Jews”.

You call your experts – the Pharisees and scribes of the Jewish religion. They promptly inform you, well, yeah, there is a prophecy in Scripture, specifically something called the Book of Micah, that says,

“‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

for from you shall come a ruler

who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

Now, your policy is generally live and let live as far as the Hebrews are concerned. As long as what they choose to do doesn’t interfere with the Roman occupation of the land, and taxes were paid, Rome would pay little attention to Judea, and would leave the status quo in place, which was just fine with King Herod.

But if a “king” was to be raised from among the rabble, then it was possible – more than possible – that this “king” might lead a rebellion against Roman occupation. And win or lose (as unthinkable as losing to an unarmed population was to a Roman governor), the mere act of a rebellion would draw the ire of Rome – and Herod might be stripped of power. That could never be allowed to happen.

Better to nip this in the bud.

So, you order a new policy among the Hebrew population: the mass murder of all boys born in the last two years. (Better safe than sorry.) Eliminate all the candidates for this “Messiah” position – eliminate the faint hope of an uprising amongst these peasants.

Good. That’s taken care of. Time to move on to another subject…

†