Rich and famous people often wear sunglasses and travel incognito under assumed names- all to remain anonymous. The paparazzi catch on most of the time. But, the sly among them squeak through unnoticed. The rich and famous’ starting point is one of celebrity. Their desired hope is some privacy.
When God the Son came to earth his entry point was not one of celebrity but obscurity- announced only through prophetic hints and opaque promises. Therefore, being incognito when he arrived was not difficult. He was a baby born to unrecognizable folks from the countryside. There was no need to mask his entrance by making him move from one place to another at birth. He did not need the cover of Nazareth or even Bethlehem as a birthplace. That is what makes this trek from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the unsuspecting couple even more peculiar. Bethlehem played a significant part in the prophetic message (Micah 5:2) and was well known to the teachers of the first century (John 7:42). But, it would have been just as easy for Mary and Joseph to have lived in Bethlehem in the first place. No one would have suspected the Son of God coming into their household as a child or guest.
The question becomes, why was it necessary to have the convoluted process of having a Nazarene couple displaced from Bethlehem migrate back under the situation of the census? The couple was already masked well enough to escape notice. The baby was low enough whether born in a stable or the paltry environs of a low class home. The situation was anonymous to the core. Why the travel and census and extra step of difficulty in an already difficult and hard-to-believe circumstance?
Because it was the extra step of difficulty that mattered most. It was not about anonymity alone. Jesus came anonymously enough without the trip. It was very much about swimming upstream, starting at the bottom, hurdling ridiculous obstacles and connecting with the lowest of the low. Jesus did not just come to be anonymous, though he did that. He came to incarnate in a lowly manner in a way that identified with every struggling human being, every refugee who lives on the road, every person without place and every person who is subject to the cruel and impersonal requirements of law and society. Actually Mary and Joseph experienced all of those difficulties. He came as a result of that. The gross attacks upon him later and tailored temptations would put him alone at the top of the list of the struggling later in life. His condemnation to death would transcend simple injustice. He started desperately and ended sadly on the cross. [This was not the end, Praise God!]
Bethlehem was necessary for more than anonymity or even prophetic fulfillment. It was representative of the God who created place having no place of His own. To the displaced, the refugee, the outcast and those who feel very isolated and alone- Merry Christmas! Jesus joined you. Now, please join Him.