The Birth of Jesus
Text: Luke 2: 1-5
Luke’s Gospel is the only one that records the birth of Jesus within the context of a national Census. It has the birth taking place in a stable in Bethlehem. There are angels and shepherds in the story. The moment of birth is recorded only in two verses in the Gospel: 2: 6 & 7. There is more detail relating to the political situation involving the Emperor, than the event of the birth of Jesus.
The Emperor Augustus had given orders for a census in the country. Every citizen had to be in their own hometown to be counted. Joseph was a resident of Nazareth. Mary is not mentioned as a resident of Nazareth. However the text records that Joseph and a pregnant Mary travelled to Bethlehem which was about 112 kilometres ( 3 days journey) from Nazareth to Bethlehem.
The journey to Bethlehem was necessary for Jesus to be born in the ancestral town of King David. This would fulfil the expectation of the prophecies in the Old Testament that the Messiah would be from the town of Bethlehem. The long journey would have been tiring for Mary. It is possible that they arrived in a crowded city, overflowing with residents returning for the census.
Luke’s account doesn’t mention an Inn or Innkeeper. It is probable that the family occupied the ground floor in a house which had the only room available in the crowded city. Rooms in a ground floor would also house the animals. When the birth occurred Mary wrapped the baby in bands of cloth, as was customary, and laid him in a manger or a trough containing a bed of hay.
Ponder – Family: The journey to Bethlehem for Mary who was pregnant and Joseph would have been long and tiring. They had no option, but to make the journey to be registered in the census.
How do you deal with challenging situations if you have no options?