Let’s Go on
a Journey
Fire up your imagination
and make-believe we’re
time traveling to the past.
Thousands of years whoosh
by—over 2,000 years, to be
exact. Finally, we arrive at our
destination back in the first
century: Bethlehem, on the
night of Jesus’ birth.
Picture it: baby Jesus lying in a
manger with Joseph and Mary
by his side. Do you see a barn
full of animals like cows and
donkeys? Are the shepherds
here with their sheep? What
about the three wise men
with their gifts of gold,
frankincense, and myrrh for the
newborn king? You might even
imagine an angel close by.
If your family owns a nativity
scene that you set up every
December, you might think of
the first Christmas just like this.
But the truth is, some of those
details didn’t really happen. It’s
fun to use our imaginations,
but we don’t have to wonder
what that special time in
history was really like. We can
know by looking to God’s Word
for answers.
Jesus’ birth is described in Scripture, such as in the second chapter of Luke.
“In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be
registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all
went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from
the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because
he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who
was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she
gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a
manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:1–7)
Where Was
Jesus Born?
You might be surprised that the Bible’s account doesn’t
quite match the stories you have heard or movies you
have watched about Jesus’ birth. Often, Mary and Joseph
are shown arriving in Bethlehem late at night, with
Mary just minutes away from giving birth. They search
desperately for a place to stay, only to be turned away by
the innkeeper because all the rooms at the inn are full.
But look at Scripture again and you might notice that
something—or someone—is missing. No innkeeper! So
why has he become a common character in the account
of the first Christmas? Well, some people who translated
the original Bible into modern English chose the word
inn for the Greek word kataluma. But sometimes modern
readers can picture the wrong thing. Thankfully, we can
learn more by looking at Luke 22:11. The same Greek word
is also used here when talking about a “guest room.” You
might know this room as the “upper room,” where Jesus
and his disciples met for the last supper.
It’s more likely that Joseph and Mary stayed with Joseph’s
family because Bethlehem was Joseph’s hometown, and
the census required Jewish families to return to their
hometowns to be “registered,” or counted. (A census is
an official count of the people living somewhere.)
Back in those days, sometimes animals were brought in
at night out of the cold. Since Joseph and Mary couldn’t
stay in the kataluma (guest room) because it was full,
they probably stayed in a lower part of the crowded
house with the animals. This also explains why there was
a manger (something that holds food for animals) where
Mary laid the newborn Jesus.
When Was
Jesus
Born?
We can find another clue about
the first Christmas in Luke 2:6.
While we sometimes imagine
Joseph and Mary arriving in
Bethlehem just in time for
Jesus to be born, the Bible
doesn’t actually say this is what
happened. Instead, Luke 2:6
seems to hint that they had been
in Bethlehem for a while before
Jesus was born: “While they were
there, the days were completed
for her to be delivered.”
Every year we celebrate his birth
at Christmas on December 25.
But the Bible doesn’t tell us the
exact date of Jesus’ birth, so we
can only guess. Some people
think he might have been born
in the spring or fall, while others
believe that he was born in
December. Looking at Scripture
and other historical writings, we
can make some good guesses.
But even if we don’t know
for sure when he was born,
we can still celebrate
that he was born, just
like the Bible says.
Other Questions
about Christmas
- Did Mary ride into Bethlehem on
a donkey? Nowhere does the Bible
actually say that Mary rode a donkey
into Bethlehem. She and Joseph had
to make the journey back to Bethlehem
somehow, of course, but it’s possible they
simply walked. - Did the angels sing on the night of Jesus’ birth? You’ve
probably heard the song “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”
But Luke 2:4–10 uses the words “said,” “praising,” and
“saying.” Praising sometimes means singing, but it’s also
possible that the angels simply spoke. - What are swaddling cloths? To swaddle a baby simply
means to wrap him up tightly in a cloth. Inside his mother’s
womb, a baby is nice and snug. After he is born, swaddling
the baby helps him still feel safe and warm, just like he did
inside his mother. Mary probably would have used long strips
of cloth to swaddle baby Jesus. - What about the wise men? It’s common to hear about
three wise men because they brought three gifts—gold,
frankincense, and myrrh. But the Bible doesn’t say there
were three wise men. It does say “they,” so we know there
were at least two. The wise men probably didn’t visit Jesus
on the night of his birth. The Bible calls Jesus a “young child”
(Matthew 2:11) when the wise men arrived, not a “babe”
(Luke 2:16). So their visit
came later than the night
of Jesus’ birth.
Why Did
Jesus Come?
At Christmas, we remember and celebrate that the
Creator came to earth. John 1:1–3 tells us that Jesus (the
“Word”) was in the beginning with God the Father, and
everything was made through him. At first, the world
was a perfect place. But when Adam and Eve sinned by
disobeying God, death entered the world. Death spread
to everyone, because everyone has sinned (Romans 5:12).
But God had a plan to provide a way for us to be forgiven
and have eternal life. He sent his only son, Jesus,
to earth so that he could die for our sins. Jesus
“became flesh [human] and dwelt among us”
(John 1:14). That is the true wonder of Christmas!
The Creator, Jesus, entered his creation and
died on the cross to pay for our sins. Three
days later, Jesus rose again. Now he offers
forgiveness and eternal life to all who believe
in him. That’s the greatest gift of all.
This Christmas, remember
to thank God for his gift—and share the gift of this
good news with others.
All illustrations in this article are from the popular, synchronized Sunday school
curricula Answers Bible Curriculum. See AnswersBibleCurriculum.com.
SourceThis article originally appeared on answersingenesis.org
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