JESUS IS BORN IN BETHLEHEM
Mary, the mother of Jesus, lived in the little town of Nazareth, among
the hills of Galilee. She was going to be married to a carpenter
called Joseph, who, like herself, lived in Nazareth. One day God sent
the angel Gabriel to Mary with a message. Mary, when she saw and heard
the angel, was a little frightened. But the angel told her he had some
glad news for her. Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah, was coming into
the world very soon, and He was to come in the form of a baby, as
Mary's little child. And Gabriel said that when He was born, Mary must
call Him JESUS.
Mary had a cousin named Elizabeth, who lived more than a hundred miles
away from Nazareth, and Mary longed to talk with her about all these
wonderful things. So she got ready for a long journey, and went off
into the hill country of Judaea to see Elizabeth.
And God had also promised to send Elizabeth a son. And soon after
Mary's visit the baby was born, and all Elizabeth's friends were glad,
and came to see her, and to thank God with her for His great kindness.
The little Jew babies have a name given to them when they are eight
days old. And Elizabeth's son was named John.
One night, soon after Mary got back from her cousin Elizabeth's house,
the angel of the Lord spoke to Joseph in a dream. The angel told
Joseph to marry Mary, and he told him Mary's secret about the Son of
God coming to earth as her little child, and he said to Joseph, 'THOU
SHALT CALL HIS NAME JESUS, FOB HE SHALL SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR
SINS.' When Joseph woke up, his first thought was to do what the angel
had told him, and he at once took Mary to his own home as his wife.
About this time Caesar Augustus, the great Emperor at Rome, sent word
to Herod that he was to take a census of the Jews. Everybody's name
had to be written down and his age, and many other things about him.
Every twenty years Augustus had a census taken, so that he might know
how much money the Jews ought to pay him, and how many Jew soldiers he
ought to have.
In Palestine, at census time, people had to go to the towns where their
fathers' fathers lived a long time ago, and had to have their names put
down there instead of having them put down in their own homes. Now,
both Joseph and Mary belonged to the family of the great king David,
who was born in Bethlehem. So Mary had to prepare for a long journey,
and go with her husband to Bethlehem. Bethlehem is six miles from
Jerusalem. It is on the top of a hill, and people have to climb up a
steep road to get into the town.
An inn is a large house that people stay at when they are on a journey.
The inns in Palestine have four walls, with a door in front, and with a
great empty space for camels and horses inside. In the middle of the
empty space is a fountain; and all round the walls, a little bit higher
than the part where the animals are, there are a number of places like
empty stone arbors. These empty places are called _leewans_, and they
are open in front, so that everybody can see into them. Yet Mary and
Joseph, after all their long journey from Nazareth, could not find even
an empty _leewan_ to lie down in.
[Illustration: The shepherd's care.]
Near that inn there was a place in which asses and camels were kept.
It was perhaps a cave in the side of the hill. And because there was
no room for them in the inn, Mary and Joseph had to go into that stable
to sleep, and in that stable Jesus Christ was born. Mary wrapped Him
in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in the manger in the place where the
animals' food was kept.
On the hill where Bethlehem stands there are green places where
shepherds feed their flocks. There are wild animals in Palestine; and
all night long the shepherds of Bethlehem watched to see that no harm
happened to their sheep. One night an angel of the Lord stood by them
and a bright light shown round about them. The shepherds were afraid;
but the angel said, 'FEAR NOT; FOR BEHOLD, I BRING YOU GOOD TIDINGS (OR
NEWS) OF GREAT JOY, WHICH SHALL BE TO ALL PEOPLE. FOR UNTO YOU IS BORN
THIS DAY IN THE CITY OF DAVID A SAVIOUR, WHICH is CHRIST THE LORD.'
And suddenly there was seen with the angel a number of the angels of
heaven. And they praised God, and said, 'GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST,
AND ON EARTH PEACE, GOOD WILL TOWARD MEN.'
When the light faded, and the song ended, and the angels had gone back
into heaven, the shepherds climbed quickly over the hillside to
Bethlehem. And there, in the stable near the inn, they found Mary and
Joseph, and the Babe lying in the manger, as the angels had said.
Jesus was the eldest son of His mother. And the eldest sons in Jewish
houses, when they were forty days old, were taken to the Temple, and
given to God.
So now, when Jesus was nearly six weeks old, He was brought from
Bethlehem by Mary and Joseph to the Temple at Jerusalem. The mothers
used to take a lamb with them, or two pigeons, as a sacrifice to God.
Mary took two pigeons. She was not rich enough to buy a lamb.
A long way on the eastern side of the Jordan, there were countries
where the people used to watch the sun and the moon and the stars very
carefully. If they saw anything new and strange in the heavens, they
thought it meant that something wonderful was going to happen. But
some of them knew and had heard from the Jews about God, and about the
Messiah who was coming; and they, like the Jews, were longing for Jesus.
One day these wise men saw a bright star which they had never seen
before. And as they looked at it they felt sure that a great King of
the Jews had been born in Judaea. So they took camels and rich
presents of gold and sweet-smelling stuff--such as people gave to kings
in those days--and they loaded their camels, and left their homes, and
rode for many weeks till they came to Jerusalem. And when they got
there they said, 'Where is He that is born King of the Jews? for we
have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him.'
[Illustration: Bethlehem.]
When Herod heard about these wise men he was troubled. He sent for the
best priests, and other clever men, and asked them where Christ would
be born. And they said to him, 'In Bethlehem of Judaea.' They had
read that in the Bible. Then Herod said to the wise men, 'Go and
search out carefully about the young Child; and when ye have found Him,
bring me word, that I also may come and worship Him.'
When the wise men had heard the king, they went away to Bethlehem, and
lo, the star went before them, till it came and stood over where the
young Child was. And they rejoiced with great joy. And when they were
come into the house (there was room in the inn now) they saw the young
Child with Mary, His mother, and they fell down and worshipped Him, and
they gave Him their presents--gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. But
the wise men did not go back to Herod. God told them in a dream not to
go. So they went home by another way instead.
After the wise men were gone, the angel of the Lord came to Joseph in
his sleep, and said to him, 'Arise, and take the young Child and His
mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word:
for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.' That meant to
kill Him. So Joseph at once got up, and took the young Child and His
mother by night, and went away to Egypt.
When Herod found that the wise men did not come back, he was very
angry, and he sent his soldiers to Bethlehem, and had all the baby boys
killed--all the children who were less than two years of age. And they
killed all the baby boys in the places near Bethlehem as well. And the
poor mothers cried, and nobody could comfort them.
Joseph and Mary stayed in Egypt, waiting for the angel to bring them
word that it was time to go back again to Palestine. And one night,
when Jesus was about three years old, the message came. The angel of
the Lord said to Joseph in a dream, 'Arise, and take the young Child
and His mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which
sought the young Child's life.' Joseph got up, and took the young
Child and His mother, and went into the land of Israel. But when he
came there, people said to him, 'Herod is dead, but his son Archelaus
is king.' And when Joseph knew that Archelaus was king, he was afraid
to stay in Judaea. And God spoke to him again in a dream, and told him
to go back to Galilee. So Joseph and Mary went back to Galilee, and
lived in Nazareth again.