Article submitted by Ken Herron:Somewhere around 3 b. c. while Cerenius was governor of the area called Syria, the Emperor Caesar Augustus in Rome demanded a census be taken in all of the territories that were under his rule. Israel was located in the Syrian territory. Caesar wanted the census to be correct by tribes of people and he demanded that all people who had relocated go back to the home of their ancestors to register so that the complete living population of a tribe could be determined. Caesar Augustus was ruler of the Roman Empire and was the most powerful man to live up to that time. Before he lived, a year had eleven months. He determined that the calendar would be better with twelve months and he added a month which we call August. One of his ancestors named Julius Caesar had added the month that we call July about 50 years before this time.
About 700 years before this time a prophet had prophesied that God would cause a virgin to conceive and have a child. Mary was a young Jewish girl of perhaps 14 years old and she was engaged to be married to a carpenter named Joseph. The angel Gabriel visited Mary and told her that she had been chosen to be the virgin that would bear the child. The child would be the Messiah that would bring salvation to the Jews. Mary told Joseph about the visit by the angel and he was very upset and did not know what to do if Mary actually was pregnant. The Temple Regulations said that she should be stoned. The angel Gabriel then visited Joseph and told him that it was true that Mary was pregnant and she was still a virgin. Joseph married Mary immediately so that the people would think that he was the father of Mary’s child. They chose not to tell about the visits from the angels so that the child could grow up as a normal child. Joseph and Mary had other children after Jesus was born.

About nine months later the edict came that required Joseph and Mary to go to Bethlehem to satisfy the requirements of the census. Both of them were descendants of King David. It was a little over one hundred miles from Nazareth in Galilee down to Bethlehem in the land of Judea. The trip would probably take from six to eight days. Joseph walked the entire distance. We believe he had a donkey for his pregnant wife to ride. He probably had a couple more donkeys to carry their food and supplies and his tools since they expected to be gone for some time. The time for the child to be born was right on them and we do not know whether Jesus was born on the first night or a few nights after they arrived. The city was crowded with other descendants of King David who had also come to register in the census. None of the inns that kept boarders had any space available but one of them invited Joseph and Mary to take cover in their stable where the food for the animals was stored.

On the night that Baby Jesus was born it was a clear night and the stars were shining brightly. There were shepherds in the fields who had more sheep than they could put into a corral. They stayed in the fields through the night guarding the sheep against straying or having animals attack them. The shepherds had brought their sheep together and were resting and talking to each other. Probably two or three of them were awake while the others slept in shifts so that the sheep were guarded all of the night. Suddenly an Angel appeared in the sky and the ground lit up from the glory of God. This scared the shepherds and the Angel began to talk to them.

“Don’t be afraid! I am here to bring you a message that will bring joy to all of the people of the world. Today in Bethlehem a child was born that is the Messiah that was foretold by the prophets. He is the Christ who will be the Lord of all the people. This is how you will know when you find him. He was born in a stable and will be laying in the manger wrapped in swaddling clothes.” Suddenly the heavens opened up and thousands of angels were in the heaven saying, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and good will to men.”

When the sky was closed again, the shepherds were wide awake and talking about what they had just seen. When the day began to break, some of the shepherds left the flocks under the care of a few of them and went into the city to find this baby that was born. They found the baby quickly and told Mary and Joseph what had happened during the night.

After they worshiped the child, they left the stable and walked around the city telling the people what had happened. Mary and Joseph kept this information in their hearts as a confirmation of the things that the Angel Gabriel had told them nine months earlier.

They carried the baby to the Temple in Jerusalem for his circumcision when he was eight days old there were two older people who were watching for the Messiah and God revealed to them that the Baby Jesus was the Messiah.

A month or so later three Wise Men who followed the star showed up in Bethlehem and found the Baby Jesus and told Mary and Joseph that He was to be a king.

We are blessed to know the rest of the story and He is the Messiah, the Savior and the coming King of Glory!