Luke 2:1-7

From Luke we learn how it was that Jesus came to be born in Bethlehem, the city of David (his place of birth), and not Nazareth, and that he was born in less-than-ideal circumstances. Although the exact history of census at the time is difficult to verify Luke sets the historical context as being a census of a Jewish tradition which would require people to return to their ancestral home, and it seems this is what is happening to Joseph, and he has taken Mary with him.

The emperor Augustus, under which this census takes place, had been referred to in his time as the political ‘saviour of the world’, but we know they were false hopes. Human agency is not going to save the world, the true saviour is being born in Bethlehem.

Travelling 85 miles either on foot or by donkey over difficult terrain; their journey was not easy. A lot of traditions have built up around the nativity story, and it may be disappointing to find there is no ox or ass in the stall, no stable and no inn keeper! Bethlehem was a small town and may not have had an inn. The word for ‘lodging’ that Luke uses could also mean a house or guest room. Often poor families lived in the same space or the floor above their animals, as happened in Europe in the past. In that case the manger would have been in the dwelling. Some have suggested Jesus was born in a cave or a courtyard.

What we do know is that Jesus did not arrive in easy circumstances. I’m sure this is not what Mary would have chosen for her first-born child, especially when there is so much promise attached to his arrival. Kings are meant to be born in palaces, but this Son of God is going to identify with the poor and needy from the beginning. In this plan, salvation is coming to all people.

Reflection

Having a baby can be a risky business today, it was even more so in Mary’s day. There was so much that could go wrong. The Son of God has become as vulnerable as it might be possible to be in order to identify with our humanity. What does it mean to you that Jesus was fully human as well as fully God? What difference do you think that makes to your personal faith?