The Nativity Story: The Birth of Jesus

The angel visits Mary (Luke 1:26 to 38)

In the town of Nazareth in Galilee lived a young woman named Mary, engaged to a carpenter named Joseph, a descendant of King David. The angel Gabriel appeared to her and told her she would conceive by the Holy Spirit and give birth to a son, whom she should name Jesus.

Mary asked how this could happen, and Gabriel answered that "with God nothing shall be impossible" (Luke 1:37). Mary replied, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word" (Luke 1:38). Christians call this moment the Annunciation.

Mary then visited her relative Elizabeth, who was pregnant with the child who would become John the Baptist. There Mary spoke the song of praise known as the Magnificat (Luke 1:46 to 55).

Joseph's dream (Matthew 1:18 to 25)

Matthew picks up the story with Joseph. When he learned Mary was pregnant, he planned to end the engagement quietly to spare her public shame. Then an angel appeared to him in a dream and told him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife, because the child was from the Holy Spirit.

Matthew connects this to the prophecy in Isaiah: "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us" (Matthew 1:23). Joseph woke, obeyed and took Mary home as his wife.

The journey to Bethlehem and the birth (Luke 2:1 to 7)

Luke explains that Caesar Augustus ordered a census, and everyone had to register in their ancestral town. Because Joseph belonged to the line of David, he traveled with Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the city of David, in Judea.

While they were there, Mary gave birth to her firstborn son. "And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn" (Luke 2:7).

Some familiar details are not in the text. Luke doesn't mention an innkeeper, a donkey or a stable, only a manger, which is a feeding trough for animals. The Greek word translated "inn" can also mean a guest room, so some scholars think the family stayed in the lower, animal area of a crowded house.

The shepherds and the angels (Luke 2:8 to 20)

That night, shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks in the fields nearby. An angel appeared, the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. The angel said, "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings 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" (Luke 2:10 to 11).

Suddenly a multitude of angels appeared, praising God: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2:14). The shepherds hurried to Bethlehem, found Mary, Joseph and the baby lying in the manger, and told everyone what they had heard. "But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:19).

Jesus is presented at the Temple (Luke 2:21 to 38)

On the eighth day the baby was circumcised and named Jesus, as the angel had instructed. Later, Mary and Joseph took him to the Temple in Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. There an elderly man named Simeon took Jesus in his arms and praised God, and a prophetess named Anna spoke about the child to everyone looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. Luke then says the family returned to Nazareth (Luke 2:39).

The wise men and the star (Matthew 2:1 to 12)

Matthew tells of wise men, or Magi, from the east who came to Jerusalem asking, "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" (Matthew 2:2). King Herod, troubled by news of a rival king, learned from the chief priests that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. He sent the Magi there, asking them to report back.

The star went before them until it stopped over the place where the child was. "When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy" (Matthew 2:10). They entered the house, saw the young child with Mary his mother, worshiped him and offered gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went home another way.

Matthew never says there were three wise men or that they were kings. The number three comes from the three gifts, and names like Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar come from later tradition. The text also says they found the family in a house, which suggests the visit came some time after the birth.

The flight to Egypt (Matthew 2:13 to 23)

After the Magi left, an angel warned Joseph in a dream to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt, because Herod intended to kill the child. Herod, furious that the wise men had not returned, ordered the killing of all boys aged two and under in and around Bethlehem, an event known as the Massacre of the Innocents.

After Herod died, an angel told Joseph it was safe to return. Hearing that Herod's son ruled Judea, Joseph settled the family in Nazareth in Galilee instead, where Jesus grew up.