The Christmas Story You May Not Know: the Details of Jesus Birth

Read The Christmas Story

Long ago, about 2000 years, when King Herod ruled Judea (now part of Israel), God sent the angel Gabriel to a young woman who lived in the northern town of Nazareth. The girl'southward proper name was Mary and she was engaged to marry Joseph.

The angel Gabriel said to Mary: 'Peace exist with you! God has blessed yous and is pleased with you.' Mary was very surprised by this and wondered what the affections meant. The affections said to her 'Don't be afraid, God has been very kind to y'all. You will become pregnant by the Holy Spirit and give birth to a baby boy and you will telephone call him Jesus. He volition be God'due south own Son and his kingdom volition never end.' Mary was very afraid merely she trusted God. 'Let information technology happen as God chooses.' she replied to the angel. Gabriel too told Mary that her cousin Elizabeth, who anybody idea was too old to have children, would take a baby male child whom God had chosen to set up the way for Jesus.

Mary said goodbye to her family and friends and went to visit her cousin Elizabeth and her married man Zechariah. Elizabeth was very happy to see Mary. She knew that Mary had been called by God to be the female parent of his Son. An angel had already told Zechariah that Elizabeth's babe would set up people to welcome Jesus. He was to be called John. Mary stayed with Elizabeth most three months and so returned domicile to Nazareth.

Joseph was worried when he found out that Mary was expecting a baby before their union had taken place. He wondered if he should put off the wedding ceremony birthday. Then an affections appeared to Joseph in a dream and said: 'Don't exist afraid to have Mary equally your wife.' The affections explained that Mary had been chosen past God to be the mother of his Son and told Joseph that the baby would be named Jesus which means 'Saviour' because he would save people. When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel had told him to practise and took Mary as his married woman.

At this time, the country where Mary and Joseph lived was part of the Roman Empire. The Roman Emperor Augustus wanted to take a listing of all the people in the empire, to make sure they paid their taxes. He ordered everyone to return to the boondocks where their families originally came from, and enter their names in a register (or demography) there. Mary and Joseph traveled a long way (about lxx miles) from Nazareth to Bethlehem, because that is where Joseph's family came from. Most people walked only some lucky people had a donkey to help carry the goods needed for the journey. Joseph and Mary traveled very slowly because Mary's baby was due to be born presently.

When they reached Bethlehem they had problems finding somewhere to stay. So many people had come up to register their names in the census, that every house was full and every bed was taken in all of the invitee rooms. The only place to stay that they could find was with the animals. People frequently kept animals in the house, specially at night, and used them like 'cardinal heating'! People usually slept on a raised/upper level with the animals beneath to give them extra warmth.

So in the place where the animals slept, Mary gave birth to Jesus, the Son of God.

In those days information technology was the custom to wrap newborn babies tightly in a long cloth called 'swaddling dress'. Jesus' bed was the manger that the animals ate their hay from.

In the hills and fields outside Bethlehem, shepherds looked after their sheep through the long night. As the new day began, all of a sudden an angel appeared before them and the glory of God shone around them. The shepherds were very, very scared, but the affections said, 'Don't exist afraid. I have good news for y'all and everyone. Today in Bethlehem a Saviour has been born for you. You will find the baby lying in a manger.'.

Then many more than angels appeared, lighting upward the sky. The shepherds heard them praising God singing: 'Glory to God in highest, and peace to everyone on earth.' When the angels had gone the shepherds said to ane another, 'Allow'due south become to Bethlehem to see what has happened.' So the shepherds went to Bethlehem and institute Mary and Joseph. The baby Jesus was lying in a manger equally they had been told. When they saw him, they told everyone what the angel had said and everyone who heard the story were astonished. Then the shepherds returned to their sheep, praising God for sending his Son to exist their Saviour.

When Jesus was built-in, a brand new bright star appeared in sky. Some Wise Men in faraway countries saw the star and guessed what it meant. They were very clever men that studied the stars and had read in very old writings that a new star would appear when a bully king was built-in. They set out to find the new king and bring him gifts.

The Wise Men followed the star towards the land of Judea and when they got to the majuscule chosen Jerusalem they began to enquire people: 'Where is the kid who is born to be male monarch of the Jews?' Herod, the male monarch of Judea, heard this and information technology made him very angry to retrieve that someone might be going to accept his place as king. Herod sent for the Wise Men to come to him. He told them to continue following the star until they had found the baby king. He said: 'When you have found him, let me know where he is, and so that I can go and worship him.'. Just Herod did not tell them that he actually had an evil programme in mind to kill the new rex.

The Wise Men followed the star towards Bethlehem (where information technology said that the rex would be built-in in the old writings). It seemed to stop and shine directly down upon the place where Jesus was.

The Wise Men entered the business firm where they at present lived and found Jesus with Mary, they bowed down and worshipped him. The Wise Men spread the gifts they had brought before Jesus. The gifts were gold, frankincense and myrrh. The Wise Men were warned in a dream, past God, not to become back to Herod. So they returned home to their countries in the East by a different way.

When the Wise Men had gone, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream. 'Get up,' the affections said, 'take Jesus and Mary and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell yous, for Herod is going to search for Jesus to kill him.' And then Joseph got up, took Jesus and Mary, and during the night they left for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod died.

When Herod realized that he had been tricked past the Wise Men, he was furious and he gave orders to kill all the boys aged ii or younger in Bethlehem and the surrounding area. This was to attempt and kill the new King, as his plan to find the location of the new king from the Wise Men had failed.

After Herod had died, Joseph had another dream in which an angel appeared to him. The angel said, 'Get up, take Jesus and Mary and go dorsum to State of israel, for those who were trying impale Jesus are expressionless.'

So Joseph got up, took Jesus and Mary and they went back to State of israel. But when he heard that Herod's son was now male monarch of Judea, he was afraid to go in that location. So instead they went to Galilee, and lived in their old town of Nazareth.

Y'all can download the Christmas Story with bigger pictures equally a pdf (1mb)

You tin read The Christmas Story as a fun comic! (opens in a full window/tab)

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Source: https://www.whychristmas.com/story/the_christmas_story.shtml

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