Birth of Jesus - Bible Story

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This is a summary of the Biblical account of the birth of Jesus. You can read more in-
depth Bible verses from the Scripture below and use the articles and videos to understand
the meaning of this world-changing event in the Bible. Almost 2,000 years ago a young
woman from the town of Nazareth named Mary was visited by an angel named Gabriel.
Gabriel told the Jewish woman that she would have a son named Jesus and that he would
be the Son of God. At this time, Mary was engaged to her soon-to-be husband Joseph.
When told Joseph he was hurt and confused because he did not believe Mary. The angel
Gabriel visited Joseph and told him that Mary would be pregnant from the Lord and that she
would have a son named Jesus who would save the people from their sins.
Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem because of an order from the Roman emperor
that a census, or record, of all people, be taken in their hometown. After traveling pregnant
on a donkey for several days, Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem and were told that
there were no places to stay. The inns were full. Seeing that Mary was due at any moment,
an owner of an inn told Joseph that they could stay in his stable.
Mary and Joseph settled down on the hay in a stable with animals sleeping. Mary went into
labor and Jesus was born in the stable. The only place for the sleeping baby to rest was
most likely in the animals trough, known as the manger.
During this time, an angel appeared to shepherds who were watching their flocks in the
fields near Bethlehem. The angel told them the good news of the birth of the Savior and
Messiah, Jesus Christ. The shepherds immediately went to find baby Jesus, which the
angels told them they would find sleeping in the manger.
After some time, three wise men, also known as magi, saw the brilliant star in that sky that
rested over where Jesus was born. The three wise men traveled from a far eastern country
to find the new king. During the wise mens' trip, Herod the king of Judah met with the wise
men and told them to come back and let him know where the baby king was so that he
could go worship him as well. The wise men continued to Bethlehem and found Jesus right
where the star pointed. They knelt and worshipped the Savior and gave him gifts of gold,
frankincense, and myrrh. They then traveled back home a different way knowing that King
Herod was not intending to worship Jesus but that he planned to kill the baby.
Today we celebrate the birth of Jesus and the coming of our Savior at Christmas
time. Read the full Scripture passages for the accounts of Jesus' birth in Bible books
of Luke and Matthew below:

This article is part of our larger Christmas and Advent resource library centered
around the events leading up to the birth of Jesus Christ. We hope these articles help
you understand the meaning and story behind important Christian holidays and
dates and encourage you as you take time to reflect on all that God has done for us
through his son Jesus Christ!
What is Christmas? Understanding History, Origin and Traditions
Christmas Eve History and Traditions
The History of Santa Claus: Origin of St. Nicholas & Christmas Traditions
When Was Jesus Born? History of December 25th
The Birth of Jesus: Bible Story and Scripture Verses
What is Advent: Definition & Meaning Behind Christmas Tradition
Christmas Bible Verses & Scripture Story
Christmas Prayers
Angels of Christmas - Bible Story

Luke 2:1-20

1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the

entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was

governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register. 4 So Joseph also

went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David,
because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary,

who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there,

the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She

wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room

available for them. 8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping

watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of

the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not

be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the

town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a

sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a

great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and

saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his

favor rests.” 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to

one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord

has told us about.” 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who

was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning

what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the

shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in

her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had

heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Commentaries for Luke 2:1-20

Matthew 1
1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of

Abraham: 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of

Judah and his brothers, 3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,

Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram,4 Ram the father of Amminadab,

Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 Salmon the father of

Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed

the father of Jesse, 6and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon,

whose mother had been Uriah’s wife, 7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the

father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, 8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the

father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of Uzziah, 9 Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the

father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh

the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his

brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon. 12 After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the

father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,

Abihud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok

the father of Akim, Akim the father of Elihud, 15 Elihud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the

father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the

husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah. 17 Thus

there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the

exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah. 18 This is how the birth of

Jesus the Messiah came about : His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but

before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy
Spirit. 19Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to

expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 But after he had

considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of

David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is

from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,

because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord

had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they

will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). 24 When Joseph woke up, he did

what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25But he

did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name

Jesus.
Commentaries for Matthew 1

Matthew 2:1-11

1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the

east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the

Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod

heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all

the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to

be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 6 “

‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of

Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ” 7 Then Herod

called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had
appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As

soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” 9 After they had

heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead

of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they

were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and

they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him

with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The Birth of Jesus

The main part of the Christmas Story, the birth of Jesus! But why was Jesus born in
such unusual surroundings?

 The Story in the Bible

 The History behind the Story

The Story in the Bible

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the
entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was
governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem
the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there
to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.
While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her
firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there
was no room for them in the inn.

Luke 2:1-7
The History behind the Birth of Jesus in the Christmas
Story
The census that was ordered by Caesar Augustus was the first of its kind. It was done
because the Roman government wanted to make sure that everyone in the Empire was
paying their taxes correctly. The census was carried out all over Empire (most of
Europe): but in Palestine, it was carried out in a Jewish way rather than a Roman way.
This meant that families had to register in the their historical tribal town rather than
where they lived. This also meant that Joseph and the very pregnant Mary would have
had to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem, as this was town that Joseph's family (the
royal family of David) originally came from - a journey of about 70 miles (112
kilometres).

Some people think that Bethlehem could also have been Joseph's actual home town
and he'd traveled to Nazareth to collect Mary once they were betrothed/married to take
to his home town to initially live.

The journey would have taken about three days and they might well have arrived in the
evening, because if they had arrived earlier in the day, it is more likely that they would
have found somewhere to stay.

In those times, there weren't really such things as motels or inns, you normally would
have stayed with some extended family or relations. A more accurate translation of 'inn'
would be 'guest room'. You would normally stay with extended family in their ‘guest
room’ but as it was a busy time the guest room was already full.

Most houses would have been shared with the animals that the family kept. Houses had
two levels, the upper/mezzanine level where people slept and the ground floor where
the animals slept at night and the family lived during the day. The animals were a kind
of 'central heating' at night keeping the house warm! The 'guest room' was often an area
on the upper/mezzanine level or even a hut put on the flat roof of the house!

As many people would have traveled to Bethlehem for the census, all the houses, or
certainly upper levels were full. Many people think that Jesus was probably born in
September or October during Sukkot, the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, rather than
during December. During the festival, Jews live outside in temporary shelters (the word
'tabernacle' come from a latin word meaning 'booth' or 'hut').

So Joseph and Mary probably had to sleep with the animals on the low level (where it’s
common to have a manger cut into a wall where you put the animal food) or possibly
(but unlikely) out in a stable, cave or even a covered market stall that sold animals
(these stalls could be rented during tabernacles).

It was the custom in those times to wrap a new born baby very tightly in long bandages
called swaddling clothes. The arms and legs of the baby were also wrapped, so they
couldn't move. This was done because they thought it helped the baby to grow strong,
straight limbs! And as no proper crib was available, the new baby boy was placed in a
manger, or feeding trough.

There's a theory that Jesus might have been born a couple of miles outside of
Bethlehem where there was a special shepherds' watch tower called the Migdal Eder.
So Jesus might have been born out with the shepherds.

The birth of Jesus probably didn't happen in the year 0 but slightly earlier, in about 4, 5,
6 or 7 BCE/BC. The dates that we use now were set by Monks and religious leaders in
the Middle Ages and before. It's also quite likely that Jesus was actually born in the
autumn (during Tabernacles), not in the winter! It can get very cold in the winter
in Israel and it is thought that the census would have most likely taken place during the
spring or autumn, at a when many pilgrims, from all over the country, came to visit
Jerusalem (which is about six miles from Bethlehem).

There is an excellent article on the dating of Christmas based on the dates of

Zechariah's experience, on the blog of theologian, Ian Paul.

You can watch an animation of The First Christmas Story! (opens full window/tab)

The Birth of Jesus

Matthew 1-2, Luke 1-2

An Angel Visits Mary

The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and said, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.
You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called
the Son of the Most High." (TNIV)
One day about 2,000 years ago an angel named Gabriel appeared to a young Jewish woman
named Mary. Gabriel told Mary she would have a son, Jesus, who would be the Son of God!
Mary was confused and worried about this sudden news, but she had faith in God and said, "I
am the Lord's servant; let it be as you say."

Journey to Bethlehem
Mary and her husband-to-be, Joseph, lived in a town called Nazareth. But they had to travel to
the city of Bethlehem to register for a census ordered by the Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus.
Both Nazareth and Bethlehem are in the country now called Israel. It is about 65 miles (105 km)
from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and the trip probably took them several days.

When Joseph and Mary got to Bethlehem, there was no place for them to stay because
the inn was already full. They ended up spending the night in a stable, a place where
animals were kept. There was probably fresh hay on the floor that they used for beds.

That night, Jesus was born. There was no crib, so they laid baby Jesus in a manger, a
feeding trough for animals. The manger probably had fresh hay in it and made a nice bed
for the baby.

Shepherds Visit Jesus

 Jesus was born in a stable and laid to sleep in a manger. The shepherds came to see firsthand the
things the angel had told them.
That night, some shepherds were in the fields near Bethlehem, keeping watch over their flocks
of sheep. An angel appeared to them and gave them the good news that a Savior, the Messiah,
had been born. The angel told the shepherds they could find Jesus lying in a manger. Suddenly
a whole group of angels appeared saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace,
goodwill toward men!"

The shepherds hurried into Bethlehem and found Jesus in the manger, just as the angel
had told them. After they had seen Jesus, they spread the news, and everyone who heard
was in awe.

Wise Men Visit Jesus

Wise men from the East came to worship Jesus, bringing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Some time later, wise men, or magi, from eastern countries saw a star in the sky that signaled
the birth of a new king. They came to Judea, the region around Jerusalem and Bethlehem, to
worship Jesus, the new king.

A man named Herod was the king of Judea. He called the wise men to a meeting and
told them to find the new king so he could go and worship him, too.

The wise men continued on to Bethlehem and followed the star until it was directly above
the house where Jesus was. They found Mary and Jesus in the house and knelt down to
worship Him. They brought Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, some of the
finest things in the ancient world. Frankincense was burned to make a sweet smell, and
myrrh was an expensive perfume.

After visiting Jesus, the wise men had a dream that warned them not to go back to King
Herod, so they took a different route home.

Journey to Egypt
King Herod lied when he told the wise men he wanted to worship Jesus. He was afraid this new
"king" would replace him as king of Judea. He did not understand that Jesus would grow up to
be king of God's spiritual kingdom, not king of Judea.

What Herod really wanted was to find Jesus and kill Him! Herod was furious when he
realized the wise men had not come back to tell him where to find Jesus. He sent his
soldiers to Bethlehem to kill all the children under two years old, thinking Jesus would
certainly be one of the ones killed.

But God had told Joseph in a dream to flee to Egypt. Joseph took Mary and Jesus to live
in Egypt where they would be safe from Herod. Joseph, Mary and Jesus stayed in Egypt
until Herod had died, and then they returned to Nazareth.

Question
Was Jesus born on Christmas day? We celebrate Jesus' birth on Christmas, but no one really
knows what day Jesus was born, or even exactly what year. In 336 A.D., the Western Church,
based in Rome, chose December 25 to celebrate as Christmas, meaning "Christ's Mass." The
Eastern Church chose January 6. The day was named Epiphany, meaning "appearance."
Eventually the period from December 25 to January 6 became known as the Twelve Days of
Christmas.

Lessons
The stories of Jesus' birth link to both the past and the future. The circumstances of Jesus' birth
show He fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies of a Messiah (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23). He
was born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2, Matthew 2:5-6). He was called out of Egypt (Hosea
11:1, Matthew 2:15).

Jesus was born in a stable - the most humble of circumstances. Similarly, Jesus showed
us how God's favor rests with the poor and downtrodden. The Gentile wise men came to
worship Jesus. Later, the Gentiles would make up most of the Christian world. Herod's
attempt to kill Jesus foreshadows Jesus' crucifixion about 33 years later.