The Story

The traditional story of the birth of Jesus does not follow the details of the Biblical account, but then, such is not really necessary.  According to the traditional story enacted in the roadside nativity scenes, tonight is the night remembered as the time of travel.  At first glance it would seem that the nativity couple arrived in Bethlehem in the evening after dark and the moment of birth came rather quickly.  Or, perhaps, it was sometime after midnight and before the next sunrise.  The Word simply says, "While they were there, the time came..."  (Luke 2:6)    

It is possible that the birth of Jesus came after Joseph and Mary waited for several days, or longer, there in  Bethlehem.  The important thing to be remembered is that the Christ child was born according to the divine plan revealed long centuries before that moment.   Through prophetic utterance the coming of the Holy One and the place of His birth was proclaimed.  Everything about it was divinely planned, or as the Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians, "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent His Son, born of a woman..."  (Galatians 4:4)     

There is much to celebrate on this night.  It may not be the exact day of the year that Jesus was born long ago in Bethlehem, but the actual date is not as important as the fact of it happening.  Christ was born.  He came out of love to live among us, to taste fully the human experience, and to point us toward the way of living fully and completely as a child of God.  He came not just to create a story for this night, but to live and die for each one of us on the cross.  Let no one think the cross was any less intentional than the birth.  It was for the cross and the empty tomb the child was born to a manger.