The Birth Part 3: The Journey/Birth

Today we celebrate the birth of our Savior. Now there is at least one thing I need to make very clear. December the 25th is not the actual day that Jesus was born. Truth is we are not sure what day it was. Some evidence would suggest it was actually closer to September 11th by the calendar as we have it today. But the point of todays video is not why or how we celebrate the birth of our Savior on the 25th but to celebrate the Birth in and of itself.

Back then Caesar Augusts was in charge and he put forth that there should be a census. Of the Entire Roman world. That’s a lot of people. What then meant was that everyone had to go to their home town to register. For Joseph and now Mary and her unborn baby it meant they had to make the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

So I want you to remember. They didn’t just hop in the Chevy and cruise on down the street.

They had to walk. And she was very much with child. In no shape to make the journey. They may have had a donkey to ride on but it also had to carry the provisions they would need. Food. Water. It was about a 90 mile journey. 90 miles of rocky terrain to navigate. Hills, mountains, valleys and rivers.

Today that would take us about an hour and a half. For them? They could go about 20 miles a day. But I am thinking with a pregnant lady as far along as she was, they probably did less. Who really knows. Point being at 20 miles per day it would have been 5 days of walking. Now I have never been pregnant. My wife has and I can say with a fair amount of certainty that when she was 8 1/2 months along she was not going to be walking for 5 days straight.

But they had to and they did. Now when they finally get there she is about to pop. They just want to find a place to get in out of the elements, some shelter. A place to rest. So they stop by the local Motel 6 only to find they are all booked up. So they cruse over to the Holiday Inn. Nope, no vacancy. The Census had brought everyone into town. No rooms, anywhere. But one guy feels bad for them and is like look, you can take shelter in the barn. And they did. And the baby was born. Right there in the manger with the livestock. No doctors. No nurses. No pain meds. She gave birth. Mary wrapped him in what she could find, strips of cloth.

There is SOOOO much more to this story. I encourage your read the gospels and get the full effect of this. There is actually a really good movie called "The Nativity Story" that if you have not seen I recommend. It's a really good film about the journey and Birth of Christ.

But look. Here is the Lord of all, the Son of God come to earth. Not with trumpet blasts or high profile press conferences. There were no Dignitary's there to greet him. He was born onto this world in the most humble way possible.

Today we celebrate that birth. We celebrate our Savior Jesus. We thank him for the way the lived his life, the lessons that he taught us and the ultimate sacrifice he would make. For me. For you. For us all.

So today we say Happy Birthday Jesus. Merry Christmas to all. And to all…

Press on. Fight the good fight. As a Soldier for Christ.