When Jesus was born, the Roman Empire had conquored and was occupying the Holy Land, including Bethlehem, the town where Jesus was born.  The Roman Empire wanted to know how many people were under it's control, so they held a census to count all the people.  Since Joseph's family was from Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph had to go there to be counted.  Because of the large crowds, there would have been Roman Soliders on duty in every town where people were being counted, including Bethlehem.

At the Living Nativity, you will see several people dressed as Roman Soliders walking around and greeeting you.  Generally they are nice and keepin the peace.  But if you are not keepoing the "Pax Romana," watch out!

26 ... God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 

28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

29 Mary was greatly troubled at the angels' words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a Son, and you are to call Him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, 33 and He will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; His kingdom will never end.”

34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. ...

38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Luke 1:26-38

8 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.”

Luke 2:8-15

The reason Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem was to be counted in the census.  In this Living Nativity scene, a scribe is recording their information while the Roman Governor watches.

One reason the census was important was so that the Romans knew how much taxes they could collect from the people.  As you can imagine, they wanted to be sure they were collecting taxes from everyone.

"She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them." Luke 2:7b

Because so many people were traveling for the census, finding a free room was very difficult.  Mary and Joseph must have been beyond stressed about the hardship this census put on them.  Imagine you are about to give birth and have no place to go!

Beacuse there were no rooms for them, the only shelter they could find was a barn where someone kept their animals.

In the barn, the animals would have eaten their food out of a box.  This box is called a manger.  It's a feeding troth for animals.  A place the farmer would put food for his livestock.

Those unsanitary conditions are how God entered the world.  This is the incarnation, the Word made Flesh.  Sure, God could have picked another family with more resources or a family that would not have needed to travel.  But this is the family God chose.  God also could have picked another way to save the world, but God chose to die on a cross.

If you are looking for God in palaces or beautiful places today, you are probably looking in the wrong places.

9 [After speaking with King Herod, the Magi] 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.  Matthew 2:9-11

Magi is from the Greek word "Magoi" or Zoroastrian priests.  Zoroaster is one of the oldest religions.  They practiced watching the sky for signs from God which might give them the reputation of being "wise."  They are not kings.  There is no mention of how many of them there were.  The number 3 comes from the 3 types of gifts they presented.  Some Zoroastrian priests were women.

Traditionally, we think the gold was used to help Jesus' family afford to flee to Egypt before the slaughter of the innocence (Matthew 2:13-16).  It also signifies that the Magi recognized Jesus was a king.

Frankensince was often burned during religious ceremonies.  It may signify that the Magi recognized Jesus was a Great High Priest.

Myrrh was used for embalming dead bodies, corpses.  It may foreshadow that the Magi knew that Jesus would die to save this world that God loves.

You may be surprised to know, the Bible does not say that Mary rode a donkey to Bethlehem!  But she might have!  And since Jesus was laid in a manger, there must have been farm animals around.

Thank you to Frances Smith, a member of Hope Valley Baptist Church, who has collected rescue animals over the years on her farm.  Also, thank you to Billy Partin who runs a business to transport horses and transported Frances' animals for free.

Every town needed a market where people could buy food.  Near the end of the Living Nativity, we give out free cookies at our Market.

Advent is a time in the Church where we wait and prepare for the coming of Jesus - both on Christmas and when He will come again.  To share Advent with our community, we build a Tent with 24 cubboards or shelves.  Each day from December 1 to 24, you can open the door for that day and recieve a gift.

You are welcome to visit the Advent Calendar at the end of the Living Nativity or anytime - even every day - during Decemeber!