Follow along as I read. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.
And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
At the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. We need to remind ourselves, especially at this time of year, that the nativity story is not the stuff of Christmas pageants, cute kids dressed up as shepherds and magi and angels, cuddly farm animals and the like.
It seemed to begin in Matthew chapter 2 well enough. For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. You wanted him to remain very, very calm because a troubled Herod meant people were going to die. There is no sentimentality in the real Christmas story. When the light that Zechariah prophesied in just the few verses prior to Luke 2, when that light that he prophesied began to blaze over the landscape, it revealed a harsh, violent world of pain and suffering.
