It's the Christmas story par excellence, and in church the story of all stories: the biblical account of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth from the New Testament is traditionally read aloud from the Bible during the Christian Christmas service. Beyond that, it's also depicted and conveyed in nativity plays, poems, and countless Christmas films, showing the circumstances under which Jesus was brought into the world more than 2,000 years ago. In a broader sense, though, the Christmas story encompasses not only the Christmas miracle of the birth but also further stories from the prelude or from Jesus's childhood.
Origin of the Christmas story
Not all the Gospels contain the stories of Jesus's birth and childhood. In the older Gospel of Mark and the more recent Gospel of John, for example, they're missing. They also sometimes differ considerably in terms of content and dates. The most comprehensive is the account in the Gospel of Luke: the story of Jesus's childhood covers not only the birth itself but also events before and after the birth of Christ. The well-known birth story, commonly also called the Christmas story, begins with the 'first' census under Emperor Augustus. For this reason, according to the account, Joseph set out with his pregnant Mary for Bethlehem.
The story according to Luke
The story begins at a time when Emperor Augustus issued a decree that all people should gather for a census. It was the very first registration of its kind, and it happened at the time when the Roman senator Quirinius was governor of Syria. Every man was called to go with his family to his hometown.
Joseph therefore set out for Bethlehem with his heavily pregnant betrothed, Mary, to be counted. And when they arrived there, the time had already come for Mary to give birth to her child. But because all the inns were full due to the census and the couple found no room, they sought refuge in a stable.
There Mary brought her son into the world, wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger. This child was the baby Jesus. Not far away, in a field in the same region, were three shepherds keeping watch over their flock by night. To these shepherds an angel appeared, to bring them the good news of the birth of the Messiah. The Savior had been born.
The shepherds were very afraid, and the angel said to them: 'Do not be afraid! Behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will come to all the people; for to 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 the child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.'
Then a multitude of angels appeared to praise God and proclaim peace on earth. So the shepherds decided to go to Bethlehem and pay homage to the child born there. After they had seen the baby Jesus and told of their encounter with the angels, the shepherds returned to their flock.
Mary kept all these moving words of the shepherds in her heart. The shepherds praised and glorified God for all they had heard and seen. And this is the ancient story we've been telling for many, many centuries, to remind ourselves year after year why we actually celebrate Christmas...
The meaning of the Christmas story
Without the Christmas story, we wouldn't celebrate Christmas today - after all, it's the birth of Jesus that's celebrated, even if for many people today the glow of lights, the gingerbread, the Christmas Eve feast, and the gifts are front and center. The Christmas story isn't forgotten in today's families either: it's read aloud not only at the Christmas service in church but also often at home on Christmas Eve, before the children are allowed to unwrap their gifts. Even today, children are still taught the origin of Christmas through the Christmas story.
