The birth of Jesus Christ

In that village of Nazareth known as the Flower of Galilee, in Israel, a town with very few simple and humble houses, besides having beautiful mountains and valleys, it was a border area and a local trade route. It is known that there a man known as Joseph the Carpenter, aged 91, came from Bethlehem, a Jewish village and the city where King David was crowned. Notably, a Palestinian city located in the West Bank, whose territory has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 War, being 10 kilometers from the other city, Jerusalem, and 60 kilometers from the Gaza Strip. He worked for several months in this occupation as a carpenter.

With extensive knowledge in construction and carpentry, Joseph, the old carpenter, married a woman who gave him four sons and two daughters known in the village as Judas, Josetos, James and Simon, and daughters named Lysia and Lydia.

Although his wife died and Joseph was left a widower with only his young son James, despite being a righteous man, Joseph gave thanks to God in all situations. It is worth noting that Galilee had only fifty houses, and since he had no work in the village, Joseph traveled to other cities to work as a carpenter with his two oldest sons.

Since he was a widower, Joseph followed with his eyes and his white beard the steps of the twelve-year-old Mary, who was heading to the temple, serving God for the first three years in her parents' home and the remaining nine in the temple of the Lord.

When they saw that the holy virgin was living a simple and complete life in fear of God, the priests spoke among themselves and said:

- Let us look for a good and fearful man and celebrate the marriage with him, until the time for her marriage arrives. This is what we can do for this girl of the Lord.

The other priest said:

- Let it not be through our negligence that the period of her purification in the temple befalls her, nor that we incur a grave sin. It is better for our virgin girl to be married at the right time to a good man.

Joseph and the other men were called to the temple to see who would have the guardianship of Mary. It happened that she was in puberty and could not remain in the enclosure as a consecrated woman. And all the men had to carry a staff. From Joseph's staff came a dove. He was the one chosen by God to take Mary to his home. Joseph, the Carpenter Joseph promises before the priests that he would guard Mary until the day one of his sons would take her as his wife.

There was the priest Abiathar at the time of the reigns of Saul, David and Solomon. Abiathar belonged to the lineage of Eli, the same one who had been a priest in Shiloh in the days of Samuel. The story of Abiathar became known in the Bible because he survived the massacre in Nob. And also because of his change of heart in the court of Israel.

The priest Abiathar states that only Joseph could marry her. He and five other maidens, who would be in Mary's company, went to the village of Nazareth. Then, Joseph took Mary to his home. Arriving at the residence, Mary found little James in the unfortunate condition of an orphan and covered him with affection and much care. Notably, this is the supposed reason why they called her Mary, the mother of James, as described in the gospels.

The local priests summoned the tribes of Judah and chose twelve men from among them, satisfying the number of the twelve tribes. However, the fate fell on the good old Joseph. The priests said to the Virgin Mary:

-Mary! Go with Joseph and remain obedient to him until the exact time comes to celebrate your marriage.

Joseph accommodated the Virgin Mary in his house, leaving for the city of Capernaum, where he had a nine-month work contract as a carpenter.

It is noteworthy that Elizabeth was in the sixth month of pregnancy, and the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin promised in marriage to a man named Joseph the Carpenter. The young virgin's name was Mary, and the angel came to her and said:

-Rejoice, full of grace! The Lord is with you. Do not be afraid, Mary! You have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus.

Mary was frightened and asked the angel,

-How can this be, since I have never had a husband? I am a virgin.

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. Even your relative Elizabeth has conceived a son in her old age. This is the sixth month for her who was called barren, for nothing will be impossible for God." Mary said, "Behold, the handmaid of the Lord! Let it be done to me according to your word." And the angel departed. Luke 1:26-38 Mary becomes pregnant by the Holy Spirit. When Joseph returned, Mary was already three months pregnant. When Joseph learned of the situation, he became very depressed and distressed. Despite talking to his family, nothing was proven. Joseph, greatly distressed, thought of abandoning Mary, and because of this situation he did not want to eat or drink. Despite the young women assuring him that Mary had not had contact with men, Joseph thought of running away, afraid of the priests of the temple. Joseph said:

-Because I am old, people laugh at me, saying that the child is not mine. But after all, I did not marry Mary to be my wife. She is only my fiancée. May God have mercy on my situation.

Joseph, very sleepy, falls asleep near the window. An angel appears and explains in a dream to the carpenter Joseph. The angel Gabriel said:

-Wake up Joseph, son of David! Mary is pregnant with the Holy Spirit, now conceived in her womb, he is the son of the Lord God. Behold, when he is born you will name him Jesus. He is the savior of the world, a completely holy boy, and you will be his adoptive father.

The angel left without delay. And Joseph wakes up and apologizes to Mary.

-Mary! Mary! Mary! Wake up. I love you very much and this situation makes me uneasy. I ask for forgiveness for everything I said. Only now have I understood everything, and it was said by the angel of the Lord who came to me in my dream. Forgive me.

In the aftermath of the events, Joseph and Mary are called to the temple to give an account. Both are acquitted after the Lord’s test of water is performed.

On that day, Joseph takes Mary to the ceremony that consists of the bride and groom swearing mutual fidelity in the presence of witnesses. In a certain sense, this essentially implies marriage itself. That is why Mary was already called “Joseph’s wife” at that time, since legally they were both married.

However, from that engagement onwards, all that remained was the wedding feast and “living together”. According to the Law, a married woman who committed infidelity should be punished with death (Deuteronomy 22:23,24).

In fact, Joseph had two options: to file a lawsuit against Mary, or to dismiss her quietly by giving her a bill of divorce. The first option would expose Mary to the entire society. The second option would preserve Mary in some way.

With the Roman order to carry out the census, Joseph took his wife on the long four-day journey to Bethlehem. As they approached Bethlehem, Mary felt pain, which eventually passed.

Arriving in Bethlehem, Joseph looked for the house of his relatives – King David, upon entering, noticed that the house was full of relatives who had arrived for the census, even though Mary was pregnant, none of them were willing to give the pregnant woman a place to stay. As it was getting late, Joseph headed out into the streets of Bethlehem looking for a house to rent, but could not find one.

Very worried, Joseph stopped in front of a house outside the city. And asked:

-Do you have a house to rent?

-We don't have one.

At another house, very close by, he asked again:

-Do you have a little house to rent. My wife is pregnant.

-Sir, we don't have any houses to rent. The only available little house is in that cave where we keep the animals.

-How much is the rent?

-No, sir. I'm not going to rent one. I'll give it to you if you need it. The place is a house where animals stay at night.

-Okay, I accept and may God bless you always.

It didn't take long, Mary started moaning in pain, not knowing what to do, Joseph went to the resident's house to ask for help.

-Sir, can you help me? I need a midwife? Where should I find one?

-Yes, I will help you, go down the street and look for Mrs. Salome, the midwife.

Acting quickly, Joseph found Salome's house and asked:

-Mrs. Salome, do I need your midwife services now? It's urgent, please.

-Oh my son! I can't do these jobs because of my hand. I'm sick.

-Come Mrs. Salome, save my wife and the child in her womb, please have mercy on us.

-Come, Mrs. Salome, save my wife and my son Jesus, please have mercy on us.

-I will do everything I can to get there. Are you in the little house in the cave?

-Yes. We are waiting for you there.

It didn't take long for Salome to arrive and hear Mary's screams and cries.

-My hand is sick, but I will hold this child now.

When she heard the child's cry, Salome saw nothing to put the baby in and said:

-I will put this child in this manger and cover it with the cloth from my hand. There is no other way. He is a man. Wait for me, I will go to the house to get more cloth. See, your wife and the boy are safe. Wait, I will be right back.

When she arrives at her home, Salome takes two cloths, and she puts one on the wound on her hand. When she looks at her right hand, she exclaims:

-Lord God, I have nothing in my hands. This boy saved me from leprosy. He is blessed by God. Oh, what joy this boy brings me. May my Lord bless all the steps of this Savior.

Here are two cloths for baby Jesus. In the morning I will bring you coffee.

Joseph said;

-Thank you, I will do the census and be back soon.

The sky became beautiful and festive with the birth of baby Jesus. The Magi left the East, traveling through the deserts for several days, following the star of Bethlehem. Melchior said:

-We are certain that the star we saw in the East is following us and showing us the true path to reach the King of the Jews. When they arrived in Israel, they went to King Herod and immediately asked him:

-Where is the city where the King of the Jews was born? We are from the East and have come to worship.

-I do not know this news. When you find the baby King of the Jews, let me know where he is, I also want to worship.

-Yes, Your Majesty, we will tell you everything.

At one point during the journey, Balthazar saw a huge star shining with light and told the others that it was the baby king. When they found the cave where the Savior, the baby Jesus, was born, they got off their horses and took the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. After worship, they delivered the gifts. Balthazar told the others that he had a dream about King Herod and that they should not go back there. Because the king wanted to kill the baby Jesus. Since the wise men did not return to tell King Herod where the baby Jesus was, Herod gathered his leaders and ordered the death of the innocents because he did not know about Jesus. It is known that it was the greatest massacre and killing of completely innocent human beings. It is one of the greatest acts of evil against innocent beings ever seen on the face of the earth. Joseph woke Mary up at dawn and said that he had a dream through an angel, asking him to go to Egypt now, and when he returned, the angel would warn him. And so Joseph took Mary and the baby Jesus, using a donkey.

That morning, the greatest massacre of the innocent children of Bethlehem and its surroundings took place. The Roman soldiers wielded their sharp swords in pursuit of Herod's inhuman desire.

The horrendous slaughter of innocent children ranged from zero to two years old. It is known that many children were torn from their mothers' arms and killed in front of them. Other children played at the doors of their houses, and the Roman soldiers grabbed the little children and killed them right there.

King Herod the Great, submissive to the Roman Empire, would have taken this measure out of fear and concern of losing the throne to the newborn Jesus Christ, announced as the Messiah and future king of Israel. Furious at this news, he ordered a true slaughter and savagery among all the children.

In the middle of the journey, Joseph heard the thieves' horses and remained silent. One of them approaches and draws a sword, and the baby Jesus smiles and points to a basin of running water ahead. The desert thieves head towards the water. After two in Egypt, an angel of the Lord announces that Herod has died and that Jesus must return to his land. Amen.