No Room at the Inn

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. And everyone went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.

The journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem covered about ninety miles through difficult terrain. For a woman in the final stage of pregnancy, it would have been exhausting.

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born. But there was no room for them in the inn.

She gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger—a feeding trough for animals.

The King of kings entered His creation in the humblest of circumstances. Not in a palace, but in a stable. Not in a cradle, but in a manger.