The true story of Christmas

I love the traditional Christmas story. A poor carpenter from Galilee and his new wife; their long and arduous journey to pay the Roman tax; that first Christmas eve in a stable; and Mary’s newborn asleep on the hay. The shepherds, the herald angels singing, the three kings, and even a drummer boy – all these are the traditional story of Christmas we have come to cherish.

I listened to a podcast recently with Dr. Jeffrey R. Chadwick, a BYU professor and archeologist. He says that the real first Christmas just didn’t happen that way. The setting we commonly portray is not anything like the real life circumstances which surrounded the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem more than two thousand years ago.

Because, in reality, Joseph was not a carpenter. He and Mary did not have to travel to Bethlehem to pay taxes. There were not any Roman soldiers there to harass them. Nor were there any traveling kings bearing gifts. Of course, there wasn’t any drummer boy. But there also wasn’t any hay on which the baby was laid. And, most surprisingly, there wasn’t even a stable! There was, however, a manger. That part of the story is absolutely authentic – that manger in which the newborn Jesus was laid. The New Testament specifically mentions that manger three different times in telling the story of Jesus’ birth. It even served as a sign from heaven.


No hay
In Israel it almost never snows. Grass is available and lush all year round. So there is no need to grow hay to feed animals.

Stone manger
It is, however, necessary to have a water trough for animals. When the springs are not flowing as much, water would have to be drawn from a well for the animals. So anyone with animals would have owned at least one carved stone water trough. They had to be stone because wood does not hold water as well and does not last very long. The animals tend to chew on them and destroy them. But it is very common to find water troughs carved out of limestone all over Israel.

Joseph and Jesus are described in the New Testament as being “carpenters”. The Greek word translated as carpenter is “tekton” which is the same root as our word “architect”. He is better described as a “builder” instead of a carpenter, but tekton was probably translated as carpenter because most homes in Europe were made of wood. But in Israel they are made of stone. So it is very likely that Joseph and Jesus were stone masons. This means that the stone manger is probably one that Joseph carved himself to provide water for their animals.

Joseph and Mary
The newly married Jewish couple did not go to Bethlehem to pay taxes. If you look at the word “taxed” in the bible you will see there is a footnote that says a better translation might be “enrolled” or “registered”. It was common at that time in Roman cities for all the residents to be registered in the city where they lived.

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be registered.
And all went to be registered, every one into his own city.
Luke 2:1,3

So if they did not need to go to Bethlehem to be registered, why did they go there?

When Mary was visited by an angel she was told three things:

And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David
And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Luke 1:31-33

1. The baby’s name would be Jesus. In Hebrew this was “Jeshua” which means “salvation”
2. The baby would be the Son of God (Son of the Highest)
3. The baby would be the promised Messiah (that is the promise of being the king of the house of David for ever)

When the angel visited Joseph, he was given the same three pieces of information. Joseph and Mary knew the prophecies about the Messiah and they knew that He was supposed to be born in Bethlehem.

But thou, Bethlehem … out of thee shall he come forth … that is to be ruler in Israel;
Micah 5:2

They purposefully made the decision to move to Bethlehem to fulfill the prophecy. They also probably moved relatively early on in the pregnancy, so the images we have of Mary being 8 months pregnant riding on a donkey are not accurate.

At that time there were no real estate agents. When a person moved to a new city they typically bought land and built a home. The hills around Bethlehem are covered with limestone caves and it was common for people to live in the cave on their property while they built their house, so Joseph and Mary likely did the same thing. They bought some land and Joseph started to build their home while they lived in a limestone cave.

It probably became clear that their house would not be finished in time for the birth of Jesus, so they tried to find a guest room to rent. This would provide some more comfort for the delivery, and a hostess who could assist if necessary and provide meals. But none were available, so they went back to their limestone cave and Jesus was born at home and laid in the stone manger that His father had carved. That is where the shepherds found them.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
Luke 2:8-16

The wise men arrived a few weeks or months later, after their home was finished.

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshiped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
Matt 2:1-2,11

This story paints a more accurate picture of what happened that first Christmas night.

The important thing to learn from this is that they were not mere unwitting victims of circumstance, driven to Bethlehem by forces beyond their control. When Mary’s baby was born in Bethlehem, it was neither a surprise nor a coincidence.

Source: Follow Him podcast

Peace in Christ

Elder D. Todd Christofferson recently posted this to social media:

As Christmas approaches, I realize that some may have concerns and perhaps some anxiety about the future.

There may be a lot of “noise” in your life: more or less constant engagement online without downtime, without time to be quiet and reflect and think, without time to look inside and discern where you are and where you should be going.

You may be influenced by unrealistic expectations such as “perfection should be immediate” or “uninterrupted happiness and success should be the norm in life.”

I hope you will lay aside these misconceptions, dial down the “noise,” and take some time this Christmas season—at least an hour, if not more—to reflect on the wonder and the majesty of the Son of God. Let it be an hour of reassurance and renewal for you.

Take time to relax, be at peace, and see this little child in your mind. Do not be too concerned or overwhelmed with what is coming in your life. Instead, take a peaceful moment to contemplate perhaps the most serene moment in the history of the world—when all of heaven rejoiced with the message, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14).

Source: Facebook post

Challenges are part of the process

“No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, … and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire.”
-Elder Orson F. Whitney

God knows us and loves us.He wants us to grow and become like Him. In order to do that, we need to be challenged.

Source: God is trying to build you into something amazing

The one where I mess up musicals

I dreamed that after performances it became common for the audience to leave tips for characters in the show.

In my dream we went to see Newsies and left a tip for Jack. After a few performances he had earned enough through tips that at the beginning of the next show he just bought a ticket to Santa Fe and left. He never showed up to any more performances.

After that we went to see Les Mis. We loved it so much that we left a generous tip for Jean Valjean so that he could afford a math tutor. In the next performance, he was able to attend and graduate from school. This provided him with a good job so he didn't ever need to steal bread. That meant he never went to prison, so he never met and stole from the Bishop.

Without the money from the Bishop's silver candlesticks he never had the funds to start the factory and become mayor. That also meant he was never in position to save Cosette or Marius.

I awoke with a sense of existential dread that I had permanently ruined these stories. After I realized it was a dream, I thought about the implications. Often in life we want to just have our struggles taken away. Without our struggles, our lives would be more comfortable but they would also be boring.

It is our struggles that make our lives interesting and creates the character development opportunities to allow us to become who God wants us to become.

Dreamed on 9/1/2023

Abraham's lesson in tolerance

A favorite story of Benjamin Franklin about one of Abraham's lessons in tolerance:

The prologue to the story is the visit of three angels to Abraham, who asked him what he charged for meals. The price was only that the visitor 'invoke the name of God before beginning and praise it when you finish.'

But one day the patriarch entertained an old man who would pray neither before eating nor after, explaining to Abraham that he was a fire worshipper. His indignant host thereupon denied him further hospitality, and the old man went his way.

But very soon the voice of the Lord came to Abraham, saying: 'I have suffered him these hundred years, although he dishonored me; and thou couldst not endure him one night, when he gave thee no trouble?' Overwhelmed with remorse, Abraham rushed out after his guest and brought him back in honor.

'Go thou and do likewise,' ends the story, 'and thy charity will be rewarded by the God of Abraham.'

Source: Hugh Nibley, Abraham in Egypt, p. 178

Be anxiously engaged

Abraham Lincoln's law partner William Herndon said

Satan selects his disciples when they are idle; Jesus selected his when they were busy at their work

One of the things that this tells me is that we should not sit around waiting for God to tell us what to do or where to serve. He is probably happy to have us serve anywhere we are willing, so we should just get going. If He wants to redirect our efforts then He will do that.

It also is a good reminder that it is easier to stay on the covenant path and avoid temptations if we are not idle. This does not mean we need to always be working at a job, but we should be working on something generally positive, helpful, or meaningful.

26 For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.
27 Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;
28 For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.
D&C 58:26-28

What does it mean to be an "agent"? It means we are free to make our own choices. We are not at the mercy of anyone or anything that will force us one way or another. It is up to us to make the best use of our time.

14 [God] hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon. ...
16 [And] the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. ...
26 ... And because that [men] are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever … to act for themselves and not to be acted upon
2 Nephi 2:14, 16, 26

Source: Quoted by James E. Faust

Look up

Elder Sterling W. Sill said:

It has been said that one may not always look where he is going, but he will always go where he is looking. If we merely look down long enough, many will be sure to fall.

In that same conference talk he also said:

...the first step toward any failure is always merely to look down, to let earthly things absorb our interests.

and

It is pretty difficult to look down and to look up at the same time.

We need to be looking up - focussing on higher and holier things. Our mind and body will follow the direction of our thoughts. If we want to be a better person we should keep our eyes on the Savior.

Source: April 1961 General Conference address

Marriage and Eternal Progression

I picture the setup of eternal progression in the afterlife to be one where God gives us as much room to grow as we want. And when a person decides that they are not willing to sacrifice any more of their time to serve then that is where their progression essentially stops. That is where they have found their most "happiness" in balancing their own desires vs God's desires. Of course eternity is a long time so they could decide to continue on at any later time, but I think everyone will find their own level of equilibrium. So essentially, those who have developed to be the most Christlike (meaning they find the most joy in serving others) will continue to progress the most. When I have contemplated that idea I have wondered where my own laziness and selfishness will balance against my desire to serve. The thought occurred to me that God puts us in eternal companionships with our spouse precisely because we will continue to help each other to grow and progress beyond what our individual limitations would normally allow. When I think about Jen and I working together through the eternities I realize that with her I will be able to get much farther than I would just by myself. When I came to that realization I felt the Spirit really strongly. Although my understanding of the afterlife is very rudimentary, I believe that my insight is true. One reason God setup eternal marriages is so that we can help each other progress - we are able to overcome our weaknesses together by strengthening, encouraging, and supporting each other. Source: My brain

God's Love is Stronger than Your Weaknesses

Ann Voskamp, a Christian writer, wrote

You never have to overcome your brokenness to claim God's love. His love has already overcome your brokenness and claimed you.

We never need to feel unworthy to approach God or to feel His love. God already knows us and our weaknesses and still loves us. In fact it is His love which allows us to overcome those weaknesses and become more like Him.

Source: Follow Him podcast January 17 – January 23

Familiarity Breeds Love

Leonardo da Vinci said:

Knowledge of a thing engenders love of it; the more perfect the knowledge, the more fervent the love.

If we want to truly love the scriptures, we must spend time studying them. If we want to truly love God, we must come to know Him. Similarly, God loves us so much because He knows us so well.

On the other hand, if we spend our time focusing on things other than God, it is our love for those things that will grow instead of our love for God.

Source: Gaye Strathearn, Associate Dean, BYU Religious Education