What country is Bethlehem where Jesus was born? The gospel of the evangelist Matthew tells us that "Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea (now Palestine). “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. Answer: It is a common saying at Christmastime that Jesus Christ was “born in a manger.” Of course, it wasn’t possible for Him to actually be born in the manger, but that’s where Mary laid Him after His birth (Luke 2:7). The Gospels of Mark and John reveal that they either had trouble linking Bethlehem with Jesus, did not know his birthplace, or were not concerned with this city. Birth stories in Bethlehem solidified the claim that Jesus was a rightful descendant of King David. "(Micah 5:2, HBFV throughout). The story of the birth of Jesus is told in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew and the two versions—each of which focuses on a particular theme—are spliced together to form our modern Nativity story. The Star of Bethlehem. . Whereas the distance from Nazareth to Bethlehem is possible." The Bible tells us that it was in Bethlehem, for example, that Jacob’s beloved wife, Rachel, was buried. Two widows—Ruth and Naomi, her mother-in-law—left foreign Moabfor the small town where Naomi and her husband had lived, the town of Bethlehem. As Bart Ehrman puts it in his New Testament Introduction, a situation like this would have been a “bureaucratic nightmare” that would have involved “massive migration.” It is unbelievable, he argues, that millions of people were uprooted for this one event, and that no other ancient sources thought to mention it. The nativity of Jesus, nativity of Christ, birth of Christ or birth of Jesus is described in the Biblical gospels of Luke and Matthew. Jesus, according to some biblical sources, was born in … Both Matthew 2 and Luke 2 state that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea. Tradition places Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, a small town a few miles south of Jerusalem. Jesus, according to some biblical sources, was born in this town some two millennia ago. In one stream of Jewish thought, the Messiah was expected to be an everlasting ruler from the lineage of David. So whether Jesus was actually born in Bethlehem or not is secondary. This is what he had to say about the coming Messiah: Micah 5:2 "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to A doll representing the infant Jesus in St. Catherine’s, the Franciscan church in the town of Bethlehem. Some are speculating that perhaps this is the astral event that guided the wise men to Mary, Joseph, and Jesus in Bethlehem. And a Jewish writer named Philo who lived in the first century wrote that Abraham and the Jewish priest and prophets were born of God. Early Christian traditions describe Jesus as being born in Bethlehem: in one account, a verse in the Book of Micah is interpreted as a prophecy that the Messiah would be born there. Mary and Joseph were descendants of David. As most first century Jews believed that the promised messiah would be a military leader, the connection to David helped bolster Jesus’ messianic credentials. But Bible scholars are less sure about more specific details involving the setting. Genealogical claims were made for important ancient founders and political leaders. Jesus, according to some biblical sources, was born in this town some two millennia ago. Both evangelists go to great lengths to establish Jesus Christ as a historical person, carefully placing him in a specific historical period by referencing leaders and events at the time he was born. The problem is that there’s no record of a census taking place during the reign of Augustus and even if there had been one it’s highly unlikely that people would have had to have returned to their ancestral home. Its arrival took place a few months after the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 B.C. There are a number of reasons for this. And after the birth of Jesus … Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.] The Gospel of John, written approximately 15 to 20 years after that of Mark, also does not associate Jesus with Bethlehem. But King David was not born in Nazareth, nor associated with that city. First, in the earliest life of Jesus (the Gospel of Mark), Jesus is only ever associated with Nazareth; Mark doesn’t seem to know a birth story that links him to Bethlehem. Bethlehem! In a year in which good tidings of great joy were conspicuously absent, the astral event is making news. The primary reason the birth of Jesus took place in Bethlehem was to fulfill the prophecy given by the minor prophet Micah.He stated, "And you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, you being least among the thousands of Judah, out of you He (Jesus) shall come forth (be born) to Me, that is to become Ruler in Israel . Jesus is born in a manger because all the travelers overcrowded the guest rooms. Second, in Luke, the event that necessitates Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem is a census. John Meier, a scholar on the historical Jesus, explains that Jesus’ “birth at Bethlehem is to be taken not as a historical fact” but as a “theological affirmation put into the form of an apparently historical narrative.” In other words, the belief that Jesus was a descendant of King David led to the development of a story about Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. Star of Bethlehem as Comet . 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