Luke 2:1-20 · 3 min read

The Christmas Story

The Christmas story in Luke 2 is short. A Roman census sends Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, Jesus is born and laid in a manger, and an angel brings the news to shepherds in the fields. Read it below, then try the quiz at the end.

The road to Bethlehem

Now in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to enroll themselves, everyone to his own city.

Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to David’s city, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David; to enroll himself with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him as wife, being pregnant.

The birth

While they were there, the day had come for her to give birth. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Shepherds in the field

There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock. Behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people. For there is born to you today, in David’s city, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This is the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a feeding trough.”

Luke 2:11 picture (WEB): “For there is born to you today, in David’s city, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” — Key verse · Luke 2:11

The angels’ song

Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men.”

Go and see

When the angels went away from them into the sky, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem, now, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” They came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby was lying in the feeding trough.

When they saw it, they publicized widely the saying which was spoken to them about this child. All who heard it wondered at the things which were spoken to them by the shepherds.

But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart.

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, just as it was told them.

World English Bible · public domain ·Read all of Luke 2

About this passage

Luke 2 opens with a Roman order: everyone had to go to his own town to be registered. The order sends Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem, King David’s town, so Jesus is born in the town the prophet Micah named as the birthplace of a ruler of Israel (Micah 5:2).

Luke never mentions a stable. He says Mary laid the baby in a manger, a feeding trough for animals, because there was no room for them in the inn. The word he uses for inn can also mean a guest room, so the family may have been squeezed in with the animals at the lower end of a crowded house.

The first people to hear the news are shepherds working a night shift. The angel says the joy is for all people, and in Luke it reaches working men in a field before it reaches anyone in a palace. The shepherds go, find everything as they were told, and spread the news. Mary listens and keeps their words in her heart.