The Birth of Jesus Bible story for kids

Do you remember the angel who came to Mary, in a little town called Nazareth?

The angel told her she would have a baby boy. And his name would be Jesus.

Well. Time went by, the way time does. And now Mary was going to have her baby very soon.

I wonder if she and Joseph, the man she was going to marry, were getting ready. Maybe a soft blanket. Maybe some clean cloths, folded and put away for the day the baby came.

But far away, in a great city called Rome, somebody else was busy making plans.

The emperor. His name was Caesar Augustus, and he ruled over a great, wide empire, with more towns and roads than anybody could count. And one day, the emperor gave an order.

Count everybody. Write down every single name. All the world, the Bible says.

Imagine trying to count every single person in the whole world!

And to be counted, each person had to go back to their own family's town. The town their family had come from, long, long ago.

So all along the roads, people were packing up. Aunties and uncles. Cousins and grandmothers. Everybody heading home to have their names written down.

Now, Joseph's family came from a little town called Bethlehem.

Do you remember David? The shepherd boy with the sling, out in the hills with his sheep? Bethlehem was his town. And Joseph belonged to David's family, all those many years later.

So Joseph had to go to Bethlehem. And Mary went with him.

It was a long way. Out of Nazareth, down the roads from the north, and then up, and up, into the hills. Probably many days of walking. Dusty sandals. Tired feet. Long, quiet evenings by the side of the road.

Did they have a donkey? The Bible doesn't say. Maybe they walked every step.

I wonder how Mary felt, walking all that way with her baby coming so soon. Maybe she had to stop and rest a lot. Maybe Joseph slowed right down, to walk close beside her.

And at last, there it was. Bethlehem. A little town on a hill.

But oh, it was busy. So many families had come home to be counted. Maybe every house was full, every guest room taken, sleeping mats everywhere you looked.

There was no room for them.

Maybe nobody was being unkind. Maybe the little town was simply full, right up to the brim.

So where would they sleep?

We don't know exactly where they stayed. But we do know one thing that was there. A manger.

A manger is the box where animals eat, where the hay and the grain go. So maybe there were animals close by. Maybe a cow, shuffling in the straw. Maybe a sleepy sheep or two.

And while they were there in Bethlehem, the day came.

And the baby was born.

Mary's baby boy. The one the angel had promised. Jesus.

The Bible tells it in just a few words. Listen.

Mary "wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn."

Swaddling clothes are long, soft strips of cloth. And Mary did the wrapping herself, with her own two hands. Round and round, gently, gently. Snug as a little parcel, with only his small face peeking out.

Then she laid him down in the manger. Maybe on a little bed of hay. His very first bed.

And maybe, just maybe, he fell asleep.

Think about that, little one. Far away in Rome, the emperor was busy counting. Counting his people. Every single one.

And nobody doing all that counting knew... that God's promised baby had just been born. In a feeding box. In David's little town.

Another part of the Bible gives this baby a special name, too. Immanuel.

It means... God with us.

Not far away. Not too big to come close. Right here. Wrapped up snug in strips of cloth, in a manger, in Bethlehem. God with us.

And out in the fields nearby, some shepherds were keeping watch over their sheep. They were about to get the surprise of their lives. But that, little one, is a story for another night.

And God was with him. God was with her. God is with you, too.

Nestle in, little one. May the same God who let Himself be wrapped up snug in strips of cloth... come close enough to tuck you in, too.