Christmaschristmas a Christian holiday
celebrating the birth of Christ.
About two thousand years ago, in the town of Nazareth, there lived a young
woman named Mary. She was engaged to be married to Joseph, a carpenter. One day
an angel appeared before her and told her she had been chosen to have a special
baby. The baby would be God's son and she must call him Jesus Soon after the
angel's visit, Mary and Joseph were married. Mary was due to have her baby when
they were told they had to go on a long journey to Bethlehem, which was where
Joseph came from.This was because they had to pay a special tax. Mary had to
ride on a donkey for a few days over the hills of Gallilee.
At last Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem. It was crowded with other people
who needed to pay their taxes. Mary was very tired and needed a place to stay.
At each inn, the story was the same. There was no room for them. Eventually,
one kind innkeeper said he had a stable where he kept his animals. They were
welcome to stay there.
And so it was that a few hours later, Mary gave birth to her son in that
stable. She wrapped Jesus in strips of cloth and laid Him in a manger full of
hay.
At the same time, on a hillside overlooking Bethlehem, some shepherds were
watching over their sheep. A bright light appeared in the sky. They were very
afraid. It was an angel sent by God. The angel told them not to be afraid,
because he had some good news. He said the Son of God had been born and they
would find Him in Bethlehem.
The shepherds wanted to go and see the baby. When they arrived at the stable,
they were filled with joy at seeing Jesus lying in the manger. They knelt down
and worshipped Him. They told Mary and Joseph how the angel had appeared in the
sky and told them that Jesus was to be the Saviour of the world.
Far away in the East, three wise men named Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar, saw
a new star shining high in the sky. These men, who were kings, studied the
stars and they knew this was a very special star. They studied their scrolls
where it said that whenever a bright new star appeared it meant that a great
ruler had been born.
The three wise men decided to find this new ruler. They went to Jerusalem to
see King Herod, as they thought the baby would be in the palace. They asked to
see the child that would be King of the Jews. The king was troubled. He thought
this new king may take away his throne. He told them to return when they had
found the baby so that he could worship the child himself.
The wise men set off to find the baby. They were guided by the star to the
stable in Bethlehem. Here they knelt down and worshipped Jesus. They gave him
gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. That night, the three men had the same
dream where an angel warned them that King Herod wanted to kill Jesus and told
them not to go back to his palace.
The wise men went back to their own country without calling to see Herod. Soon
after Joseph had a dream where an angel told him to take Mary and Jesus to
Egypt as King Herod had ordered that Jesus be killed. They left Bethlehem right
away. When the wise men did not return, Herod ordered that baby boys in
Bethlehem be killed. They did not find Jesus as he was safe.
MyReligiousItems.com - Other
Information about Religious Items & Gifts
