The Gospel According to the Son

5

Joseph was proud of his ancestors; he could claim that he was descended from King David, who was father to King Solomon. For this reason Joseph wished his wife to bear her child in Bethlehem, since that is the city where King David was born, and where Joseph was born.

Mary was now heavy with me but willing to travel for three days from Nazareth to Bethlehem; she was proud of Josephs ancestry. This is the truth of why we took that journey, and it is also true that I was born in a manger by the light of a candle. As all know by now, there was no room at the inn.

A few shepherds were guarding their flocks in the fields surrounding us, and they came upon the manger soon after my birth. An angel appeared to them and pointed to the barn, and the angel said: "This day is born Christ, the Messiah of the Lord."

The shepherds told so many men and women about the angel that word soon came to Herod, the king of Israel, that there had been a holy birth in Bethlehem. Herod saw at once that any babe who had been watched over by an angel could yet become a king. He had no need of other kings.