Paper 122 Overview: Birth and Infancy of Jesus

The birth of Jesus on Urantia (earth) was carefully planned by celestial beings, with Palestine chosen as the location and Joseph and Mary selected as his earthly parents. Gabriel, a high spiritual messenger, appeared to both Elizabeth (mother of John the Baptist) and Mary to announce the impending births of their special sons. Jesus was born in Bethlehem on August 21, 7 B.C., during a census-required journey, and the family later fled to Egypt to escape King Herod's jealous wrath.

The paper details the family backgrounds of Joseph and Mary, their journey to Bethlehem, the actual birth in the stable, the presentation at the temple, and their eventual escape to Alexandria. Throughout these events, we see how both heavenly planning and ordinary human circumstances shaped the early years of Jesus, who grew up as a normal child even while celestial beings recognized his extraordinary destiny. After two years in Egypt, the family returned to Nazareth where Jesus would spend most of his childhood.

The selection of Palestine as the birthplace for Michael's (Jesus') final bestowal was the result of careful planning and consideration by celestial beings. After studying reports on segregated worlds prepared by the Melchizedeks, Michael chose Urantia (earth) as the planet for his incarnation, and Gabriel subsequently conducted a personal survey of the world. Based on Gabriel's study of the spiritual, intellectual, racial, and geographic features of earth and its peoples, he determined that the Hebrews possessed relative advantages that warranted their selection as the bestowal race.

With Michael's approval of this decision, Gabriel dispatched a Family Commission of Twelve to investigate Jewish family life. This commission ultimately nominated three prospective families, from which Gabriel personally selected Joseph and Mary. Gabriel then appeared to Mary to inform her that she had been chosen to become the earth mother of the divine child, initiating the series of events that would lead to the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.

Joseph, the human father of Jesus, was a Hebrew carpenter whose ancestry traced back to Abraham and beyond to ancient bloodlines including Sumerian and Nodite heritage. Though not directly descended from David or Solomon, Joseph came from a long and distinguished line of common people's nobility, occasionally marked by individuals who had distinguished themselves in religious history. He was a carpenter and later a building contractor, embodying the traits of a respectable, hardworking tradesman from whom Jesus would learn much.

Mary, Jesus' mother, descended from a remarkable lineage of unique ancestors that included many notable women in Urantia's racial history. Though culturally and religiously Jewish, her genetic heritage was more diverse, comprising Syrian, Hittite, Phoenician, Greek, and Egyptian stocks. Together, Joseph and Mary represented an ideal combination of widespread racial connections and superior personality traits that made them perfect parents for Michael's bestowal. The divine plan called for Jesus to appear as an average person to whom common people could relate, and Gabriel selected this couple precisely because they fulfilled this requirement.

The groundwork for Jesus' ministry began with his cousin John the Baptist, whose parents were Zacharias, a Jewish priest, and Elizabeth, a relative of Mary. In June of 8 B.C., approximately three months after Joseph and Mary were married, Gabriel appeared to Elizabeth at midday. The celestial messenger announced that she would soon bear a son who would be the forerunner of a divine teacher, instructing her to name him John and explaining that he would prepare the way for the "soul-healer" and "spirit-liberator" of mankind.

This vision greatly startled Elizabeth, who kept it secret from everyone except her husband for five months. Zacharias initially doubted the experience until Elizabeth's pregnancy became evident, and he became fully convinced only after having a prophetic dream about six weeks before John's birth. John was born on March 25, 7 B.C., and from his earliest days, his parents carefully impressed upon him that he was destined to become a spiritual leader and religious teacher, deliberately shaping his understanding of his special mission.

Around mid-November of 8 B.C., Gabriel appeared to Mary while she was working at her Nazareth home. The heavenly messenger announced that she had been chosen to become the mother of a child of destiny, instructing her to name him Joshua (Jesus) and revealing that he would "inaugurate the kingdom of heaven on earth and among men." Gabriel told Mary to keep this information private, sharing it only with Joseph and her kinswoman Elizabeth, who would also bear a special son named John who would prepare the way for Jesus' message.

Mary contemplated this visitation secretly for several weeks until she was certain of her pregnancy before telling Joseph. When told about the angelic visitation, Joseph was torn between his great confidence in Mary and his logical doubts about such an extraordinary event. After weeks of consideration, both Mary and Joseph reached the momentous conclusion that they had been chosen as parents of the long-awaited Messiah, although their concept of the Messiah's role was the traditional Jewish understanding of a national deliverer rather than a spiritual savior for all humankind. Following this realization, Mary visited Elizabeth to share their extraordinary experiences.

Joseph remained troubled by Mary's pregnancy until he experienced a remarkable dream that transformed his understanding. In this dream, a brilliant celestial messenger appeared and explained that Mary's child would become "a great light in the world" whose life would become "the light of mankind." The messenger assured Joseph that the child would reveal that those who receive him are children of God, which finally convinced Joseph of the divine nature of Mary's pregnancy.

Significantly, nothing in Joseph's dream or any of the angelic visitations mentioned the house of David, Jewish deliverance, or the conventional messianic expectations of the time. Jesus was not meant to be a Jewish political messiah but rather a world deliverer whose mission extended to all races and peoples. Many of the so-called Messianic prophecies were only applied to Jesus long after his life on earth had ended, often distorting figurative passages and genealogies to fit predetermined narratives about his mission and identity.

Joseph was characterized by his mild manner, conscientiousness, and faithfulness to Jewish religious practices. Though he spoke little, he thought deeply, and the difficult circumstances of the Jewish people caused him considerable sadness. As a youth, Joseph had been more cheerful, but during Jesus' childhood, he experienced periods of spiritual discouragement that improved in later years as the family's economic situation enhanced when he advanced from carpenter to successful contractor.

Mary's temperament contrasted with Joseph's, as she was typically cheerful, rarely downcast, and possessed a sunny disposition. She freely expressed her emotions and remained strong and composed through life's challenges, including the sudden death of Joseph and later the extraordinary and sometimes troubling career of her firstborn son. Jesus inherited different traits from each parent—his gentleness and understanding of human nature from Joseph, and his teaching ability and capacity for righteous indignation from Mary. Both parents were well-educated for their time and ensured their children received thorough instruction in the learning of their day.

The Nazareth home where Jesus grew up was situated near a hill in the northern part of town, some distance from the village spring in the eastern section. This location on the outskirts of the city allowed Jesus to easily take walks in the countryside and climb the nearby highland, which was the highest in southern Galilee except for Mount Tabor and the hill of Nain. Their home was positioned southeast of the southern promontory of this hill, about midway between the base of the elevation and the road to Cana.

The family dwelling was a simple one-room stone structure with a flat roof and an adjoining building for housing animals. The furniture consisted of basic items: a low stone table, earthenware and stone dishes, a loom, a lampstand, small stools, and mats for sleeping on the stone floor. In the backyard near the animal shelter was an oven and a grain mill that required two people to operate—one to grind and another to feed grain. As the family grew larger, they would gather around the expanded stone table for meals, and after Martha's birth, Joseph built an addition to the house that served as his carpenter shop during the day and a sleeping room at night.

In March of 8 B.C., Caesar Augustus decreed a census throughout the Roman Empire for taxation purposes. Due to Jewish prejudice against population counting and problems in Herod's administration, the census in Palestine was delayed until 7 B.C. Although Joseph could have registered for his family without Mary traveling, she insisted on accompanying him to Bethlehem, partly fearing the child might be born during his absence and partly hoping to visit her relative Elizabeth, who lived nearby.

Despite Joseph's objections, Mary prepared double rations for the journey, and they departed Nazareth early on August 18, 7 B.C. The couple traveled for three days, with Mary riding their one animal while Joseph walked alongside. They camped by the Jordan River the first night, spent the second night at the foot of Mount Sartaba, and stayed at an inn outside Jericho on the third night. Upon reaching Bethlehem in midafternoon on August 20, they found the inn overcrowded and were offered lodging in a cleaned-out stable area hewn into the rock below the inn, where Mary soon went into labor.

Jesus was born at noon on August 21, 7 B.C., with the assistance of fellow women travelers who helped Mary through her delivery. The baby was wrapped in clothes Mary had brought along and placed in a nearby manger. Following Jewish tradition, he was circumcised on the eighth day and officially named Joshua (Jesus), though he would become known by the Greek form of this name.

The day after Jesus' birth, Joseph met someone who helped them secure proper accommodations at the inn, where they stayed for nearly three weeks before finding lodging with a distant relative. Zacharias invited Joseph to Jerusalem for a conference, convincing him that Jesus should grow up in Bethlehem as the successor to David's throne. Contrary to popular stories, no shepherds came to worship the baby Jesus, and the "wise men" were actually priests from Ur who arrived nearly three weeks after the birth, having been directed there by Zacharias after a religious teacher in their country had a dream about the "light of life" appearing as a baby in Israel.

Following Mosaic law, Joseph and Mary took Jesus to the Jerusalem temple when he was forty days old to fulfill two religious obligations. First, they presented their firstborn son to the priests and paid five shekels for his redemption, as Jewish tradition taught that firstborn sons belonged to the Lord. Second, Mary completed the required purification ritual for mothers after childbirth, both ceremonies typically being performed together.

At the temple, they encountered Simeon and Anna, two remarkable individuals who frequently spent time together in the temple courts and had been informed by Zacharias about the secret of John and Jesus. Zacharias had arranged to indicate which child was Jesus when the family arrived, and Anna had written a special poem for the occasion, which Simeon sang to the astonishment of Joseph and Mary. This hymn celebrated Jesus as a "light for the unveiling of the gentiles" and "the glory of Israel," prophecies that troubled Joseph and Mary as they returned to Bethlehem, since Joseph particularly disagreed with this premature declaration of Jesus as the Messiah.

King Herod learned about the birth of a potential "king of the Jews" from the visiting priests from Ur, but their explanations that the child was born to fulfill a spiritual rather than political destiny failed to satisfy his suspicions. When the wise men did not return to inform him of the child's location, Herod grew increasingly paranoid and dispatched spies to locate Joseph and Mary. Meanwhile, Zacharias and Elizabeth remained away from Bethlehem to avoid drawing attention to the special child.

The situation grew increasingly dangerous for the holy family as Herod's search intensified. Joseph, afraid to seek work openly, quickly depleted their small savings. After more than a year of fruitless searching, Herod issued an order to systematically search every house in Bethlehem and kill all boy babies under two years of age, resulting in the murder of sixteen infants in one day. Fortunately, a believer among Herod's court staff warned Zacharias, who sent a messenger to Joseph. The night before the massacre, Joseph and Mary fled with Jesus to Alexandria, Egypt, where they lived for two full years with Joseph's well-to-do relatives, supported by funds from Zacharias, returning to Palestine only after Herod's death.