St Edburg's Church - Bicester

The Journey

 

We are a mere four days away from Christmas Day, the day when we celebrate the birth of Jesus.  Joseph and Mary had left their homes in Nazareth to travel to Bethlehem, the city of their ancestors where they were required to register as part of the census.  Bethlehem being the ancestral city of their forefathers.

 

Bethlehem was, in those days some 70 miles as the crow flies, able bodied people could cover about 20 miles per day walking, slightly more if riding a donkey. At best three or four-days travel.  However, we must remember two vital pieces of information:

 

• Mary was heavily pregnant – a mere few days prior to the birth of the baby she was carrying.  Travelling at about 10 miles per day, it would have taken Joseph & Mary about 8-10 days to reach their destination. Regardless of the route, the journey would have been quite arduous & was probably a scary prospect for the young, pregnant mother.

• The direct route from Nazareth to Bethlehem lay in the path of the most direct route and in those days, there was considerable hostility between the Jews and the Samaritans, passing through Samaria it is likely they would have been harassed and probably refused any sort of accommodation.  As was the custom of many Jews it is likely that Joseph would have taken a longer detour from Galilee, crossing the river Jordon early in the journey and crossing back much closer to Bethlehem, an increase of some 20 miles.

 

Bethlehem sits on a plateau where Joseph, Mary & any others who travelled with them would still have been obliged to make the steep 16 mile (26 km) climb up the road from the Jordan valley near Jericho to the heights on which Jerusalem and Bethlehem rests. In Jesus’ time, this section of the road was called “the Way of Blood”, because of the danger from robbers. Incidentally, this section of road is where Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan is set. It ascends 3,500 feet over 16 miles, which makes for quite a steep gradient. It is likely that by this day – four days before the birth of Jesus Joseph and Mary faced this long and steep climb.

 

As we prepare for our Christmas celebrations let us remember the trials and tribulations that Joseph and Mary had endured to get to this point and the anguish that faced them as they climbed up to Bethlehem followed by the news that there was “no room in the inn” once they arrived.

 

Ian Cribbes