Mary was a young girl who lived in the land of Galilee over 2,000 years ago and she was engaged to be married to Joseph, a carpenter.
One day, an angel came to Mary and said, “You are blessed among women for you shall give birth to a son whom you will name Jesus. He shall be called the Son of God and his Kingdom shall never end.”
Mary gladly accepted the Lord’s will and the angel went away.
Then the time came for Joseph to go to Bethlehem in Judea which was his father’s town. Joseph had to pay his taxes here. Mary went with him but the journey was very tiring for her.
When at last they reached Bethlehem they found the town to be full of people and they could not find a place to stay. All the inns in town were full of people. Joseph asked the inn keepers to give only Mary a place to stay but they could not do even that.
One inn keeper seeing how tired Mary was took pity on them and offered them his stable which they gladly took. It was full of sweet smelling hay .
Here, in this stable Jesus was born on Christmas Day. Mary wrapped baby Jesus in swaddling clothes and laid him in the manger.
On this night, there were shepherds watching over their flocks when suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared before them in all his glory and the shepherds were afraid.
The Angel said: “Do not be afraid. I bring you news of great joy for all people. For today, a child is born in Bethlehem – A Saviour who is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign to you. You shall find him in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.”
The sky then filled with many angels praising God singing "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men.”
After a while, the Angels returned to heaven and the shepherds decided to go in search of the Holy babe the Angel told them about.
They found him in the stable at Bethlehem, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in the manger.
Afterwards, the shepherds told everyone they met about the holy child in the manger.
Three wise men (also called the three kings sometimes) heard about the birth of Jesus and came to Jerusalem, to the king’s palace looking for the baby. “Where is he, who is born as the 'King of the Jews’? We, who have seen his star in the East are here to worship him.
The king of the land was Herod and he was wicked and cunning. When he heard about the birth of Jesus and the wise men he was troubled and he called the wise men of the land and asked them if someone else is going to be the king of the Jews. They said yes, and the prophets have said that a king will be born in Bethlehem.
Hearing this, the king called the three wise men to him.
He asked them to go to Bethlehem and find the baby and to come back and tell him so that he could go and worship him too. But in his heart, he planned to kill this baby, born to be the king of the Jews.
Then, the wise men set off to Bethlehem and the Star they saw in the East went before them and finally, stood over the house where Baby Jesus was. The wise men were very happy to see this and they entered the house with great reverence.
When the wise men saw Baby Jesus with his mother they knelt down and worshipped him. Then they gave him valuable gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Then the wise men started on their journey home. They did not go to see King Herod for the Lord warned them not to go and so, they went home a different way.
This is the Jesus, who as an adult started preaching about the Kingdom of God. He said that he is the son of God. If people want to go to heaven, to the Kingdom of God they have to make peace with God first.
He also said that there is no other way to go to God but only through accepting him (Jesus). After three years of service, he died on the cross. When Jesus died on the cross the people who crucified him put a plaque over his head saying 'This is the King of the Jews.'
Today, Christians, the followers of Jesus Christ believe Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for their sins. They believe that the blood of Jesus washes their sins away and helps everyone to become a child of God.
This popular Christian children’s hymn tells the story of the birth of Jesus and what he has gained for little children in heaven, in the kingdom of God.