It's also quite likely that Jesus was actually born in the autumn (during Tabernacles), not in the winter! It can get very cold in the winter in Israel and it is thought that the census would have most likely taken place during the spring or autumn, at a when many pilgrims, from all over the country, came to visit Jerusalem (which is about six miles from Bethlehem). The dates that we use now were set by Monks and religious leaders in the Middle Ages and before.
The birth of Jesus probably didn't happen in the year 0 but slightly earlier, in about 4, 5, 6 or 7 BCE/BC. So Jesus might have been born out with the shepherds. There's a theory that Jesus might have been born a couple of miles outside of Bethlehem where there was a special shepherds' watch tower called the Migdal Eder. This was done because they thought it helped the baby to grow strong, straight limbs! And as no proper crib was available, the new baby boy was placed in a manger, or feeding trough. The arms and legs of the baby were also wrapped, so they couldn't move. It was the custom in those times to wrap a new born baby very tightly in long bandages called swaddling clothes. That's a rather different scene to what's on many Christmas cards and in nativity scenes! So Jesus was probably born in a 'normal' house at that time and in that area, surrounded by family members and other local people. You can read more about that here in an article on the blog of theologian, Rev Dr Ian Paul. So Joseph and Mary probably had to sleep with the animals on the low level (where it’s common to have a manger cut into a wall where you put the animal food) or possibly (but unlikely) out in a stable, cave or even a covered market stall that sold animals (these stalls could be rented during tabernacles). During the festival, Jews live outside in temporary shelters (the word 'tabernacle' come from a latin word meaning 'booth' or 'hut'). Many people think that Jesus was probably born in September or October during Sukkot, the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, rather than during December. The animals were a kind of 'central heating' at night keeping the house warm! The 'guest room' was often an area on the upper/mezzanine level or even a hut put on the flat roof of the house!Īs many people would have traveled to Bethlehem for the census, all the houses, or certainly upper levels were full. Houses had two levels, the upper/mezzanine level where people slept and the ground floor where the animals slept at night and the family lived during the day. Most houses would have been shared with the animals that the family kept. You would normally stay with extended family in their ‘guest room’ but, as it was a busy time, the guest room was already full. However, a more accurate translation of 'inn' would be 'guest room'. In the Christmas story, it's often said that "there was no room in the inn". In those times, there weren't really such things as motels or inns, you normally would have stayed with some extended family or relations. The journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem would have taken about three days. Some people think that Bethlehem could also have been Joseph's actual home town and he'd traveled to Nazareth to collect Mary, once they were betrothed/married, to take her to his home town to initially live. This also meant that Joseph and the very pregnant Mary would have had to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem, as this was town that Joseph's family (the royal family of David) originally came from - a journey of about 70 miles (112 kilometres). This meant that families had to register in the their historical tribal town rather than where they lived.
The census was carried out all over Empire (most of Europe): but in Palestine, it was carried out in a Jewish way rather than a Roman way.
It was done because the Roman government wanted to make sure that everyone in the Empire was paying their taxes correctly. Scholars think that the census ordered by Caesar Augustus was the first of its kind. The History behind the Birth of Jesus in the Christmas Story