5 Things You Didn’t Know About the Christmas Story
Posted on December 18, 2020 by College Communications in Alumni Stories, Featured.
While her fellow Israel Seminar classmates gathered at the base of the Masada mesa to hear a presentation, Gordon sophomore Nicole DePue ’08 began her ascent alone. To make it to the top at the same time as her peers, she needed an hour head start. “Walking is not an easy task for me,” explains DePue. “I wasn’t sure my feet could handle this. [I couldn’t guarantee] they weren’t going to be in so much pain that I couldn’t do the rest of the trip.”
Ever since DePue was little, doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her feet. They predicted she’d be wheelchair-bound by the time she was 13, but an experimental surgery helped her retain the ability to walk, albeit with some difficulty.
That day it took DePue three times as long to reach the top of Masada. She wasn’t sure she was going to make it, which is why it came to her mind a few days before Christmas this year.
There are several arduous journeys at the heart of the Christmas story. Mary and Joseph travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem. The magi travel to Nazareth from the East. Mary and Joseph take Jesus to Egypt to avoid the wrath of Herod. “I understand what it’s like to rely on God to get through a physical challenge to do what he’s called you to do,” says DePue. “I spent the full trek going up Masada praying. And I am sure on the way to Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph prayed the whole way.”
Because these journeys only take up a few sentences in the Bible, there is much left to our imagination. To understand the risks Mary and Joseph took to bring the Messiah into the world and the lengths the magi went to just to meet him, The Bell interviewed biblical geographer Nicole DePue ’08.
Here are five things you probably didn’t know about Christmas:
Jesus Was Likely Born in the Spring
Have you ever asked yourself why Mary and Joseph would wait until Mary was almost nine months pregnant before making their 80-mile journey to Bethlehem for the census? Why didn’t they leave sooner? We’ll never know for sure, but DePue has one possible explanation.
“Back then many women died during childbirth. The littlest thing could have terminated her pregnancy,” explains DePue. “She could have gotten a fever. And during the winter season, it’s rainy and would have gotten below freezing quite a bit. It would be very dangerous for Mary. That’s why I lean toward it not being winter.” Joseph would have waited until it was safe to travel, even if that meant Mary was days away from giving birth.
So, if it’s unlikely that Mary and Joseph made the journey to Bethlehem in the winter, then when was Jesus actually born? No one knows. Birthdays were considered a pagan tradition and weren’t celebrated in Jewish or Christian households until much later. Eventually, DePue says, “Christianity wanted to cover all non-Christian holidays by having their own holiday in place of it. The winter pagan holidays merged with Christmas.” Before Christmas was celebrated, December 25 was a Roman holiday celebrating the birth of the sun god, Mithra.
Considering the dangers of travelling in the winter, DePue thinks that Jesus was born in the spring because that explains why Joseph and Mary would have chosen to travel at the end of her third trimester. They may have had no choice but to wait.
The Journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem Probably Took a Week
If the current hypothesis among biblical scholars stands—that is a four-day journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem—Mary and Joseph would have had to travel about 90 miles in four days, averaging a 2.5-mph pace for roughly eight hours a day. That doesn’t leave time for Mary and Joseph to take breaks to go to the bathroom, cook or eat meals, or catch their breath, says DePue.
“Most Bible scholars, in my experience, are men,” she says. “And I don’t think they really understand what it would be like to travel as a pregnant woman in her third trimester.”
Aside from the practical problems of not getting to take bathroom breaks and eat food, the four-day hypothesis implies something else that DePue isn’t comfortable with. “A four-day journey [would indicate] that Joseph doesn’t care about Mary. There was no need to rush. I think Joseph would have taken a slower pace for Mary’s sake. He would have prioritized her health and safety.”
With these things in mind, DePue thinks that Mary and Joseph averaged two mph and 12 miles (six hours of travel) per day. In total, she estimates their journey took about one week. DePue even took the time to map out their possible itinerary:
Day 1: Nazareth to Beth Shean
Day 2–3: Beth Shean through the Jordan River Valley
The Jordan River Valley offers freshwater, edible plants (e.g. date palms) and safety from the Samaritans. DePue thinks the two camped close to the river. Because Mary was pregnant and unmarried, it was likely that many of their relatives didn’t accept them, so they may not have had the option of staying in villages.
Day 4: Jordan River Valley to Jericho/North end of the Dead Sea
Day 5–6: Jericho/North end of the Dead Sea to Jerusalem
DePue estimates that the journey from Jericho to Jerusalem would have taken Mary and Joseph two days because it’s an ascent the entire way. “The Dead Sea is the lowest place on the face of the Earth. Jerusalem is in the hill country.”
Day 7: Jerusalem to Bethlehem
This is the shortest leg of the journey. It’s five miles downhill. They would have passed by the city of David, which lied to the south of Herod’s Jerusalem.
The Journey to Bethlehem May Foreshadow Palm Sunday
Scholars aren’t sure whether Mary travelled to Bethlehem on a donkey or not. DePue hopes that she did. She explains, “It’s very symbolic. Jesus was in the womb on a donkey with Mary when they came into Jerusalem from the East. . . which is the same side that Jesus came into Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Sunday.” The entry into Jerusalem on a donkey from the East gate may bookend Jesus’ life.
The Magi Were Most Likely Ancient Astronomers from Babylon
The magi are the most mysterious of the Christmas story characters. We’re not exactly sure who they are, where they’re from or how they knew to follow the star to Jesus. “We know they come from ‘the East,’” says DePue. “Babylon is referred to as ‘the East’ other places in Scripture. Nebuchadnezzar came from ‘the East’. The Jews in the diaspora under Daniel went to ‘the East.’ ‘The East’ usually meant Babylon.”
And although their name sounds like an abbreviation for magician, DePue says, “They didn’t perform tricks or magic. They were diviners—people who looked to the stars to gain perspective. They were astronomers/astrologists.”
The Magi May Have Met Jesus When He Was A Toddler in Nazareth
On today’s map, Babylon would be pretty close to Bagdad, Iraq, which means the magi would have travelled more than 900 miles to meet Jesus. By the time they got to Jerusalem, they were looking for a child, not a baby, which implies that they had been travelling for a long time. DePue points out that in the Bible the magi find Jesus in a proper house. There are no animals. There is no manger. “This makes me think that Jesus was already in Nazareth when the magi came,” says DePue.
Another reason for why DePue thinks the magi found Jesus in Nazareth is because of the route they took home. “The magi went home a different way to avoid Herod in Jerusalem,” she explains. “If they went to Bethlehem, the only way to avoid going through Jerusalem would be to add to what was already a very long journey. It’s too long. It wouldn’t make sense.”
We hope these five insights from Nicole DePue help you experience the Christmas story in a fresh way and deepen your appreciation of what Mary, Joseph and the magi went through to welcome Christ into the world. Merry Christmas!
Header image: Ancient ruins at the top of the Masada mesa in Masada National Park.
Share
- Share on Facebook
- Share on X (Formerly Twitter)
- Share on LinkedIn
- Share on Email
-
Copy Link
-
Share Link
Categories
Categories
Archives
- April 2025
- March 2025
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014