Day three of our look at the family.

         The shortest and easiest route from Nazareth to Bethlehem was south following the trader road and passing through the open area through the coastal mountains and the eastern mountains. Not only easier traveling, but shorter. Not by much, but shorter. 95 miles going the easier road as opposed to 100 miles going the eastern road. But traveling would be more level and easier. On foot, that counted for much. The only problem was that the easy road passed through Samaria. Because the Samaritans were of mixed ancestry, Jewish and Gentile, the Jews despised them. But the Samaritans despised the Jews right back. Joseph might have been tempted to pass through that way, but it was dangerous.

         So it was the eastern route. That road followed the Jordan River southward. The river has mountains and hills on either side of it, so the main road ran along the western side of the hilly river valley rather than right along the river. Up and down hills, slipping through narrow valleys and dealing with outlaws along the way. There was safety in numbers, but Joseph would have had to avoid people as much as possible in order to continue to hide Mary’s pregnancy.

         So, how did Joseph get a nine month pregnant Mary 100 miles over rough terrain without killing her and with no one knowing she was pregnant?

         This has baffled me forever. The donkey thing was out and walking was out. A carpenter would not have owned a wagon or the animal to pull it. There was no need for such a thing. He might have bought a wagon and animal to make the journey there and back. Certainly possible. However, that would have drawn attention. People would have wondered why. After all, Mary was young and strong and had made the same journey some months back to visit her cousin Elizabeth. (Elizabeth’s husband, Zechariah, was a priest at the Temple. Therefore, they would have lived in or around Jerusalem. Bethlehem was only a few miles south of Jerusalem, so Mary’s trip to see her cousin was basically the same route.) I have also considered that God miraculously transported them to Bethlehem. Acts 8 says this as Philip has just baptized an Ethiopian eunuch, And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.  But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. This would have put Philip some 70 miles away from the place where he baptized the man, so it could have been something God could easily done. But the whole story, though planned and executed by God, still followed the human pattern. How they made the trip has always puzzled me.

         Last week, Ed Fitch pestered me to watch a particular movie that he had watched. (I probably shouldn’t say ‘pestered.’ That is negative. Let’s say he ‘insisted.’ Repeatedly.) The movie is about the Nativity story and pretty much follows the whole Catholic mythology with talking animals that worship the Baby and wise-men at the birth and all that. Still, it is very good and, if you get the chance, you should watch it just for the entertainment value. It is called ‘The Star’ and it is animated. Not really a cartoon, just animated. For the most part it is the story we were always told. BUT, there is one major deviation from the traditional story. Joseph is a carpenter. It would make perfect sense for him to have a cart. Smaller than a wagon, but needed for a carpenter to transport finished product and wood and such. A cart with two long poles sticking out of the front that the carpenter would have stood between and lifted and pulled the cart loaded with whatever he was transporting. A carpenter would have made his cart and it would be well made and balanced and easy to pull. In the movie, Joseph loaded supplies and Mary into the cart and set off. Just outside of Bethlehem the cart was destroyed and so Joseph set Mary on a donkey and they went the last little way in that fashion, thus staying with the Catholic myth.

         OF COURSE! Thanks Ed! You have solved a decades old puzzle for me! Let’s just don’t make a habit of the whole pestering, uh-insisting, thing.

         In my mind’s eye I see Joseph carefully loading the cart. If Joseph can average three mile an hour and pull a loaded cart five hours a day, (I figure that five hours would be all any man could do in that situation, up and down serious hills.) they could do fifteen, maybe twenty miles a day. So, the journey would have taken six to seven days. Joseph and Mary probably would have set out with the group of people headed south for the census. Those just walking would have moved along at around five miles an hour and walked ten hours a day easily, so their trip would only take two or three days. They would leave Joseph and Mary behind. But when they all left together, which would have been normal, there would have been some joking. “Hey, Joseph! She should be pulling you!” hahahahahaha   And they would soon be far behind the others.

         But the point is, this could have been done and it would have been accepted and it would have been the logical path to follow. Mary was struggling, Joseph was laboring and God watched as the two people He had chosen made the trip. His hand was on them.

         Always remember, just because the way is hard does not mean God is not there. In fact, we usually see in the Scripture that those doing His will struggle and deal with issues others do not.

         So the journey was on. What was next? Tomorrow, my friends.