Caesar Augustus, the ruler of the Romans, ordered that everyone in the world should be counted. He wanted to see how many people lived under his rule. This meant that everyone would have to travel (no matter how far away you were) back to your family’s home town. For Mary and Joseph, that meant traveling back to Bethlehem since Joseph was from the family of King David.

While they were there in Bethlehem for the counting, the time came for Mary to have her baby, Baby Jesus. Since there were so many people there for the counting, there was no rooms available in the inns, so baby Jesus was born in a stable, a place for animals.

So, while Caesar was showing everyone how great he was by counting all of his people, God, the King of the universe, was showing the world how great He was by sending His Son into the world as one of His people.

Main Point: God sent His Son into the world.

God's plan to redeem the world and rescue us from our sin began. Jesus, His Son, was born and would someday save God's people from their sin.

Spend time praying

Dear God,
Thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to earth. You are great and showed Your greatness by sending Your Son into the world to save us.
Amen.