This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about… Matthew 1:18
No law of science can explain the birth of the Christ Child. It can only be explained by an act of the Almighty God. Mary couldn’t explain it herself, much less explain it to her friends and family. Neither could Joseph. The unusual visitor caused Joseph to change his prospective. 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
Mary and Joseph decided to remain in Bethlehem after Jesus was born. Faithful to the Law of Moses they had Jesus circumcised when he was eight days old. Jesus was presented in the temple at Jerusalem when he was forty days old.
It was at this occasion that Mary and Joseph were met by two senior saints: Simeon and Anna. The shepherds had already told their story. Now it was time for Simeon and Anna to tell theirs. What a story they told!
Later the Magi will arrive from the East. The “East” could be Parthia, Babylon, Persia or Egypt. Older scholars pick Persia; the scholars of today seem to favor Babylon. Either way they would have taken several months to travel to Bethlehem. That would explain the statement in Matthew 2:11 “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary.
It is a time of special intervention from heaven. God will now keep his promise to Abraham that “In your seed will all the families of the earth be blessed”. Is was a giant step for God and a giant step for mankind.
We rejoice with the shepherds, the magi, the angels, Simeon and Anna, Joseph and Mary. We bow the knee to Jesus who was born in Bethlehem and we bring gifts to him: our very souls!