The Nativity of Jesus Christ is the honored birth of the Messiah, born in Bethlehem to Joseph and Mary. Christians celebrate this event on December 25 with a traditional Nativity scene depicting the arrival of visitors, including the Three Kings who presented gifts symbolizing Jesus’ destiny. The Nativity is commemorated through dramatization and living Nativity scenes.
Hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus Christ, Jewish prophets foretold the coming to earth of a Messiah who would deliver the Jews from their oppressors. This Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, an obscure village in Palestine. When a direct descendant of the Jewish king David, a carpenter named Joseph, arrived in Bethlehem with his pregnant wife Mary for a tax census, they found refuge only in a stable. When Mary gave birth to her son Jesus, several Eastern astrologers, or sages, are believed to have paid homage to the child. This scene is now regarded by Christians as the Nativity, or the honored birth of Christ.
The Nativity of Jesus Christ is one of the essential elements of the Christian holiday known as Christmas. Although there has been speculation about the actual season of Jesus’ birth, modern Christians have assigned December 25 as the symbolic date of Christ’s arrival on Earth. The Nativity scene traditionally depicts Joseph and Mary receiving visitors, including several local shepherds and a visiting group of Eastern astrologers or mystics traditionally known as the Three Kings.
The Nativity does not necessarily represent the precise moment of Jesus’ birth, but a moment in which Joseph and Mary could formally receive visitors. In the traditional Nativity scene, the baby Jesus is presented in a manger, symbolic of his future role as sacrificial Lamb. Around the manger there are some domestic animals and the shepherds who look after them. Joseph and Mary are often positioned on either side of the manger, to greet their guests and protect the baby Jesus.
During the Nativity, the Three Kings are said to have presented Joseph and Mary with three gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. Representations of these gifts are often included in a traditional nativity scene. Each gift is said to represent an aspect of Jesus’ destiny, from kingship symbolized by gold, to the bitterness of his death symbolized by myrrh, a traditional spice for Jewish burial. However, some modern biblical scholars have wondered whether the story of the sages of the East may be more of a legend than a true event.
In modern times, many Christians commemorate the original Nativity of Jesus by displaying models of the event in their homes. Others volunteer to recreate the story of Jesus’ birth and Nativity through dramatization. Some churches erect a living nativity scene using live volunteers and real animals.
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