Merry Christmas, let's walk with Mary

Click on map to enlarge to help see the distance

This fall I took a look at the Christmas story. Here I am concerned with two trips that are made from Nazareth into the suburbs of Jerusalem. You are familiar with the story of Joseph and Mary traveling to Bethlehem about 7 miles south of Jerusalem. The map I showed you comes from Bible mapper and it marks the roads of the first century. Geography determines where the roads are much like Appalachian Mountains or the Rockies. The trail I mapped out roughly is 80 to 90 miles. There are shorter trails by higher elevations that were more rugged and they moved through territory Jews avoided, see John 4. 

The journey would take 3 to 4 days. 

The trip that nobody seems to notice is the trip that Mary took right after she talked to the angel. Here she walked from Nazareth to the hill country of Judah. Where is this location? The Bible doesn't tell us exactly where Elizabeth and Zacharias lived. Our best guess is a place called Kerem about 5 miles west of Jerusalem. What we do know is they lived in the hill country of Judea and Kareem is in the hill country of Judea. We are not sure that is the location until we get to heaven but it gives us an idea what it was like. The location doesn't really change the story.

Luke 1:23, 26; 39; 56; 2:4 give us the references of travel. When Mary walked to see

Kerem, traditional location of John the Baptist
birthplace

Elizabeth she apparently walked alone. That tells me how important this was too her. You don’t walk 50 to 90 miles on a whim. She was assertive and strong. Here we find that she hurried and at the stage she could do an aerobic walk. When she walks with Joseph I believe her pace is a little slower. Taking a 90 mile walk at the end of your pregnancy would indicate how strong women are. Note her conversation with Jesus in John 2. Jesus let her know His purpose was to do the will of God; but He still did what she wanted Him to do. I won’t take time now but she did these long walks all of her life. She walked with her son in her middle to late 40’s. Her fitness would help her live long enough to be a witness for Luke’s writing 25+ years later.

The Christmas story took 3 years counting the pregnancies of Elizabeth and Mary to the journey to Egypt with toddler in hands. We put it all together in a play and give the impression of one silent night but there is time between the events of the Christmas story. Read carefully the story from the Bible. There is no Mary riding a donkey, an innkeeper, a cave. The donkey if they had one I believe would've carried bedding and shelter which could've been very simple. Relatives would have put you up in their home, roof, or where they kept their animals. Many villages had an outdoor location for animals and guests to stay. The manger was an animal trough and it could fit such a location. Could it have been in a cave? There was a cave nearby. Think of their journey for the three or four days. These people did this trip for the religious festivals in Jerusalem. Families would have made temporary travel as comfortable as they could. Depending on their resources they may had to do this with only the cover of their outer robes. 

For me looking at this story they have a lot in common with pioneers. Jesus's parents would have taught him how to live outdoors. This couple was capable of a long trip to Egypt. Now you can see the skills that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had. Jesus would have had them too.

This Christmas take a moment to remember that Joseph and Mary were walkers. They being walkers would have shared that skill with Jesus whom it is estimated walked a quarter of a million miles. Keep walking and Merry Christmas from the fat man.

Sources, bible.org https://lumina.bible.org/bible/Luke+2 and Bible Gateway https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/ivp-nt/Luke have notes and commentary that you can look up concerning length of trip. IVC argues my position and Thomas Constable presents another route. http://biblemapper.com/gallery1.htm http://www.biblewalks.com/sites/EinKarem.html