Luke 2:1 - 24

In stark contrast to the birth of John, Jesus is born with no fanfare or celebration.  Mary and her husband, Joseph, travel to Bethlehem to be registered in the Roman census.  While in the ancestral home of their families, no relative or friend opens their home to the couple.  The child is born in the lowest of conditions in the midst of feeding cattle.  Shepherds, the social outcasts of society arrive to find exactly what angelic messengers had promised they would - the Messiah laying in a manger as a baby.  All are stunned at this!  Mary, we are told, kept careful notice of all that occurred and meditated on them; deeply considering all that God was doing in the life of this little One.