Mary Gives Birth to Jesus

(Gospel of the Birth of Mary 8:1 - 8:15)
Three months after his betrothal to Mary, Joseph made the trip from Judea to Galilee with the intention of marrying her.  By this time Mary’s pregnancy had become so advanced that it could not be concealed.  Joseph, calling upon her informally and chatting with her as a man would his betrothed, could not help noticing her condition.  This made him very uncomfortable and uncertain; he knew not what course of action to take.  Being a just man, he did not want to expose her, and being a pious man, he did not want to publicly defame her as a promiscuous woman.  Therefore, he decided that he would  privately retract his offer of marriage and, as discreetly, send her away.

While he was mulling over these things, a messenger of Jehovah appeared to him in a dream.  He told him, "Joseph, descendant of David, don't be afraid.  You mustn't have any suspicions that the Virgin has been guilt of fornication or think ill of her.  Have no reluctance to take her as your wife.  For what is growing within her, that so distresses you, is not the product of a man, but of the Spirit Divine.  She, of all women, is the only virgin who will give birth to the Son of God, whom you will call Jesus the Savior -- for he will save his people from their sins.”

Following the commands of Jehovah's messenger, Joseph wed Mary, but refrained from having sexual relations with her, preserving her chastity.  As the ninth month of her pregnancy neared, Joseph took his wife and whatever things they needed and journeyed to his home town of Bethlehem.  While they were there, Mary's time came.  And she did indeed give birth to her first-born son, the Master Jesus, the Christ of whom the evangelists teach us, the Son who, with the Father and the Spirit Divine, lives and will reign in the ages to come. 

Notes
1. Jehovah's messengers are busy paying calls upon the characters in this narrative.  Mary is quite used to their visits.  However, since Joseph is not, they avoid freaking him out by coming to him only in a dream.  This seems to be a recurring practice.  Those who are in communion with the divine, or the supposed divine, are witness to physical manifestations and communications that occur when the subject is conscious.   Conversations and interactions occur.  However, with those who cannot aspire to be a Moses or a Mary, Jehovah's agents are more aloof, and perhaps more circumspect in conveying their messages.  Even Joseph does not seem worthy of a personal visit.

2. It might have been more considerate, one would think, if Jehovah had arranged to warn Joseph about Mary's virginal pregnancy before, rather than after his visit to Mary.  Joseph was naturally perturbed and distressed when he found his fiancee was going to have a baby.  Was he expected to react otherwise?  Why was he needlessly subjected to such mental anguish?  Why didn't they let him know beforehand?

3. Joseph takes his wife to his hometown of Bethlehem so that Jesus can be born there, and the Old Testament prophecy can be conveniently fulfilled.  It is never explained why Joseph, probably long established as a carpenter there, would eventually move his business to his wife's home in Nazareth, where Jesus would grow up.  Nazareth and Bethlehem were at that time located in what could be regarded as separate countries, Galilee and Judea.

4. Why Joseph and Mary journeyed to Bethlehem for the birth seems to be solely because Joseph lives in Bethlehem.  There is no reference to a Roman census or, for that matter, any difficulties in finding a place to stay -- there would be none, since, one assumes, they would be staying in Joseph’s home.  The birth simply occurs, with no reference to the familiar Nativity lore promulgated in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.  Interesting that this later Gospel would not at least allude to events that one would regard as being already well established in Christian tradition.