The Nativity Story
The Nativity story is covered in Matthew 2 and Luke 2. Luke 2 focuses directly on the events surrounding the actual birth while Matthew 2 covers the wise men, Herod's reaction, and the flight to Egypt. They are not inconsistent, but they do refer to the same specific events, so it is hard to determine to pinpoint the exact sequence of events. I will go with that the events of Luke 2 occurred before the events of Matthew 2. This means that the wise men did not find Jesus in Bethlehem, but either Nazareth or on the road between Jerusalem to Nazareth.
Away in a manger, no crib for his bed (Luke 2:1-7)
Emperor Caesar Augustus, nephew of Julius Caesar, decrees to take census of the Roman empire. Joseph of Galilee returns to his ancestral homeland in Bethlehem to register for the census.
It is not explained in the text why he had to go to Bethlehem to register for the census as opposed to to registering for it in Galilee. That said, if we remember the property inheritance scheme in the Mosaic code in that the land reverts back to the ancestral family every 50 years, this may have been a way to protect his ancestral lands. The ancestral lands were those of David's family since Joseph is a descendant of David.
In Matthew 2, it is pointed out the king of the Jews had to be born in Bethlehem as part of the inheritance of the Davidic line. However, it may have another function directed to the Roman world. Jesus was born in Bethlehem for the Roman census registration would also tell the Roman world that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and is the full heir of the Davidic ancestral line, just like Joseph.
Joseph and Mary stop at a inn for the night and not at a proper home. This might suggest that someone else may have been a tenant at his ancestral land. The other possibility is that the baby was on its way before they arrived at their family homes.
Mary gives birth to baby Jesus and wraps him in a cloth and places him in a manger because there is no room at the inn. Whether or not Jesus was actually born in the same manger is unstated.
Hark! The herald angels sing! (Luke 2:8-21)
Meanwhile, shepherds are outside watching their fields when an angel appears and tells them about the good news occurring in Bethlehem. The angel specifies that they will find a baby wrapped in a manger. Suddenly, a group of angels appear and begin singing. The angels disappear and the shepherds to to Bethlehem and find Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus in the manger. They are excited and tell Mary and the greater public what happened. Mary stores it all up and ponders what just happened to her life.
Up to this point, the pregnancy of Jesus has largely been a private affair. Here the first public excitement occurs.
Jesus goes to Jerusalem as an infant (Luke 2:21-40)
On the eighth day, Jesus is circumcised and officially named Jesus. After the purification period, Joseph and Mary take Jesus to Jerusalem to be properly dedicated as a first-born male. There, they encounter Simeon who takes Jesus into his arms with praise and rejoicing.
They also encounter Anna, who is a prophetess and widow who virtually resides in the temple. She also publicly proclaims that this child will redeem.
Joseph and Mary return to Nazareth in Galilee after doing everything required by the law for this new child.
O holy night - the stars are brightly shining (Matthew 2)
Meanwhile, in the east, a bright star is seen by three wise men. Star-reading is not a usual thing in the Bible, but these men interpret it to mean the king of the Jews is born. The men go to Jerusalem and start asking about paying respect to the newborn king of the Jews.
King Herod hears of this and this freaks him out. He wants to find this newborn king of the Jews. The local population in Jerusalem is also troubled and fears Herod's reaction. They have good reason for concern because Herod will soon overreact and start killing babies.
Jewish scholars tell Herod that the king of the Jews according to Micah 5:2 would be from Bethlehem, not Jerusalem. They do not seem tell Herod what we know from Luke 2 - that this child would need to be presented in Jerusalem. They might have even heard about what Simeon and Anna had said about this baby in the temple. Regardless, they probably want Herod's focus directed elsewhere and not Jerusalem.
At this time, Jesus might actually be in Jerusalem since the wise men came straight there. We do not know why the thee wise men end up in Jerusalem first and did not go straight to Bethlehem. I will throw out a few possibilities:
1. they followed the star to Jerusalem (the test is silent about the star from its first appearance until the wise men leave Jerusalem)
2. they were familiar enough with Jewish law and thought Jesus might be presented in Jerusalem (this only applied to first-born males and there is no indication that they knew this king was the firstborn of Mary), or
3. because Jerusalem was the principle city and someone there would know where to go next.
We three kings of orient are (Matthew 2:9-11)
Back to the story, Herod meets with the three wise and asks them when they first saw this star. Herod tells them to go to Bethlehem to find this child and report back to Herod.
The wise men go and find the star again. This time, it is over a house. They enter the house, find Jesus, and present gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
The wise men are told by God not to return to Herod. God also warns Joseph to flee to Egypt.
Eventually, Herod figures out that the wise men are not returning and Herod then orders that all male children under the age of two in Bethlehem to be killed. On one hand, this was the violent overreaction of a crazed dictator, but it is also might give some indication of how old Jesus was when the wise men arrived on the scene. If the male children under two were killed and Herod asked the wise men when they first saw the star, this might indicate that Jesus is as old as two years at this point.
Herod eventually dies and God tells Joseph it is safe to return from Egypt. However, Joseph is warned in a dream that Archalaus has succeeded Herod as king, he gets nervous and goes to the district of Galilee.
That concludes the Nativity and infancy stories from Matthew 2 and Luke 2. If we combine the two accounts together and try to assemble a chronology, then what emerges is a lot of moving around between Nazareth-Bethlehem-Jersualem-
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