Strange Story: The Birth of Jesus Part 10 The Birth

The crumbling cave was the shelter of last resort of men and beasts. It had received a number of new occupants, but the flow of incoming animals had noticeably slowed and there was still room; they weren’t cramped yet. All the animals brought to the cave that night were pack animals, donkeys, mules and horses, for this was only a place to protect the overflow of pack animals brought by travelers who came for the census. Thus, there were no cows or sheep present. It was now dark and “Up” figured that not many more travelers would arrive after dark. He had convinced the boys who were in charge of the animals that they did not need to post one of their number in his small cave. He would care for the animals and make sure none of them ran away or was stolen. He was grateful when they agreed and left him and “Reb” alone.

“Up” was tired to the bone. His arms, back, and feet throbbed from pulling the cart across the entire country. He tried to stay awake to monitor “Reb,” but despite his pain, he dosed off anyway.

Then a new sound woke him. His wife was stirring and acting uncomfortable. Every few minutes she would experience pain. He knew nothing about the birthing process for men were not told these things back then, but he figured this was part of it. But this was too early!

“Reb, wasn’t this supposed to happen later?”

Between times of gasping for breath his young wife explained that the hard journey had likely brought on the labor pains early. That would make the birthing process easier, but the baby’s hold on life would be tenuous for a few weeks.

The next contraction was harder than the others had been. She cried out in pain, despite her efforts to conceal it. “Up” was beside himself. He wanted to help but didn’t have a clue how. He kept asking in a desperate tone, “What can I do?” “What can I do?”

After that contraction had passed, she took a few more breaths then looked her husband in the face and said, “If you stay here, you will make things worse. Please, go fetch some water that is cleaner than this puddle and bring it to the mouth of the cave, but do not come in with it. I have enough drinking water for me to drink. Stay outside the cave and wait. Do not come back in until I call your name. Now go!”

He knew she was right; he was of no help at all in this process. But even so, it almost killed him to leave her and go outside. Fetching some water in the darkness was the easy part. After that he waited, suffering his own kind of agony.

The reality was that his wife had received affirmation and encouragement when she went to visit her cousin. “Up” longed for his own affirmation; it had been a long time since his encounter with the angel and it was hard to keep his eyes off of the negatives and on the positives.

In the subsequent hours he wondered many times, “Does labor always take this long? I guess I never paid attention. I’m sure a year or two have passed since she started screaming and I started pacing.”

Finally he heard a different kind of sound coming from her, and then she called his name. He raced into the cave at full speed, and there he was, a very tiny baby boy on the floor in a pool of blood (his plan to have liquid flow away from her had not worked). “Reb” was trying to lift him up to her but she could not get a good grip on him because he was so slippery. After more than one attempt, “Up” managed to half scoot and half lift the baby into his mother’s arms. In the process his face went white because he saw a cord that was still attached to baby and to mom.

Despite her exhaustion, she was calm and had a clear head. She told him to get his flint knife and cut that cord. As he brought his knife he asked, “Will this hurt either of you?”

She said, “I don’t know, but it has to be done, so do it quickly.”

He cut it but was visibly shaken afterwards.

She called him back to reality and then and said, “In your haste you forgot the water. I think I need it now.” He chuckled and ran out to get it. She did her best to wash the blood and afterbirth off the baby, then she asked “Up” for the small bag of rags she had brought with her. She had prepared for this moment for months by saving every scrap of worn-out clothing she could find and tearing it into long strips. Now she used bigger rags to dry the baby and long thin ones to wrap the baby tightly in these strips of cloth as she had seen other women do. Then she handed the baby to Dad and tried to clean herself up with the water. Despite the difficulties, she managed quite well and in the end the pool of blood had been transformed into a pool of bloody water, but she was not in it. Later he reflected back on it and was amazed at how she could pull that off without getting blood and mud all over her; he would have been covered in the foul mixture like a dirt magnet.

As he held the child his first thought was, “I’ve never done this before. I hope I don’t drop him or break him.” His next though was one of amazement, “How is it that a young woman who is considered ‘Rebellious’ and a young man who is not ‘Increasing’ at all, can be blessed with this great privilege?” But his next thought was one of great concern. “Will we be able to properly raise this child? Will we be able to teach him anything?”

“Reb” nursed the child for a little while, then she asked “Up” to take the child while she got some sleep; she could not resist it any longer. Once again he carefully took the baby, but he was not comfortable holding him. The child looked like he might fall asleep too. “Up” looked for a good place to lay the baby down. The floor would not do, so he decided on the feeding trough closest to “Reb.” He looked at the cushions they had brought with them but “Reb” was using them and they would be too big anyway. With one hand he grabbed a large handful of the meager supply of fresh hay and put it in the manger then laid the baby on the hay. Then he stood guard to make sure none of the animals tried to eat any of the hay on which the baby was sleeping. He was no longer tired. Every cell of his being was on high alert, not because there was lots of danger, but because he felt an incredible sense of responsibility for this baby and his mother.

Looking at the baby in the feeding trough He was amazed at everything that had happened to them, the good and the bad. He knew God was behind this but once again it seemed strange that God would do things in this way. In a culture in which everything revolved around key relationships, this baby was born in the presence of pack animals!

He hoped that no one would come to their cave and see the baby lying in a feeding trough. It would represent the ultimate humiliation. It would prove that they had no relatives who were willing to care for them; without relatives there was no one to recommend a midwife. There was only rejection on every side, demonstrated by this feeding trough. He was thankful that the only witnesses were animals, and they didn’t care.

To navigate to Part 11 of this story click on The Birth of Jesus Part 11 Confirmation by Visitors.