The Story part 1

It was going to be a long walk, but they had no choice.

Politics and control were the foundations of Roman occupation, they had just occupied Syria and decided to include Judah into their new territory. The Census they’d called for was their way of counting heads, fixing taxes and deciding what it was going to cost them to maintain the new territory. Now he had to leave Nazareth and get to Bethlehem, his family home. He had to find a way of getting his pregnant wife there safely and before the baby came.

The weather wasn’t going to be good, cold nights and rain. They’d have to take the long way round, Samaria just wasn’t safe, particularly for Jews and there were too many places for bandits to ambush travellers. If it was just him it would be easy, but it wasn’t was it.

He slid to the ground outside his workshop and started to draw their route in the dirt. To avoid Samaria they’d have to go down into the Harod Valley and through to the Jordan Valley. Along Kinneret then find a safe crossing over the Jordan to get into Perea. It was going to take days. How he was going to do it was beyond him, and that was just the first part.

His mind started racing, warm clothes, coverings for the rain, food, water, finding places to safely spend the night, clothes, extra sandals, things for the baby, a second donkey to carry all of it. Finding the money, finding a woman to help in case the child came on the way, other men to stand watch and fight. Maybe there was a group of others from Galilee, or even a caravan if there was one right now. Why now? They’d had such a difficult year and now this Census. He just wanted to shape his stones and build his tables. How was he going to keep his wife and unborn son not just safe but alive? How was he going to honour Adonai and the woman He had given him to protect and care for? With everything else, this new responsibility was too much, he put his head in his hands and wept.