The Trek of Joseph and Mary

December 16th, 2025
by Lance Waldie

Luke 2:4-7 Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, 5 in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. 6 While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, since there was no room for them in the inn.

Joseph set out on the 80 mile trek from Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem in Judea with Mary who was pregnant with Jesus. R. Kent Hughes writes, “Caesar Augustus’ relentless arm stretched out to squeeze its tribute even in a tiny village at the far end of the Mediterranean. Thus it came about that a village carpenter and his expectant teenage bride were forced to travel to his hometown to be registered for taxation. It was a miserable journey. Mary was full-term, which forced a slow, rolling gait as she walked those eighty miles. Perhaps, if she was fortunate, she had borrowed an animal to carry her. But whatever their situation, she traveled in the dust and cold of winter, bearing the distressing knowledge that she might have her first baby far from home, from her mother, and from nearly everyone who cared about her.”

Whereas Jerusalem is called “the city of David” as a result of him conquering the city and making it his capital (2 Sam. 5:7), Bethlehem was David’s birthplace (1 Sam. 17:12, 15, 58), also called “the city of David.” Since Jesus’ adoptive father, Joseph, was from the line of David, Luke states this, for David was of royal stock from the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Israel’s kings. Jesus, being adopted by Joseph as his firstborn, Luke is setting forth Jesus’ right to reign as Israel’s King. Had Joseph been from any other tribe, Jesus could make no claim to be the Messiah.

Now since it was not necessary for a wife to accompany her husband for a census, and even more unusual for an engaged woman to travel with her betrothed, some have questioned Mary’s presence with Joseph. Yet it makes perfect sense that she accompanied him. The text does not say so, but at the very least Joseph would have wanted to be present for the birth of God’s Son. More so, given what the reader can ascertain about Joseph and Mary’s knowledge of Scripture (cf. 1:46-55; 67-79), in light of the Micah 5:2 prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, both must have been alert to God’s leading through the census which would take them to that very town at the precise time she was due to give birth. Although v. 5 says that Mary was “engaged” (i.e., betrothed) to Joseph and not married, Luke is merely pointing to the fact that Joseph was keeping Mary a virgin until the birth of Jesus (cf. Matt. 1:25). This means that although Joseph and Mary were married, they had not yet consummated their marriage.

Though it is unknown how long Mary and Joseph had been in Bethlehem when it came time for Jesus’ birth, the fact that they had no place to go due to the overcrowding of the city during the census implies that Joseph had no residence there. Stein notes that the no vacancy in the inn where they sought refuge “does not refer to a lack of a ‘hotel room’ but lack of a suitable ‘place’ for Mary to give birth to her son. It does not imply any rejection on the part of the much maligned innkeeper. The ‘inn’ probably refers to a public caravansary (a crude overnight lodging place for caravans), which was the one lodging place in Bethlehem.”

Food For Thought
Amazing how the birth of Jesus is so unremarkable in Luke’s account, for there is absolutely no embellishment of the event. He is simply born in vv. 6-7, wrapped in cloths, and placed in a manger—a feeding trough for cattle. What a humble place to lay the King of kings! God indeed elevates the humble and rejects the proud. Luke’s unembellished account stems from Mary’s own experience when the Son of God came forth from her womb and became flesh.