Joseph and Mary journeyed some 70 miles from their home in Nazareth to Bethlehem. Though the Gospel writer Luke does not specify the route they took, it is quite possible they traveled on a direct path through the Judean hills. They would have passed through villages and mountains filled with the history of God’s faithfulness and man’s sinfulness. Though Mary and Joseph probably were not thinking about these things on their way, it is important for us because this journey took place in real physical settings, a part of history, rooted in time and space.