In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
Luke 2:1-5
To reach Bethlehem, it is very likely that the Holy Family chose the route that passes through the Jordan Valley. After Jericho, the path ascends about a thousand meters before reaching the summit of the Mount of Olives. Midway through, travelers could spend the night at an inn built near a cistern. During the Crusader period (12th century), it was called the “Red Cistern.” Today, the site is known as Khan el-Ahmar—”the Red Inn.” It may well have been the setting Jesus chose for His parable of the Good Samaritan.
Some ancient legends, inspired by this parable, claimed that the red color of the rock resulted from the blood of travelers shed by bandits who—like in the parable of the Good Samaritan—infested that district.
Near the inn, some caves carved into the rock could, at that time, accommodate groups of travelers when the inn was overflowing and there was no room for everyone in its lodgings.
Further along, bordering the ancient road, one can still see caves of this type, now used as shelters by the Bedouins of the area and their herds. The formation of these caves is explained by the orography of the region. The surrounding hills are made of chalk, a soft rock that erodes quickly with exposure to wind and rain. However, the upper layers are harder, and better resist the elements. This creates a sort of recess, covered by a natural roof made of this harder rock. Beneath this hard layer, people dug into the soft chalk, forming semi-natural caves, which were sometimes very deep, as we will see in the case of the caves in Bethlehem.
On the way to Bethlehem, it is possible that Joseph and Mary stopped at the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Ein Karem, in fact, is eight kilometers from Jerusalem and a little over ten from Bethlehem. If that were the case, this time it would have been Elizabeth who cared for her cousin, on the verge of giving birth to the Child. But Joseph would have insisted on resuming the journey to Bethlehem as early as possible to complete the lodging arrangements before sunset.
While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Luke 2:6-7
Perhaps it was the commotion of so many people from the tribe of Judah that had traveled to Bethlehem to register in the census, or perhaps it was a conscious decision by Joseph and his wife—the overcrowded “lodgings” did not offer the necessary privacy for Mary to give birth to her Son. In any case, the two of them headed to the outskirts of the town and chose one of the aforementioned caves as their shelter.
But when the Child was born in Bethlehem, since Joseph could not find a lodging in that village, he took up his quarters in a certain cave near the village; and while they were there Mary brought forth the Christ and placed Him in a manger, and here the Magi who came from Arabia found Him.
St. Justin Martyr (Second Century.), Dialogue with Trypho.
The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem was built over a very extensive network of these caves. Some were enlarged by Christians and associated with various traditions (the Grotto of the Holy Innocents, the Cave of St. Jerome, etc.). Others—like the one where the Manger is shown—already existed at the time of Jesus’ birth.
Joseph prepared it as best as he could. In it, according to an ancient Christian tradition, there was an ox which—along with St. Joseph’s donkey—provided warmth for the newborn Child with its breath.
By Henri Gourinard