Inside Her, She Carried God

Another misconception of the birth of Jesus Christ is that Mary in her latter stages of pregnancy rode a donkey to Bethlehem with Joseph walking beside her. The Bible never refers to a donkey as Mary's mode of transportation or gives us any details about their long journey. The Bible only states that Mary went with Joseph.

"He took with him Mary, his fiancee,

who was now obviously pregnant."

Luke 2:5

However we do know that people in the days of Jesus' birth either travelled by foot, donkey, horse, or cart. At the time the census took place, we also know that Mary was very young and both she and Joseph came from poor families, so they probably had neither horse or donkey. The Bible says that Mary was near the end of her pregnancy when she made the journey. The distance from Nazareth to Bethlehem was approximately 70 miles, and the journey took between four to six days of rough travel, Most likely, Mary and Joseph travelled in a group for protection from robbers and wild animals.

Mary could have ridden on a donkey loaned to her, but we don't know because the Bible does not say. A wealthy person might have felt compassion for the young mother carrying the Christ child and loaned them a horse and cart. I am certain God was watching over Mary and knew it would have been very uncomfortable for a pregnant woman almost due to give birth to ride a donkey for several days on uneven trails. There is no doubt in my mind that God was with Joseph and Mary, providing for their needs, and giving them His care, protection, peace, love, and comfort during this difficult journey as they honoured God by being obedient to His will.

I also do not believe Mary suffered physical pain or discomfort in making this journey and then giving birth to God's Son. Mary was a gracious servant of God and God supernaturally used her to fulfill His great plan of salvation for all of mankind. God's wonderful and amazing presence was with Mary from the beginning to the end. Inside her, she carried God.

Whether Mary rode on a donkey or not does not diminish the miraculous story of the birth of Jesus. However, we need to be careful that we don't carelessly add to Biblical accounts non-Biblical details that God has chosen not to reveal to us.