The first period of Christ’s life on earth, starting from His birth in Bethlehem and ending by His living in Nazareth, was full of a successive group of events. In this article, I shall try to arrange these events  from the Gospels of Luke 2 and Mathew 2  in chronological order by making use of some incidents proven in history.

1- The birth of Jesus Christ was at night in a manger in Bethlehem village.

2- The shepherds visited the Lord Jesus in the manger based on the apparition of angels to them on the same night as the nativity.

3- The circumcision of Jesus Christ eight days occurred after His birth. Most probably, this took place in one of the homes they moved to in the village of Bethlehem as it is unlikely that the Holy Family remained in the manger for more than 1-2 days. Most probably, when people heard the shepherd’s marvelous talk about the birth of Christ the Savior, one of the families in Bethlehem was gracious to host the Holy Family. 

4- The entry of Jesus Christ to the temple in Jerusalem occurred forty days after His birth. Here we realize that the Holy Family did not return quickly to Nazareth where St. Joseph the carpenter resided and worked because it is located 80 miles north from Bethlehem. So instead of going to Nazareth and then returning within a short time to the temple in Jerusalem, they preferred to wait with the blessed family that hosted them in Bethlehem till the purification ritual was performed in Jerusalem,  which is about 6 miles from Bethlehem and then return home to Nazareth.

5- The coming of the magi/wise men to visit and worship the Lord Jesus in Bethlehem, guided by the star to the location of the House where Baby Jesus resided. It seems that the Holy Family, after completing the purification rituals in the temple of Jerusalem, went back to gather their belongings from Bethlehem to travel to Nazareth. The visit of the wise men took place at that time, that is, forty days after the birth of Jesus Christ.

6- Going to the land of Egypt at the same night of the wise men visit, due to the angel’s command to Saint Joseph in a dream.

7- The killing of the male children of Bethlehem two years old and less by King Herod. Their number was less than 100 children since the population number of Bethlehem at that time was no more than 10,000people.

8- The death of King Herod during spring, weeks after his killing of Bethlehem children. This is known and recorded in history books.

9- The return from Egypt according to the command of the angel to St. Joseph following the death of Herod. The Holy family did not spend so many days in Egypt. However, they visited many locations and blessed the good land of Egypt to prepare it to become home for the yeast of faith, holiness, and blessing for the whole world.

10- Going to Nazareth according to the command of the angel to St. Joseph the carpenter as the saint went back to his home to work there.