Day 2

Luke 2

What a special man was Joseph! 

Verse 6 While they were there, the time came for her Child to be born.  (emphasis mine)
Joseph always knew YESHUA was not HIS son, not by his seed.  But he loved JESUS. Perhaps when we get to Heaven, we can hear more from Joseph about his love for Mary’s Son.  

Verse 7. Mary had other children.  And she gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.  Please note the TEXT reads she gave birth to her firstborn, a Son.
Does not firstborn mean there were other children born to Mary by Joseph? One could argue, I suppose. But there is more evidence. I offer you this LINK giving other Scriptures addressing the half-siblings.
Mary was exceedingly favored, Mary was a special woman, but she was a woman – the same natural makeup as other women, like you and me.

Verse 8. And there were shepherds residing in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night.  
Allow me please to bring to your attention a most interesting reason why YESHUA was not born on December 25.
I have come to believe it was September or October.  Now His conception in Mary’s womb may have been the previous December — perhaps around Hanukkah time.  Wouldn’t that have been lovely for the LIGHT OF THE WORLD to come to earth during the Festival of Lights? Just a thought. I shall not run any further with it here.

Oh back to the interesting reason. Here’s a LINK.
And here’s an excerpt: Our expectation is that the people in Bethlehem would have had a similar concern, particularly since Bethlehem was famous for its grain fields.
One would not expect to see livestock in these grain fields before the harvest. However, after the harvest was complete, the shepherds were welcome to bring their hungry animals into the fields so that they could nose through the stubble for leftover kernels the harvesters had missed. In return, the sheep left behind valuable manure that improved the quality of the soil, increasing the yield of those fields in the following season. That is why the shepherds would have been “living out in the fields” near Bethlehem.

Day 2

Until next time, holy hugs, Kathie