the birth of jesus. >> according to the gospel of luke, joseph and the pregnant mary traveled to bethlehem from their home in nazareth. >> they have to travel to bethlehem because, according to luke, there was a census that required people to go to their ancestral homes. joseph was apparently from bethlehem so he had to return there. >> the importance of jesus being born in bethlehem is to connect him to king david. bethlehem was the city of david. joseph was of the line of david so it links them to that great history of the jewish patriarchs in jewish history. >> moreover, there's a prophecy that talks about the future ruler coming from bethlehem so jesus has to be born in bethlehem to fulfill the prophecy from the old testament and to be the true davidic