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This visualization traces the Christmas story as told in Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2, showing you who is with whom throughout the story. The references in the visualization let you explore the text yourself.

Each line represents a person, and the narrative unfolds as you follow from left to right, starting with Gabriel appearing to Zechariah and ending with the return to Nazareth of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

The following detail shows the most-famous part of the story: Joseph and Mary arrive in Bethlehem and find no room in the inn, so Jesus is born in a stable. Angels appear to nearby shepherds, who seek the newborn child and then depart, “glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”

This visualization is a companion to our Holy Week Timeline, which takes a similar visual approach to the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection.