When I was growing up, my family did not celebrate Christmas. I don’t mean that we didn’t celebrate it as the birth of Christ. I mean we didn’t do Christmas. Apparently my uncle convinced my parents that Christmas was founded upon pagan traditions. The church we were a part of, could sing songs like “Silent Night” but not in December. So, I grew up thinking “Silent Night” and “Joy to the World” were summer songs. When I went to college, my parents decided that they could do Christmas. What? They still refused to mention the birth of Christ as a part of that celebration, but they opened gifts. So, Christmas had become a truly pagan holiday, divorced of any connection to the birth of a Savior. And the reason for this? Well, we are pretty sure that Jesus was not born on December 25. He was most likely born in the Spring. But does that really matter? One year I was out of the country during my son’s birthday, so we celebrated on a different day. It was not, because of this, any less of a celebration of the birth of my son.
Traditions are funny things. Especially, when those traditions descend into doctrine without our noticing. Does it upset you if the wise men are displayed in the nativity scene? Does it matter? You see, there is good evidence that our version of the Christmas story is a little flawed. Does your version have Joseph and Mary arriving in Bethlehem and giving birth that same night? Luke’s version tells us that “While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth”. We don’t have any idea how long they were in Bethlehem before the birth, but surely long enough to secure a place to stay. And was Jesus really born in a barn because no one would open there doors? To a native of Bethlehem? To a descendent of David? To a woman who was about to give birth? Any one of these scenarios would have brought shame to the whole village. Put them all together and it doesn’t seem at all likely. And if there truly was not any room available in Bethlehem, why didn’t Mary and Joseph travel on a few miles to Mary’s relatives – Zacharias and Elizabeth?
The only account that tells us that Joseph and Mary arrived in the middle of the night and were refused a place to stay is a non-Jewish account written about 200 AD. The author was aware of the story, but not familiar with Middle-Eastern customs. We find ourselves here as well, don’t we. Most houses had a room available for animals. Only wealthy people had a detached stables. The family room, where the whole family lived and slept and did, you know everything, was raised up high enough so that the animals would not prance into the family room, but not too high, because the manger or mangers were in the family room sunk into the floor where the animals could reach them. Some homes had a guest room as well, which provided privacy for visitors.
The phrase that is translated, “because there was no room for them in the inn” is better translated “for there was no place for them in the guest room”. Although the word “inn” (kataluma) can mean “inn” it is rarely used to mean such. When Luke refers to an inn, he uses the more technical term pondocheion (cf. Luke 10:34). So, most likely Jesus was born in a house and laid in a manger in the family room which Joseph and Mary shared with the hosting family because the guest room was already full of guests. So, does this mess with your tradition? Just so you know, I do believe we want to do our best to discover the truth of the details within the account. I want to redeem Bethlehem from the harsh feelings people have held over the years. In a shame-honor society, they would rather die than not help a native Bethlehemite, especially a descendant of David. They would be shamed right on down to their socks to have refused to help a pregnant woman. So, let us redeem Bethlehem.
But here is my point. Sometimes we are so intent on getting the details right that we miss the glory of the story. If someone celebrates Christmas as the birth of Christ, do we bristle at the inaccuracy of the date? We may be right about the detail, but we may just be missing the glory of the birth. Spring or December 25, Jesus, Christ the Lord, was born as your Savior. He didn’t come as some highfaluting royalty who only mingles with other highfaluting royalty. He was born in humble conditions, whether that be a barn or a house. The message was first given to lowly shepherds, not the religious elite who would have never passed that message on to the sinners and the disenfranchised. And do we encourage people to be swept away by the story if we beat them up over the details? Glory to God in the highest, my friends. Walter