The Birth of Christ
~Luke 2:7~And she brought forth her Firstborn Son-[this is meant to
emphasize the fact that there were no other children up to this time;
as well it refutes the error of the Catholic Church, which claims that
Mary, thereafter, had no other children, and remained A Virgin
throughout her life, actually, Jesus'/Yeshua' had four brothers,
"James, Joseph, Simon, and Jude," as well as two or three sisters
[Matthew 13:55-56], and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid,
Him in a manger [spoke of a feeding place for animals]; because there
was no room for them in the inn [the Inn of Bethlehem was of ancient
duration, being mentioned in Jer, 41:17; this type of "Inn" was for the
poorest of the poor, and offered little more than the shelter of its walls
and roof].
No room in the inn… and she laid Him in a manger. Away in a manger, but
not a stable? We know the Christmas story so well. Mary and Joseph
traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem and were turned away from the village
inn by the innkeeper. They took refuge in a barn, where baby Jesus was
born and laid in a manger. A very early church tradition says the site of the
nativity was a cave near Bethlehem.
The Biblical story of the birth of Jesus is found primarily in Luke 2. Dr. Luke
neither quotes nor mentions an innkeeper. We suggest the story does not refer
to an inn, a cave or even a barn, but rather a house!
The text of Luke 2 notes there was no room for Mary and Joseph in the “inn.” Un-
fortunately, the Greek term translated inn (kataluma) had multiple
fortunately, the Greek term translated inn (kataluma) had multiple
meanings, among them inn or caravansary. Used only one other time in
the New Testament (Luke 22:11 and the parallel passage, Mark 14:14), it was
the place where Jesus observed the Last Supper with His disciples. Here, Dr.
Luke gave additional information about the kataluma. He said it was a
furnished large upper story room within a private Jerusalem house. The
kataluma of the last night of Jesus’ Earthly ministry was the “upper room.”
We suggest the kataluma of Jesus’ first night was a similar room in Bethlehem.
Mary and Joseph came into town with Mary ready to deliver. Arriving at
Joseph’s ancestral home, they found it already full of other family members
who had arrived earlier. While the exact reason space was not made for a
pregnant woman is unknown, it probably indicates the house was full of elder
members of Joseph’s family, who had priority.
So that is when Mary and Joseph went to the barn, right? Not exactly. The
Biblical account mentions neither barn nor cave—it is assumed because of
the manger. Mangers are animal feeding troughs, and barns are where one
would expect to find them.
But in the ancient world, as well as in primitive modern cultures, mangers
are also found within the house itself. Animals are regularly kept in homes
at night. A small number of flock animals were housed, not in attached
exterior sheds, but inside the house in one of the ground floor rooms. Here,
animals, tools and agricultural produce were stored. Here, too, food was
prepared and possibly consumed.
Family sleeping quarters were on the second floor (an upper room). By
being inside, the animals were protected from the elements and theft. In
addition, their presence provided body heat for cool nights, access to milk
for the daily meal and dung as a critical fuel source. Excavations in Israel
have uncovered numerous installations within domestic structures which
probably represent ancient mangers. Some are carved, but most are stone
built.
Wooden mangers, of course, have not survived in the archaeological record.
Consequently, Mary and Joseph did not find space in the living quarters of
the ancestral family home. Instead, they stayed downstairs in the domestic
stable, still within the ancestral home, where a manger or two was located.
Here they were visited by the shepherds, and maybe the wise men some time
later.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life
(John 3:16).
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