The celebration of the birth of Christ is on Christmas Day. What we see in pictures is the manger at night and the shepherds by their flocks at night and three wise men at night.
I wondered about this tradition and did a little exploration and found this site: Goodness of God Ministries with the Title:
This essay's subject was the facts versus traditions of the birth. It seems so relevant to our times of misinformation vs fact. The author presents the traditional view of the Christmas story, traditionally an unpleasant circumstance:
"Mary and Joseph traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem shortly before the birth of Jesus. The night they arrived in Bethlehem there were no rooms available in the local inns, and so Joseph and Mary had to make a place for themselves in a local stable, where Mary gave birth to Jesus and then laid him in a manger, a feeding trough for the animals."
One of the traditions that is analyzed is 'no room at the inn.'
The essay points out that Joseph and Mary were "royals" - from the royal line of David. Bethlehem was known as "the city of David". They would have been welcomed by relatives or town dwellers because of their status. And then 'inn' is misinterpreted from the original Greek: "It is noteworthy that even Bauer’s Greek-English Lexicon notes that if Luke 2:7 had meant to say “inn” in the sense of a hotel, there is a better Greek word that is used elsewhere in Luke."
Then it goes on to describe what it was like to live in the first century in Palestine:
"People did not generally sleep on beds, but traveled with their own blankets that they slept on at night, so sleeping arrangements were no problem. Tables and chairs were not used in the common homes of first century Palestinians, and the bathroom was a pot, or a place outside."
And what about being born in a stable?
"Another thing we must understand about houses in the East is that it was common for people to bring their animals, such as the family donkey, a couple of milk goats, or a cow or two, into the home at night. Such animals were very valuable, and the people brought them in at night to keep them from being stolen and to protect them from harm."
"The story of the birth of Christ reveals what we today consider to be the true spirit of Christmas. Not people closing their hearts and homes to a couple in need, but rather people opening both their hearts and their homes, and joyfully giving to others in need and helping where they can. It is wonderful that the Christ, who gave so much to so many, was born in circumstances in which people were so giving to him."
The author is John Schoenheit
Here's a word the author used in this essay. Protevangelium. It means: a messianic interpretation of a text. Now we are into Biblical Scholarship.
Enjoy Christmas Eve Day!
The sun rises sooner each day and sets a little later. This picture from our trip to Cuba a few years ago.
