The Nativity: Is it Accurate?

I originally wrote this back in 2003. I repost it every year in the days leading up to Christmas.

I think it important that we look beneath the words found on the pages of scripture and not simply gloss over them, missing the power and beauty of the where of Jesus’ birth.

We can all describe the classic nativity scene. A baby laying in a manger wrapped in a blanket in a barn surrounded by his parents, animals, shepherds, and three wise men. The barn is dark and dingy, the floor covered with straw and mud. I love the simplicity of the traditional manger scene. We have several displayed in our house. But, is it accurate?  

“And she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7).

That verse notes there was no room for Joseph and Mary in the inn. The Greek term for inn is “kataluma,” which is translated as guest room, meaning a place of lodging for travelers, usually with no payment expected. Think spare bedroom. Only two places in the New Testament is the Greek word “kataluma” used – here in Luke’s birth narrative and in the Last Supper text (Luke 22:11; and parallel passage, Mark 14:14). In contrast, elsewhere in the New Testament (Luke 10:34) we find a different Greek word for “inn,” this time used in the context of a public lodging place. Maybe the equivalent of a modern-day hotel.  

What is a manger? A manger is a feeding trough for animals. So, you find feeding troughs in the barn, right? In ancient Middle East cultures animals were not kept in a barn or left outside. The family animals were always kept inside the house, usually on a lower level from the main floor. This helped to protect them from theft, disease, weather. 

Using that line of thinking, I see a very powerful picture being painted. One of the Messiah King born in a way that all could have access to Him. If He had been born in a castle or temple, only the wealthy, the noble, or the religious could have access to Him. Instead, this Savior, born of humble parents in a humble and ordinary setting, offered access to all. He does the same thing today – no matter our circumstances our Savior is willing to enter into our “house” and be born in us.   

What does all this mean? I believe Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem only to find Joseph’s ancestral home full of people. They ended up in the lower level of the house and laid baby Jesus in the feeding trough because there was no room upstairs in the guest rooms.

So, if Jesus was not born in a detached barn or a stable, He was likely instead born in a house. Quite possibly a peasant house, maybe the house or a relative, or maybe even the house Joseph grew up in. Regardless of the actual house, it is very probable that Jesus was not born in a detached dwelling as our modern nativities portray.

Jesus began his life in a “lower room” of a kataluma and ended His earthly ministry in the “upper room” of a kataluma. Coincidence? Think about it!

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