How well do you know the story of Jesus’ birth?

Recently, some friends loaned us a copy of the book “Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels” by Kenneth E. Bailey. The author focuses on helping the western world understand some things about the Gospels that would be fairly obvious to someone from the middle east, but completely hidden to us. We have found it fascinating so far and wanted to share some highlights from chapter one to hopefully fascinate all of you as well (or at least give you something to read while you are on break).

As our title states, chapter one is about the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ birth. Bailey opens with an engaging line of thought, “Have the centuries added meanings to our understanding of the text that are not there? A diamond ring is admired and worn with pride, but with the passing of time, it needs to be taken to a jeweler to be cleaned to restore its original brilliance. The more the ring is worn, the greater the need for occasional cleaning. The more familiar we are with a Bible story, the more difficult it is to view it outside of the way it has always been understood. And the longer imprecision in the tradition remains unchallenged, the deeper it becomes embedded in Christian consciousness.” The birth of Jesus is such an account.

So, what are some of the concepts that may need a little cleaning?
1) Most homes in Bethlehem would have been open to Joseph, provided they had the space, due to his lineage. Not only was his family from Bethlehem, he was in the royal family (distantly of course). Extended family ties are strong and memories long in that part of the world. To turn away a descendant of David in the “City of David” would have been an unspeakable shame.
2) Due to Mary’s obvious pregnant condition, help would have been more readily available. Such communities do a really good job of taking care of expectant mothers.
3) Time allowing, if Mary and Joseph could not find anywhere in Bethlehem to stay, they could have gone the short distance to her cousin Elizabeth’s house and lodged there. How long were they in Bethlehem before Jesus was born anyway?
4) Joseph probably had ample time to find a place for his family to stay. Most dramas of Christ’s birth show Mary delivering the night they arrived in Bethlehem, but God’s Word says in Luke 2:6, “While they were there the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.” Sounds like they had time to settle in before the big event.

About this time, it is important to ask where we got the idea that Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem late one night with Mary doubled over in intense labor pain, only to deliver Jesus a short while later in a cave with the animals. It turns out that about 200 years after the birth of Christ an anonymous Christian wrote a novel called “The Protoevangelium of James,” in which he expanded a bit on the details given in Scipture to provide a “fuller” picture of Jesus’ birth. The problem? This person apparently was not Jewish nor was he familiar with Jewish geography or customs. Among other things, the author of this book has Mary and Joseph traveling through the desert (in reality they traveled through rich farmland) with Mary in labor. She delivers in a cave just outside Bethlehem.

Probably the most fascinating part of the chapter for us though was the description of a typical peasant house in Bethlehem. The house was basically one large room where all of the families activities would take place. Off to one side or above the main house, there was usually another room, confusingly translated “the inn”, where guests were welcome to stay. The word used (katalyma) actually means place to stay as opposed to another word that would have been used for a commercial inn (pandocheion) a compound word meaning “all” and “to receive” or “anybody welcome”. Luke was clearly intentional in his use of these words in his gospel as we see pandocheion used in the parable of the good Samaritan, clearly referring to a commercial inn, and katalyma used when referring to the upper room of a man’s house in which Jesus ate the last supper with His deciples. Off to the other side of the house there would be a step down into what was referred to as the stable. This is where the animals would spend the night, both for their warmth and safety and that of the family. Next to the stable area in the main family room were one or two dug out areas in the floor. These were the mangers, where the feed for the animals would go. It fits naturally that a regular peasant family of Bethlehem, seeing Mary and Joseph in need but having already filled their guest room, invited the young couple into their family living space. While there, Mary’s due date came and she delivered Jesus, probably with the help of the women of the house and the local midwife, and laid him in the manger.





Another note of interest has to do with the shepherds. Shepherds were not high class citizens in Jewish society. When the angel gave them the good news, they were fearful until the angel mentioned that they would find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger, exactly like their children would be! They ran off to find him. Upon finding Him, if He were really in a cave with the animals, their Jewish hospitality instincts would have kicked in and they would have invited the family home to their own simple peasant houses. They did not, instead they left happily. Again, it would have been shameful for them not to extend hospitality to the family if they had better to offer. They did not offer so we can assume that what Mary, Joseph and Jesus already had was as good as anything they could offer. Another supporting note is that Matthew says the wise men came to the house where Jesus was. Most of us were taught that after the birth Joseph found better lodging for the family and they moved before the wise men arrived. Perhaps it is more plausible that they were in a house to begin with.

We are still reading through Chapter 2, so we cannot wholeheartedly recommend the whole book. But the first chapter was great and we look forward to reading the rest. Hope you’ve enjoyed our book report!
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