You may be reading the title and wondering what in the world is this article going to be about. That’s a fair question. The reason for it is so often we like to clean up the Christmas story. Or perhaps we don’t know the full story and so it comes off as precious. I learned some things in Israel that would suggest otherwise. It wasn’t a clean story. It wasn’t a picture you would put on a Christmas card today. The Christmas story in the gospels was about 2 young people, a 13 year old girl and a 20 year old man, finding a place to have the Savior of the World, in an area run by a power hungry tyrant that trusted no one. It involved a long walk, a census, and a cave. Not to mention the shepherds, angels, and a priest in Jerusalem. I’d like to use this space to hopefully paint a better picture of what really went on that first Christmas. It may surprise you.
First off, Jesus’ birth is usually celebrated on December 25th. I don’t mean to disappoint you, but that’s most likely not accurate. If you read and compare Luke's narrative with Elizabeth’s pregnancy and the timing of Mary’s pregnancy, Jesus was actually born in late September, and there’s a reason for that. You see, Jewish festivals were very important time markers in Jesus’ life. At the end of September, Israel celebrated the Feast of Sukkot, or Feast of Tabernacles. There is a reason John describes Jesus as coming to “Tabernacle” with us in John 1:14. That’s the Hebrew understanding of “dwelt among us”. Jesus came to live with us at the time when Jews were celebrating God’s presence with them. Talk about good timing!
Now, most people believe that Jesus was born in a stable because there wasn’t any room for the family at a hotel. This is partially correct. In the text, there is never any mention of an innkeeper or a hotel. The word we translate as “inn” doesn’t actually mean a hotel. Instead, it means a room. The same word is used for the upper room at the Last Supper. It’s “Kataluma”, and it was an extra room on the top of the house generally used for storage to keep food away from moisture or rodents. In the case of company, like during a big Jewish festival, or in the case of a census, people would stay up there. On this occasion, some family was staying up there, so Jesus couldn’t be born in the “inn”. So he was laid in a manger, which was more or less a feeding trough, but for water. The bringer of living water was put in a trough of water at his birth. Isn’t God a great author of history? Now, this manger would have been out where they kept the animals. This would have been, more or less, a cave. Not a clean one either. If you have sheep and goats, it’s going to smell pretty bad. After all, sheep and goats have to use the bathroom somewhere. This is where Jesus was laid, among the dirty, smelly manure in a cave. It wasn’t a clean story. Far from it. This is how much God wants to show you that He loves you. But there's more to the story. We still have the shepherds to explore.
There’s something you need to know first before we talk about the shepherds. I always pictured them as grown men. After all, they were working. They were in charge of flocks of animals that, in some sense, were the money makers for their family. I learned in Israel, however, that these shepherds were 8-10 year old boys. Does that shift your perspective as much as it did mine? So these boys were out in the fields, outside of Bethlehem. That’s an important factor in this. The angel shows up to them and tells them of this Savior born and wrapped in swaddling clothes. The swaddling clothes was the sign for them because that’s what you wrapped a perfect lamb in when it was born. They knew what they were looking for because it was right out of their line of work. You see, the sheep and lambs they raised on this hill outside of Bethlehem were raised to be perfect, pure lambs and sheep to be used as sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem, in order to forgive the people of their sins. You see the connection? Isn’t that amazing?! The first people God invites to see the perfect lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world are young boys who fully understand who Jesus was born to be, and what He came to do.
In the middle of this scene, we have another reference to the timing of Jesus’ birth. The angels are singing a song in Luke 2:14. This is the same song the Jews would sing during the Festival of Sukkot. Why would the angels sing it if not to celebrate not only the festival, that the shepherds would know, but also to ring in the time when Jesus came to live among the people? This wasn’t a new song, but a song sung to break in a new chapter in history, and what a beautiful chapter it would be.
It’s so easy to clean up the Christmas story and add all the pageantry into it, and I don’t think we do it for bad reasons. We want this time of year to be great, and celebrating a baby born among a bunch of dirty, stinky goats isn’t a great picture. But God used it to show how much He loves you and me. He was willing for his son to be born in such a situation because it showed how much He cares about His people. So this Christmas, I would like to encourage you that if your celebration doesn’t look perfect, or isn’t up to your standards, it’s ok. Jesus’ birth wasn’t up to our standards either, but it was still great. Not because it was clean or easy or perfect, but because God showed His love for us through it. So focus on shining God’s love this Christmas, and let everything else be secondary. Merry Christmas to you all.
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” -Luke 2:14 (NIV)
Merry Christmas to you all,
Marty
