December 8
And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Luke 2:7 (NASB)
When my daughter was in preschool, she was absolutely overjoyed to be chosen for the role of Mary in the Christmas play. She and an adorable little Joseph acted out the familiar scene of visiting several humorously named hotels (Bethlehem Inn & Suites), each of which told them they were full before the third one suggested a stable out back where Jesus, the Savior of the world, was born.
As cute as it was, would you believe that this story we know so well might not quite be the way it happened? It turns out that a minor mistranslation and cultural misunderstanding have caused us to miss something wonderful about the Christmas story.
Here’s what happened: In King James Version, the word kataluma was translated as “inn” in Luke 2. But this word usually means “spare room” such as the one we read about in Luke 22:11–12, when Jesus asked the disciples to reserve a “guest room” for the Last Supper. In the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:34), we find the usual Greek word for a commercial inn (pandokheion). This means a better rendering of Luke 2:7 would be “There was no space (topos) left for them in the spare room (kataluma).” Remember, Jospeh and Mary were traveling to Bethlehem for the census, and he would likely have had many relatives in the city. In their culture, it would be shameful not to host visiting family members. The only problem was that during the census, other relatives had already filled the spare room.
So, what about the manger? In the King James era, mangers belonged outside in a barn where the animals are kept. But most first-century houses in Israel had two stories, an upper floor for sleeping and a lower floor for cooking and keeping animals, including their mangers.
This means the picture Luke paints for us is not of inns and barns but of family, food, and adaptation. When the weary Mary and Joseph arrived at his relative’s house, the spare room was already filled, so they put baby Jesus right in the middle of the chaos.
Isn’t that a wonderful picture? For many of us, Christmas brings back memories of traveling across country, with kids running around, sloppy pets, amazing food, raucous laughter, and awkward sleeping arrangements—just like the first Christmas.
So this year, whether your Christmas is calm or chaotic, I hope it includes Jesus right there in the center of everything.