Earlier this year, we released a video on “The Birth of Jesus.” In my adult Sunday school class in December 2022, we looked at the videos following Lee Strobel’s The Case for Christmas (not an affiliate link). It’s excellent! I’d recommend it if you haven’t read it.
One of the interesting things I’ve learned is that Scripture never says Jesus was born in a cave. Actually, the “inn” probably wasn’t a hotel either.
According to Middle Eastern customs, it would have been unthinkable for someone to turn away a pregnant mother. To do so would have brought great dishonor upon the family and the whole city of Bethlehem. Instead, what was probably meant was the guest room.
Most houses at the time had two or three rooms. One was for the family. It was where they ate, slept, and spent their evenings. The second room was for the animals. It would have been lower than the family room by a few steps but connected by an open door. The larger animals would come up those steps and hang out in the family room. That is why there was a manger in the family room and the stable. This manger would have been a shallow pit filled with clean hay. The third room would have been the guest room (sometimes translated as “inn”). As you may guess, that is where guests stayed.
What probably happened when Mary and Joseph arrived at Bethlehem was that there was no room for them in the guest room, so they stayed in the family room. That is where Mary gave birth. Jesus would have been placed in the large animals’ manger in that room.
In the book Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes (not an affiliate link), Brandon J. O’Brien and E. Randolph Richards note that Mary and Joseph would never have traveled the dangerous road to Bethlehem alone. They would have traveled with their extended family since there was safety in numbers. This could have been why there was no room for the young couple in the guest room. When it came time for Mary to give birth, she might have had more privacy in the family room than in the guest room.
Along similar lines, look closely at Matt. 2:1-12. How many magi does it say came to worship the infant king?
2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
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7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
The text mentions three gifts but not how many magi came with them. This, too, was probably a much larger group traveling together.
Also, based on the fact that Herod “gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi,” the Magi likely saw a young toddler rather than an infant.
Does this mean that nativity sets with angels, shepherds, Magi, Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus all together under a stable roof should be discarded? Not necessarily. The purpose of these displays is to remind us of the story of Jesus’ birth as a whole. Keep in mind that the traditional nativity seen isn’t 100% accurate as you talk about these things with your children.
As you celebrate the birth and resurrection of Jesus Christ, remember that this is not a myth, legend, or fairy tale. Eternal God became flesh in the birth of Jesus Christ. He did this to provide a way for us to be saved and live with Him forever. Praise the Lord!
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