A not-so-silent night
Today we celebrate the birth of Jesus which has always been an amazing story of our savior being birthed into a world of darkness. However, the story as it would have happened is quite different than the story we are used to hearing or that the image of the nativity depicts. After learning the cultural and historical background I found it to be even more beautiful.
The courage of a very young woman
As the story in scripture explains, in the city of Nazareth an angel came to a young girl named Mary to announce that she had been chosen to give birth to the Messiah through a supernatural conception. Sometimes we might picture a young woman receiving this profound message but according to the custom of the day she was likely between the ages of 13-16 years of age. In the first century girls were married off as soon as they were of the age that they could have children. Mary was engaged to be married to Joseph and was still a virgin. Pregnancy before marriage would be incredibly shameful and would have warranted stoning. Even without the threat of death, she would have borne the mark of shame throughout the rest of her life due to her falsely perceived unfaithfulness. She accepted this plan knowing what it would mean for her. Imagine the emotions that this young teenager might have had. We know from the story that Joseph heard of Mary’s pregnancy and also assumed she was with another man. Even though he was within his rights to have her killed, he decided instead to divorce her quietly…at least at first. Then an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to go ahead and take Mary as his wife because her pregnancy was a supernatural event Joseph, being a man of integrity decided to go ahead with the marriage and do according to what the angel had spoken.
Traveling to Bethlehem
Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem to register for the census. We imagine them traveling across the landscape with Mary riding on a donkey….except the text never mentions a donkey. It was likely that they didn’t have a donkey to travel with. Why do I say that? Clues in the text tell us that Joseph and Mary likely didn’t have very much money and donkeys were quite expensive. After they gave birth to Jesus the scriptures say that they took him to the temple on the eighth day to be circumcised and consecrated to the Lord. The instructions in the book of Leviticus state that one should bring a lamb and a pigeon or a turtledove for sacrifice. If someone didn’t have the means to pay for a lamb were they to bring two turtledoves or pigeons. In Luke, we read that Joseph and Mary took a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons in keeping with the custom of the Torah. They didn’t have a lamb for sacrifice which lets us know that they didn’t have the money to buy one.
‘When the days of her purification are completed, for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the doorway of the tent of meeting a one year old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. Then he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her, and she shall be cleansed from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, whether a male or a female. But if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, the one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’”
Leviticus 12:6-8 NASB 1995
And when the days for their purification according to the Law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord(as it is written in the Law of the Lord: “Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”),and to offer a sacrifice according to what has been stated in the Law of the Lord: “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
Luke 2:22-24 NASB 1995
No room at the Inn?
Joseph and Mary made their way to the small humble town of Bethlehem likely on foot. When they arrived in Bethlehem they went to an Inn and there was a no vacancy sign outside, right? No, not exactly.
They didn’t even go to an Inn. What?! It’s true… and this is where my mind was pretty blown when I learned the true story of Jesus’ birth. The word for Inn in Greek is Kataluma. A better translation for this word is guestroom. It’s the same word used in Luke 22:11 to describe the guest chamber where Jesus met with his disciples for the Passover. Mary and Joseph returned to Bethlehem and would have gone to stay with their relatives. Israel was and still is a culture of honor. It would be extremely dishonorable for their family to turn them away. Even if their family turned them away someone would have welcomed them in. It would have especially been dishonorable for anyone to turn away a pregnant woman. First-century homes in Bethlehem consisted of an upper room where the guest quarters would have been and down below would be a common area with a space off to the side for animals to be kept during the winter. Sometimes this was in a cave-like structure. Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem and found that the guest room was full. This makes sense because other family members were already staying there who had also come into town for the census. Instead, Mary and Joseph stayed in the lower part of the house.
The season of Jesus’ birth
There are a few indicators in the text that give clues as to the time of year that the birth of Jesus took place. In Luke 2 we read that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census would be taken from all of the land. Everyone had to travel to their city to register for the census. The time of year that a census would be called is during the dry season because it would be quite challenging and dangerous for so many people to travel during the rainy season. The dry season in Israel begins toward the end of May and ends sometime in October when the early rains begin. Another indicator of the time of year is found in Luke 2.
Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
Luke 2:8-14 NKJV
Why would the shepherds be in the fields at night? Well, it gets quite hot during the summer months. Once you know the agricultural calendar of Israel so much comes to light as you read the Bible. Wheat in Israel is harvested in May. The shepherds would take their sheep out to the field after the harvest of wheat so that the sheep could graze on the stubble that was left over after harvesting. This would also allow for the sheep droppings to act as fertilizer that would break down and get the land ready for planting in October after the early rains began. It wouldn’t make sense for shepherds to take the sheep out into the field during the rainy season as they would destroy the crops. Instead, during the rainy season they would bring their sheep out to the fringes of the desert to graze on the grassy patches found there.
We often picture Mary and Joseph with baby Jesus out in a barn somewhere far away from everyone surrounded by barn animals but that simply wasn’t the case. They would have been inside next to the manger. Since it wasn’t winter during the rainy season the animals didn’t need to be kept indoors overnight. Instead, they would have been out in the field leaving the manger empty. Mary was likely giving birth in a bustling Jewish home surrounded by women helping her to deliver baby Jesus. She wrapped him in swaddling cloth and laid him in the feeding trough attached to the room where they slept. He was wrapped in cloth used to wrap a newborn lamb to preserve them from blemish.
Jesus came for the lowly
Jesus, God in the flesh came to this earth as a helpless baby. He could have been born to someone of wealthy status. Instead, he chose to be born through a young teenage girl from a simple Jewish home in the small tucked-away city of Nazareth. He was born in the city of Bethlehem which was also a humble little town that was known for the production of grain. The angels announced his birth to the shepherds which was one of the lowliest occupations. The message they delivered to them was “Born to you (the lowly) is Christ the Lord..”
He chose to come to this earth supernaturally in the most humble of circumstances and he was born into an environment of chaos, surrounded by imperfect people. We know from the story that Joseph was warned in a dream to flee to Egypt to protect Jesus’ life from Herod who wanted to kill Jesus before he could ever become king. He likely grew up with the stigma of being an “illegitimate child” in the eyes of his brothers and others who knew his family yet he chose to come and live among us anyway.
The Light of the World was born into our world of chaos so that He might restore us to shalom. He showed us who God the Father is when he lived on this earth and He became the unblemished lamb that would become the final atoning sacrifice for our sins so we could commune once again with God. His birth may not be the silent night we might have imagined, but it couldn’t be more beautiful.
Merry Christmas!
