UPDATE ON MY "IS THERE ROOM IN MY INN FOR HIM?"

One good  reader pointed out that I had not done my historical homework.  He reminded me of Kenneth Bailey’s excellent book (which I have-- and checked after his note!), JESUS THROUGH MIDDLE EASTERN EYES.  Bailey shows that Jesus was probably born in a poor family’s small house. The “inn” of the English translation was probably a second floor for guests that many houses had and apparently that room was already full.

Typically, the houses of poor people of that day had one room where the family lived.  At one end of that room, was a space where the animals slept at night with a manger for their hay or straw.

So Jesus was not born in a “barn” in our Western sense, but  in the family room of a poor family. And Jesus was laid in a manger right beside the animals which were resting at the far end of the one family room.

So Jesus was certainly born in a poor home—where the lowly despised shepherds would not feel too much out of place.  But the family of this small home probably welcomed Joseph and Mary (especially since Joseph was a descendant of David and therefore honored in Bethlehem) and invited them to share their one family room (since the guest room was already occupied).

With that better understanding of the historical setting, not all of my imagery works! 

But my basic concern remains: that this Christmas we resolve to find time and place in our busy lives for Christ.