No Stable! Is Nothing Sacred?

 [Joseph] went to be registered with Mary, 

to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 

 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child.

 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, 

and laid him in a manger,

 because there was no place for them in the inn.

Luke 2:5-7(NRSV)

We have come to the end of the twelve days of Christmas in the Christian Year and tomorrow is the day or feast of Epiphany. The hope, seldom realized, is that we will give attention to the incarnation, God-with-us, for more than a fleeting moment. Then we celebrate the arrival of the Magi from the East, who come bearing gifts.

Many of us in church leadership have pointed out that those Wise Ones, the Magi, were not present at Jesus' birth in the stable, that they likely arrived at least a couple of years later when he was a toddler. Our Nativity scenes are responsible for messing up our notion of what transpired. 

But what if there was no stable either, at least not in the way we take for granted, often shown as the original Swiss Chalet? There is a scholarly argument that in the Middle East of that time there was often a room or shelter attached to the back of homes where animals were kept. The mangers, or feed troughs, were part of that space. In fact, some peasant homes are still laid out in this way. 

While we have a picture of some sort of medieval inn from which the Holy Family was turned away, the word which was translated as inn might more accurately be the public reception room in a private home. If Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem because of their family connection to that village/town they would likely have had relatives who would be expected to show hospitality, even though homes were filled to overflowing. Accommodation in that portion of the home which sheltered animals wouldn't be ideal, but beggars can't be choosers.  

Well, a part of me wants to say "is nothing sacred?" What about the centuries of sacred art and the millions of creches or nativity scenes. Yet I also like the idea that hospitality can be awkward, or "scruffy" as someone has described it. This applies to so much in what we do in the church as we welcome those presence is not always convenient, or who we perceive are not like us. And God's presence in the world in Jesus is marvelous in its improbability, pushing us to imagine everything and everyone differently. 

What is your reaction to this? Does it startle you? Does it disappoint you, or open the doors of your gospel imagination? 

Here is an article on the subject, if you are intrigued.

https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/jesus-was-not-born-in-a-stable/