I have been continuing work on my sermons in the series “The Nativity Set.”  While reading and researching I ran across something I had never heard before.  The article was about problems in preaching the Christmas story and the second point was about there being no room in the inn.

I thought you might enjoy a little learning today.

First, the problem Joseph and Mary encountered during their stay in Bethlehem wasn’t a lack of room in the inn. While most English versions still translate the Greek term katalyma as “inn” (Luke 2:7), the only other two occurrences of the word in the New Testament refer to a guest room where Jesus and his disciples shared a Passover meal (Mark 14:14; Luke 22:11). Kenneth Bailey rightly asks, “If at the end of Luke’s Gospel the word katalyma means a guest room attached to a private home (22:11), why would it not have the same meaning near the beginning of his Gospel?”

Assuming Joseph was relying on the hospitality of a friend in Bethlehem whose guest room was already taken, what was the alternative? The placement of Jesus in a manger suggests he was born in a stable near the place of lodging, or even in a cave. But there’s another alternative. Since the guest room was full, Joseph and Mary likely stayed in the family room with everyone else. It wasn’t uncommon for animals to stay in the house, since they provided heat in winter and were protected from theft.

Perhaps this seems like much ado about nothing, since any scenario—cave, stable, or family room with animals—reflects the humble circumstances in which Jesus was born. Yet getting the details right can keep us from turning the storyline into something untrue—a story of rejection or a harsh innkeeper or an incompetent husband who didn’t account for a crowded inn. It is the “normalness” of the birth that is so striking. The irony is the King of kings had an ordinary birth in humble circumstances.