text Eseuri crestine

Christmas Eve – The Misnomer of an Overcrowded Inn

de Notar Daniel Ioan
Sursa: 
www.resursecrestine.ro
Autor: Notar Daniel Ioan

Christmas Eve – The Misnomer of an Overcrowded Inn


 

Memories embedded with romantic pictures of Jesus’ birth are quite impossible to rewrite. Retold by Christmas pageants, reminded by carols and pictures replenish what we think happened at Jesus’ birth. I know it so well I hardly need a sermon, picture, movie or song to remind me of a pregnant Mary riding a donkey, about to deliver; a village with inns filled to capacity; a kindly innkeeper finding a stable for rest; shepherds arriving at a barn to welcome the Christ-child.
The overall narrative has it right, but the core assumption is so wrong as to miss an essential part of the story.
What is wrong with that picture? First, the ‘inn’ was not as we imagine – a place where you could rent a room for the night. Such hardly existed. Even more wrong is to assume that Joseph returning to the place of his ancestors would be treated thus by relatives, especially in a culture which prides itself for hospitality.
So what do we make of the popularized ‘inn’ ubiquitously spoken of Christmas after Christmas from Luke 2: “because there was no room for them in the inn.’?
Translators, artists and poets assumed the Greek word (katalyma) meant ‘inn’ or a commercial place for over-night travellers. Here words matter. They simply got it wrong. The word meant a spare bedroom for family friends and visitors. Ken Bailey, Middle East scholar, reminds us it was often an upper room in village homes reserved for visitors. When Luke wanted to make it clear that a building was really an Inn for travellers, he used a special Greek word as in the story of the Good Samaritan – (pandocheion) as in Luke 10. When he meant a guest room – as in Luke 22 – he used the same word as the place Mary and Joseph stayed, a guest room, as told in the Christmas story of Luke 2.
So what then was the stable? Village homes in Palestine consisted of two rooms: one the guest room or “inn” and the other the family room where family lived: worked, cooked, ate and slept. At the end of that room, there was another space, often at a lower level, designated for family animals: possibly a cow, a donkey and a few sheep. Animals brought in over night were for their protection from wild animals and thieves, then in the morning led into a courtyard and the room or stable cleaned.
When Mary and Joseph arrived, with the guest room in use – remember there was a census and many people travelled back to the region to register – there was only one place for them to stay which was the manger at the end of the house: While it was a place for animals, it was in the house of a relative.
In the Middle East, hospitality is core. Recall the parable of Jesus, in which a man has visitors at night and nothing with which to feed them. He awakens his neighbor for help. Not only would the villagers not think of providing food for the visitors, if they learned that one of them had not shown hospitality, he would be ostracized.
Joseph and Mary in coming back to Bethlehem, city of David, would be welcomed and cared for by their relatives. Even if a hotel-like inn were available, not for a thousand years would it be contemplated.
Why does this matter? Because the world in which Jesus was born, while tough, primitive and hostile with an occupying Roman army, it was a world of family. Jesus was born into the lineage of David, a Hebrew Testament promise. He did not come unwanted, refused entry into an overcrowded inn. As son of a distinguished family, homes opened and his parents welcomed with the best they had to offer. It was no disgrace to nestle in the straw of a manager. Clean straw, in a loving home, protected by immediate and distant family marked the introduction of the Christ-child.
This welcoming makes a sharp break with King Herod who learns of Persian nobles looking for the “King of the Jews.” When verified by Hebrew scholars, he sends his men to Bethlehem to kill an estimated twenty children under two, which eerily marks the collective experience and now memory of this Christmas.
The contrasting stories of a loving welcome and a vicious murder provide framing of the life of Jesus. Within these two opposites the Messiah foretold centuries earlier, now enters the human race, raised by loving parents in Nazareth, eventually overridden by the religious and political/military machines of his day.
What then do we do with this story? Its historic retelling provides a picture and occasion so we might also warmly welcome this king into our personal and collectives lives.
December 2012

 KONTAKT:

http://christliche-kanal-christian-channel.blogspot.de/
http://christliche-radiosender.blogspot.com/
http://radiomegapower-nonstop.blogspot.de/
https://twitter.com/MegaPowerDany
https://www.facebook.com/RadioVoceaEvanghelieiGermania

https://www.facebook.com/groups/200601546742497/ http://www.facebook.com/megapower1976
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gott-Ist-Die-Liebe-God-is-Love-Dumnezeu-Ai-Dragoste/201097400027703

 

 

[email protected]
Postet By : Notar Daniel Ioan
 Adaugă comentariu
Raportează o problemă
God bless you today

Cele mai recente resurse creștine scrise

Cum s-a nascut miscarea penticostala in Romania (o scurta istorie) Penticostal
În acest articol arată începuturile Mișcări Penticostale în Romania, frămîntarile necazurile prin care a trecut Miscarea Penticostală.Sa fie binecuvintat Dumnezeu:Tatal Domnului nostru Isus Hristos,ca...
de Estera Haja 15 martie 2025 Citeste mai mult >>
Plan de citire al Bibliei intr-un an de zile Biserica din casa
Plan de citire a Scripturii într-un anPlan de citire a Scripturii pe parcursul unui an PLAN DE CITIRE AL BIBLIEI - LUNA  IANUARIE 1. Gen. 1:1-2:25          ...
de Estera Haja 15 martie 2025 Citeste mai mult >>
Lista editurilor crestine din Romania Edituri crestine
Edituri crestine din Oradea si in judetul Bihor: Editura KerigmaEditura ScriptumEditura Cartea CrestinaEditura Casa CartiiEditura Imago DeiEditura Life RomaniaEditura SBRO (Societatea Biblica Rom...
de Estera Haja 15 martie 2025 Citeste mai mult >>
Stiai de aceste obiceiuri ale adventistilor de ziua a saptea? Adventist
Adventiștii de Ziua a Șaptea din România au adoptat unele tradiții locale influențate de cultura și istoria țării, deși încearcă să mențină un stil de viață în conformitate cu principiile lor religioa...
de Estera Haja 15 martie 2025 Citeste mai mult >>
Cele mai cunoscute obiceiuri la adventisti Sabat
Adventiștii de Ziua a Șaptea (AZS) au o serie de obiceiuri și practici distinctive bazate pe Biblie. Iată câteva dintre cele mai importante:1. Respectarea SabatuluiAdventiștii respectă Sabatul ca zi s...
de Estera Haja 15 martie 2025 Citeste mai mult >>
Ce au crezut pionerii adventisti Adventist
PRINCIPIILE FUNDAMENTALE DE CREDINȚĂ A BISERICII ADVENTISTE DE ZIUA A ŞAPTEA (1931)Adventiştii de Ziua a Şaptea au, fără îndoială, convingeri fundamentale, dintre care principalele trăsături, împreună...
de Estera Haja 15 martie 2025 Citeste mai mult >>
Ce cred adventistii despre Cina Domnului Adventist
Ritualul Cinei Domnului este împărtăşirea cu simbolurile trupului şi sângelui lui Isus, ca o expresie a credinţei în El, Domnul şi Mântuitorul nostru. În această experienţă a comuniunii, Hristos este...
de Estera Haja 15 martie 2025 Citeste mai mult >>
Ce fel de obiceiuri au adventistii de ziua a saptea? Adventist
Cateva obiceiuri si convingeri profunde ale adventistilor de ziua a saptea• Au convingeri profunde cu privire la DumnezeuDe aceea, in dragostea si loialitatea lor lor pentru El sunt sunt gata mai degr...
de Estera Haja 15 martie 2025 Citeste mai mult >>
Atitudinea adventistilor fata de viata si societate Adventist
Una dintre caracteristicile esentiale pentru adventisti este increderea. Chiar daca neparticiparea la petrecerile „clasice” si lipsa unor atractii „de societate” ca fumatul si consumul de alcool lipse...
de Estera Haja 15 martie 2025 Citeste mai mult >>
Cum sunt adventistii de ziua a saptea? Adventist
Ca orice om fiecare adventist are o familie. Insa pe langa aceasta adventistii se vad vad ca o mare familie mondiala prezenta in aproape toate tarile lumii, avand peste 20 milioane de credinciosi dint...
de Estera Haja 15 martie 2025 Citeste mai mult >>
Vezi toate resursele creștine scrise