No Inn at the Inn
How Kenneth Bailey simultaneously ruined and saved Christmas
Rethinking the Birth of Jesus
For a while now, I’ve noticed a disconnect in my heart at Christmas time. Something has felt off. I’ve struggled to feel the expected feelings of wonder and awe that this time of year is supposed to create. I’ve stared at my nativity scene and wondered what was wrong with me. Turns out it wasn’t all me; the nativity scene was also wrong. The scene, story, and characters are sweet, quaint, traditional, and also somewhat mythical.
I picked up Kenneth E. Bailey’s book Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes this summer, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed having my mind blown. The first chapter was on the birth of Jesus and all the things we’ve gotten wrong with our story. I’m going to give you the same warning a friend gave me when she recommended the book. If you don’t want to ruin your picture of Christmas, stop reading now.
But if you are curious, if you’ve also felt the disconnect, if you want to explore beautiful truth (even if you’ll never be able to look at a nativity scene the same way), keep reading.
Culture and Context
We miss important truth in the Bible when we read our translations in English from a Western, 21st century perspective. Kenneth Bailey spent 60 years living in the Middle East. He grew up in Egypt and over the next 40 years taught New Testament studies at seminaries and institutes in Egypt, Lebanon, Jerusalem, and Cyprus. After reading his book, I am even more convinced of our desperate need for Middle Eastern Christians and their understanding and perspectives. We are literal outsiders. We do not know.
We are unfamiliar with the shame and honor culture that exists in places like the Middle East as well as the cultural importance of generosity and hospitality. We don’t realize that the nation of Israel has never had large forests or the trees necessary to build with wood and most of their homes and buildings were made of stone. We are ignorant of the fact that there are two Greek words that can be translated as “inn,” but one is more accurately translated “guest room.”
Like people usually do, we’ve created a picture of something based on our own experiences and perspectives. This is what happened when the well-loved Christmas carols were composed, the manger scene images were painted, and a nativity novel was written in A.D. 200 by an anonymous Christian. Many of the ideas we get about the Christmas story were formed in this novel written by a Gentile believer, two hundred years after the birth of Jesus, with no understanding of Palestinian geography or Jewish tradition.
Um, yikes! But who knew?
A More Authentic Story
The truth is Joseph and Mary were returning to Joseph’s hometown in a culture where hospitality and generosity were closely connected to righteousness. They would most definitely have been welcomed into the home of a family member or friend. The phrase we often read written as “no room in the inn” is more accurately translated “no space in the guest room.” Many of the one room homes in this time had a separate guest room either attached as a second story or on the side of the house with a separate entrance.
And despite the shame that Mary’s unmarried pregnancy brought to her and Joseph, the women of the town would absolutely have cared for her and helped with the delivery of her first child. It would have been culturally unthinkable not to.
The word manger has led us to believe that Jesus was born in a stable or barn. But what people have failed to recognize was that houses in biblical times often had a slightly lower “stable” section where small animals were brought in at night or during winter to keep them safe and provide more warmth for the family. There were stone troughs (mangers) set up or built in between the animal section and people section. One of these could easily have been transformed into a bed for baby Jesus.
What Probably Actually Happened
Joseph and Mary traveled to Joseph’s hometown of Bethlehem for the census and moved in with family or friends. While they were there (who knows how long this was but probably not the very first night like we see in nativity plays), it was time for Jesus to be born. Because the house was full of extra people, the best place for Mary to deliver Jesus was in the main living area. After she gave birth with the help of local women, she wrapped Jesus in beautifully embroidered strips of linen that she had prepared for him, and made him a bed in one of the stone mangers inside the house.
Sometime after the delivery, angels miraculously appeared to local shepherds telling them about the birth of a Savior. These social outcasts were shocked and amazed. They rushed into Bethlehem to search for the baby and asked around until someone told them where Joseph and Mary were staying. The shepherds found Jesus in a crowded house, filled with everyday people, sleeping in a manger like the angels had said. As the shepherds shared what had happened with the angels, everyone was surprised and filled with awe. Then the shepherds went back to their sheep worshiping and praising God.
A Savior for the World
I can’t exactly explain why, but this narrative is much more solid and satisfying to me. It resonates with my heart and calms my soul. I feel awe and wonder, peace and love.
Jesus wasn’t born in a cold, drafty barn, but in a warm, crowded house.
Mary didn’t deliver baby Jesus alone or with the help of an inexperienced man, but surrounded by local women who knew what they were doing.
No rude innkeeper turned them away because he wouldn’t make room, the house was simply crowded with people and the best place for delivery wasn’t the guest room.
The animals weren’t standing around, chomping hay, and breathing on newborn baby Jesus, Mary used what she had available to make a bed and keep Jesus safe.
This Nativity account tells me that Jesus came as a baby already carrying shame for us through the way he was conceived and born. He came quietly without fanfare or applause to ordinary people in an ordinary way because He is like that. From the very beginning, God lived with us—crowded into a house filled with the noise and bustle of too many people. He immediately sought the outcasts and brought them near with pure acceptance.
He was everything we’ve ever wanted, and nothing we expected Him to be. This is the real Jesus. This is His real birth story.
I still have a wooded barn filled with nativity characters set up on my coffee table this year. It makes me smile when I look at it because I know the truth. I sing along to Christmas carols even when I hear things I know are inaccurate. I’m not legalistic like I used to be. It’s okay to me that these things aren’t perfect. Because God came down to earth, lived with us, let us get to know Him, and then took all of our shame and guilt to the cross.
The important thing is that He wants us. He always has. He did everything necessary for us to be with Him if we will choose to believe. That’s a Christmas story that I can get behind. That’s one that makes me feel all kinds of things.
I don’t care that Kenneth Bailey ruined Christmas, because he saved Christmas for me too.
You can find me on Instagram, Threads, Facebook, my website, and on my podcast Looking for the Real God. I’d love to connect with you on any of these places!
You can also order an autographed copy of my book, Religious Rebels: Finding Jesus in the Awkward Middle Way by clicking on the button below.
I also read that first chapter in the book you mentioned and found it satisfying. It does make more sense in the description of the way things were at that time and place. There is certainly nothing wrong with changing our views as we learn new things. Thanks for the interesting post.
Really insightful post! Thank you