We interrupt this series on joy to bust another Christmas myth. I’ve been pointing out for years that the Wise Men weren’t at the manger. Matthew is clear:

And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him… (Matthew 2.11, ESV, emphasis mine)

When they came into the house and saw the young child with Mary, his mother, they were overcome. (Matthew 2.11, Passion Translation)

It makes for good drama and involves more people in church Christmas pageants to include the wise men in the manger scene; it’s just not biblical! Speaking of pageants, how many of them include the nasty (or indifferent) innkeeper who wouldn’t give them a room?

Read the text carefully, there was no innkeeper…because there were no inns!

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. (Luke 2.6, 7, NIV)

Dave Wyrtzen wrote in his daily devotional blog:

There’s actually no rejecting innkeeper in the story who refused to provide a room. There probably wasn’t even an inn, so all the Marriott and Holiday Inns can breathe easier. They are not presented as playing the bad guys in the Christmas story. Luke could not have presented the birth of God’s Son in more straightforward terms… Dave Wyrtzen, December 10, 2020

The Passion Translation note has more detail:

This is the Greek word kataluma. This is not an “inn” but simply the upstairs level of a home where guests would stay. It means there was no guest room available in Bethlehem for Mary to give birth. Since all of Joseph’s and Mary’s family also made the journey because of the census, every home of a relative would have been full. In that day Bethlehem was far too small of a village to have an actual inn, all the katalumai there were occupied. It is likely that Joseph and Mary had to sleep downstairs in the main room of a relative’s house. The downstairs of a village home in that day was like an all-purpose room that served as a workshop during the day, and at night it was used to shelter frail animals, while the rest of the flock was left outdoors. The kataluma was not a full-fledged barn or stable, but it did contain a drinking trough or manger cut in the bedrock. This was the likely place where the baby Jesus was placed after his birth. (Note on Luke 2.6, 7, Passion Translation)

Bob, is there a “So what?” Probably not, except I’m thinking that the God who caused a Roman emperor to have a census to get Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem could have provided them better accommodations when they got there!

However, the story doesn’t need just one recalcitrant innkeeper. God needed a whole village of guest rooms full so that the baby could be born in an unusual place. Different enough that it became a sign to the shepherds.

You will recognize him by this miracle sign: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a feeding trough! (Luke 2.12, Passion Translation)

I’ll have more to say about that tomorrow. In the meantime, the fact that we worship a God with that kind of power is another source of joy!

Lift up a great shout of joy to the Lord!
Go ahead and do it—everyone, everywhere!
As you serve him, be glad and worship him.
Sing your way into his presence with joy! (Psalm 100.1, 2 (Passion Translation)