We studied the end of Mark last week, but it seemed inappropriate to talk about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus in December at a time when we’re celebrating His incarnation and birth. So, for my last blog before a break for the holidays, I’m pulling out a story I wrote many years ago and updating it for you.
But first, a little background.
“And Mary brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7)
Much has been made of this last phrase in many Christmas dramatizations–Joseph leading the donkey with a very pregnant Mary on its back from inn to inn, and being turned away time after time because there was no more room.
Many years ago. I saw a program on the History Channel that painted quite a different picture of what this might have meant in the first century.
You see, there were no inns in Israel in those days, so the program asserted. Instead, people traveling within Israel stayed with friends or family. So, instead of meaning ‘inn,’ they said it really meant ‘common room,’ that is, a large room where a family could, for example, throw a party, have a feast, or out-of-town visitors could unroll a blanket and spend the night.
And it wasn’t just family and friends from out of town who might spend the night. One of the provisions of Jewish religious Law was to show hospitality to strangers and ‘sojourners,’ that is, people who were just ‘passing through.’ So traveling Jews could just walk up to a house in Israel, knock on the door, and ask for hospitality for the night.
My mom described something similar during her childhood in the 40’s. When her grandmother was near death, all of the families were brought together for the wake. What she described was almost wall-to-wall pallets in the living room where everyone slept each night.
Looking at the Greek for clarification, the word Luke used for ‘inn,’ was katalymati (Strong’s G2646) from kataluo; properly, a dissolution; that is, “breaking up” of a journey, or by implication a lodging-place such as a guestroom (used twice), or inn (used only once in this passage in Luke).
So, ‘inn’ is not an incorrect translation, but this Greek word has a wider meaning.
The other two uses of the word are in Luke and Mark, describing the upper room where Jesus celebrated the Passover just before His arrest and crucifixion.
Later in Luke 10, in the story of the Good Samaritan, Luke does use a word that can be more properly called an ‘inn,’ pandocheion , (Strong’s G3829.) It literally means ‘all-receiving,’ and refers to a public lodging-place such as a caravanserai (for caravans to stop at that includes accommodations for the large number of animals), or an inn as we would think of it, where any traveler can stop and spend the night, for a fee. These were usually outside of Israel for the non-Jewish travelers.
So, with Luke using the same Greek word in the Christmas story and for the upper room, and a different Greek word for a public inn, the assertion by the History Channel program for interpreting it as ‘common room’ seems very strong. With that in mind, and my mother’s childhood experience, I decided to write a story as to how the birth of Jesus might have happened.
No Room…
The young man stood at the entrance to the almost full common room with two bedrolls slung over his shoulders. Conversations in the crowded room died down as the residents became aware of him, but apparently finding nothing of interest in a young man still dusty from traveling, conversation soon returned to the former quiet buzz.
Even with the census of Caeser Augustus coming to an end, there still wasn’t much space at any of the homes in Bethlehem, the place where those descended from the House of David had to register. Why couldn’t people just register where they lived? The things governments did sometimes just didn’t make sense to the young man.
Spotting a vacant space on the floor at the far corner, the young man began negotiating the zig-zag space between the patchwork pattern of blankets where couples, small family groups and the occasional oldster sat or lay. As he moved away from the door, a young, very pregnant girl could be seen behind him, clutching his cloak and following as vest she could.
With two bedrolls, also containing their meager belongings rolled up inside, and his pregnant wife clutching him, the young man brushed the people at the edges with one of the bedrolls, necessitating a litany of apologies as he made his way across. ‘I’m sorry ‘ ‘Please forgive me.’ ‘I need to go by, please.’
Reaching the vacant corner, he laid the two bedrolls down while his wife backed up to the wall and used it’s support to slide down to the floor with a huge sigh. It had been such a long trip from Galilee! Even riding the donkey her husband had borrowed, and the stops along the way to spend the night at one or the other’s relatives, being so close to term had just made the jostling ride so much tougher.
They had decided to wait until the end of the census to travel to Bethlehem, hoping the baby would come first. But when it became obvious they would run out of time to register for the census if they waited any longer, they had no choice but to come now.
The young man asked his wife if he could get anything for her and she asked for some water. Navigating the zigzag path more adroitly this time without any burdens, he went to find their host.
The old, but still hale, and smiling woman sitting next to the younger woman introduced herself. “My name is Jezebel,” she snickered. “Can you believe my parents named me after that wicked woman? But everyone just calls me ‘Aunt Jezzie.’ This here is my husband Lemuel, but we just call him ‘Lem.’” “lea ‘o ‘ee’ ‘ou,” mumbled the old, leather-faced man on the other side. It was apparent he had no teeth as his mouth looked like a baby’s gums.
Aunt Lezzie continued, “You look like you’re in a family way. I should know ’cause I bore 10 children for Lem here.” Lem nodded his head, “Uh-huh.” “People said we were trying to start our own 10 tribes of Israel!” Aunt Lezzie and Lem laughed at their joke. “Now, don’t you worry none. I’ve helped deliver many a baby, even some of my own grandchildren. Why, I remember the time…”
Aunt Lizzie reminded Mary of some of her own great aunts back home who could just go on and on with stories from their younger days, and who didn’t really mind if you were paying strict attention or not.
The almost familiar voice quickly had her eyes closing and her head nodding as she fell asleep.
Unnhh!!!
The most severe pain she had ever felt woke her. It was like a giant hand was squeezing her body. There was nothing else in the world for her at that moment but the pain. She remembered her mother telling her to take deep breaths when the birth pangs started, but Mary hurt so badly from the unfamiliar pain she could barely draw a breath. She just tried to ride it out with faith in the assurance from her mother they wouldn’t last forever, even if it felt like it at the moment.
Finally the pain began let up and she could breath again, trying to breath deeply, but just able to gasp at first. She opened her eyes and realized Aunt Jezzie was patting her arm and murmuring words of assurance.
Movement at the door caught her eye and she looked up to see everyone was staring her way. Looking a little higher, she saw it was her husband at the door. In His hands he held an old clay pitcher and an equally old mug in a white-knuckled grip. She realize his face was white with a look of mingled shock and fear. When he saw she was able to look up at him, he rushed across the room with no attention to where he stepped, followed by complaints from the other residents. “Hey! Watch where you’re going!” And things like that. Often the complaining men were shushed by their wives who had a better idea of what was happening.
Joseph dropped down next to Mary and absently set the pitcher and mug on the floor. He gently took her hands and looked into her eyes. “I’m fine,” she quietly reassured him.
“Young man, your wife is about to have your baby,” Aunt Jezzie stated.
Joseph looked a question at his young wife. In answer, Mary took his hands and placed them on her bulging belly. Joseph could feel the child moving inside and the rippling of mini-contractions. He looked up at his wife in wonder as she nodded a quiet assent.
Suddenly his sense of wonder began to be replaced with panic. ‘What should he do?’ He had no idea…
Just then Aunt Jezzie spoke up again. Who was she anyway, he wondered? He glanced down at Mary with a questioning look. She took his hand again and gave it a squeeze of reassurance, along with a nod signaling it was fine.
“Young man, this here is no place for a woman to have a baby. My Lem might not have no teeth…” That was when Joseph noticed the old bald man on the other side of the matronly woman, his leathery face split by a toothless smile. “…but he can make hisself understood.”
“‘a ‘igh’,” the old man mumbled.
“Lem, go find our host and see if he has somewhere private-like we can go.” The old man nodded and started toward the door, quickly navigating the zigzag path between blankets with the skill of experience.
Joseph started to get up and go with him when he was suddenly jerked back down to his knees by Mary’s tight grip. Before he could say anything, Mary quietly asked, “May I have some water please?”
Joseph looked at her blankly until she nodded toward the forgotten pitcher and mug sitting on the floor. Joseph looked at them for a moment before he remembered that had been the original purpose of his errand. With slightly shaking hands, he picked them up and poured the fresh, cool well water for his wife.
Jezzie sitting off to the side turned away with a smile of amusement. Young woman though she might be, apparently she had already learned how to manage her man.
Staring into her husband’s eyes as she sipped her fill, Mary then handed the mug back and murmured, “You should drink some too.” Realizing suddenly how dry his mouth was, Joseph took the mug and threw back the rest of the water.
While they rested together for a moment, Lem made his way quickly back across the room and mumbled his report to his wife. As Jezzie turned to relay his message, the old man began rolling up their belongings into their bedrolls.
“Lem says our host don’t have nowhere that’s private except his stables at the end of the street. Lem says our host sent the stableboy to clean out a stall and lay down some fresh hay. Lem also asked him for a small kettle to boil some water for washing the mother and the baby.”
As she was finishing her report, old Lem had finished packing their things and slung them over one shoulder. “You haven’t even unrolled your blankets yet?” Jezzie observed. “Let Lem have them here and he’ll carry them on ahead while we walk with your wife.”
Joseph looked down at the two bedrolls, feeling like he was being left behind in the fast-moving events. He nodded and handed them over to the old man. Lem quickly took them with a mumble and a nod, and headed for the door, managing not to brush against a single resident, all of whom were watching events with great interest and the occasional quiet comment.
“Let’s get your wife up, now.” With both of them grabbing an arm, they helped Mary to her feet. That is when Mary realized the contractions had moved the baby down lower in her womb, making standing and walking more difficult.
The common room had become quiet as they readied to leave it. When Mary looked up, she realized the others in there had also stood up, leaving a clear aisle straight to the door. Children were precious in Israel, and this was their way of honoring Mary and the child she was about to give birth to. As she walked out between her husband and Aunt Jezzie, Mary murmured words of thanks to those on both sides of the aisle, her distant relatives from the House of David.
The sun was beginning to set as they reached the end of the street and saw the stables. Mary noticed her donkey was still tied up outside.
Suddenly… ‘UNNHH!!!’
This contraction hit her twice as strongly as the first one, bringing Mary immediately to her knees. Again the world around her disappeared and time stood still as there was nothing else in her world except the unremitting pain…
Finally it let up enough that Mary could gasp in great lungfulls of air and awareness of her surroundings returned.
That is when she realized Aunt Jezzie was crouched down beside her, with one arm around her shoulder, murmuring words of encouragement. When Jezzie realized Mary’s awareness had returned, she cast her eyes up to Mary’s other side where Joseph stood, white-faced with fear and worry.
Mary reached up and squeezed his hand and briefly smiled to reassure him. Just then something caught his eye at the stables and he looked up. Mary also looked up and saw the stableboy wheeling out an empty wheelbarrow, apparently having completed his preparations. Following the boy’s departure with her eyes, that was when she also saw Lem laying a fire underneath a medium black kettle suspended from a tripod off to the side.
Lem had accompanied his wife on many of her midwife outings. He knew his job was to occupy the father when the women needed their privacy for the birth, and to boil the wash water for afterwards. Joseph looked toward the old man with a renewed focus. Here was something practical he knew how to do.
Mary knew what was running through her husband’s mind. Even though they had lived together less than a year, she knew how he preferred to be doing things with his hands. Mary wanted her husband with her at this time. Mary needed her husband with her. So, even though she didn’t feel completely recovered yet, she grabbed his hand, braced herself and began to rise.
That got her husband’s attention back on her as he put his hand under her arm to help her up. Aunt Jezzie did the same on the other side and together they lifted Mary back to her feet.
Standing up, Mary realized the baby was now low in her womb and she wasn’t sure she could have walked on her own. With her husband holding her up on one side and Aunt Jezzie on the other, Mary fixed her eyes on the lamplit entrance to the stables and started toward it.
Step by determined step, Mary made her way toward the stables between her two helpers. It was time for this miracle baby to be born…and Mary was ready to do her part.
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