Luke 2:7 "And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn."
I did not expect profound truths on Christmas Eve that I had never considered before in the Christmas story. This is normally a service that connects me to personal memories of past Christmases filled with familiar traditions and readings. Yet Pastor Steve's sermon unleashed new insights by isolating and commenting on the "because there was no room at the inn" in verse 7.
My perspective had always been contained within my current cultural context. When I think of travel I imagine multiple hotels that offer rooms in a city. Pastor Steve preached that there was no "innkeeper" that was mentioned to deliver this fact to Joseph and Mary He also framed this verse as being unusual because the hospitality imperative in that region. Why would there not be family to offer a room? Or perhaps they did. My thoughts raced as I imagined and speculated as I built on the particulars of what I knew about this other cultural context. I needed to know more.
In researching this I found Luke 2:7 has been the source of much discussion throughout church history. For many, this verse says there was no room for Joseph and Mary in "the inn," a tradition that stretches way back. But other Christians suggest that this verse is better translated as "upper room" or "guest room," as in Luke 2:7.
At the heart of this debate is the Greek word kataluma. Specifically, the verse says there was no room for them in the kataluma. In the New Testament, this word is used only here and in Mark 14:14 and Luke 22:11, with the two latter verses describing the location of the Last Supper before Jesus was crucified. A deep Greek word connection between Christ's first days and his last that I was unaware of before.
Could it be that God wanted others to see, experience, and go tell about the birth of Jesus? I imagined before that as a new mother, Mary may have preferred privacy and protection in a hotel room rather than placing her precious baby in a feeding trough. And yet, God chose not to make room for Joseph, Mary, and Jesus in the inn. God’s grand plan made Jesus available to all people from His very first hours of life.
Moving away from the idea of a hotel to staying with family changed this story significantly. Almost like opening a Pandora's box of possibilities. At the root of why there was no room could have been the scandal of Mary's pregnancy and an extended family's refusal to accept that scandal but still feeling the obligation of providing some hospitality.
I always thought of "no room at the inn" at least partially representing an idea that there is no room in our daily lives for the miracle of what Christ offers without a significant metanoia. However Pastor Steve's emphasis on the particulars here made this idea vivid and alive in new ways,
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