Making Room

From: Stock.xchng

It's Christmas season and I think most of us know what this season is truly about. Most everyone knows the story of Jesus and his birth, the three wise men and the shepherds. Most of us know that we should give more and focus on the needy and the poor this season, but do we put it into practice? We all know what we should do, but we don't always do something about it or we figure that someone else is doing it and we don't need to. This is also a season for personal and family drama to add to the stress of our holiday season and it can take the joy right out of the season. This drama can also make giving difficult. I'm reminded of the Christmas story, but I will share with you something that I learned that puts a new spin on the tale we all know.

We all know the story of how Joesph and Mary went to Bethlehem to registrar for the census, but there was no room at the Inn. But how many of us know that the word "Inn" means something else? I didn't believe it at first, but I was in a women's Bible study and it came up. The study that we were doing pointed out that the word "Inn" is the word Katalyma which means guest chamber. Ok, that still fits with the idea of motel like place to stay, but once you get to the meaning of the word and customs of the times, it changes the birth story. Like I said I wasn't sure of this information so I did the research myself. You should always do the research if someone tells you something that you are not sure of, or teaches something in a new way. Make sure it checks out first, and that is what I did here. The word Katalyma does mean guest chamber, but not like a private room at a motel. It means guest chamber like the spare bed room in your own house. The kind of guest room that we all keep for over night guests. This word can also mean dinning room or eating area, which can also be a place for an over night guest to stay.

Now think about what that time must of been like for Joseph and Mary and the customs of the time. Joseph's family belonged to the line of David, the great Jewish King, so they had to go to his home town for the census, this being Bethlehem. Now the image we all think of about this trip is Joseph leading a donkey with a very pregnant Mary riding on along, just them alone. However, they most likely traveled with the rest of Joseph's family. They all had to go down for the census, it would have been more like a big caravan of people all traveling together.  Mary and Joseph may have walked near the rear of this caravan because of the shame they all placed on Mary for being pregnant before her and Joseph were married. This leads into my next point.

Due to the likely hood that they were traveling with family to the place where their family originated from, there is good reason to believe that Joseph's family would have had relatives already living in Bethlehem. Which means that they would most likely stayed with family instead of paying for a motel. Also remember that Joseph's family are carpenters and probably not very well off. The word Katalyma meaning guess room or dinning area highly suggests that Joseph's family would not welcome Mary into their home because of her being pregnant prior to her marriage to her husband. If the child was Joseph's and conceived after their wedding night, his new pregnant wife would have traditionally received the guest room, maybe even the master bed room for the birth. Instead the word Katalyma also means dinning room and that is where either servants or not as welcomed guests would have slept. It is the coldest, most removed part of the house from the rest of the family quarters and the least private. There was no room in the "Inn," remember? which means that Mary wasn't even allowed to sleep on the kitchen floor. They slept out in the court yard or in the barn with the animals. They didn't even let her come in when the labor pains started, they made her give birth outside for all the world to hear and/or see. Jesus's birth was a humiliating experience for his poor mother. The King of Kings came into this world in a very humbling way.

Adding in the family drama and emotion that must of surrounded the birth of our Lord, adds a whole new level to the our understanding of this popular story and what kind of life experience Jesus had on this earth. Jesus had this kind of humbling birth so that he could identify with all of man kind, the lowest of all. We are mostly all born in hospitals, but what about third world countries or the poor in our own country? Could they not relate to this more in depth version of The Birth story? Jesus came to serve, but to serve he had to understand to lower him self to our level, and not just our level but the lowest level. A shamed teenage girl, pregnant, not married, forced to give birth in a barn, and that is the birth story of our Lord.

Hearing this newer version of The Birth story makes me what to do something kind. I think of poor Mary and my heart aches wanting to be there at that time and offering her something, anything that would have made this birth more comfortable. But I think that is the point, to take these feelings and turn them into actions. I could wish for all the world to change Mary's experience, or I could turn around and help someone in need now.

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." Matthew 25:40

When I reach out to help someone, either by donating toys, clothes, food or my time I am giving to Jesus. I am doing those kind heart felt deeds to my God. I am fulfilling that desire inside me and doing something good too. I hope you all find time this Christmas season to spread some good and to continue doing so as we enter into a new year. Teach your kids to do the same and let's make this a season where we do what we should and not think about what we ought to be doing.

Here is a You Tube video that captures some of what I was talking about and puts it into a more modern feel.