The Simple Christmas Story

The Santa story transformed from a dim memory of the real St. Nicholas who brought gifts to the poor into a fun-filled imaginative fairy tale Santa who flies around in a sleigh pulled by reindeer, bringing gifts to everyone.

The Jesus story has also transformed from reality into a nostalgic warm nativity scene. Here’s the original story, told by Luke:

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 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.

Despite artist renderings, no donkey appears in the story. Mary, in her last trimester, likely had to walk.

Setting aside Sunday school dramas, Mary and Joseph didn’t go knocking on doors only to be turned away time after time until someone finally gave them a place in the barn. The old King James Version 'There was no room for them in the inn' gave us moderns a picture of full motels and polite refusals from homeowners who had no room to spare for strangers. But it was based on a mistranslation—the word for “inn” was generic for any place a guest or traveler would use.

They went to Bethlehem because Joseph came from there. We can safely assume they stayed with relatives there. Mideast hospitality was so strong it’s hard to imagine anyone would have refused them. In simple first century homes families slept together in one room. Some houses had guest rooms for all the guests. If they were crowded, people would just move over and it would be more crowded.

The problem Mary apparently encountered was lack of space for her to have a baby, so…they used the manger for an infant bed. But they didn’t send them out to the “stable” or “barn”. Common 1^st century homes had space inside for their few animals. The animal area on a lower level, with family quarters on a raised level above—all under one roof. This kept the animals from intruding on the family’s space, and it kept the animals safe from predators at night. So Mary wrapped up her new born and placed him in the manger.

Luke describes humble beginnings for Jesus. For someone purported to be the Son of God, the long promised Messiah, a King, no less—what an unlikely, humble, beginning. What do you suppose Luke is trying to say to us by this?

Is He Real?

One of my good friends just doesn’t believe all this “Bible” stuff. We have great conversations about science, history, and faith, how they intersect—or don’t. As usual, coffee time conversations meander about, and one time we got talking about Christmas and Santa Claus. He wondered if my belief in Jesus might be something mythical like kids believing in Santa.

I shared with him good non-biased historical evidence that Jesus was a real person. And, actually, Santa was too: St. Nicholas of the 4^th century went around secretly bringing gifts to the poor. In the last 200 years the real person morphed into a mythical tradition of Santa and his reindeer coming from the North Pole to bring gifts at Christmas time.

With his quick wit, my friend challenged me: don’t Christians do something similar with Jesus—making him into a figure that little resembles the original. He had a point! The Jesus I see portrayed in churches often resembles more the kind of Jesus people want him to be to support their view of the world, rather than the one who really was.

But we do have some primary writings that speak the truth of his life and death. One writer in particular focused on separating fact from fiction. Luke starts his manuscript with these words:

Many people have set out to write accounts about the events that have been fulfilled among us. They used the eyewitness reports circulating among us from the early disciples. Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I also have decided to write a careful account for you, most honorable Theophilus, so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught. –Luke 1:1-4, New Living Translation.

Many past scholars discounted Luke as an accurate historian. One of them, Sir William Ramsay, changed his mind after excavating and examining the ruins of places in Luke’s history and concluded that Luke was “a historian of the first rank.” He couldn't find mistakes, even in the details.

If you’ve never read Luke, or if it’s been a long time, pick up a Bible and take a look at his Gospel. He did his best to present an accurate picture of who Jesus was, why he came, and what it could mean for us.