Was
Christ Born in a Stable?
SEE
ALSO: WHY WE CELEBRATE THE BIRTH OF CHRIST ON DECEMBER 25TH
http://www.celticorthodoxy.com/bkceltic-orthodox-church/christmas.html
The text of Luke 2 notes there was no room for Mary and Joseph in
the “inn.” Unfortunately, the Greek term translated inn (kataluma) had
multiple
meanings.
Ktaluma was used only one other time in the New Testament (Luke
22:11 and the parallel passage, Mark 14:14), it was the place where Jesus
observed
the Last Supper with His disciples. Here Luke gave additional information
about the kataluma. He said it was a furnished large upper story room
within a
private Jerusalem house. The kataluma of the last night of Jesus' earthly
ministry was the “upper room.”
The "kataluma" where Jesus was born was a similar room in Bethlehem.
Mary and Joseph came into town with Mary ready to deliver. Arriving at
Joseph's ancestral home, they found it already full of other family
members who had
arrived earlier. While the
exact reason space was not made for a pregnant
woman is unknown, it probably indicates the house was full of elder
members
of Joseph's family, who had priority.
Christ was in fact born in a manger but in the ancient world, as
well as in primitive modern cultures, mangers are also found within the
house
itself. Animals are regularly kept in homes at
night.
A small number of flock animals were housed, not in attached
exterior sheds, but inside the house in one of the ground floor rooms.
Here, animals,
tools and agricultural produce were stored. Here, too, food was prepared
and
possibly consumed. Family sleeping quarters were on the second
floor. By
being inside, the animals were protected from the elements and theft. In
addition,
their presence provided body heat for cool nights, access to milk for the
daily meal and dung as a critical fuel source.
Excavations in Israel have uncovered numerous installations within
domestic structures containing ancient stone mangers.
Consequently, Mary and Joseph did not find space in the living
quarters of the ancestral family home. Instead, they stayed downstairs in
the
domestic stable, still within the ancestral home, where a manger or two
made of stone
was located; Here
they were visited by the shepherds
Please pray for me, a repentant sinner, worker in the vineyard of
Christ and
His Unworthy Priest,
Bishop Brian J. Kennedy, O.S.B.
HOLY TRINITY CELTIC ORTHODOX CHURCH
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Toledo, Ohio 43606
Phone: 419.206.2190
http://www.celticorthodoxy.com/bkceltic-orthodox-church/
OUR
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ANY OLD WORLD PATRIARCH, YET THE PATRIARCHS ACCEPT THEM AS EQUAL BISHOPS IN THE
LARGER CHURCH WITH THE SAME APOSTOLIC MISSION.
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