January 10, 2025 • 25 mins
"How has tradition shaped your view of the nativity? Today we discover the nativity story's depth, exploring tradition, scholarship, and different perspectives to enrich your understanding of Christmas' true meaning and enduring grace."
What if the story of Jesus's birth isn't quite what we've been told? Brace yourself for a thoughtful re-examination of the nativity narrative that might change your perspective on Christmas forever. On this episode of Plays on Word Radio, Pastor Teddy invites you to explore the profound layers of meaning behind the Word becoming flesh, unpacking the true origin of giving through the lens of Jesus Christ's story. Drawing insights from Kenneth E. Bailey's "Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes", we challenge traditional interpretations of the Christmas story, offering a fresh viewpoint that melds historical and cultural contexts with deep spiritual reflection.
Join us as we navigate the complexities of the nativity story, from the welcoming warmth of a peasant home to the steadfast solitude of Mary, and uncover the roles of shepherds and wise men in heralding a moment of redemption and grace. We explore the tension between longstanding traditions and scholarly insights, encouraging intellectual honesty and open-mindedness. With an engaging blend of scholarship, personal reflection, and Eastern Orthodox traditions, this journey through the true meaning of Christmas promises to enrich your understanding and appreciation of the holiday. And as always, we end with a heartfelt blessing for a joyous holiday season.
The authors site has numerous articles that you will find informative:
https://www.kennethbailey.net/
Some book purchase options:
www.christianbook.com • google E-book • Amazon Audio Book • Amazon.com
Does any of today's podcast resonate with you? Let us know here:
https://playsonword.dm.networkforgood.com/forms/podcast-reviews
To Support Plays On Word Radio and Plays On Word Theater, please visit:
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Lord you know.
Hey guys, you are now listeningto Plays on Word Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
It's the best, that Christmas spirit you hear now,
that Christmas spirit it's aboutgiving.
Well, okay, yeah, but if youmissed the gift, the origin of
giving, you missed that that theWord became flesh and dwelt
among us.
And why?
Because God so loved the worldthat he gave his one and only
(00:28):
son that whosoever would believein him would not perish but
have eternal life.
If you missed that, then you'vemissed everything.
You've missed out completely.
Jesus, your name, your name,your name.
You're the only name, you'rethe only name, you're the only
(00:49):
name.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Hello and welcome to Plays on Word Radio, where we
discuss, analyze, work and playon the Word of God.
Thank you for joining us onthis excursion today.
Let's join Pastor Teddy, alsoknown as Fred David Kenny Jr the
founder of Plays on WordTheater, as he does a deep dive
into the Word of God.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Yeah, Amen, amen, amen.
Thank you and welcome to allyou listening to Plays on Word
Radio.
This is our third season.
Ah, season three, yeah, allright.
Thank you to all the Plays onWord family supporters that have
(01:40):
made this program possible.
We have been downloaded andstreamed in 57 countries now
Around the world.
You guys are blessing folks, sothank you again for that.
Last week we started, and I didsomething that I don't normally
(02:01):
do, and it's almost somethingyou just don't do on radio is
read a large section of textfrom a book, and we got an
interesting response, though,when I touched on this subject
(02:23):
at the end of our 101st episode,and so I wanted to oh, also,
happy New Year to you guys.
Yeah, and I wanted to just givemore context of where I was
coming from, and I mentionedthis book by Kenneth E Bailey,
jesus Through Middle EasternEyes, and he's a scholar, a
(02:48):
professor, that lived in theMiddle East for decades and
studied the culture then and now, and he just makes very
compelling case for his points,and I just wanted to share.
So I just basically read thechapter Titled.
(03:15):
What was it?
The story of Jesus's birth.
Yeah, the story of Jesus'sbirth, and he goes farther.
I won't.
I won't read that, or elsethese publishers will be coming
after me the Genealogy andJoseph the Just.
But yeah, you know, we readthat.
I want to give a shout out toIVP Academic, also the
(03:39):
publishers.
You can get this book on Amazonif you want.
You can get this book on Amazonif you want.
I wanted to interview this guybut he passed, so I'm bummed
about that, bummed out.
But yeah, kenneth E Bailey,jesus Through Middle Eastern
(03:59):
Eyes, we'll put a link up so youcan check it out.
If you want to check it out, orgo to your local theological
library.
I'm sure they have it.
If you're in New Jersey, rollover to Princeton man, princeton
Theological Seminary Librariesopen to the public.
You can just roll up man.
You know how many hours I spentin there.
If that library could talk.
(04:21):
Anyway, we're going to continueso that those of you who we
left hanging last week are notupset with me anymore.
We're going to continue thisand finish this chapter up.
It's not long, we're just aboutdone anyway.
So check it out.
Here we go.
Okay, welcome to the extendedcontent of this book.
(04:44):
Of this book, the option forCataluma was chosen after Alfred
Plummer in his influentialcommentary published in the late
19th century.
Plummer writes it is a littledoubtful whether the familiar
translation quote in the end,close quote, is correct.
(05:05):
It is possible that Joseph hadrelied upon the hospitality of
some friends in Bethlehem, whosequote guest chamber close quote
however, was already full whenhe and Mary arrived.
Howard Marshall makes the sameobservation but does not expand
(05:25):
on its significance.
He gives a footnote here.
Fitzmer calls the Cataluma aquote lodge close quote, which
for him is a quote publiccaravansary or con, close quote.
I'm convinced that Plummer wasright.
(05:46):
If so, why was thisunderstanding not adopted by the
church, either in the East orthe West?
In the West, the church has notnoticed the problems I have
already listed.
When the traditionalunderstanding of the story,
therefore, is not broken, itwould seem that the best course
to follow is don't fix it.
(06:06):
But once the problems with thetraditional view of the text are
clarified, they cry out forsolutions.
On the other side, in the East,the dominant Christian presence
is the venerated Orthodox Churchin its various branches.
What of its traditions?
(06:27):
Christianity in the Middle Easthas traditionally focused on
the birth having taken place ina cave, many simple homes in
traditional villages in the HolyLand being in caves and are
then expanded.
The tradition of the cave canbe traced to Justin Martyr
writing in the middle of thesecond century.
(06:48):
What I have already suggestedis in harmony with this
tradition.
The Eastern tradition hasalways maintained that Mary was
alone when the child was born.
In worship, even the altar ishidden from the eyes of the
faithful, and the event of theelements becoming the body and
(07:08):
the blood of Jesus in theEucharist takes place out of
sight.
How much more should the Wordthat became flesh take place
without witnesses?
Father Mata al-Miskin, a 20thcentury Coptic Orthodox scholar
and monk that's a mouthful whowrote six weighty commentaries
(07:31):
in Arabic on the four Gospels,reflects with wonder on St Mary
alone in the cave.
As he writes, my heart goes outto this solitary mother.
How did she endure labor painsalone?
How did she receive her childwith her own hands?
How did she wrap him while herstrength was totally exhausted?
What did she have to eat ordrink?
(07:53):
Oh, women of the world, witnessthis mother of the Savior.
How much did she suffer and howmuch does she deserve honor
along with our tenderness andlove.
This genuine and touching pietyis naturally not interested in
(08:15):
considering birth in a privatehome with all the care and
support that other women wouldhave given.
Therefore, among Christians,east and West, there have been
understandable reasons why a newunderstanding of this text has
been neglected, why a newunderstanding of this text has
(08:38):
been neglected.
To summarize, a part of whatLuke tells us about the birth of
Jesus is that the Holy Familytraveled to Bethlehem where they
were received into a privatehome.
The child was born wrapped andliterally put to bed in the
living room in the manger thatwas either built into the floor
or made of wood and moved intothe family living space.
Why weren't they built into thefloor or made of wood and moved
into the family living space?
Why weren't they invited intothe family guest room?
(09:00):
The reader might naturally ask.
The answer is that the guestroom was already occupied by
other guests.
The host family graciouslyaccepted Mary and Joseph into
the family room of their house.
The family room would naturallybe cleared of men for the birth
of the child and the villagemidwife and other women would
(09:21):
have assisted at birth.
After the child was born andwrapped, mary put her newborn to
bed in a manger filled withfresh straw and covered him with
a blanket.
When Jesus engaged in ministryas an adult quote the common
people heard him gladly closequote.
(09:43):
That's from Mark 12, verse 37.
That same acceptance wasevident at his birth.
What then, of the shepherds?
The story of the shepherdsreinforces the picture I have
presented.
Shepherds in first centuryPalestine were poor, and
rabbinic traditions label themas unclean.
This may seem peculiar becausePsalm 23 opens with the Lord is
(10:07):
my shepherd.
It's not clear how such a loftymetaphor evolved into an
unclean profession.
The main point seems to be thatthe flocks ate private property
.
Five lists of prescribed tradesare recorded in rabbinic
literature and shepherds appearin three out of the five.
(10:28):
These lists hail from post-NewTestament times but could
reflect developing ideas aliveat the time of Jesus.
In any case, they were lowly,uneducated types.
In Luke 2, verse 8-14, the firstpeople to hear the message of
the birth of Jesus were a groupof shepherds who were close to
(10:50):
the bottom of the social scalein their society.
The shepherds heard and wereafraid.
Initially they were probablyfrightened by the sight of the
angels, but later they wereasked to visit the child.
From their point of view, ifthe child was truly the Messiah,
the parents would reject theshepherds if they tried to visit
(11:11):
him.
Think about that.
How could shepherds beconvinced to expect a welcome?
The angels anticipated thisanxiety and told the shepherds
that they would find the babywrapped, which was what peasants
, like shepherds, did with theirnewly born children.
Furthermore, they told that hewas lying in a manger.
(11:34):
That is, they would find theChrist child in an ordinary
peasant home such as theirs.
He was not in a governor'smansion or a wealthy merchant's
guest room, but a simpletwo-room home like theirs.
This was really good news.
Perhaps they would not be toldunclean shepherds be gone.
(11:59):
This was their sign, a sign forlowly shepherds.
With this special sign ofencouragement, the shepherds
proceeded to Bethlehem in spiteof their low degree.
Luke, chapter 1, verse 52.
On arrival, they reported theirstory to everyone and everyone
was amazed when they left,praising God for all that they
(12:20):
heard and seen.
The word all obviously includedthe quality of the hospitality
that they had witnessed onarrival.
Clearly, they found the holyfamily in perfectly adequate
accommodations, not in a dirtystable.
If, on arrival, they had founda smelly stable, a frightened
young mother and a desperateJoseph, they would have said
(12:44):
this is outrageous.
Come home with us, our womenwill take care of you.
This is very compelling.
Within five minutes, theshepherds would have moved the
little family to their own homes.
The honor of the entire villagewould rest on their shoulders
and they would have sensed theirresponsibility to do their duty
.
The fact that they walked outwithout moving the young family
(13:06):
means that the shepherds feltthat they could not offer better
hospitality than what they hadalready been extended to them.
Middle Eastern people have atremendous capacity for showing
honor to guests.
This appears as early as thestory of Abraham and his guests
in Genesis, chapter 18, verse 1through 8, and continues to the
present.
The shepherds left the holyfamily while praising God for
(13:29):
the birth of the Messiah and forthe quality of the hospitality
in the home in which he was born.
Messiah and for the quality ofthe hospitality in the home in
which he was born.
This is the capstone to thestory of the shepherds.
The child was born for thelikes of the shepherds, the poor
, the lowly, the rejected.
He also came for the rich andthe wise, who later appear with
(13:51):
gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Matthew informs his readersthat the wise men entered the
house where they saw Mary andthe child.
Matthew, chapter 2, verse 1through 12.
The story in Matthew confirmsthe suggestion that Luke's
account describes a birth in aprivate home.
(14:12):
With this understanding in mind,all the cultural problems that
I have noted are resolved.
Joseph was not obligated toseek a commercial inn.
He does not appear as an ineptand inadequate husband who
cannot arrange for Mary's needs.
Likewise, joseph did not angerhis wife's relatives by failing
(14:35):
to turn to them in a crisis.
The child was born in thenormal surroundings of a peasant
home sometime after theyarrived in Bethlehem, and there
was no heartless innkeeper withwhom to deal.
A member of the house of Davidwas not humiliated by rejection
as he returned to the village ofhis family's origins.
(14:56):
The people of Bethlehem offeredthe best they had and preserved
their honor as a community.
The shepherds were nothard-hearted oaths without the
presence of mind to help a needyfamily of strangers.
Our Christmas creche setsremain as they are because ox
(15:16):
and ass before him bow.
But that manger was in a warmand friendly home, not in a cold
and lonely stable.
Looking at the story in thislight strips away the layers of
interpretive mythology that havebuilt up around it.
(15:38):
Jesus was born in a simpletwo-room village home such as
the Middle East has known forthe last 3,000 years.
Yes, we must rewrite ourChristmas plays not Christmas
Joe, though, but in rewritingthem the story is enriched, not
cheapened.
(15:58):
And then he gives a summary ofthis chapter, the summary of the
story of Jesus's birth, jesus'sincarnation.
This is number one.
Jesus's incarnation wascomplete.
At his birth, the holy familywas welcomed into a peasant home
.
These people did their best andit was enough.
At his birth, the common peoplesheltered him.
(16:20):
The wise men came to the house.
When Jesus was an adult, thecommon people heard him gladly.
Number two the shepherds werewelcomed at the manger.
The unclean were judged to beclean.
The outcasts became honoredguests.
(16:41):
The song of angels was sung tothe simplest of all.
I know that in an increasinglysecular world, quote Merry
Christmas close quote competeswith quote Happy Holidays close
quote.
I long to turn the traditionalMerry Christmas to the other
(17:05):
direction and introduce a newgreeting for Christmas morning.
Greeting the Savior is born.
Response he is born in a manger.
Oh, that we might greet eachother in this manner.
Now, like I said, this is thisone scholar's view, and he makes
(17:33):
a very compelling case.
I have never liked the wholecave concept.
I've never been a fan of that,and you can see how it got its
way into tradition.
I also we don't put the wisemen at the Christmas Joe scene,
(17:58):
in part because because Herodhad the boys from two years
younger killed, he didn't justhave the infants killed.
There is a school of thoughtsthat says they came a little bit
later.
One of the arguments, though, isthat, well, jesus was in a home
(18:20):
, in the house.
So that's one of the argumentsthat this guy kind of debunks,
throws some shade at to acertain extent, because, from
the get-go, from his perspective, he believes Jesus was born in
the house.
From his perspective, hebelieves Jesus was born in the
(18:40):
house.
Very compelling argumentagainst the whole manger barn
stall thing in the back.
And what I like about this andwhat I find compelling, is that
this guy isn't.
He didn't just read a couplearticles like this.
(19:09):
He spent 30 years living in theMiddle East and studying this
whole concept.
So it's not like he's just reada couple articles on the
internet.
And, like I said, kenneth EBailey, you know pretty good
book.
I'm about to dive into theBeatitudes part.
I've had this book for yearsand I never read this Beatitudes
part.
But I have to teach the Gospelof Matthew, and he might have
(19:31):
some interesting, interestingthings to say about that.
Whatever it is, though, bottomline is people have found a way
to divide over Christmas,whether you celebrate it or not.
Some people say, oh it is, italways has been a pagan holiday.
(19:53):
The way I approach it is thatthe Messiah has come into the
world, and I want to celebratethat.
If I never celebrate my ownbirthday, or anybody's birthday,
let me celebrate the fact thatredemption was born in a manger.
(20:16):
There were shepherds there, andJoseph was there and Mary was
there.
Well obviously Mary was there,but redemption grace came to
live with us.
The Word became flesh and dweltamong us.
(20:39):
This is the very Word that waswith God.
That was God, not was a God.
This is the Word that was God.
In fact, through Him, allthings were made.
Without Him, nothing was madethat has been made, and in Him
(20:59):
was life.
Yeah, so this Word became flesh,and that's what I celebrate,
and we do it around Christmastime, which is most likely not
the time Jesus was born.
But it doesn't matter, becausethe text doesn't tell us.
(21:22):
That doesn't mean we can't orshouldn't celebrate the fact
that he came into the world toredeem sinners like us.
I'm not saying, you know, sellout and turn it into jingle
bells and, you know, don't evenmention Christ at all.
Christmas is about love, aboutfamily.
(21:44):
Okay, yeah, you can go genericHallmark on that, but in reality
, christmas, the Christmasspirit you hear that all the
time.
That Christmas spirit, you knowit's about giving.
Well, okay, yeah, but if youmissed the gift, the origin of
(22:16):
giving, you missed that.
That the Word became flesh anddwelt among us.
And why?
Because God so loved the worldthat he gave His one and only
Son that whosoever would believein Him would not perish but
have eternal life.
If you missed that, then you'vemissed everything.
You've missed out completely.
You know, I can't even think ofa good analogy.
(22:40):
It's like saying a Corvette ohit's, it's all about horsepower.
Oh, okay, yeah, you're missingout.
Well, that's a terrible example.
You know, if you guys have agood example, somebody email me.
I'm going to make you guys partof this program.
You email me and let me know.
Anyway, that is.
I just wanted to read that toyou.
(23:01):
If anybody would like to gofarther into that, let me know.
Shoot me a text Again.
This was from Kenneth Bailey.
His book he's a scholar bookhe's a scholar.
(23:28):
I am not stating or saying thatevery aspect of what he's
claiming here is 100%, but I dobelieve he makes a compelling
case for many of his positionsand I just wanted to share that
with you.
You will.
It's easy to just dismiss stuff, but that's not really being
intellectually honest when youjust dismiss Whatever and just
dismiss it Based on it rubs upagainst your understanding of
(23:50):
something.
So I just wanted to.
I hope I haven't ruinedanybody's Christmas.
Please forgive me If I'veruined your whole childhood.
That was not my intention and Ithink of our dear Bishop Way,
(24:10):
who came out.
He did a Christmas service andhe came out and all the families
were there with their kids andeverybody, and he just said I
want y'all to know, santa Clausain't real.
And the parents were like what?
And the kids were like mommy,what?
And Bishop Wade was right.
He was like but y'all ain'ttelling your kids the truth.
Oh, my goodness, caused anuproar.
(24:34):
I love him, man, I love thatdude, anyway.
Anyway, that is all the time wehave today, so until next week,
and I hope to get some emailsthat aren't mean, but I hope to
get some kind of response.
Let me know the Lord bless youand keep you.
(24:55):
The Lord make His face to shineupon you and Lord be gracious
to you, lift up, make his faceto shine upon you and Lord be
gracious to you, lift up hiscountenance upon you and give
you peace.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
This program was made possible by the Plays on Word
family of supporters.
To find out more, check out ourwebsite at playsonwordorg.
Lord you know.
Hey guys, you are now listeningto Plays on Word Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
It's the best, that Christmas spirit you hear now,
that Christmas spirit it's aboutgiving.
Well, okay, yeah, but if youmissed the gift, the origin of
giving, you missed that that theWord became flesh and dwelt
among us.
And why?
Because God so loved the worldthat he gave his one and only
(00:28):
son that whosoever would believein him would not perish but
have eternal life.
If you missed that, then you'vemissed everything.
You've missed out completely.
Jesus, your name, your name,your name.
You're the only name, you'rethe only name, you're the only
(00:49):
name.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Hello and welcome to Plays on Word Radio, where we
discuss, analyze, work and playon the Word of God.
Thank you for joining us onthis excursion today.
Let's join Pastor Teddy, alsoknown as Fred David Kenny Jr the
founder of Plays on WordTheater, as he does a deep dive
into the Word of God.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Yeah, Amen, amen, amen.
Thank you and welcome to allyou listening to Plays on Word
Radio.
This is our third season.
Ah, season three, yeah, allright.
Thank you to all the Plays onWord family supporters that have
(01:40):
made this program possible.
We have been downloaded andstreamed in 57 countries now
Around the world.
You guys are blessing folks, sothank you again for that.
Last week we started, and I didsomething that I don't normally
(02:01):
do, and it's almost somethingyou just don't do on radio is
read a large section of textfrom a book, and we got an
interesting response, though,when I touched on this subject
(02:23):
at the end of our 101st episode,and so I wanted to oh, also,
happy New Year to you guys.
Yeah, and I wanted to just givemore context of where I was
coming from, and I mentionedthis book by Kenneth E Bailey,
jesus Through Middle EasternEyes, and he's a scholar, a
(02:48):
professor, that lived in theMiddle East for decades and
studied the culture then and now, and he just makes very
compelling case for his points,and I just wanted to share.
So I just basically read thechapter Titled.
(03:15):
What was it?
The story of Jesus's birth.
Yeah, the story of Jesus'sbirth, and he goes farther.
I won't.
I won't read that, or elsethese publishers will be coming
after me the Genealogy andJoseph the Just.
But yeah, you know, we readthat.
I want to give a shout out toIVP Academic, also the
(03:39):
publishers.
You can get this book on Amazonif you want.
You can get this book on Amazonif you want.
I wanted to interview this guybut he passed, so I'm bummed
about that, bummed out.
But yeah, kenneth E Bailey,jesus Through Middle Eastern
(03:59):
Eyes, we'll put a link up so youcan check it out.
If you want to check it out, orgo to your local theological
library.
I'm sure they have it.
If you're in New Jersey, rollover to Princeton man, princeton
Theological Seminary Librariesopen to the public.
You can just roll up man.
You know how many hours I spentin there.
If that library could talk.
(04:21):
Anyway, we're going to continueso that those of you who we
left hanging last week are notupset with me anymore.
We're going to continue thisand finish this chapter up.
It's not long, we're just aboutdone anyway.
So check it out.
Here we go.
Okay, welcome to the extendedcontent of this book.
(04:44):
Of this book, the option forCataluma was chosen after Alfred
Plummer in his influentialcommentary published in the late
19th century.
Plummer writes it is a littledoubtful whether the familiar
translation quote in the end,close quote, is correct.
(05:05):
It is possible that Joseph hadrelied upon the hospitality of
some friends in Bethlehem, whosequote guest chamber close quote
however, was already full whenhe and Mary arrived.
Howard Marshall makes the sameobservation but does not expand
(05:25):
on its significance.
He gives a footnote here.
Fitzmer calls the Cataluma aquote lodge close quote, which
for him is a quote publiccaravansary or con, close quote.
I'm convinced that Plummer wasright.
(05:46):
If so, why was thisunderstanding not adopted by the
church, either in the East orthe West?
In the West, the church has notnoticed the problems I have
already listed.
When the traditionalunderstanding of the story,
therefore, is not broken, itwould seem that the best course
to follow is don't fix it.
(06:06):
But once the problems with thetraditional view of the text are
clarified, they cry out forsolutions.
On the other side, in the East,the dominant Christian presence
is the venerated Orthodox Churchin its various branches.
What of its traditions?
(06:27):
Christianity in the Middle Easthas traditionally focused on
the birth having taken place ina cave, many simple homes in
traditional villages in the HolyLand being in caves and are
then expanded.
The tradition of the cave canbe traced to Justin Martyr
writing in the middle of thesecond century.
(06:48):
What I have already suggestedis in harmony with this
tradition.
The Eastern tradition hasalways maintained that Mary was
alone when the child was born.
In worship, even the altar ishidden from the eyes of the
faithful, and the event of theelements becoming the body and
(07:08):
the blood of Jesus in theEucharist takes place out of
sight.
How much more should the Wordthat became flesh take place
without witnesses?
Father Mata al-Miskin, a 20thcentury Coptic Orthodox scholar
and monk that's a mouthful whowrote six weighty commentaries
(07:31):
in Arabic on the four Gospels,reflects with wonder on St Mary
alone in the cave.
As he writes, my heart goes outto this solitary mother.
How did she endure labor painsalone?
How did she receive her childwith her own hands?
How did she wrap him while herstrength was totally exhausted?
What did she have to eat ordrink?
(07:53):
Oh, women of the world, witnessthis mother of the Savior.
How much did she suffer and howmuch does she deserve honor
along with our tenderness andlove.
This genuine and touching pietyis naturally not interested in
(08:15):
considering birth in a privatehome with all the care and
support that other women wouldhave given.
Therefore, among Christians,east and West, there have been
understandable reasons why a newunderstanding of this text has
been neglected, why a newunderstanding of this text has
(08:38):
been neglected.
To summarize, a part of whatLuke tells us about the birth of
Jesus is that the Holy Familytraveled to Bethlehem where they
were received into a privatehome.
The child was born wrapped andliterally put to bed in the
living room in the manger thatwas either built into the floor
or made of wood and moved intothe family living space.
Why weren't they built into thefloor or made of wood and moved
into the family living space?
Why weren't they invited intothe family guest room?
(09:00):
The reader might naturally ask.
The answer is that the guestroom was already occupied by
other guests.
The host family graciouslyaccepted Mary and Joseph into
the family room of their house.
The family room would naturallybe cleared of men for the birth
of the child and the villagemidwife and other women would
(09:21):
have assisted at birth.
After the child was born andwrapped, mary put her newborn to
bed in a manger filled withfresh straw and covered him with
a blanket.
When Jesus engaged in ministryas an adult quote the common
people heard him gladly closequote.
(09:43):
That's from Mark 12, verse 37.
That same acceptance wasevident at his birth.
What then, of the shepherds?
The story of the shepherdsreinforces the picture I have
presented.
Shepherds in first centuryPalestine were poor, and
rabbinic traditions label themas unclean.
This may seem peculiar becausePsalm 23 opens with the Lord is
(10:07):
my shepherd.
It's not clear how such a loftymetaphor evolved into an
unclean profession.
The main point seems to be thatthe flocks ate private property
.
Five lists of prescribed tradesare recorded in rabbinic
literature and shepherds appearin three out of the five.
(10:28):
These lists hail from post-NewTestament times but could
reflect developing ideas aliveat the time of Jesus.
In any case, they were lowly,uneducated types.
In Luke 2, verse 8-14, the firstpeople to hear the message of
the birth of Jesus were a groupof shepherds who were close to
(10:50):
the bottom of the social scalein their society.
The shepherds heard and wereafraid.
Initially they were probablyfrightened by the sight of the
angels, but later they wereasked to visit the child.
From their point of view, ifthe child was truly the Messiah,
the parents would reject theshepherds if they tried to visit
(11:11):
him.
Think about that.
How could shepherds beconvinced to expect a welcome?
The angels anticipated thisanxiety and told the shepherds
that they would find the babywrapped, which was what peasants
, like shepherds, did with theirnewly born children.
Furthermore, they told that hewas lying in a manger.
(11:34):
That is, they would find theChrist child in an ordinary
peasant home such as theirs.
He was not in a governor'smansion or a wealthy merchant's
guest room, but a simpletwo-room home like theirs.
This was really good news.
Perhaps they would not be toldunclean shepherds be gone.
(11:59):
This was their sign, a sign forlowly shepherds.
With this special sign ofencouragement, the shepherds
proceeded to Bethlehem in spiteof their low degree.
Luke, chapter 1, verse 52.
On arrival, they reported theirstory to everyone and everyone
was amazed when they left,praising God for all that they
(12:20):
heard and seen.
The word all obviously includedthe quality of the hospitality
that they had witnessed onarrival.
Clearly, they found the holyfamily in perfectly adequate
accommodations, not in a dirtystable.
If, on arrival, they had founda smelly stable, a frightened
young mother and a desperateJoseph, they would have said
(12:44):
this is outrageous.
Come home with us, our womenwill take care of you.
This is very compelling.
Within five minutes, theshepherds would have moved the
little family to their own homes.
The honor of the entire villagewould rest on their shoulders
and they would have sensed theirresponsibility to do their duty
.
The fact that they walked outwithout moving the young family
(13:06):
means that the shepherds feltthat they could not offer better
hospitality than what they hadalready been extended to them.
Middle Eastern people have atremendous capacity for showing
honor to guests.
This appears as early as thestory of Abraham and his guests
in Genesis, chapter 18, verse 1through 8, and continues to the
present.
The shepherds left the holyfamily while praising God for
(13:29):
the birth of the Messiah and forthe quality of the hospitality
in the home in which he was born.
Messiah and for the quality ofthe hospitality in the home in
which he was born.
This is the capstone to thestory of the shepherds.
The child was born for thelikes of the shepherds, the poor
, the lowly, the rejected.
He also came for the rich andthe wise, who later appear with
(13:51):
gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Matthew informs his readersthat the wise men entered the
house where they saw Mary andthe child.
Matthew, chapter 2, verse 1through 12.
The story in Matthew confirmsthe suggestion that Luke's
account describes a birth in aprivate home.
(14:12):
With this understanding in mind,all the cultural problems that
I have noted are resolved.
Joseph was not obligated toseek a commercial inn.
He does not appear as an ineptand inadequate husband who
cannot arrange for Mary's needs.
Likewise, joseph did not angerhis wife's relatives by failing
(14:35):
to turn to them in a crisis.
The child was born in thenormal surroundings of a peasant
home sometime after theyarrived in Bethlehem, and there
was no heartless innkeeper withwhom to deal.
A member of the house of Davidwas not humiliated by rejection
as he returned to the village ofhis family's origins.
(14:56):
The people of Bethlehem offeredthe best they had and preserved
their honor as a community.
The shepherds were nothard-hearted oaths without the
presence of mind to help a needyfamily of strangers.
Our Christmas creche setsremain as they are because ox
(15:16):
and ass before him bow.
But that manger was in a warmand friendly home, not in a cold
and lonely stable.
Looking at the story in thislight strips away the layers of
interpretive mythology that havebuilt up around it.
(15:38):
Jesus was born in a simpletwo-room village home such as
the Middle East has known forthe last 3,000 years.
Yes, we must rewrite ourChristmas plays not Christmas
Joe, though, but in rewritingthem the story is enriched, not
cheapened.
(15:58):
And then he gives a summary ofthis chapter, the summary of the
story of Jesus's birth, jesus'sincarnation.
This is number one.
Jesus's incarnation wascomplete.
At his birth, the holy familywas welcomed into a peasant home
.
These people did their best andit was enough.
At his birth, the common peoplesheltered him.
(16:20):
The wise men came to the house.
When Jesus was an adult, thecommon people heard him gladly.
Number two the shepherds werewelcomed at the manger.
The unclean were judged to beclean.
The outcasts became honoredguests.
(16:41):
The song of angels was sung tothe simplest of all.
I know that in an increasinglysecular world, quote Merry
Christmas close quote competeswith quote Happy Holidays close
quote.
I long to turn the traditionalMerry Christmas to the other
(17:05):
direction and introduce a newgreeting for Christmas morning.
Greeting the Savior is born.
Response he is born in a manger.
Oh, that we might greet eachother in this manner.
Now, like I said, this is thisone scholar's view, and he makes
(17:33):
a very compelling case.
I have never liked the wholecave concept.
I've never been a fan of that,and you can see how it got its
way into tradition.
I also we don't put the wisemen at the Christmas Joe scene,
(17:58):
in part because because Herodhad the boys from two years
younger killed, he didn't justhave the infants killed.
There is a school of thoughtsthat says they came a little bit
later.
One of the arguments, though, isthat, well, jesus was in a home
(18:20):
, in the house.
So that's one of the argumentsthat this guy kind of debunks,
throws some shade at to acertain extent, because, from
the get-go, from his perspective, he believes Jesus was born in
the house.
From his perspective, hebelieves Jesus was born in the
(18:40):
house.
Very compelling argumentagainst the whole manger barn
stall thing in the back.
And what I like about this andwhat I find compelling, is that
this guy isn't.
He didn't just read a couplearticles like this.
(19:09):
He spent 30 years living in theMiddle East and studying this
whole concept.
So it's not like he's just reada couple articles on the
internet.
And, like I said, kenneth EBailey, you know pretty good
book.
I'm about to dive into theBeatitudes part.
I've had this book for yearsand I never read this Beatitudes
part.
But I have to teach the Gospelof Matthew, and he might have
(19:31):
some interesting, interestingthings to say about that.
Whatever it is, though, bottomline is people have found a way
to divide over Christmas,whether you celebrate it or not.
Some people say, oh it is, italways has been a pagan holiday.
(19:53):
The way I approach it is thatthe Messiah has come into the
world, and I want to celebratethat.
If I never celebrate my ownbirthday, or anybody's birthday,
let me celebrate the fact thatredemption was born in a manger.
(20:16):
There were shepherds there, andJoseph was there and Mary was
there.
Well obviously Mary was there,but redemption grace came to
live with us.
The Word became flesh and dweltamong us.
(20:39):
This is the very Word that waswith God.
That was God, not was a God.
This is the Word that was God.
In fact, through Him, allthings were made.
Without Him, nothing was madethat has been made, and in Him
(20:59):
was life.
Yeah, so this Word became flesh,and that's what I celebrate,
and we do it around Christmastime, which is most likely not
the time Jesus was born.
But it doesn't matter, becausethe text doesn't tell us.
(21:22):
That doesn't mean we can't orshouldn't celebrate the fact
that he came into the world toredeem sinners like us.
I'm not saying, you know, sellout and turn it into jingle
bells and, you know, don't evenmention Christ at all.
Christmas is about love, aboutfamily.
(21:44):
Okay, yeah, you can go genericHallmark on that, but in reality
, christmas, the Christmasspirit you hear that all the
time.
That Christmas spirit, you knowit's about giving.
Well, okay, yeah, but if youmissed the gift, the origin of
(22:16):
giving, you missed that.
That the Word became flesh anddwelt among us.
And why?
Because God so loved the worldthat he gave His one and only
Son that whosoever would believein Him would not perish but
have eternal life.
If you missed that, then you'vemissed everything.
You've missed out completely.
You know, I can't even think ofa good analogy.
(22:40):
It's like saying a Corvette ohit's, it's all about horsepower.
Oh, okay, yeah, you're missingout.
Well, that's a terrible example.
You know, if you guys have agood example, somebody email me.
I'm going to make you guys partof this program.
You email me and let me know.
Anyway, that is.
I just wanted to read that toyou.
(23:01):
If anybody would like to gofarther into that, let me know.
Shoot me a text Again.
This was from Kenneth Bailey.
His book he's a scholar bookhe's a scholar.
(23:28):
I am not stating or saying thatevery aspect of what he's
claiming here is 100%, but I dobelieve he makes a compelling
case for many of his positionsand I just wanted to share that
with you.
You will.
It's easy to just dismiss stuff, but that's not really being
intellectually honest when youjust dismiss Whatever and just
dismiss it Based on it rubs upagainst your understanding of
(23:50):
something.
So I just wanted to.
I hope I haven't ruinedanybody's Christmas.
Please forgive me If I'veruined your whole childhood.
That was not my intention and Ithink of our dear Bishop Way,
(24:10):
who came out.
He did a Christmas service andhe came out and all the families
were there with their kids andeverybody, and he just said I
want y'all to know, santa Clausain't real.
And the parents were like what?
And the kids were like mommy,what?
And Bishop Wade was right.
He was like but y'all ain'ttelling your kids the truth.
Oh, my goodness, caused anuproar.
(24:34):
I love him, man, I love thatdude, anyway.
Anyway, that is all the time wehave today, so until next week,
and I hope to get some emailsthat aren't mean, but I hope to
get some kind of response.
Let me know the Lord bless youand keep you.
(24:55):
The Lord make His face to shineupon you and Lord be gracious
to you, lift up, make his faceto shine upon you and Lord be
gracious to you, lift up hiscountenance upon you and give
you peace.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
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