Thank you, Shane, for another excellent episode. Merry Christmas to you and your family! And thank you for all you have done from the White Horse Inn where I first became familiar with you many years ago to today's Humble Skeptic bringing the objective truth of Jesus Christ to me and to countless others.
Regarding this episode, Chad Bird has an excellent look into where the birth of Jesus took place. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dVHLgbHVZ4 ) Luke uses the Greek word "kataluma" in Luke 2:7 which has commonly been translated into "inn". However, in the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:34 Luke uses the word "pandocheion" for "inn". But if we look further in Luke, he uses the word kataluma again in Luke 22:11 as the "guest room" in the home where Jesus celebrates Passover with his disciples.
So, Bird concludes that Jesus was born in the main ground floor, partially unwalled, room of a home where the family slept and, common to homes of that time, where they brought their animal(s) inside at night and where one or more mangers would have been present.
Additionally, Joseph would have had family in Bethlehem and because of hospitality customs of that time it would have been unthinkable for he and Mary to have stayed at an inn rather than with family. Because of the census, other members of Joseph's extended family would have traveled into Bethlehem and stayed in that home not unlike situations common today during holidays when a home is full of family who spend the night on sofas, cots, air mattresses scattered around in the main rooms of a home because the spare bedrooms are taken.
Looking forward to your 2025 episodes & posts. Thanks again!
Great! There's another Christmas detail that caught my attention but that I've never heard any theologians discuss. Maybe it's because I've just read too much into it, but in Ezekiel Chapter 11 The Glory of the LORD departs Jerusalem's desecrated temple and disappears into the mountains in the East. It seems to me that the star that comes out of the East leading the magi to the recently born Jesus in Bethlehem is The Glory of the Lord that has returned nearly 600 years later settling above Jesus identifying him as the new temple, the new Jerusalem, the new Israel, the Messiah, the King of Kings, and God Incarnate. I'd be very interested in hearing your thoughts on what I see as another key sign unifying the OT and NT in the unfolding story of redemption.
Throughout the Bible, the way of exile is always eastward, and the way back to God is westward (this also happens to be built into the very architecture of the Temple, with increasing levels of holiness, etc.). What's particularly interesting about Ezekiel's prophecy, is that when God abandoned the Temple and later Jerusalem itself, the prophet specifically tells us that "the glory of the LORD...stood on the mountain that is on the east side of the city" (11:23). The mountain just outside the city of Jerusalem to the east is the Mount of Olives, and the top of this mountain is in my view the true location of Golgotha (https://www.humbleskeptic.com/p/where-was-jesus-crucified). In other words, here in Ezekiel, we don't merely have a description of God abandoning his Temple—we also have a hint of how things will ultimately be resolved in the fullness of time. I also believe Zech 14:4 hints at this as well and I'll try to unpack all this in future articles and episodes.
Thank you, Shane, for another excellent episode. Merry Christmas to you and your family! And thank you for all you have done from the White Horse Inn where I first became familiar with you many years ago to today's Humble Skeptic bringing the objective truth of Jesus Christ to me and to countless others.
Regarding this episode, Chad Bird has an excellent look into where the birth of Jesus took place. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dVHLgbHVZ4 ) Luke uses the Greek word "kataluma" in Luke 2:7 which has commonly been translated into "inn". However, in the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:34 Luke uses the word "pandocheion" for "inn". But if we look further in Luke, he uses the word kataluma again in Luke 22:11 as the "guest room" in the home where Jesus celebrates Passover with his disciples.
So, Bird concludes that Jesus was born in the main ground floor, partially unwalled, room of a home where the family slept and, common to homes of that time, where they brought their animal(s) inside at night and where one or more mangers would have been present.
Additionally, Joseph would have had family in Bethlehem and because of hospitality customs of that time it would have been unthinkable for he and Mary to have stayed at an inn rather than with family. Because of the census, other members of Joseph's extended family would have traveled into Bethlehem and stayed in that home not unlike situations common today during holidays when a home is full of family who spend the night on sofas, cots, air mattresses scattered around in the main rooms of a home because the spare bedrooms are taken.
Looking forward to your 2025 episodes & posts. Thanks again!
Thanks Dave! I totally agree with Chad Bird, and plan on going into those kinds of details next Christmas!
Great! There's another Christmas detail that caught my attention but that I've never heard any theologians discuss. Maybe it's because I've just read too much into it, but in Ezekiel Chapter 11 The Glory of the LORD departs Jerusalem's desecrated temple and disappears into the mountains in the East. It seems to me that the star that comes out of the East leading the magi to the recently born Jesus in Bethlehem is The Glory of the Lord that has returned nearly 600 years later settling above Jesus identifying him as the new temple, the new Jerusalem, the new Israel, the Messiah, the King of Kings, and God Incarnate. I'd be very interested in hearing your thoughts on what I see as another key sign unifying the OT and NT in the unfolding story of redemption.
Throughout the Bible, the way of exile is always eastward, and the way back to God is westward (this also happens to be built into the very architecture of the Temple, with increasing levels of holiness, etc.). What's particularly interesting about Ezekiel's prophecy, is that when God abandoned the Temple and later Jerusalem itself, the prophet specifically tells us that "the glory of the LORD...stood on the mountain that is on the east side of the city" (11:23). The mountain just outside the city of Jerusalem to the east is the Mount of Olives, and the top of this mountain is in my view the true location of Golgotha (https://www.humbleskeptic.com/p/where-was-jesus-crucified). In other words, here in Ezekiel, we don't merely have a description of God abandoning his Temple—we also have a hint of how things will ultimately be resolved in the fullness of time. I also believe Zech 14:4 hints at this as well and I'll try to unpack all this in future articles and episodes.