There comes a time every now and then that one finds something in their studies that goes completely against the grain of pop-Christianity. Like when you find out that Jesus wasn't a white dude with long hair, or that Jesus wasn't born on December 25th. Here we'll be discussing one such article: the place of Jesus' birth and the events leading up to it.
After Gabriel had appeared to Joseph and Mary, and convinced Joseph to go through with the marriage despite Mary's child, Caesar Augustus issued a command that everyone between the ages of 13 and 62 be rallied for a head count at the town on one's clan origin to be taxed. The two of them journeyed down to Bethlehem to pay their dues to Caesar, as that is where Joseph's family originated from. Now here's where things get mixed up.
As is commonly told to us, Mary is totally pregnant and about to give birth. Tragically, her and Joseph get a cold shoulder from the inn keepers, saying there is no room, and find the help of a random shepherd to use their stable for shelter.
Wrong!
The Greek word used for "inn" here in Luke's birth narrative is Kataluma, which actually has nothing to do with inns at all. This is the same word that is used to describe the room in which Jesus and His disciples have the Last Supper in, and therefore should more accurately be translated as "guest room". The word used for "inn" in Greek is actually Pandeion, which uses in the parable of the Good Samaritan [1]. So what does this all mean in regards to the Christmas story then?
Being that Joseph's relatives lived in Bethlehem, that means they actually had a home(s) there. Makes sense, right? According to archeological evidence in Bethlehem, houses of that day often had caves in the back where they would keep their animals to avoid thievery and the like. The living quarters were in the front of the house, and the animals' housing was in the back. Joseph and Mary had apparently arrived later than the rest of the family line, and therefore could not be housed in the living quarters [2].
"But why couldn't they have conceded room to them?" you might ask. Understanding the honor/shame culture of the Bible is an important factor in answering this question. To my knowledge, because Joseph and Mary were guests and had arrived late, it would have been dishonorable to argue with a relative of higher honor (such as the master of the house, or those who had arrived sooner, who very well could have been in similar situations as Joseph and Mary) about where they would be allowed to stay, and would also have been dishonorable to accept a more honorable relative conceding their place in the house to them.
Either way, I think God definitely had a lesson in mind for us concerning Jesus' place of birth. Not only was the statement made that "no place is too lowly for my Son's presence," but there's also the symbolic implication that being born among animals that were also used for temple sacrifice, Jesus found a place there as a future sacrifice Himself.
To my readers, I hope you can see that though this sort of thing may seem argumentative in nature, breaking the paradigm is not a bad thing. We are the bearers of the truth, so why should we continue subscribing to unnecessary, dead-weight stories? Miseducation should always be corrected with love (since it can't always be avoided), and the miseducated should by no means be looked down upon.
I hope you all learned something new, and furthermore, I hope you've learned something new that you can teach to others. It's a small detail, but I hope you all see the importance of the details themselves. Details are what make up the truth as a whole, after all. : )
Friday, November 12, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
The Virgin Shall Conceive...
My apologies for not blogging last week. Sometimes these types of blogs can be really difficult to maintain when you're as busy as I am. But I digress...
This week we'll be talking about Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the events surrounding the virgin birth.
Canonically, Mary is the daughter of Heli ben-Mattat, though apparently in early extra-biblical texts her parents are named as Joachim and Anne [1]. Mary's name in Hebrew (canonically) would therefore be Miriam bat-Heli.
The etymology of Miriam is rather uncertain, and subject to much debate. Variants of the name are found throughout many languages and cultures, therefore making it's origin rather cloudy. Miriam is a Levite name, and as it seems, many Levite names are Egyptian in origin. It is speculated that the name Miriam is related to the Egyptian name Merari, which means "Beloved". Others who lean towards a Hebrew origin claim it's etymology with the word mara, meaning "to be rebellious". It is also associated with marar, "to be bitter (see Ruth 1:20); strengthen; strong". The word yam means "sea", so combining the two ("maryam"), Miriam may mean something like "Waters of Strength" or "Strong Waters" [2].
Because of the high death rates in ancient society, people often married very young. About 60% of all humans died before the age of 18, and so it was imperative to marry young and carry on the family name. With this in mind, it is estimated that Mary was probably about 13 or 14 years old when she became engaged to Joseph. We sure do live in different times, don't we?
Closely after their engagement is when Gabriel comes into the picture and informs Mary that, though she was still a virgin, she would soon conceive a child by the Holy Spirit, who was to be Jesus the Savior. Let's take a trip back to the Old Testament now, to Isaiah 7:14.
"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."
Most Christians consider this to be a direct prophecy concerning the virgin birth, though I mentioned in my previous blog that there are some who view Isaiah 7:14 as a typology of the virgin birth. To reiterate, a typology is "... a verse [or story in the Old Testament] with independent historical context that also pertains to the life of Jesus... e.g. Abraham and Isaac, Jonah's 3 days in the fish, etc". In other words, some suggest that Isaiah 7:14 has an independent context pertaining to Isaiah's address to King Ahaz, of which Christ "brings to life" in the New Testament. I tend to lean towards the typology view myself, though I am not 100% certain, as most if not all the Christian apologists I look up to (Dr. Michael Brown, J.P. Holding, to name some) tend to lean towards the prophecy view.
One thing we know for certain though: whether by prophecy or typology, God has glorified His Son before His earthly birth centuries beforehand in the Old Testament, and we rejoice in God's great plan of salvation for all mankind. That's why Jesus came into the world after all!
This week we'll be talking about Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the events surrounding the virgin birth.
Canonically, Mary is the daughter of Heli ben-Mattat, though apparently in early extra-biblical texts her parents are named as Joachim and Anne [1]. Mary's name in Hebrew (canonically) would therefore be Miriam bat-Heli.
The etymology of Miriam is rather uncertain, and subject to much debate. Variants of the name are found throughout many languages and cultures, therefore making it's origin rather cloudy. Miriam is a Levite name, and as it seems, many Levite names are Egyptian in origin. It is speculated that the name Miriam is related to the Egyptian name Merari, which means "Beloved". Others who lean towards a Hebrew origin claim it's etymology with the word mara, meaning "to be rebellious". It is also associated with marar, "to be bitter (see Ruth 1:20); strengthen; strong". The word yam means "sea", so combining the two ("maryam"), Miriam may mean something like "Waters of Strength" or "Strong Waters" [2].
Because of the high death rates in ancient society, people often married very young. About 60% of all humans died before the age of 18, and so it was imperative to marry young and carry on the family name. With this in mind, it is estimated that Mary was probably about 13 or 14 years old when she became engaged to Joseph. We sure do live in different times, don't we?
Closely after their engagement is when Gabriel comes into the picture and informs Mary that, though she was still a virgin, she would soon conceive a child by the Holy Spirit, who was to be Jesus the Savior. Let's take a trip back to the Old Testament now, to Isaiah 7:14.
"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."
Most Christians consider this to be a direct prophecy concerning the virgin birth, though I mentioned in my previous blog that there are some who view Isaiah 7:14 as a typology of the virgin birth. To reiterate, a typology is "... a verse [or story in the Old Testament] with independent historical context that also pertains to the life of Jesus... e.g. Abraham and Isaac, Jonah's 3 days in the fish, etc". In other words, some suggest that Isaiah 7:14 has an independent context pertaining to Isaiah's address to King Ahaz, of which Christ "brings to life" in the New Testament. I tend to lean towards the typology view myself, though I am not 100% certain, as most if not all the Christian apologists I look up to (Dr. Michael Brown, J.P. Holding, to name some) tend to lean towards the prophecy view.
One thing we know for certain though: whether by prophecy or typology, God has glorified His Son before His earthly birth centuries beforehand in the Old Testament, and we rejoice in God's great plan of salvation for all mankind. That's why Jesus came into the world after all!
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