The Man Who Wasn't There
The Man Who Wasn’t There
Luke 2:1-7
Proposition: Our faith is based on the Christ who was born on Christmas, which we receive through the Bible, not tradition.
Introduction: Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Gopher, Disney creation,
“Here’s my card, I’m not in the book you know.”
I. The story you’ve heard
Cartoon films back in elementary school.
Evil innkeeper almost scrooge like, who has no compassion on the couple and send them out into the streets.
Reality - Inn more like the Stratford Inn on Newhart, first floor was the business floor, and the second floor was housing, but it was a general open area, not exactly the greatest place for a women in birth.
II. But that’s not the story.
Census - you registered where you owned land. Pottery remains allow us to know that many Bethlehem citizens had migrated to the north to Nazareth.
Kataluma - guest room (Luke 22:1, Mark 14:14)
pandocheion (Luke 10:34)
Joseph comes back home, the families already there, and with the confusion and lack of space in the house, it’s easier to go to the barn and give birth to Jesus. Traditional by the time of the emperor Hadrian (117-138) said that Jesus was born in a cave. This is possible, also possible is the fact that the house where built with a common wall with the barn, which was more like a dugout.
III. Why does this matter?
Does it matter?
A. It matters, because if we are Biblical people, we strive to speak where the Bible speaks.
Even in issue like this, how we will treat the Bible is determined (I Timothy 4:1-4)
B. It matters because we are to defend a rational faith. (I Peter 3:15, Luke 1:4)
Matthew 2 living in a house in Bethlehem, which makes more sense?
When we appeal to a story that doesn’t exist, we lose the credibility of a reasonable faith.
C. It’s an epidemic that can effect us at Christmas.
Our traditions, trees, lights, presents family dinners, can allow us to miss the real message. It’s not that heart have no room, it’s that we ignore the importance of the holiday. Because we got tradition.