Would it ruin Christmas for you if I told you it probably didn’t happen the way we normally picture it?
First, I need to admit that I love Nativities. I have several nativity scenes in my own home. However, I don’t think they’re very accurate.
The reality of the first Christmas may actually be a bit shocking or for some, depressing. So, if you don’t want your “first Christmas picture” spoiled, maybe you need you stop reading.
I warned ya.
First off, it is highly unlikely Joseph and Mary were in a traditional stable. Joseph and Mary may have been in a cave, but maybe they were in an actual home. I learn towards the home personally.
The Bible doesn’t actually mention anything about animals being at Jesus’ birth. I doubt there were any in the room. Honestly, would you want animals in the room if you were giving birth? Mary was probably surrounded by the other women in the home.
The manger was probably made out of stone, not wood. And it was actually not used to hold food for the animals, which you could just put on the floor, but the manger was meant to hold water for them.
Mary probably had great pain like every other woman in childbirth.
Baby Jesus likely came out just like every other baby, wet and sticky. He probably cried and was just as unhappy as every other baby being forced to leave His cozy and comfortable home inside His mamma.
The Bible never says that the shepherds and wisemen showed up together. The Bible even says the wisemen went to the house where Jesus was staying.
Opinions are all over the place as to when Jesus was actually born. However, everyone agrees it was not December 25th. It may not have even been at night.
The reality of the first Christmas is that it in many ways, it was an incredibly normal scene. Yes, most babies did not have shepherds or wisemen coming and bringing gifts. But apart from that, the birth of Jesus was just like every other birth. Which was probably very different from the way we tend to picture it.
But that’s ok.
Because, it’s not the birth that makes Jesus special. It’s the One who was born that makes the birth special.
It’s not the season that makes Jesus’ birth something to be celebrated. It’s Jesus that makes this season worthy of celebration.
It’s ok to picture the first Christmas as something amazing and unique. But don’t get so caught up in the details (that we don’t really know) that you miss sight of what truly is special about this season. God-in-the-flesh. The Second Person of the Godhead came to earth and took on flesh. God dwelt among men.
No matter how normal that first Christmas was, that will never take away from how amazing Jesus is.