Why was Jesus placed in a manger?

[Friedrich Rubinstein]

We are probably so used to reading the story of Jesus' birth every year that we don't pay much attention anymore to the fact that Jesus was wrapped in cloths and placed in a manger.
Of course we all know that it shows how God left His glory and magnificence to come into poverty and lowliness in order to offer us redemption - but after hearing a messianic Jew explain the details of Jesus' birth in the context of Jewish history and traditions I was honestly amazed how deep the meaning of cloths and the manger are.

If you got 7 minutes to spare and would like to be amazed by God's way of organizing the event of Jesus' birth as well, here you go

 

[WebersHome]

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Mary laid her baby in a manger specifically because it was handy:

• Luke 2:7 . .She laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

When my son first started reading the Bible he complained that it was too difficult to find the symbolism. So I told him to stop looking for hidden meanings; to just read the Bible like a novel and he'd get more out of it that way.
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[RDKirk]

An inn in those days wasn't a bunch of private rooms joined by a hallway. An inn was a bunch of unrelated people sleeping in one big room, coughing, wheezing, unwashed, noisy, possibly disease-ridden.

The stable provided essential privacy and significant relative cleanliness (the animals had offspring there all the time). Shepherds around Jerusalem were raising sheep for sacrifice, so their stables were secure.

 

[Friedrich Rubinstein]

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Mary laid her baby in a manger specifically because it was handy:

• Luke 2:7 . .She laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

When my son first started reading the Bible he complained that it was too difficult to find the symbolism. So I told him to stop looking for hidden meanings; to just read the Bible like a novel and he'd get more out of it that way.
_

That might be correct in some cases, but when the Son of God is born we can expect that God influences the circumstances of his birth and that it won't happen any random way.
God is mighty enough to make Jesus be born in an ostentatious event and there certainly is a reason why He didn't.

Jesus is our salvation, and there is a lot of symbolism in everything that regards Jesus.

 

[pescador]

An inn in those days wasn't a bunch of private rooms joined by a hallway. An inn was a bunch of unrelated people sleeping in one big room, coughing, wheezing, unwashed, noisy, possibly disease-ridden.

The stable provided essential privacy and significant relative cleanliness (the animals had offspring there all the time). Shepherds around Jerusalem were raising sheep for sacrifice, so their stables were secure.

The houses of the time most often included lodging for the animals. The people lived on the upper floor as well as the roof; the animals lived on the ground floor, and that's where the manger was located. Since there was no room elsewhere -- there was no "inn" as we think of it -- she gave birth in a home and the baby's "crib" was the straw-filled manger.

 

[RDKirk]

The houses of the time most often included lodging for the animals. The people lived on the upper floor as well as the roof; the animals lived on the ground floor, and that's where the manger was located. Since there was no room elsewhere -- there was no "inn" as we think of it -- she gave birth in a home and the baby's "crib" was the straw-filled manger.

True, but my point is that it was separated from the rest of the people in the inn, who were all in one room (albeit, an "upper room"). There were, indeed, buildings built in the same way as lower-class/lower-middle-class homes that were open to the public for a cost. Those were inns.

 

[WebersHome]

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For most of my life I was led to believe that Jesus was born in a barn. But now I'm not so sure because it appears to me that he wasn't. Nor does it appear to me that Mary was forced to shelter her baby in a stable because the inn had no vacancy.

Here's how my mind was conditioned to think:

"She delivered her baby in a stable because there was no vacancy at the inn."

In point of fact, we're not told where Mary delivered; we're only told where she sheltered her baby.

"She laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn."

What we're looking at there is a lack of adequate space for a new mom to tend her baby. Inns in those days usually didn't offer private rooms. They often consisted of a multiple occupancy space, i.e. something like a bunk house, but with no bunks.

Jesus' mom no doubt had brought along a bassinet because she was so close to delivery, but conditions in the inn during the taxation likely provided little opportunity for securing the infant's accouterments up off the floor. In other words: Mary herself chose a stable for sheltering little Jesus because it was safer.

The feed box was crude but actually a very suitable crib. It not only protected little Jesus from people stepping on him, but it's sturdy wood construction also prevented someone from accidentally bumping him over in the dark.

It would seem that Mary was not only a conscientious mom, but also a very practical girl.
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There's an alternate scenario I think worth considering.

The Greek word translated "manger" also means "stall", for example:

• Luke 13:15 . . Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall, and lead him away to water?

So then, Luke 2:12 could be legitimately translated like this:

"This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a stall."

A stall would've provided Jesus' mom a measure of privacy during delivery.

Apparently Mary would've like to taken her new baby indoors after he was born but alas, the inn had no vacancy at the time..
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[RDKirk]

We are probably so used to reading the story of Jesus' birth every year that we don't pay much attention anymore to the fact that Jesus was wrapped in cloths and placed in a manger.
Of course we all know that it shows how God left His glory and magnificence to come into poverty and lowliness in order to offer us redemption - but after hearing a messianic Jew explain the details of Jesus' birth in the context of Jewish history and traditions I was honestly amazed how deep the meaning of cloths and the manger are.

If you got 7 minutes to spare and would like to be amazed by God's way of organizing the event of Jesus' birth as well, here you go

Thanks for that video. I have shared it further.

 

[dms1972]

I don't get how Mary chose the Stable over the Inn? The Bible says "there was no room in the Inn", so didn't they try that first? Where they turned away, or was it Mary and Joseph's view that the Inn was too crowded?

From my childhood ilustrated Testaments I always got the impression they were turned away, because of the Inn Keeper holding up his hands in a gesure of No Admittance - could the illustration have been misleading (christian art sometimes is)?

 

[RDKirk]

I don't get how Mary chose the Stable over the Inn? The Bible says "there was no room in the Inn", so didn't they try that first? Where they turned away, or was it Mary and Joseph's view that the Inn was too crowded?

From my childhood ilustrated Testaments I always got the impression they were turned away, because of the Inn Keeper holding up his hands in a gesure of No Admittance - could the illustration have been misleading (christian art sometimes is)?

I suspect the innkeeper would have taken their money and let them sleep leaning against the walls. I think it's likely Mary said, "I can't bear a child in here."

A stable isn't really bad if there is fresh hay available. They would have had privacy from other people, there would have been water, and they would have already been thoroughly accustomed to the smell of the animals. Folks back then didn't see their animals as dirty.

 

[WebersHome]

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could the illustration have been misleading (christian art sometimes is)?

Christian art sometimes falls into the category of impressionism.

For example Michelangelo's Pietà situated in St. Peter's basilica. The scene depicted by his sculpture wasn't taken from the Bible. Its purpose isn't to depict a real-life event, but to give the viewer a sense of the mournful sorrow that Jesus' mother was likely to have felt due to her son's crucifixion, viz: the Pietà is basically commentary, i.e. fake news.
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[RDKirk]

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Christian art sometimes falls into the category of impressionism.

For example Michelangelo's Pietà situated in St. Peter's basilica. The scene depicted by his sculpture wasn't taken from the Bible. Its purpose isn't to depict a real-life event, but to give the viewer a sense of the mournful sorrow that Jesus' mother was likely to have felt due to her son's crucifixion, viz: the Pietà is basically commentary, i.e. fake news.
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Commentary is not fake news.

 

[WebersHome]

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FAQ: Why does Leonardo da Vinci's depiction of the Last Supper never go on tour?

A: It's a mural.
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[WebersHome]

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A question I've yet to find explored on a forum is where Joseph's parents were during the taxing? Didn't they have to go to Bethlehem too? And if they did, then wouldn't Joseph's mom likely served as the midwife to assist with Mary's delivery? To my knowledge, men didn't do those kinds of things back then.
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[Citizen of the Kingdom]

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A question I've yet to find explored on a forum is where Joseph's parents were during the taxing? Didn't they have to go to Bethlehem too? And if they did, then wouldn't Joseph's mom likely served as the midwife to assist with Mary's delivery? To my knowledge, men didn't do those kinds of things back then.
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Is that why Jesus cured Peter’s m.i.l. was to serve them? Someone I knew used to say that was the funniest statement in the bible. That and son of man prophetic references. Ezekiel that’s who that was, nvmnd.

 

[RDKirk]

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A question I've yet to find explored on a forum is where Joseph's parents were during the taxing? Didn't they have to go to Bethlehem too? And if they did, then wouldn't Joseph's mom likely served as the midwife to assist with Mary's delivery? To my knowledge, men didn't do those kinds of things back then.
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The fact that Mary fled (that's the word I'll use) to her own cousin's home while pregnant suggests to me that Joseph's parents were probably in the "divorce the strumpet!" camp. Elizabeth was in the middle of a miracle pregnancy herself, so would have been much more accepting of the idea that Mary's pregnancy was also a miracle. Elizabeth's husband Zechariah was a Levite, so he likely had a different family city.

But I don't think the story denies the likelihood that a midwife was available for Jesus' birth.