1. Mary probably did not ride to Bethlehem on a donkey. Her family was the poorest of the poor. They could not have afforded a donkey. That would be like a Lexus in today's terms. We know they were extremely poor by the offering she gave for his birth; two pigeons. That was the very least that could be offered at the birth of a son. She most likely walked all the way to Bethlehem, unless they were able to borrow a donkey from a friend or family member, which is not stated in Scripture.
2. There were probably not three wise men. There were three gifts offered by them, but there was likely a sizeable procession and quite possibly 12 Magi who visited Jesus.
3. The wise men did not visit Jesus in the stable on the night of his birth. They traveled around 1000 miles to see him, and the word used in Matthew to describe Jesus was not the word for infant, it connotates more like a toddler. The three of them were in their 'house' when the Magi visited and brought their gifts. Herod did not order only the infant boys to be killed, but he targeted all boys under two years old for a reason.
4. Mary and Joseph did not flee to Egypt immediately after Jesus was born. He was circumcised on the eighth day, and she performed her purification 33 days after that. They most likely returned to Nazareth where Joseph had labored for a year to build a home for his new bride. That is likely the 'house' they were in when the Magi visited them. There is no Scriptural proof for where they were.
+5. There was no innkeeper who turned them away while Mary was in labor. Scripture says that there was no room for them, and it says that while there were in Bethlehem she gave birth. Scripture does not imply anywhere that she was in labor when they arrived.
The stable was likely a dark, damp, stinky cave. The manger was likely a water trough hewn out of the stone in the cave. The swaddling cloth was what they used to wipe the sweat and dirt off of the animals.
We like to make it look all roomy, and light, and comfortable (well ... more comfortable at least), but the truth of the matter is that the King of the Universe CHOSE to be born in the worst of all circumstances, to the poorest of all people, in the most humble of all ways.
6. The shepherds to whom the angels appeared were likely young people. It is a job (even still to this day) that is primarily done by the pre-pubescent children in a nomadic culture. When Samuel came to anoint King David, he was in the fields with the livestock. He was the youngest son. When Joseph was cast into the pit by his older brothers, he was shepherding. It is a very lowly thing to do, and the shepherd must live out in the wilderness with the animals for long stretches of time. The men of that society rarely continued shepherding once they had children of their own who were able to do it. It was likely quite a scattered group of rather young people who showed up at the stable on the night Jesus was born.
7. Speaking of angels, they do not sing. Not ever. Scripture never even once mentions that angels sing. They say, they declare, they proclaim. But they don't sing. There goes the scriptural accuracy of about half of our Christmas Carols.
8. Jesus was not born on December 25th. We know when Zacharias was performing his duties in the temple, we know Elizabeth was six months pregnant, and we know the shepherds were not in the fields in December. He was likely born in September.
Jesus, the Light of the World, was conceived during the Feast of Lights.
He came to dwell or tabernacle amongst us during the Feast of Sukkot (The Feast of Tabernacles).
The Bread of Life was born in Bethlehem ... Bet Lechem (in Hebrew) which means 'house of bread' ... he was born in a bakery!
I love how God takes things so literally! :-D
Does any of this diminish what happened that night? Certainly not. The God of the Universe willingly chose to come to earth as the most helpless and innocent of all human beings. He chose to live as we live. He chose to remain sin-free. He chose to die for our sins. He CHOSE that out of love for you and for me.
That is something worth celebrating!
