It is very possible we have it all wrong. Perhaps Jesus was not born in the Inn. Here is Luke's use of words that might be of interest. Lets first take a look at The Good Samaritan story by Luke:
But the expert, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him up, and went off, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, but when he saw the injured man he passed by on the other side. So too a Levite, when he came up to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan who was traveling came to where the injured man was, and when he saw him, he felt compassion for him. He went up to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever else you spend, I will repay you when I come back this way.'
So here we sure enough have what I'd call an “inn.” This poor guy is brought to this motel along the roadside and left in the care of the innkeeper. But remember that Luke makes an unambiguous reference to an “inn” here, and he does so by using the word PANDOKEION, not KATALUMA as he did in The Birth Narrative. Why the switch in words. That, I hope, will become apparent shortly. For now, let's take a quick look at the last section of interest, The Passover Meal:
Then the day for the feast of Unleavened Bread came, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us to eat.” They said to him, “Where do you want us to prepare it?” He said to them, “Listen, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters, and tell the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”' Then he will show you a large furnished room upstairs. Make preparations there.” So they went and found things just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
In this final section, Luke once again uses the word KATALUMA; the same word he uses in The Birth Narrative. Did you see it as you read this last section? To help, I highlighted it in red.
To clear this up. What happen was Joseph and Mary stayed at a relative's house in Bethlehem. So did other relatives stay there. Actually, there was no room for Mary and Joseph in the upstairs room, the guest room. So, Jesus would have been born in a downstairs room. There was no mean innkeeper who told Joseph and Mary to leave because his motel (inn) was all full. Mary was well taken care of.
But the expert, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him up, and went off, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, but when he saw the injured man he passed by on the other side. So too a Levite, when he came up to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan who was traveling came to where the injured man was, and when he saw him, he felt compassion for him. He went up to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever else you spend, I will repay you when I come back this way.'
So here we sure enough have what I'd call an “inn.” This poor guy is brought to this motel along the roadside and left in the care of the innkeeper. But remember that Luke makes an unambiguous reference to an “inn” here, and he does so by using the word PANDOKEION, not KATALUMA as he did in The Birth Narrative. Why the switch in words. That, I hope, will become apparent shortly. For now, let's take a quick look at the last section of interest, The Passover Meal:
Then the day for the feast of Unleavened Bread came, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us to eat.” They said to him, “Where do you want us to prepare it?” He said to them, “Listen, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters, and tell the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”' Then he will show you a large furnished room upstairs. Make preparations there.” So they went and found things just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
In this final section, Luke once again uses the word KATALUMA; the same word he uses in The Birth Narrative. Did you see it as you read this last section? To help, I highlighted it in red.
To clear this up. What happen was Joseph and Mary stayed at a relative's house in Bethlehem. So did other relatives stay there. Actually, there was no room for Mary and Joseph in the upstairs room, the guest room. So, Jesus would have been born in a downstairs room. There was no mean innkeeper who told Joseph and Mary to leave because his motel (inn) was all full. Mary was well taken care of.
