The Upper Room – Luke 2:1-14

A text – Luke 2:1-14

2 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. ² This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³ All went to their own towns to be registered. ⁴ Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. ⁵ He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place in the guest room.

⁸ Now in that same region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: ¹¹ to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

A reflection:

I believe I might know Luke 2:1-14 (probably the King James version) by heart. We heard it at least three times every year: in the Sunday School program, on at least one Christmas TV show like Perry Como, and from the pulpit on Christmas Eve. At my mother’s home church in New Ulm, Minnesota, with my grandparents, we probably heard it once in German as well.

So when some new translation comes along and ends the first paragraph “…because there was no place in the guest room,” it catches me up short. But the truth is, the word in the Greek at the end of verse 7 is accurately translated upper room (it reads “…because there was no place for them in the upper room”). It is the exact same word as is used when Jesus and his disciples gather in the upper room for the Last Supper. Does this new translation alter our mental picture of Christmas Eve, with the Holy Family staying downstairs or in the side yard (where the animals are kept close by the family), and not in some barn or stable or cave away from other people?

Maybe our mental picture is jarred a little. And anything that messes with the traditions we have known so long is met with skepticism, even if we eventually see that this “new way” of expressing something might actually be the original old way! But let’s try it on. Where was the freshest softest hay? In mangers, of course, for animals to eat. And where would a family keep animals? Unless it was a massive flock of sheep in rented pastureland, animals would be near to the house, to keep them safe and accounted for. I remember my first trip to rural Switzerland when I saw wooden homes where the first floor was the animal quarters and the second floor was where the people lived and slept. Our guide told us that the heat rising from the animals actually kept the people’s quarters a lot warmer. So if the comfy people’s quarters were full at a crowded time in the town, the Holy Family could even have been staying with relatives, just sleeping down where the animals lived.

I kind of like imagining this slightly altered reality. It doesn’t bother me, except during the recitation. And that, my friends is only a few recitations away from sounding normal, too. Merry Christmas to you all. Peace to your house.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for the pictures your gospel books help us to create, imagining the incredible moment of your birth on earth, to live with us. Thank you for coming. Thank you for blessing us. Help us to realize how much you loved us then and love us now. Amen.