Bethlehem At Last!

Bethlehem at Last!

It Was a Miserable Night in the City

The crowds thickened as we approached the town of Bethlehem, our destination for the census commanded by Caesar. I never knew there were so many descendents of David, our once great king. It has been 500 years since his reign and much has happened to his House over that time, mostly bad. Although it now has little of its former prestige, we still take pride in our memories and heritage. Our hope and prayer was that the root of Jesse, David's father, would perhaps sprout a new king someday. It seems unlikely, but we still have hope.

Mary and Joseph traveled the final few miles with me, and we spent most of the time discussing our plans and wondering what our reception might be when we finally entered Bethlehem.

"I think it's going to be exciting!" Mary cried. Her cheerfulness consistently amazed me. Joseph seemed considerably less enthusiastic, but he said nothing and just smiled at his wife.

Bethlehem, with a usual population of about 500, is not significantly larger than Nazareth, but the fact that so many people were congregating here at the same time made it take on the aspects of a much larger city. Its population boomed as travelers from dozens of towns and villages throughout Palestine gathered to be counted.

The local businesses and merchants understood the situation and eagerly took greedy advantage of it. Room prices at the inns were raised to an exorbitant degree; food and produce were overpriced; and of course the beggars were out in full force. Pick pickets and thieves scanned the crowd for likely victims. Confusion reigned.

It was getting dark. We went from inn to inn seeking accommodations, only to hear the same refrain: "No room!" Those were kind words compared to what we heard from some townspeople. Several cursed and threatened us with bodily harm and told us we were not welcome here.

The situation was the same when we asked about an evening meal. The taverns were either so over-crowded that we couldn't even get in, or the cost for just a piece of bread and drink of water was more than some people could afford.

I would have expected that most people and especially business owners would be considerate of Mary's condition. She was obviously with child, and must have been uncomfortable, but she never complained or asked for special treatment.

We finally were able to partake of a meager supper at a tavern on the very outskirts of town. While dining I spotted an acquaintance of mine from a former business dealing a few years back. He beckoned to me and I left Mary and Joseph for a few moments to go and talk to him. We greeted each other and, to my surprise, I learned that he was a part owner of the very tavern we were in.

"Have you found a place to stay yet?" he asked.

"Nothing seems to be available," I said, "and that woman at that table over there with that young man, is pregnant. Very pregnant. I think her child could be born right here."

"A child of David born in the city of David," he said with a grin. "I like the sound of that. It's almost prophetic."

"I'm sharing a room in town with three other men," I said. "It was all I could get, but it's certainly unsuitable for a husband and a wife about to give birth."

"I may have something for them," he said. "It's not much, but better than nothing." I stared at him, trying to contain my excitement, and asked what it was.

"I have a small herd of sheep at my farm. It's just down the road a bit. There's a shack there that I use to shelter the animals in bad weather. There are a couple of feed troughs and some stools for the shepherds, but not much more than that."

My face lit up. "You mean they can use it?" I asked.

"Of course!" he cried. "No charge. But they must name the baby after me!" I could not pass up such an offer, but I must admit I never told Joseph about the promise to name the baby Amnon. I thanked my friend and rushed off, eager to share the good news with Mary and Joseph.

Joseph was dejected. "A shepherd's shack?" he asked. "I was hoping for something better than that for Mary."

"It will be fine," Mary said. "We will make it comfortable, and at least we'll be out of the weather. I like animals. This old mule has carried me all the way from Nazareth. It's hard work and I think he deserves a rest."

Together we walked the short distance to the shack. It was worse than I thought. There were holes in the ceiling and gaps in the walls. The first thing we had to do was shoo the sheep out. They did not want to go, but finally gave us enough room to gather some fresh straw for the feeding trough to create a makeshift resting place for Mary.

"It's perfect," she cried, trying it out for size. A few curious sheep approached to inspect their trough and Mary petted them gently. "And these animals will help keep us warm with their breath and warm bodies."

I shook my head, flabbergasted at the unwavering optimism of this young woman. Joseph smiled and called in a few more sheep. They came eagerly, nuzzling Mary's outstretched hand and breathing ever so gently. Within minutes, she was sound asleep.

As I left to go to my three-men-in-a-bed room, Joseph quietly pulled me aside.

"How much is this going to cost?" He asked.

"Nothing." I said, "The man who owns it is my friend."

"What's his name?" he asked. I told him.

"Amnon? Why, it's almost prophetic." Joseph said. "That was the name of David's firstborn son."

(NOTE: This is the sixth installment in a series of vignettes leading up to the miracle of Christmas. It is adapted from my book The Jesus Diary, which is available on Amazon, Walmart.com, and other online retailers as well as directly from the publisher at Xulonpress.com)