Luke 2:6-7

Normally mothers wrapped their newborn babies in wide strips of cloth to keep them warm (cf. Ezekiel 16:4). [Note: Liefeld, p. 846.] Traditionally Christians have believed that the manger or feeding trough in which Mary laid the baby Jesus was in a cave. [Note: Justin Martyr, Trypho, 78:4; Origen, Contra Celsum, 1:15.] However most homes in Israel had two parts, one for the family and another for the household animals. It is possible that this was the location of the manger. An inn (Gr. katalyma) could have been a guest room in a house (cf. Luke 22:11-12) or any place of lodging. This Greek word has a wider range of meanings than pandocheion, which refers specifically to an inn for travelers (cf. Luke 10:34).

The innkeeper has become a villain figure in the Christmas story, but Luke did not present him as such. The writer’s contrast was between the royal birthplace that this Son of David deserved and the humble one He received. His exclusion from human society anticipated the rejection that He would continue to experience throughout His ministry.

We may never know the exact day of Jesus’ birth until we get to heaven. However, a day in late December or early January is likely. The traditional date of December 25 goes back at least as far as Hippolytus (ca. A.D. 165-235). [Note: Hippolytus, Commentary on Daniel , 4:23:3. See also Jack Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology, p. 248.] Probably Jesus was born in the winter of 5-4 B.C. [Note: Hoehner, pp. 11-27.]