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Introduction to this post:
This is the second of this year’s weekly Advent posts. Those of you who have followed the blog for more than a year know that it is my annual practice to post a weekly story for the season of Advent about the incarnational birth of Jesus. My hope is that the stories have become a part of your Advent tradition as you remember and celebrate the Good News of the advent of our Lord and Savior.
This year’s posts are as follows:
Last week - November 27th: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (Joseph’s Story)
This week - December 4th: Away in a Manger (Achim’s Story)
December 11th: Silent Night (Moshe’s Story)
December 18th: We Three Kings (Balthazar’s Story)
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My name is Achim. My family and I live here in Bethlehem, the town of our ancestor David, the shepherd king. Our town is situated in the midst of rolling green hills, which produce some of the best almonds and olives throughout the province. The soil is fertile because we sit on top of an enormous aquifer. As a matter of fact, our water is known as the best tasting around. The story goes that some of King David’s mighty men risked their lives by crossing through Philistine lines to get him a cup of this very water.
Bethlehem was once one of the fortress towns established by King David’s grandson, Rehoboam. It was a defensive military installation designed to safeguard the water source, which also supplied Jerusalem and other surrounding villages. But now under Roman rule, it is less of a fortress and more of a sleepy village secluded from the noise and activity of Jerusalem.
The hills in and around Bethlehem are ideal for raising sheep. Our rich soil and plentiful water provide an abundant food supply. The demand for lambs in Jerusalem continues to grow. They are the principal animal sacrifice offered in the temple throughout the year.
And during the feasting days, Jerusalem is filled with pilgrims from all over the land who aren’t able to bring their own animals to sacrifice. The pilgrims rely on the lambs and birds that are available at the temple. That creates great demand – and profit – for local shepherds.
However, I am not a shepherd. Like many others in my family, I am a carpenter. There’s not a lot of work for carpenters in Bethlehem, but there is in Jerusalem. It is a bustling city with new structures and dwellings being added every day. Since we live close to Jerusalem, I can work there but still be at home most nights, sleeping in my own bed and enjoying my wife’s good cooking.
My wife, Miriam, and I have three grown sons, all of whom work with me. They are good sons who never gave us cause for concern. They each married self-respecting young women who grew up right here in Bethlehem. And now Jehovah God has blessed them all with children – which means Miriam and I have been blessed with many grandchildren. My ancestor King Solomon once wrote that “children are a gift from the Lord” and “happy is the man whose quiver is full of them.”(1) And God continues to give me a bigger quiver!
But not only is our quiver getting bigger – so is our home! Each time one of our sons married or had more children, we added another room. Like most of the homes around here, ours is made of stone with wood timber beams to support the upper floors. Our home abuts a hill, so the stable for our animals is actually a cave that I enlarged within the hill.
Since our family has continued to grow, we added a third level to our house a few years ago. The center courtyard is open to allow for cooking, eating, and gathering. That is where we spend most of our time together. The other rooms either surround or overlook the courtyard. These rooms provide adequate space for sleeping and privacy. I intentionally added extra rooms to allow space for our guests. And if our family keeps expanding, we will add even more rooms!
Caesar Augustus recently decreed that a census be taken and everyone must return to their ancestral home for that purpose. Our extended family has scattered across the provinces, so we have been anticipating the arrival of a large influx of distant and not-so-distant relatives. We will be expected to host them and provide them with lodging.
I am grateful that we – as well as our other extended family members who also live here in Bethlehem – are able to accommodate all of them. Miriam and our daughters-in-law have been busily making preparations. And as the patriarch of our extended family here in town, I have made sure that the other families are doing the same.
I was really looking forward to seeing my cousin Joseph. Though we live some distance apart, we still see each other from time to time. He is just a few years younger than I am and we have much in common. When I last saw him in Jerusalem for the observance of Passover, he told me that he was betrothed to a young girl from his village.
Miriam and I were so glad to hear it. There has been too much sadness in his life with the death of his wife Rebekah. The marriage feast for him and his bride was planned for later in the year, so I did not expect her to be traveling with him. Even though they are betrothed, I was certain she would be traveling with her family for the census.
But this afternoon, Joseph arrived at my door with a young woman. And not only was she with him, but she was great with child! Miriam immediately came scurrying to the doorway to greet the girl.
“You are radiant, my dear,” Miriam exclaimed, “and you must be weary from your journey.” Then she made a move to embrace the young woman – until I reached out to stop her. She and I looked at each other disapprovingly.
“Achim and Miriam,” Joseph spoke up, “this is Mary, my wife.” Miriam and I looked at Joseph, then at Mary – followed by a not so subtle stare at her obvious “baby bump.” The silence became awkward. I didn’t know what to say, and Miriam knew, based on my actions, that she should not say anything.
Joseph again broke the silence and said, “I know you must have questions. But may we come in so Mary can be seated, and we will explain what all has occurred?”
Miriam nodded her head and reached out a hand to help the young woman step across our threshold. But I continued to block the doorway and removed Miriam’s hand from the girl’s shoulder.
“Yes, I do have questions, Joseph,” I said. “And they must be answered before you can enter my home. When is the child she is carrying due?”
“Any day now,” Joseph replied. He obviously knew what I was about to ask.
“When I last saw you,” I continued, “you told me that you were betrothed to this young woman and the marriage feast was still nine months away. That was only a little more than six months ago. How can she now be expecting a baby any day, and how is it that she has become your wife in advance of your wedding feast?”
Joseph responded by telling us the most preposterous story I have ever heard. He said Mary had been visited by an angel who told her that the Spirit of God would come upon her and she would give birth to His Son. Then the angel had subsequently appeared to Joseph and told him the same thing. So, he had gone ahead and formalized their marriage contract right then and brought her into his home. He assured me, however, that she was still a virgin.
Either she was a liar and he was so lovestruck that he was blinded to her deception – or they were both liars and had made up this unbelievable story to cover up her adultery. If the baby was his, why had he told me in Jerusalem they had not yet consummated their marriage? Whoever heard of Jehovah God coming upon any woman to give birth to a baby?
Babies are only conceived one way – and it takes a woman and a man! And whoever heard of angels appearing to anyone? Of course, there were stories in Scripture about how angels appeared to the patriarchs, but that was a long time ago. That doesn’t happen anymore!
I began to seethe with rage. This was most obviously a violation of God’s commandments and I could not accept it. I could not welcome them into my home because I would be lending credence to this outrageous story and violating everything I believed to be righteous and holy. Joseph was my relative, and in many respects had become my dear friend. And yet, here they stood as an abomination before God – expecting to enter my home as if everything was all right.
In my anger, I told them there was no room for them in my home or in the homes of any of our family members. I even went on to say that I would see to it they were not welcome in any home in Bethlehem – there was no room for them! They had sinned against God and they had stained our family name. Then I turned my back to them and said, “Go away from my home!”
Before I turned my back, I saw the deep hurt in their eyes. And I saw a resignation that confirmed this was not the first time they had been treated this way. They looked sad, but I saw no anger. Perhaps they were expecting a different reaction from family – maybe compassion or acceptance. After all, darkness was drawing near and I was turning away a pregnant woman, who was about to give birth at any moment. And they were family. But my beliefs would not permit me to compromise.
Just then Miriam spoke up. “You can spend the night in our stable. It will provide shelter, and the animals will provide warmth from the cool night air. There is straw to provide you with a comfortable resting place, and I will bring you food and water for the night.”
Mid-sentence I had turned toward Miriam to silence her, but she stared back at me with a look that left no doubt it was my turn to be silent.
“Thank you for your kindness,” said the young girl. Then the two of them silently walked to the stable.
At that moment, I regretted what I had said and done. But I couldn’t compromise my convictions – and I just could not believe their story. Nonetheless, I was now grateful that Miriam had spoken up. However, she didn’t speak to me for the rest of the night. She just gazed at me with cold eyes. And I knew there was nothing I could say right then that would make things better.
Other distant family members arrived that night and we welcomed them into our home with open arms. We didn’t tell them – or even our sons and daughters-in-law – about Joseph and Mary staying in the stable. Other than the silence between Miriam and me, we acted as if everything was normal. But there wasn’t a moment that passed that I didn’t think about the couple in the stable.
Little did I know what would occur that very night …
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More about Achim
Achim is a fictional cousin of Joseph. Historically, Joseph likely had distant and possibly close relatives living in his ancestral town of Bethlehem. In the culture of the time, these relatives would have felt a strong sense of responsibility and familial hospitality to provide lodging for family members arriving for the census. The closer the family ties, the greater this obligation would have been. As Bethlehem was a small town, unlike the bustling city of Jerusalem, public accommodations would have been limited. It is therefore plausible that Joseph sought shelter with family, and the "inn" mentioned in the Gospel accounts may have referred to such a familial lodging.
However, Joseph’s relatives would likely have been unsettled by his arrival with a very pregnant Mary. Those who knew of their betrothal may have reacted as others in Nazareth had, viewing the circumstances through the lens of moral judgment. This story explores how a devout Jew might have responded to what they perceived as sin on the part of Joseph and Mary.
While this account is fictional, it is set against the backdrop of the Gospel narratives of Joseph and Mary's arrival in Bethlehem as recorded in Matthew and Luke. It is not intended to contradict the biblical accounts but to offer a perspective suggesting that their reception may have stemmed not from a lack of physical space but from a disbelief in the explanation Joseph provided. It is a reminder that walking in obedience to God by faith does not mean we will not meet with persecution or disbelief.
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This story is excerpted from Little Did We Know, a collection of twenty-five short stories for the Advent season. The book is available through Amazon in standard print, large print, and for your Kindle or Kindle app. It is also available as an audiobook. Click HERE for more information on how you can obtain your copy.
You can listen to the audiobook version of this story as narrated by Kyle Bullock by tuning into this week’s episode of my podcast by CLICKING HERE
(1) Psalm 127:3, 5 (NLT)
Copyright © 2024 Kenneth A. Winter All rights reserved.
Photo by Photo Granary on Lightstock
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Away in a Manger (Forever Amen) by Phil Wickham (Lyric Video)