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This could be the most probable reason as to why Joseph was searching for an inn at the outskirts of his own hometown when inns were primarily meant for long-distance travellers enroute their destination. But as they reached the outskirts of Bethlehem, where they had planned to stay the night, Mary developed labour pains. Now, the need for a room in the inn became much more desperate – as planned they needed a place to stay the night and more urgently, they needed a place where Mary could safely have her delivery! But Joseph’s hopes and plans crumbled when there was no room in the inn. So how did the baby Jesus reach a manger? Was he born in a manger like many of our carols seem to suggest?

To answer these questions, we need to connect Luke’s narrative in Luke 2 to some significant Old Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah’s birthplace. Micah gives two significant prophecies in relation to the place of Jesus’ birth:

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
yet out of you shall come forth to Me, the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” (Micah 5:2, NKJV)

And you, O Migdal-Eder, hill of the daughter of Zion, to you it will come, and the former dominion will come, the reign of the daughter of Jerusalem. (Micah 4:8, LEB)

Much prior to Micah, the author of Genesis mentions both Efrat (Ephrathah) and Migdal-Eder together for the first time in Genesis 35:19-21 (CJB) – So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Efrat (that is, Beit-Lechem). Ya‘akov set up a standing-stone on her grave; it is the standing-stone of Rachel’s grave to this day. Isra’el continued his travels and pitched his tent on the other side of Migdal-‘Eder.

Rachel was taking a similar journey as Mary, many centuries prior, when she was carrying Benjamin in her womb and journeying southward from Bethel (just north of Jerusalem) on the same Jerusalem-to-Bethlehem Road. But unlike Mary, Rachel died while giving birth to Benjamin in the wilderness on the outskirts of Bethlehem which was called Ephrath. Bethlehem Ephrathah is also the specific place where Ruth married Boaz and the elders of Bethlehem who witnessed it, came to the “gate” of Bethlehem and blessed them saying, “May you prosper in Ephrathah, and be famous in Bethlehem.” (Ruth 4:11). Three generations later, it is at this same place where David was anointed as king by Samuel (1 Samuel 16).

Over the next several centuries of Israel’s history, Bethlehem Ephrathah was going to develop very important significance in the religious life of Israel because of this Migdal-Eder (which is translated as Tower of Eder or the Tower of the Flock) – a double-storeyed tower that was surrounded by a wilderness called the Shepherd’s Field. It is clear from this that the name, Shepherd’s Field, did not originate following the birth of Jesus, synonymous with the field where the shepherds were watching their flocks on that wonderful night of Jesus’ birth.

“According to the Jewish Talmud, it was specified that the lambs that were to be sacrificed in the temple at Jerusalem, had to be born and raised within five miles of Jerusalem.” The Shepherd’s Field, which was located at Bethlehem Ephrathah, at the outskirts of the town of Bethlehem, on the road towards Jerusalem, became the source of lambs that were designated for the blood sacrifice in the Temple. “Unblemished male rams were designated for burnt (sin) offerings while female ewes were reserved for peace offerings (Leviticus 1,3).”[1]

This facility was not managed by ordinary shepherds but specially trained “priestly” shepherds. They were trained not only in detecting blemishes and faults in a new-born lamb and the care of these sacrificial lambs, but also in the Levitical laws and sacrifices. They were employed by the priests who were offering the sacrifices at the Temple. These specialised shepherds were devoted to the task of watching over this sacrificial flock, day and night. Any sheep in labour would be brought to the lower storey of the Migdal-Eder. Once a lamb was born, it was inspected to ensure that it was without defect. Those lambs that were declared without fault or blemish were wrapped up tightly in swaddling clothes and kept in a manger inside the tower (which was a feeding trough hewn from limestone), to protect them from any further physical injury.[2] Thus, the swaddling clothes that this newly born Lamb was wrapped up in, was a sign to the shepherds that this Lamb after inspection, was found to be without fault or blemish.

These priestly shepherds were aware of Micah’s prophecies and their training would have strongly emphasised the prophetical significance of the place that they were in charge off. Every shepherd who worked at the Migdal-Eder in the Shepherd’s Field, over the centuries, would have earnestly desired to have the privilege of witnessing the coming of the Messiah during their service period. Would they have interpreted another Messianic prophecy that Matthew quotes from Jeremiah 31:15-17 as a future prophesy of Rachel weeping over her similar plight for one of her daughters, who would arrive years later at Ephrathah in Bethlehem, with the pangs of labour and  God assuring her through the words of the prophet Jeremiah that it would not be so?

God had predestined the priestly shepherds of Luke 2 to be blessed with the privilege of being the first witnesses of the enfolding of God’s plan for the Messiah. Luke received this narrative about the shepherds and the host of angels directly from Mary. If Jesus was really born in a manger, Luke could have plainly mentioned so. Instead, it appears as if Luke deliberately withholds the part of the story between Joseph’s futile search for a room at the inn in Bethlehem Ephrathah and the placing of baby Jesus in a manger. It is important at this stage that we remember that Luke wrote this gospel along with the book of Acts, to give an account of the life of Jesus, the early church and Paul, to Theophilus, a probable judge in Rome, who may have been dealing with Paul’s first Roman imprisonment. So, it is possible that he deliberately avoided the detailed account of the birth since he may have felt it not suiting his purpose. Instead, Luke narrates, “And she (Mary) brought forth her first-born Son and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:7, NKJV)

It becomes much easy to fit in the missing pieces of Jesus’ birth narrative from the above historical context. When Joseph’s search for a room in the outskirts of Bethlehem was unyielding, Mary, whose labour pains progressively worsened, would have wandered off into the wilderness of the adjacent Shepherd’s Field. It is most likely that on that night when Mary gave birth to the Only Son of God, the Second person of the Triune God, in the open, dark wilderness of the Shepherd’s Field, there was no midwife, no hospital, no home, no inn, not even a manger!

Once Mary, by herself, completed the entire process of the delivery and cleaned herself up, she would have wrapped her Son in swaddling clothes and found the Migdal-Eder, where she kept her baby in the manger in its lower storey. It is most likely that Mary did not have any clue of the significance of her act, until the shepherds may have informed her about it later. Just as Mary did this, the night sky was lit up by a thousand singing angels at some nearby place, in the same wilderness of the Shepherd’s Field where these priestly shepherds were watching their flock by night. As sheer fear gripped them at the sight of this heavenly spectacle, the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David, a Saviour who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:10-12, NKJV)

What better sign of confirmation of the birth of the Messiah could the angel give to them, than the one sign that they had been using for centuries to confirm and declare a new-born lamb as faultless and unblemished, and thereby worthy of being the sacrificial lamb at the Temple, by wrapping it tightly in swaddling clothes! The only difference on this occasion was that the Lamb was a human baby, who was already wrapped by His own mother in swaddling clothes, kept in the same manger that received the chosen sacrificial lambs and finally declared by a host of angels, as the Saviour and Messiah – the sacrificial unblemished Lamb that God planned even before the creation of the world, to take away the sins of the world!

So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. (Luke 2:15-16, NKJV) No wonder these shepherds did not have any difficulty in understanding the significance of this angelic message! They did not have to search through the hundreds of mangers in Bethlehem that night but rather, they made haste to go to the one manger to which they had devoted their lives to. God had chosen them to witness the greatest moment of the history of Israel and moreover of human history, that all priestly shepherds who worked at Migdal-Eder for centuries, had hoped that they would be able to witness. As they reached the lower storey of the Migdal-Eder to witness what the angels had proclaimed, they saw the sign of the swaddling clothes and inside those swaddling clothes – that human baby, their Messiah, and their Saviour, declared by God Himself as without defect and blemish!

And when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it, marvelled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them (Luke 2:17-20, NKJV) – both by the angels and all their fathers and the priests!

A few years later, a young Judean man named John, who had grown up listening to these stories from his mother and aunt and confirming it in the available Scriptures, started preaching about the soon coming of the Messiah. After several years of preaching and baptising new converts in the river Jordan, one day, John saw Him and probably remembered those old stories and he exclaimed – Behold, the Lamb of God that takes upon Himself the sins of the world – the Lamb that was confirmed at His birth, to the priestly shepherds at Migdal-Eder in the Shepherd’s Field at Bethlehem Ephrathah as God’s perfect and final sacrifice for the sins of a lost world!

In the light of the above contextual evidence, where was Jesus born? Jesus was born in a place called Bethlehem Ephrathah, on the outskirts of Bethlehem, somewhere in an open, dark wilderness of the Shepherd’s Field, adjoining the Bethlehem-to-Jerusalem Road, near the Migdal-Eder. After He was born, Mary wrapped Him tightly in swaddling clothes and placed him in a manger in the lower storey of the Migdal-Eder, where He was visited by priestly shepherds who were waiting for generations and centuries for the prophetical fulfilment of this greatest event in human history.

Over the past two thousand years, many narratives that have no Scriptural basis have gained such popularity to even replace the actual narrative of the birth of Christ. Many of these have its origin from the mythological tales that surrounded the pagan festival of the winter solstice, celebrated across the Roman Empire, as the birth of King Nimrod from the virgin Queen Semiramis or Ishtar. These were Christianised during the time of Emperor Constantine because of the similarities between the two narratives and most of the pagan rituals and practices continue to this day.

One may ask, “What difference does it make to a Christian of the 21^st century whether Jesus was born in a manger or an open field or whether Jesus was born in Bethlehem or Ephrathah?” It is not the accuracy of the place of birth that makes the difference but the more probable and accurate narrative, based on Scripture, that the Spirit can use to open our eyes to some of the most crucial truths about God and His ways.

Firstly, the incarnation of God, the Son as Jesus Christ was not an after thought when things did not go the way God planned. The Triune God, who is the Alpha and the Omega, foreknew the end at the beginning. He was in the process of creating humanity in His image and in His own likeness or character. He created Adam in His image in the garden of Eden but the second phase of creation – creation in His likeness or character – is what has been happening over the past 6000 years of human existence. Creating human beings in His likeness or character, meant creating a people who would voluntarily and completely submit to the Father’s will by learning to obey Him and Him alone. This would involve giving human beings a free will to reject or obey, Him and His ways. The Triune God knew very well that the outcome would be that man would choose to go his way rather than submit to God’s ways and thereby fall into sin and drift far away from God. But God planned to use the Fall that man achieved, to demonstrate his amazing grace, mercy, and love through the unimaginable plan for the salvation of His elect.

The Son voluntarily submitted to His Father’s will to make this journey to earth as an ordinary human being. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8). Jesus Christ came to demonstrate perfect submission and obedience as an ordinary human. His humility extended, not only in being obedient to the point of death but also in surrendering Himself voluntarily to a most humiliating birth, as part of God’s plan to demonstrate to His utmost love and mercy to the fallen human race. That was the extent to which God, the Father was willing to go, in order to rescue us from His coming wrath and judgment. How can we ignore so great a salvation!

Secondly, Jesus said, “Anyone who desires to follow Me, let Him deny himself and take up His Cross and follow Me.” There is no short cut for the salvation that God has prepared! Paul declares his four-fold motto and final goal when he wrote to the church at Philippi, “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to his death (the fourfold motto) if by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead (goal).” (Philippians 3:10) Jesus’ earthly parents, Joseph and Mary, were not spared that cross, but they took up their respective crosses in spite of its pain and humiliation. Every Christmas season is a reminder of God’s utmost love, by which He gave His Son for our salvation but it is also a reminder that the ONLY WAY that we can reach the final outcome of this salvation story that God planned – the resurrection of the dead – is by conforming to His death, by gladly taking up the crosses that God has placed in our life journey as part of His plan for each of us to purify us and make us in the likeness and character of His Son. As a new brand of gospel, that cannot even be called “gospel”, that focusses on material blessings, physical well-being, and prosperity, sweeps through the world deceiving many, let us remember that God has given those who believe and trust in Him, the greatest blessing ever possible, by opening our eyes to see the truth of the gospel. Those whose eyes have been opened can no longer be attracted to the fame, wealth, prosperity, and acceptance that this world can give but instead are willing to be hated by the world and be subjected to the persecution from the world.

Thirdly, the above narrative of Christ’ birth should remind us that only certain shepherds were given the privilege of witnessing the coming of the Messiah into the world. The whole of Israel knew that a Messiah would come to save them. But these priestly shepherds through the generations not only knew God’s promise and sign but also awaited it, desiring to see it in their lifetime. On that night, when they saw the supernatural spectacle in the skies and the announcement of the angels, they knew that their long wait was over. They ran to the manger in haste, to witness the sign with their own eyes. The majority of Israel missed Jesus’ first coming completely. “Ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find; knock and the door shall be opened unto you”, is interpreted mostly in today’s day in terms of asking God for our needs (or rather our wants). That is why our prayers are primarily shopping lists of our wants and desires. Let the birth narrative of Christ teach us that what we are called to ask, seek and knock is for God’s revelation so that we may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering – so that we may know His plans for our lives and for this world! It is only the Holy Spirit that can open our eyes of understanding as we read the Scriptures so that we will also earnestly wait for His much-awaited second coming. The first Christmas should bring to us the solemn truth and warning that if the majority of Israel missed the first coming of Jesus, a majority of the Christian world will also miss the second coming of Jesus and thereby the final and most important stage of salvation – the glorification of the body at the resurrection from the dead.

Finally, these shepherds “made widely known the saying which was told them concerning the Child” so that “all those who heard it marvelled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.” With the above narrative, we can have a glimpse of the actual joy that Christ’s birth brought to them. It was not just the supernatural phenomenon of the heavenly spectacle that made them go and tell it to all. Rather, it was the sheer joy of seeing the fulfilment of all that they had been told through the Scriptures as well as through the angels, that made them the first evangelists of the gospel. God had chosen them to witness what their fathers through generations hoped to witness and they could not keep their mouths shut. Let the birth of Christ remind us that we have the most significant message for the world in our hands and those who have experienced the fulfilment of the gospel in their lives cannot keep their mouths shut. Moreover, when they boldly proclaim the message of God’s love demonstrated through His plan of salvation, the Spirit of God will open the spiritual ears and eyes of many, to hear and to see God’s ways. We are not called to change people’s belief systems or behaviour or religion, but we are called to proclaim the gospel message that God has entrusted into our hands. When God chooses to open someone’s ears and eyes, all other things will just spontaneously happen. As we near the final days before Christ returns, it is so much more important that we proclaim God’s message of salvation through Christ with His power and might.

Christmas has been reduced to just a festival of the Christian religion in a blessing-focussed, prosperity-seeking, flesh-driven, sin-indulgent world. The pain that God the Almighty went through at each of these stages of this narrative is comfortably forgotten and, in its place, a kind of wild celebration becomes characteristic of the festive mood. Let this narrative of the birth of Christ, based on the place of the birth of Christ, as the Scripture shows, lead us to a deeper walk with Him in submission to His will, as God continues the process of changing each of us into the likeness and character of His Son. Have a purposeful and eye-opening Christmas season!

[1] Sonja Corbitt, “For the Last Days of Christmas: The Tower of the Flock,” 2020, https://media.ascensionpress.com/2020/01/10/for-the-last-days-of-christmas-the-tower-of-the-flock/.

[2] Corbitt.