Today is Dec. 11, Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent.
We read in Sacred Scripture, “Do you not know or have you not heard? The LORD is the eternal God, creator of the ends of the earth” (Is 40:28).
The Gospels of Matthew and Luke make it clear that Christ was born in Bethlehem. The holy city has been a place of pilgrimage for Christians from at least the second century (although the question of precisely when is of some debate among scholars).
Precisely where in Bethlehem Our Lord was born is another interesting question. And it’s on this question that ancient Christian sources offer some helpful evidence.
Like many Catholics, I grew up with a picturesque nativity that depicts Jesus being born in a wooden stable. Our Lord was made manifest among the animals and was placed in a manger. The twist is that for centuries in Palestine — in fact down to the present day — people have used caves as stables.
Jesus is born in a cave
In fact, the Protoevangelium of James (a second-century Christian text not included in the Church’s official canon of Scripture) describes Christ’s birth in a cave. Around the same time, St. Justin Martyr, offers a similar witness: “But when the Child was born in Bethlehem, since Joseph could not find a lodging in that village, he took up his quarters in a certain cave near the village; and while they were there Mary brought forth the Christ and placed Him in a manger, and here the Magi who came from Arabia found Him.”
So what’s the point? The point is that traditions of Christ’s birth in a cave-stable help us appreciate the authenticity of the spot marked in Bethlehem. The Church of the Nativity is built over a grotto, a cave, said to be the very place where Jesus Christ was born.
There’s a beautiful theological point to be made here. The Son of God, the Word made flesh and splendor of the Father, has revealed Himself in a cave. Christ, the Light of the World, entered the world in the shadows. In a dark, hidden place, the Truth was made manifest. As the Gospel of John so marvelously puts it: “What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (Jn 1:3-5).
Let us pray,
Almighty God, who command us to prepare the way for Christ the Lord, grant in your kindness, we pray, that no infirmity may weary us as we long for the comforting presence of our heavenly physician. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
