In every Christmas pageant pageant there has to be an innkeeper: a gruff old sourpuss of a character who stands firm at the doorway of the Bethlehem Inn and, with dramatic hand gestures, waves off Joseph and Mary into the cold, dark, December night.
What a contrast to common experience for those visiting Bethlehem today. No, not the 30-minute tourists who jump off the bus to be herded inside Nativity Church for the standard quickie tour, but those who like Joseph and Mary plan for an extended stay to get to know local residents, to experience life as it really is in this wondrous place.My experience in Bethlehem -- and I've stayed in three different hotels and two pilgrim hospices there -- is that the innkeepers have been the most hospitable of any encountered in all my travels. That's true to the cliche of Arab hospitality. They go out of their way to make you feel at home. Never satisfied unless your bed is totally comfortable. Never content until your stomach is filled. And always wanting you to slow the pace, to sit down for a spell and to share a good cup of Arabic coffee -- "Is it sweet enough? Don't hurry off. How about another?"
Bethlehem innkeepers have learned a bit about tourism over the years. Bethlehem University has a growing program of hotel management to help people in tourism do a better job of what already comes natural. There's also an extremely ambitious Bethlehem 2000 organization to make sure every bed is properly made, every falafel spicy and hot and every guide well-informed for the influx of several million tourists flocking to Bethlehem for the turn of the millennium.
A complete face lift for Bethlehem is at the center of current preparations. International grants will help turn Manger Square from a parking lot for buses into an oasis-like mall. A pedestrian walkway will lead up the hill into the heart of the city where visitors can admire fascinating domestic architecture, investigate hundreds of intriguing shops or engage themselves in friendly conversation with local residents going about their daily business.
In December 1995, my sabbatical in Bethlehem coincided with the withdrawal of Israeli military occupation and the beginning of Palestinian self-rule. It was amazing what I witnessed during those next six months. New pavement for the main streets and brighter street lights. A new garbage truck as a gift from Italy. Three new hotels built from ground up. Everyone wants to get ready for the party.
Last May, while giving a series of lectures on New Testament archaeology for Palestinian tour guides, I was impressed with their eagerness as also the determination of their director, who said, "We need more scholars and academics to help prepare them. Our guides must be on top of the latest theories and discoveries."
So what's the latest theory on the Bethlehem innkeeper? That's easy. There wasn't one. At least there was no innkeeper mentioned by Saint Luke. The hard-nosed innkeeper is but the creation of the later writers to liven up the story. The Gospel only says, "There was no room in the lodgings."
Traditional Palestinian homes were built over caves with a single room used for eating, sleeping and social gatherings. The lower level built into the cave is where animals were kept. Likely what Luke was getting at was that the upper area was so packed with guests that Joseph and Mary were squeezed in down below with the animals.
That first-century host managed to find room and to provide hospitality -- even in the most crowded circumstances. That's the amazing part of the story. With the political situation bringing overcrowding to the city for a census leading to heavy taxation, hospitality could be granted liberally in ancient Bethlehem.
Things haven't changed much in Bethlehem when it comes to political conflict and tough economic conditions, yet there remains an eagerness to ensure that no one will be turned out into the cold.
This can be illustrated by a recent letter from a young Bethlehem friend. The eldest of five children, with grandparents sharing the house and her father out of work, she wrote, "I hear that thousands of people will soon be visiting Bethlehem. If you know of people worried about hotel bookings, please share with them our address. We can always find room for them in Bethlehem."
Fred Strickert is professor of religion at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, and co-author of the book, "Bethlehem 2000: Past and Present."