Carols & Context: Away in a Manger

 

One of the most well-known Christmas carols, ‘Away in a Manger’ is a staple of Nativity plays.  The song has been attributed to reformer Martin Luther in many carol books, but there seems little evidence that he actually wrote it.  For one thing, it was only published (in English, as ‘Away in a Manger’) in the nineteenth century, some 300 years after the German’s death.  There is no surviving German version, other than translations from English.

  It is sometimes reckoned that ‘Away in a Manger’ was a song that Luther wrote for his young son, but a more likely candidate for that is ‘Von Himmel hoch…’ – almost certainly penned by Luther, in German, and dealing with a similar theme (the opening line translates as “From heaven above [to earth I come]”).

  It has been suggested that ‘Away in a Manger’ is actually entirely American, perhaps the work of William J. Kirkpatrick.  But the song’s authorship is not the only assumption worth challenging here. ‘Away in a Manger’ is frequently sung at Nativity plays, with Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, shepherds, angels, wise men (or some combination of these) in a stable scene.  It makes sense, because that’s where you’d find a manger, right?  And the Bible says that Mary laid the baby Jesus in a manger (Luke 2:7).  And why?  Because “there was no place for them in the inn”.  But let’s hold it there for a moment.  A more accurate rendering of that line, however, might be ‘there was no guest room for them.’  Luke uses another Greek word later in his gospel to talk about an inn (in the ‘Good Samaritan’ story, Luke 10:34) – why not use the same word here if he means an inn?

  Kenneth Bailey, an expert on the Near East, now and in New Testament times, has suggested that the manger may have been in a house.  Many houses in first-century Palestine had two parts inside – one part at ground level or slightly raised, which served as the living area for the human inhabitants; the other, lower part where the animals would be kept when indoors.  And in between would be the manger – easily accessible for the animals, and easily replenished with fodder by the people.

  Bear in mind that Joseph had to travel with Mary to his ancestral home in Bethlehem.  It’s possible – perhaps likely – that he still had relatives there.  And in the Near East, it is bad form not to open your home to travelling relations.  But if you had no guest room in your house, everyone would share the same living space, and a baby may well be put in the manger – it’s warm and soft, and it’s in easy reach.  So, if that was the case, then the Nativity is actually set against a backdrop of hospitality – someone opening their home to their family (maybe not close family) in need.

  Hospitality is a big deal in the Bible.  It’s culturally very important in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, but it also becomes a key tenet of the fledgling faith of the early Christians of the New Testament.  Jesus talked about hospitality quite a bit (Matthew 25:35f and Luke 14:12-14 are just 2 examples), as did Paul, who wrote or inspired many New Testament letters to churches (cf. Romans 12:13 especially).  The early church, according to Luke’s other book, Acts, was characterised by hospitality (cf Acts 2:45; 4:34ff).  I think hospitality is so important to them all because they could see opportunities to ‘pay it forward’ for hospitality they had experienced.  And maybe they erred on the side of hospitality because you never really know who your guest might be.  As the writer to the Hebrews counselled:

 

“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:2).

 

  Sadly, we seem to live in an age (and a country?) that is more hostile than hospitable to strangers – such as refugees and asylum seekers.  We need only look at fairly recent events in the Channel, and in Parliament (see the Nationality and Borders Bill, currently in the House of Lords).  I want to be part of a country that takes the risk on welcoming the stranger, so we might entertain angels.  Jesus was into hospitality, maybe because he’d experienced it, starting when he was ‘Away in a Manger’.