Kataluma

Just as it is nowadays where persons are required to register in the municipality in which they live, so it was in ancient Israel. With that in mind, we read,

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  – Luke 2:4-5 (ESV)

Joseph and Mary left Nazareth to become residents of Bethlehem before Jesus was born in order to fulfil prophecy.

“O Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are but a small Judean village, yet you will be the birthplace of my King who is alive from everlasting ages past!”  – Micah 5:2 (TLB)

As Israelites, both Joseph and Mary would have known of Micah’s prophecy therefore their relocation was deliberate.

The registration drive was in full swing and so all the people were on their way to register for the census, each to his own city (Luke 2:3 NASB). Needless to say, every city, Bethlehem included, was packed with people, more people than could be accommodated.

Luke 2:7 (NIV) verifies this fact.

there was no guest room available for them.

Several translations and tradition have told us that there was no room in the inn, giving the impression that Joseph and pregnant Mary could not find a hotel or motel in which to stay. However, they were not trying to make a reservation at the Hilton or Benoni’s Bed n Breakfast.

Joseph and Mary were in search of a kataluma which was not uncommon accommodation in those days. Kataluma is a Greek word which is translated guest room and was located on the upper floor of a Jewish home. It was an upper room specifically reserved for visiting family and friends, while the rest of the household occupied the lower floor.

Kataluma is the same word used for the “upper room” in Luke 22:12 and Acts 1:13 where the Last Supper took place, while pandocheion, inn, can be found in the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Unable to find a kataluma, this newly married couple, under the strain of extremely curious and challenging circumstances, could easily have given up but they did not, instead with love for God, and abiding trust in the word of God, they humbly remained true to their calling and strengthened by faith, accepted their fate determined to fulfil the purpose of God.

the time came for the baby to be born – Luke 2:6 (NIV)

But with already jam-packed lower and upper floors, what was the next best option? There was no inn in the little village of Bethlehem, no barn as is often depicted and no kataluma available for them but there was an area on the lower floor, a space where the household’s animals were placed at night.

and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger – Luke 2:7 (NIV)

Mary lovingly lay her new-born baby in a limestone feeding trough.

Beloved, when you are called by God to fulfil His purposes, you just have to do whatever it is you must do.

Has God has given you a word? Was everything going well, working out as you imagined, but just as you were about to give birth to it, suddenly things became bleak, no longer going the way you imagined and now you’re wondering “What is God doing?”

Remember God always has a good plan. Joseph and Mary may have been going through that same mental torture when to every home they went there was no unoccupied kataluma. But look how it turned out, look at the significance of Jesus, the Bread of Life being born in Bethlehem, “house of bread”, and placed in a manger, a feeding trough.

Beloved, chew on that.

Amen †

 

Shelley Johnson “Kataluma” © 2025, December 21, 2025