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b'Sorry, guys, but I\\u2019m going to ruin Christmas for you. Jesus probably wasn\\u2019t born in a stable. Read the passage again. It doesn\\u2019t say \\xe2\\u20ac\\u0153stable\\xe2\\u20ac\\x9d anywhere. We usually hear about Jesus being born in a stable because it says He was laidin a manger, which is where animals eat, and in our current time and place, animals live in stables. Makes sense, right?\\nThe problem is, in the time and place that Jesus was born, animals lived in the house. Archeologists are discovering that most homes in the area were built with one small room for the animals to sleep in at night, one larger room for the family, and one room upstairs for guests. The room for the animals had large bowl-shaped indents in the floor, called mangers, to hold the animals\\u2019 food.\\nAlso, the Bible says Joseph had family in Bethlehem, so he and Mary would have been welcomed into a relative\\u2019s house with open arms. In that culture, failing to show hospitality brought an incredible amount of shame. When the Bible says there was \\xe2\\u20ac\\u0153no room\\xe2\\u20ac\\x9d for them, it probably means the upstairs guest room was full, so they stayed downstairs with the family and animals. So, when Mary gave birth, she was surrounded by family to help with the delivery. But the house was packed so full that the only place they could put Jesus was in the manger.\\nWhy does this all matter? Well, the circumstances of His birth say something very powerful: Jesus is human. He had a relatively ordinary birth for His time and place in history. He was surrounded by the people He came to save, right from His first moments out of the womb.\\nJesus experienced everything it meant to be human. Although He is also fully God, He became every bit as fleshy as we are, so that He could save every bit of who we are. \\n\\u2022 Why is it important that Jesus is fully human? Could He have taken our place on the cross if He wasn\\u2019t fully human (John 1:14; 14:6; Romans 5:12-21)? \\n\\u2022 How does the fact that Jesus is fully human affect your relationship with Him? \\n\\u2022 As we study God\\u2019s Word, why is it important to understand the culture and history of the Bible? \\nThis High Priest of ours [Jesus] understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. Hebrews 4:15 (NLT)\\n\\xa0\\nRead Verses:\\nLuke 2:1-7'