Christmas bores
‘Did you know? Jesus was actually born in September.’
A festive lunch isn’t complete without this historical footnote being aired by the family nerd. Obviously Baby Jesus wasn’t born in December when it’s pretty nippy in the Holy Land and no sane person would set off by donkey to fill in a census form. But the month of September is pleasantly balmy, and everyone is free to travel because the harvest has been gathered. So, yes, Joseph and his pregnant wife ventured forth on the family donkey to stay in Bethlehem where a room had been booked at their favourite inn. But wait. A donkey? An inn? These were significant luxuries in Roman times. And the arrival of friends with costly gifts, including gold, suggests a certain affluence. Let’s face it, the Christs were loaded. The notion that Jesus belonged to the underclass has been invented to generate sympathy – like the idea that Meghan called her daughter Lilibet as a mark of respect for the Queen.
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