Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for December 21, 1973
December 20, 1973
December 22, 1973
Transcript:
Rev. Sloan: Good evening, and welcome to this year's Christmas rock-pageant. In our show tonight, Mary is played by Scarlet Zuckerman and Joseph is Thor Jackson. The shepherds are played by Chico, Andy and Nick, and the innkeeper and his wife are Tim and Margot Bixby. The part of baby Jesus is played by a hidden 40 watt light bulb.
Joseph and Mary were in town for tax collection and the census. Since this was where Joseph was born, he would have been staying at the house where he was born, where most of his relatives would also be staying if they had to return for the same reason. Thus, they never went to an inn and the animals were kept on the first floor which is where the manger is located.All of the Jewish women in the house would have bee midwives to Mary. I doubt that they would have let shepherds or even wise men near the baby write after the birth though most scholars agree that the wise men did not arrive until Jesus was three. The Bible is not exactly accurate about what life was back then.