No room in the inn?

Saint Luke records the birth of the Messiah this way, "And she (Mary) brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn" (Luke 2:7). 


The Holiday Season can be extremely busy and stressful. You NEED to buy presents, you NEED to wrap those presents, you NEED to set up the tree, set up the lights, cook the ham, etc. And many times we sacrifice the true meaning of Christmas at the altar of consumerism. 

And to be honest, its really hard for us to recognize that we are obsessed with material items because we are like a fish swimming in our culture. 

So how do we slow down? 

I think in order to slow down we need to look at the first Christmas story. The young couple, Mary and Joseph, journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census. I love how the New Living translation describes Mary, "He took with him Mary, his fiancee, who was now obviously pregnant." She wasn't 8 weeks or even 20 weeks pregnant, she was ready to pop at any moment.  Yet she walks/rides on an animal all the way to Bethlehem. She was uncomfortable and I'm sure like most women ready for the child to be born. 

So they walked and walked and walked and when they finally arrived to town they realized there was no room in the inn. 

Now, when we read this with our 21st Century eyes, we think, they went to the Super 8 and they were booked. But those didn't exist. 

So what really happened?

A better word to translate "inn" is guest room. Houses were pretty small but the center room would be the main part of the house and if you had guest sleep over they would sleep in the "outer room." And just outside the house was were they kept the animals.

But there was no room in the guest room. 

Everyone was in town and no one would make room for Mary, Joseph and Jesus. 

Can I make an inference based on the passage? Luke doesn't tell us this directly but do you actually think there was no room or do you think no one wanted to associate with Mary and Joseph. 

Remember Mary and Joseph were not married. She was a virgin. Or so she says. 

It's like when you go to a family event and there is that one family member that is the black sheep. Always making bad decisions and hurting the family name. 

I can hear the chatter now, "Oh, look its Mary, that whore" "Ya and Joseph, he can't even control his woman." "Unbelievable! They aren't staying with us!" "Oh, we are full!" "No, room in my house, sorry Mary!"


Wait, I thought all generations were going to call her blessed? Not yet. They didn't get it. 

They missed it. 

So Jesus was born. Not in the house, not in the guest room (inn), but out back, where they keep the animals. 

How many people said, "No!" You can't be born here. They missed out on a holy moment. 

Regret? You bet! 


So, lets fast forward 2000 years. 

Do we make room for Jesus? 

It is so easy to miss Him, to put him in the manger, to put him out back...... 

But when we put Him in the manger we miss out on the holy moments.....


So how do we slow down? We slow down by stopping and re-evaluating our lives, Am I putting Jesus first? Am I spending time with Him? Are the activities I am doing bringing me closer or further away from Him? 

Each of us is an inn-keeper. And we must decide if there is enough room for Jesus in our heart.

So yes, give gifts, serve, love, light the Christmas tree, sing Christmas Carols. But don't forget Jesus. And Don't forget that He is the greatest gift of all.  

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!