Luke 2:7 – “And she 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.”
In my previous post, I discussed the child in the manger. But why the manger? Why did Mary place her baby boy in a manger? Of all places to place her child, she placed Him in a feeding trough for cattle. The above verse gives us the explicit reason why the Christ child was laid in a manger – “because there was no room for them in the inn.”
During the time of the above text, the entire world is traveling. The emperor, Caesar Augustus, made a decree that all the world should be taxed. In the fulfillment of this new law, every man traveled to the city of his birth to pay his tribute. Anyone who is sensitive to the work of God can clearly see that God Almighty is at work behind this scene. Bro. Dollas Messer brought out the point that God put it in the heart of Caesar Augustus to tax the whole world, just so one man named Joseph could travel with his espoused wife named Mary, so that she could bring forth her firstborn son in Bethlehem, fulfilling Micah 5:2. All the world is in a “hustle and bustle” mode. Why all the rush? God’s sovereign hand is in it, bringing about His divine will. He gets the whole world moving just so Jesus could be born in Bethlehem!
Arriving in Bethlehem, the weary couple, Mary and Joseph, find an inn in which to rest. An inn in New Testament times is much different from our perception of an inn today. In the time of Mary and Joseph, an inn was not a public building with rooms for an overnight stay. An inn was rather a private house. The owner of the house would open a few rooms for weary travelers. It is such a private house where Mary and Joseph attempted to find rest for the night. It appears that the owner of the house, or the innkeeper, was very nice, in spite of many Christmas pageants that portray him as evil. It seems that he told Mary and Joseph with regret that there was no other room available. I believe it was the innkeeper who owned the cattle that fed from the manger where Christ was laid. I believe the story went something like this: Mary and Joseph knocked on the door of the inn, which was in Bethlehem. After the innkeeper answered, Joseph asked for a room. The innkeeper, upon seeing that Mary was expecting a child, regretfully told them, “I’m sorry; I have no more room!” Perhaps Mary and Joseph began to walk away. Beholding their departure, the innkeeper stopped them. “Wait!” he says. “I’m out of rooms in the house, but I do have some room with the cattle. It’s not much, but you’re welcome to it.” One thing is for sure – the babe was laid in a manger because there was no room in the inn.
No Room for Christ
At His birth, the Christ child had only a bed of hay to lay His head. During His earthly life, the foxes had holes; the birds of the air had nests; but Jesus Christ was still in search of a place to lay His head. Now, the Spirit of Christ goes through the earth, looking for a place to dwell. I think often of Peter, James, and John when they were with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration. They saw Jesus with Moses and Elijah, and they heard the Father speak from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son.” Upon hearing this, Peter spoke up to the Lord, and said, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. Let us build three tabernacles; one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” I used to wonder what gave Peter the idea to build three tabernacles. Now I understand that He was on the right track. Jesus wanted three tabernacles that day. Jesus was not interested in building one tabernacle for Himself, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. However, He was interested in tabernacles. A tabernacle is simply a dwelling place. And the Lord wanted three dwelling places that day. He wanted to dwell in Peter; He wanted to dwell in James; and He wanted to dwell in John. In our day, the Spirit of Christ is looking for a place to abide. When He knocks at your heart’s door, will you tell Him, “There’s no room here?” That is the response of the world. In America, we give Santa Claus a place; we give Allah and Muhammad a place; we give homosexuals a place. But we’ll file suit after suit to make sure there’s no room for Jesus Christ. The crooked and sick ACLU will go to court to make sure that a child can’t carry his Bible to public school, and then go to court to defend the rights of Muslims to read the Koran in American prisons. When Christians take a stand for God’s definition of marriage, we are told by the liberals of our day to shut up and be tolerant. Then those same liberals will file suit to have one cross taken down from the public square. They’re hypocrites to the fullest degree, as every liberal is hypocritical by definition. They preach tolerance when it comes to every sick thing under the sun, but they absolutely hate every bit of truth for which Christians stand. They defend animals and kill babies. They claim to fight AIDS, but they will neither admit nor combat the major cause of the disease. They defend the building of a mosque at ground zero, but they flop on the floor and foam at the mouth if one pastor even threatens to burn a single Koran. Their media outlets will give weeks and months to the story of the murder of George Tiller, the late-term abortion doctor; but they give one or two sentences at the most to the story of the murder Jim Pouillon, a peaceful pro-life advocate.
The root of it all is simple – our nation is giving Jesus Christ no room at all, let alone His rightful place. The desire of Jesus Christ today is that He might have a place in the hearts of men and women. But the desire of so many is that Christ would depart from them as they express the fact that there is no room for Jesus Christ.
Thou didst leave Thy throne and thy kingly crown
When Thou camest to earth for me;
But in Bethlehem’s home there was found no room
For Thy holy nativity.*
He Made Room for You
When Jesus Christ died upon the cross, there are many accomplishments that were made. There are several analogies that can be used to explain why Jesus died upon the cross, and they are all correct. You could say that Jesus died upon the cross to undergo the penalty of sin, which is death, for all mankind. You could say that Jesus died upon the cross to pay a debt that we owed and could not pay. You could say that when Jesus died upon the cross, He was giving a dowry to the Father to purchase a bride. You could say that Jesus laid down His life to purchase lousy building material with which to build a church. You could say that, because of the cross, Jesus paid a ransom that would set slaves free. All of these are exactly right. But however you word it, understand this: Christ died to make room for all who will come. The gospel is not limited in its availability. It is for “whosoever will.” Any and all who will come will be free. If you reject Jesus Christ, it will not be because the atonement was limited and did not include you. It will be because you chose to give no room to the One who made room for you. No wonder we can sing the old hymn, “…though millions have come, there’s still room for one. Yes, there’s room at the cross for you!” Make room for Christ today, because He made room for you.
Thou camest, O Lord, with the living word
That should set Thy people free;
But with mocking scorn and with crown of thorn,
They bore Thee to Calvary.
O Come to my heart, Lord Jesus;
There is room in my heart for Thee.*
*Emily Elizabeth Steele Elliot
In my previous post, I discussed the child in the manger. But why the manger? Why did Mary place her baby boy in a manger? Of all places to place her child, she placed Him in a feeding trough for cattle. The above verse gives us the explicit reason why the Christ child was laid in a manger – “because there was no room for them in the inn.”
During the time of the above text, the entire world is traveling. The emperor, Caesar Augustus, made a decree that all the world should be taxed. In the fulfillment of this new law, every man traveled to the city of his birth to pay his tribute. Anyone who is sensitive to the work of God can clearly see that God Almighty is at work behind this scene. Bro. Dollas Messer brought out the point that God put it in the heart of Caesar Augustus to tax the whole world, just so one man named Joseph could travel with his espoused wife named Mary, so that she could bring forth her firstborn son in Bethlehem, fulfilling Micah 5:2. All the world is in a “hustle and bustle” mode. Why all the rush? God’s sovereign hand is in it, bringing about His divine will. He gets the whole world moving just so Jesus could be born in Bethlehem!
Arriving in Bethlehem, the weary couple, Mary and Joseph, find an inn in which to rest. An inn in New Testament times is much different from our perception of an inn today. In the time of Mary and Joseph, an inn was not a public building with rooms for an overnight stay. An inn was rather a private house. The owner of the house would open a few rooms for weary travelers. It is such a private house where Mary and Joseph attempted to find rest for the night. It appears that the owner of the house, or the innkeeper, was very nice, in spite of many Christmas pageants that portray him as evil. It seems that he told Mary and Joseph with regret that there was no other room available. I believe it was the innkeeper who owned the cattle that fed from the manger where Christ was laid. I believe the story went something like this: Mary and Joseph knocked on the door of the inn, which was in Bethlehem. After the innkeeper answered, Joseph asked for a room. The innkeeper, upon seeing that Mary was expecting a child, regretfully told them, “I’m sorry; I have no more room!” Perhaps Mary and Joseph began to walk away. Beholding their departure, the innkeeper stopped them. “Wait!” he says. “I’m out of rooms in the house, but I do have some room with the cattle. It’s not much, but you’re welcome to it.” One thing is for sure – the babe was laid in a manger because there was no room in the inn.
No Room for Christ
At His birth, the Christ child had only a bed of hay to lay His head. During His earthly life, the foxes had holes; the birds of the air had nests; but Jesus Christ was still in search of a place to lay His head. Now, the Spirit of Christ goes through the earth, looking for a place to dwell. I think often of Peter, James, and John when they were with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration. They saw Jesus with Moses and Elijah, and they heard the Father speak from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son.” Upon hearing this, Peter spoke up to the Lord, and said, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. Let us build three tabernacles; one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” I used to wonder what gave Peter the idea to build three tabernacles. Now I understand that He was on the right track. Jesus wanted three tabernacles that day. Jesus was not interested in building one tabernacle for Himself, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. However, He was interested in tabernacles. A tabernacle is simply a dwelling place. And the Lord wanted three dwelling places that day. He wanted to dwell in Peter; He wanted to dwell in James; and He wanted to dwell in John. In our day, the Spirit of Christ is looking for a place to abide. When He knocks at your heart’s door, will you tell Him, “There’s no room here?” That is the response of the world. In America, we give Santa Claus a place; we give Allah and Muhammad a place; we give homosexuals a place. But we’ll file suit after suit to make sure there’s no room for Jesus Christ. The crooked and sick ACLU will go to court to make sure that a child can’t carry his Bible to public school, and then go to court to defend the rights of Muslims to read the Koran in American prisons. When Christians take a stand for God’s definition of marriage, we are told by the liberals of our day to shut up and be tolerant. Then those same liberals will file suit to have one cross taken down from the public square. They’re hypocrites to the fullest degree, as every liberal is hypocritical by definition. They preach tolerance when it comes to every sick thing under the sun, but they absolutely hate every bit of truth for which Christians stand. They defend animals and kill babies. They claim to fight AIDS, but they will neither admit nor combat the major cause of the disease. They defend the building of a mosque at ground zero, but they flop on the floor and foam at the mouth if one pastor even threatens to burn a single Koran. Their media outlets will give weeks and months to the story of the murder of George Tiller, the late-term abortion doctor; but they give one or two sentences at the most to the story of the murder Jim Pouillon, a peaceful pro-life advocate.
The root of it all is simple – our nation is giving Jesus Christ no room at all, let alone His rightful place. The desire of Jesus Christ today is that He might have a place in the hearts of men and women. But the desire of so many is that Christ would depart from them as they express the fact that there is no room for Jesus Christ.
Thou didst leave Thy throne and thy kingly crown
When Thou camest to earth for me;
But in Bethlehem’s home there was found no room
For Thy holy nativity.*
He Made Room for You
When Jesus Christ died upon the cross, there are many accomplishments that were made. There are several analogies that can be used to explain why Jesus died upon the cross, and they are all correct. You could say that Jesus died upon the cross to undergo the penalty of sin, which is death, for all mankind. You could say that Jesus died upon the cross to pay a debt that we owed and could not pay. You could say that when Jesus died upon the cross, He was giving a dowry to the Father to purchase a bride. You could say that Jesus laid down His life to purchase lousy building material with which to build a church. You could say that, because of the cross, Jesus paid a ransom that would set slaves free. All of these are exactly right. But however you word it, understand this: Christ died to make room for all who will come. The gospel is not limited in its availability. It is for “whosoever will.” Any and all who will come will be free. If you reject Jesus Christ, it will not be because the atonement was limited and did not include you. It will be because you chose to give no room to the One who made room for you. No wonder we can sing the old hymn, “…though millions have come, there’s still room for one. Yes, there’s room at the cross for you!” Make room for Christ today, because He made room for you.
Thou camest, O Lord, with the living word
That should set Thy people free;
But with mocking scorn and with crown of thorn,
They bore Thee to Calvary.
O Come to my heart, Lord Jesus;
There is room in my heart for Thee.*
*Emily Elizabeth Steele Elliot
