No Room!
Exclamations of Christmas
“No Room For Them In The Inn!” Luke 2:7
“She gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn!” (Luke 2:7) The trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem was long (approximately 100 miles), Mary was full-term in her pregnancy, the sun had set and the cool night sky was filled with stars, yet they were compelled to press on until they arrived in Bethlehem; not just because it was required by the governor, Quirinius (Luke 2:1), but because God was pressing them on, their baby MUST BE BORN IN BETHLEHEM! (Micah 5:2), at exactly the right moment (Galatians 4:4). No other place would do! So they pressed on seeing the dim lights of a small Inn in Bethlehem just ahead. Finally, a place to rest, a bed to sleep in, and warmth from the evening cold was the prospect of the Inn. Joseph inquired about a room — “Sorry, Sir, there is NO ROOM IN THE INN!” What,” exclaimed Joseph! “No room!” “But, but my wife is in labor, the child will be born soon!” “Do you not have somewhere we can stay?” “Yes, I do the Inn keeper replied, “There’s a stable that is near, you can stay there if you like?”
“Thank you”, responded Joseph, “we’ll take it.”
“And she gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger!” (Luke 2:7). A manger— a cattle-feeding trough! Not a newly prepared bassinet, just a feeding-place for cattle! She wrapped her precious, special baby in strips of cloth — not a beautiful colored blanket — just strips of cloth; nothing special but they were clean and sufficient to keep her baby warm. A stable does not seem like a good place for a king to be born, or even a good place for an ordinary baby to be born, yet it was a perfect place for a Lamb to be born! A SPECIAL LAMB, not just any lamb. A Lamb who would fulfill perfectly the requirement of every lamb to be offered at a Passover celebration — a Lamb that must be “without blemish” (Exodus 12:5). A Lamb that John the Baptizer would recognize and declare, “Behold, the LAMB OF GOD Who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29), and the Lamb that Spirit beings around the throne of God are worshiping and shouting, “Worthy is the Lamb, that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” (Rev. 5:12)
Certainly, this baby, this perfect LAMB, was no ordinary baby because He, and He alone, is THE SAVIOR who is CHRIST, THE LORD (Luke 2:11). Those words echo back to the prophet Isaiah who wrote about the Lord, “… before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me. I, even I, am the LORD, and there is NO SAVIOR besides Me” (Isaiah 43:11), and “… I, the LORD, and there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior; There is NONE EXCEPT ME!” (Isaiah 45:21). Certainly, Jesus was the One Who Isaiah was referring to!
This was the message that the angel declared to the shepherds out in the fields, watching over their flocks (Luke 2:8). Think of it, shepherds! Of all people to be the first to hear about the birth of THE Savior! Shepherds were considered the lowest-of-the-low; they were despised by the “good people” of the day; they were not allowed to practice the ceremonial Laws; after all, they were “sinners!” No, in the eyes of the common people they certainly were not the “likely ones” to be the first to be given the opportunity to hear about the birth of Jesus, but they were the perfect ones to be brought the “good news” about the Savior who had been born! He came as THE SAVIOR and the ones who need THE SAVIOR are sinners like you and me!
“NO ROOM!” must have been difficult words for Joseph and Mary to hear, but because of those words the PERFECT place was provided for the PERFECT Lamb to be born to be the PERFECT sacrifice to “take away SIN”! As the apostle Paul declared,
“Thanks be to God for His indescribable GIFT!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)!
Let us be THANKFUL also that there was “No room in the Inn”!
Let us have a Christ-filled Christmas, Pastor Ron
“No Room For Them In The Inn!” Luke 2:7
“She gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn!” (Luke 2:7) The trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem was long (approximately 100 miles), Mary was full-term in her pregnancy, the sun had set and the cool night sky was filled with stars, yet they were compelled to press on until they arrived in Bethlehem; not just because it was required by the governor, Quirinius (Luke 2:1), but because God was pressing them on, their baby MUST BE BORN IN BETHLEHEM! (Micah 5:2), at exactly the right moment (Galatians 4:4). No other place would do! So they pressed on seeing the dim lights of a small Inn in Bethlehem just ahead. Finally, a place to rest, a bed to sleep in, and warmth from the evening cold was the prospect of the Inn. Joseph inquired about a room — “Sorry, Sir, there is NO ROOM IN THE INN!” What,” exclaimed Joseph! “No room!” “But, but my wife is in labor, the child will be born soon!” “Do you not have somewhere we can stay?” “Yes, I do the Inn keeper replied, “There’s a stable that is near, you can stay there if you like?”
“Thank you”, responded Joseph, “we’ll take it.”
“And she gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger!” (Luke 2:7). A manger— a cattle-feeding trough! Not a newly prepared bassinet, just a feeding-place for cattle! She wrapped her precious, special baby in strips of cloth — not a beautiful colored blanket — just strips of cloth; nothing special but they were clean and sufficient to keep her baby warm. A stable does not seem like a good place for a king to be born, or even a good place for an ordinary baby to be born, yet it was a perfect place for a Lamb to be born! A SPECIAL LAMB, not just any lamb. A Lamb who would fulfill perfectly the requirement of every lamb to be offered at a Passover celebration — a Lamb that must be “without blemish” (Exodus 12:5). A Lamb that John the Baptizer would recognize and declare, “Behold, the LAMB OF GOD Who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29), and the Lamb that Spirit beings around the throne of God are worshiping and shouting, “Worthy is the Lamb, that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” (Rev. 5:12)
Certainly, this baby, this perfect LAMB, was no ordinary baby because He, and He alone, is THE SAVIOR who is CHRIST, THE LORD (Luke 2:11). Those words echo back to the prophet Isaiah who wrote about the Lord, “… before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me. I, even I, am the LORD, and there is NO SAVIOR besides Me” (Isaiah 43:11), and “… I, the LORD, and there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior; There is NONE EXCEPT ME!” (Isaiah 45:21). Certainly, Jesus was the One Who Isaiah was referring to!
This was the message that the angel declared to the shepherds out in the fields, watching over their flocks (Luke 2:8). Think of it, shepherds! Of all people to be the first to hear about the birth of THE Savior! Shepherds were considered the lowest-of-the-low; they were despised by the “good people” of the day; they were not allowed to practice the ceremonial Laws; after all, they were “sinners!” No, in the eyes of the common people they certainly were not the “likely ones” to be the first to be given the opportunity to hear about the birth of Jesus, but they were the perfect ones to be brought the “good news” about the Savior who had been born! He came as THE SAVIOR and the ones who need THE SAVIOR are sinners like you and me!
“NO ROOM!” must have been difficult words for Joseph and Mary to hear, but because of those words the PERFECT place was provided for the PERFECT Lamb to be born to be the PERFECT sacrifice to “take away SIN”! As the apostle Paul declared,
“Thanks be to God for His indescribable GIFT!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)!
Let us be THANKFUL also that there was “No room in the Inn”!
Let us have a Christ-filled Christmas, Pastor Ron
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