The Inn Keeper

4th Sunday of Advent

Luke 2:1–7 ESV

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Our focus today will be on the final sentence of this text.... “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”

—> Scholars throughout time have given their wide and various opinions of where exactly Jesus was born. There is evidence for each and every option that they give.

—> some say it is a stable type setting a three sided structure open to the elements on one side that would have been attached to the back of a house.

—> Some say that this stable would have been a cave or a grhato. Again, this is highly possible because this part of the country has rocks and hilly outcroppings.

—> Some scholars say that it is a upper-room of an inn or a house and not a stable at all.

Regardless of the location Luke’s wording is what makes this a statement that I’ve wrestled with not just this past week but for years, “because there was no place for them in the inn”

I’ve had to ask myself how many times have I not had room or space for Jesus?

—> For most of us the question isn’t “is” Jesus a part of my life but how much of my life is Jesus a part of?

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