No Room

Intro: Hey everyone! Tonight we are talking about So, You may know already that Jesus was born in less than ideal conditions. You may have even heard the key verse of the Bible on which this message is based.

Luke 2:7 ESV

7 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.

When Jesus was born, the world was not ready for Him; they did not make room for Him, or receive Him well.

Even today people struggle with what it looks like to make rooms for Jesus

Lets dive further into the text, and get what is going on at this time.

Luke 2:1–5 ESV

1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 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, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.

Journey to Bethlehem

Mary & Joseph were young & poor

Between 16-19y/o

“Betrothed” meaning engaged & their parents set them up to be married. (Imagine that).

Mary and Joseph both received an angelic vision that they were to give birth and raise Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah. Both of them wrestled with the responsibility of this calling., Mary left for a period of time and went to her relative’s house and Joseph contemplated breaking the engagement quietly.

In the end they agreed to trust God in the end, and get married, and have the baby.

At that time, Augustus Cesar, ordered a census to be taken.

They packed up their things and hit the road to Bethlehem, which is Josephs hometown.

Here are a couple of things so far: Jesus was born to parents who were poor working people, the engagement was almost called off and Mary and Joseph had to travel a long distance just at the time Jesus was expected to make His entrance.

While the world might not have been ready for Jesus, God had this all prepared 700 years prior to the birth of Jesus.

Prophecy coming to past.

Micah 5:2 ESV

2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

While the Israelites might have known this prophecy, and Mary & Joseph might have known it, it did not make it any easier walking the 90 miles pregnant and on a donkey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. 4 Day trip.

Thats like walking to Downtown Forth Worth.

They were going to a place where Joseph no longer lived. No call ahead reservations at the Holiday Inn or Hiltons Honor program. None of that. When we think of traveling away from home these days, people think of hotels, AirBnb, or another room sharing program. But in Mary and Joseph’s time, people relied on the cultural expectation that someone would host them and help them out in their time of need.

The Situation in Bethlehem

Once this decree went out, everyone made plans to go back to their hometowns to be registered at.

From this passages, we can assume that it took Mary & Joseph longer than everyone else because there was no place for them to stay.

Luke 2:6 ESV

6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

Luke tells this story in an interesting timeline.

If you asked my wife, on week 10 of being pregnant with my daughter Amelia, she would give you every little detail of how and where she wanted to give birth.

“Shes going to wear this, I am going to wear that. I want to give birth here, with this person being the delivery doc. etc”

But Luke says that it was time to give birth, and they still did not have a room to stay in or give birth in.

We don’t know how long it took Joseph to find a room or how many people he asked, because by the time Luke tells us Mary was ready to pop, he continued on.

Luke 2:7 ESV

7 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.

Birth of Jesus

I like to rush this part, but we have to understand what is going on here. We think its a perfect place like this traditional nativity scene that we see today.

nativity picture

Your thinking of a nice, quiet night with all the wisemen, animals, and baby Jesus. No if you are ever around a farm you know those animals are mooing, baaing, and clucking non-stop. Baby Amelia was not quiet coming into this world, she was screaming.

In reality, this ideal scene is not what it looked like at all. Without the gory detail of Mary actually giving birth outside of a sterile hospital, let me describe what I can with some of the details of what is going on here.

Swaddling Cloths- Just like a baby was born today, they would be wrapped up in a swaddle, or in that time, strips of cloths. This will be crucial for the wisemen to come and see Jesus. Lk. 2:12 “12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.””

Manger- A feeding troth for animals, and Luke says that newborn baby Jesus was placed in a manger. Made of either wood or stone

The Inn- Now, I don’t know about you, but when I hear of an Inn, I think of a old house, with multiple rooms, owned by a Ma-n-Pa, and warm and cozy. Or You might think of a hotel or a motel. Back in that times, it was kind of like the first. A persons house had normally a guest room, and that room had already been rented out. And its a little rude as an owner to kick out your guest.

Well if the main guest room was full and there was no room for them in the main house, then where did she give birth at? Well we know that there was animals staying in there because thats where the manger/troth was, and Jesus’ first bed.

No Room- I think the best translation of this scripture is that there was “no place in the inn”. Mary did not give birth outside, like some of us might think, but instead she gave birth in the very back room where the animals stayed at night. It was either like a cave or an add on.

Do you have room for Jesus?

That day was hectic, everything was moving fast, and it was a rushed and hurried environment. There was no room when there normally is room. And its not like Mary & Joseph didn’t make room for them, they did, they had to change their prepared environment in order to make room for Jesus.

Bringing a baby into this world takes a lot of focus and attention, because there is so much you have to do in order to prepare for a baby. You literally have to push everything you want aside in order to create space for a child.

But here’s the tough question: Do you have room for Jesus?

As we celebrate His birth this season, do you have room for Him in your life? Imagine being the inn keeper, do you have a place for Him in your heart tonight? Or is your life just cluttered with so much stuff, sports, school, music, that you cannot fit Him anywhere.

Making room for the Christ in our heart is to push other things to the side and to make space for Him. I encourage you if you answered no to that question, that you do not walk out of this room without making room for Him. By surrendering your heart, by repenting of your sins, and accepting His grace, by putting your faith in His name.

He has come into this world, and wants to live in your life.

Pray