Room For Jesus | Luke 2:7

It’s Christmas Eve. For many, this is a time of excitement and joy. It is especially that way for children who haven’t met with the many disappointments and sorrows that living in this world brings. I remember how excited my brother and I would get on Christmas Eve. We could barely sleep, and waiting for our parents to get out of bed in the morning was torture. Running into the living room, we found so many delights. It was wonderful.

But we know that for many, Christmas is a time of loneliness, sorrow, regret, and despair. I’ll never see my brother again on a Christmas morning. He’s gone from this world. I know so many others who are at this moment celebrating Christmas while grieving the impending passing of a loved one.

All this grief can make us feel like there is something wrong with this world and we don’t belong. But do we belong anywhere?

The birth of Jesus provides an answer, as does His entire life. Here is part of that story from Luke 2:1-7.

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.

Luke 2:1-7

From the beginning of His life, Jesus doesn’t seem to have a home. He doesn’t seem to belong anywhere. Even before he is born, his family is forced to walk about 90 miles and climb several thousand feet to go to Joseph’s hometown of Bethlehem. After Jesus was born, He and His family were forced to flee to Egypt and live there until Herod died because Herod wanted to kill Jesus. And when he finally returned home after several years of exile, he earned the dubious title Jesus of Nazareth. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth (Jn 1:46)?”

But what strikes me from Luke’s account is this line. “…there was no place for them in the inn.”The mother of the Son of God, the creator of the world and all that is in it, a woman on the verge of childbirth, couldn’t get a room in the inn. The Lord Jesus was born in a stable with stinky cattle and dirty straw. And for a bed, they gave Him a feed trough for animals.

When Jesus arrived, the world had no place for Him. Yes, some greeted him with gladness and joy. Some shepherds glorified and praised God because of His birth (Lk 2:20). Some wise men from the east “rejoiced exceedingly, with great joy” when they saw him (Mt 2:10). A man named Simeon, who had been waiting for the consolation of Israel, greeted the boy Jesus in the temple, took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.

Luke 2:29-32

And then there was a prophetess named Anna. She was widowed after seven years of marriage. She lived the rest of her life in the temple “waiting for the redemption of Israel, and when she saw Simeon hold Jesus up and heard his word, she gave thanks to God and began to tell everyone about Jesus. The redemption of Israel had come.

But it is clear. There was no room for Jesus in the lives of most people. He told his disciples, 

Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. 

Matthew 8:20

John tells us,

He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

John 1:10-11

Jesus is teaching us something very important here. We orchestrate our lives to avoid humble living. We work hard to keep from being homeless. We work even harder to have comfortable and extravagant lives. In so doing, we distract our hearts. We set up idols to compete with Jesus. 

We must not forget that this world is not our home. All the pleasures it can offer are temporary. They cannot fill the whole that sin created in our hearts. Only Jesus can.

But why did Jesus come into this world and subject himself to its cruelty, hatred, and suffering? Paul has the answer for us in 2 Cor 8:9. 

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. 

2 Corinthians 2:8-9

You and I were born in poverty. Maybe not financially. We probably weren’t born homeless. But we were born in poverty because we were born sinners. 

We were meant to live in a perfect world without suffering or sorrow. We were supposed to live in unhindered fellowship with our creator. But because of sin, we were cast out of that perfect place. In a sense, we died. 

And that’s why we often feel lost and hopeless. Even for those who call Jesus Lord, there is a remedy.  Jesus came to make us rich, and He will spend our lifetime doing so if we believe in Him.

That’s His grace. That’s why the creator and sustainer of the world was willing to become our servant, be born in a dirty stable, and spend His first night on this earth, in human form, sleeping in a feed trough. He wanted to make you and me rich. He wanted to take away our hopelessness and invite us into His home forever.

You should know that Jesus did find a place on this earth where he belonged. When he was a boy, his parents took Him to Jerusalem. But they lost track of Him and didn’t know He was missing until they were on their journey home. When they finally found Him in the temple, his response was powerful. 

Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?

Luke 2:49

He was in His Father’s house, which was the most natural place for Him to be. And it is the most natural place for us to be. It is the place we are promised because of Jesus’ grace in becoming poor to make us rich.

John puts it this way when he calls Jesus the Light.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 1:9-13

There is a tragedy in this text. The world didn’t know Him or receive Him. But there is wonder and glory here. Believers become children of God because God wills it! It’s what He wants. It’s what He does. And we know that when God makes someone His child, he also makes that person an heir, with Christ, to all the riches of glory.

So, the next time you feel lonely, sorrowful, and despairing, know that Jesus felt the same things on your behalf so that you could feel the awesomeness of living an eternal life with no sorrow, regret, or despair. The only question is, “Is there room in your heart for Him?