Christmas Eve (4:00pm) “No Room?”
December 24, 2023 Luke 2:4-7
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Dear brothers & sisters in Christ,
We heard these words in Luke 2: “…because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Lk 2:7b)
The story of our Lord’s Nativity is filled with miracles; but I guess it was too much to ask when it came to making hotel reservations. Heaven’s invisible angels make special appearances to Zechariah, Mary, Joseph, & to shepherds in a field; the baby John leaps for joy in his mother’s womb at the sound of Mary’s voice – as she comes close to him with fetus-Jesus in- utero. These are miracles.
It is a miracle of prophecy that, 700 yrs earlier, Micah spoke of the birth of the ‘ruler in Israel’ from ‘Bethlehem of Ephratha’. But since Mary & Joseph lived in Nazareth, what possible reason could there be to make a pregnant woman walk, or even ride a donkey, 70 mi?
Well, it would be a huge miracle that God would orchestrate the ungodly Roman Empire & Ceasar Augustus to call for a census in those days, with just the right timing to get Jesus over to Bethlehem to be born. And what these parents would see as a huge pain for them, would be a huge miracle for the world in God’s view. This is a reminder to us that God is still orchestrating the world for His kingdom in our day.
Even moving the huge, lumbering Roman government is small potatoes compared to that other miracle: that the young woman chosen to conceive the eternal Son of God did so without a man; and she remained a virgin until Jesus was born. For the Holy Spirit came to her, and the power of the Most High overshadowed her, and she conceived. That means that the fallen nature of Adam is not the source of seed for this child; God is the Father. And so this child was perfect man and perfect God, born into the world without sin, in order to face sin for us.
There are many things in the Nativity story that are miraculous; things God does, out of the natural realm, defying some created order & the laws of physics, in order to get our attention. He does that to show us that His exists, & He is at work for our good. The gospel itself, the promise of forgiveness for undeserving sinners, is the biggest miracle there is; that the holy God would find one way for us to escape His wrath & just punishment for sin, and be restored to Him, and to life.
So many miracles; but I guess there were none left when it came to make hotel reservations. Unless. Unless that, in itself, was a sign — which is what the word ‘miracle’ means: a sign.
There was no room for them in the inn. It sounds like just a natural thing, but I don’t think so. It seems very logical: hundreds of people come into the little town of Bethlehem because the gov’t ordered them to; to register & to be taxed. Some people would come & go, but many would come from a distance & have to stay. Joseph could appeal to the inn-keepers about how his wife is laboring & near birth-time, but that would mean displacing others already settled; maybe some others were elderly or also having babies. Joseph could try to explain how this is the most important child ever to be born, but who would believe that?
It would be unbelievable because they would ask Joseph: why would the Almighty God make life hard for His holy Son? God’s Messiah for the world is being born; the one who came to take upon himself the guilt & sin of the entire world; the one who came to conquer death, and open the gates of heaven to all who would believe in him. Why would the Father allow it – that there would be no room for him? This Savior is truly God-in-the-flesh. Paul writes that everything was created thru Him, & nothing was made without Him. So Jesus is the One thru whom we all have life & breath. How can it be that Emmanuel is born in a stable & laid in a feeding trough? Doesn’t that seem sacrilegious, even blasphemous, for the Creator to come into His own creation & be treated in this way?
When the angel Gabriel told Mary that with God ‘nothing is impossible,’ did those words come to mind on that night when they shuffled into Bethlehem, and all the doors are closed in their faces? If she was pondering those words in her heart, then the best conclusion she could make was THIS: the fact that the inn was full & the stable was available, must be what the God-of-miracles wanted. Then she could respond again with those words: let it be to me as you have said. Those are the kind of words-of-trust you & I must keep close to the surface of our hearts & minds when things happen in our own lives that confuse us, stress us, or upset us: Thy will be done.
That there was ‘no room for them in the inn’ was no accident for the Son of God & King of Israel; in fact, it becomes a theme for Jesus’ entire life. By the time the Magi from the East arrived to worship Him, Joseph had found a place for the family in a house in Bethlehem.
But we remember that shortly after the Wise Men left, the wrath of Herod made it clear once again: ‘There is no room for the Son of God.’ Joseph was told to take the child & mother and flee to Egypt to protect Jesus from Herod’s murdering soldiers. No room in Bethlehem for Jesus!
After Herod’s death, Joseph was told to return to Israel, and he takes the family back
to Nazareth, where Jesus would grow up. However, would there be room there for Jesus? We’re told in Luke 4 that after Jesus was baptized & anointed by the Holy Spirit for his ministry, he went to the synagogue in Nazareth to speak. And when he tried to proclaim to His hometown that the promised Messiah had arrived & was speaking to them, they closed their ears & they rousted him out, to the cliff on the edge of town, to push Him off & kill him. No room for Jesus in Nazareth.
When the door of his hometown was closed in his face, Jesus went north to live in Capernaum. While there, in Matt.8, we’re told that he crossed the Sea of Galilee one day to an area called the region of the Gadarenes. There he cast demons out of two possessed men, and sent the demons into a herd of pigs; & those pigs rushed into the lake & drown. When the people of that region heard about it, they came to Jesus and begged him to leave. No room for Jesus in the region of the Gadarenes.
Later, in Luke 9, Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, and wanted to pass thru Samaria. He sent messengers ahead to find a place to stay, but when the people of Samaria learned that He was headed to Jerusalem, they refused to have him there. That’s when Jesus said, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” No room for Jesus in Samaria!
Now it was time for Jesus to enter Jerusalem on Palm Sunday for the week of the Passover festival. The crowds came out to meet him. Men, women, & children shouted ‘hosanna to the son of David’ and welcomed him as their king. But after four days, they didn’t see any changes with Roman control, or in the temple, or in their lives. It seems that what they expected in their Messiah did not fit with this Jesus of Nazareth. So now the crowds cried out to Pilate to get rid of Him. When given the chance to choose between peaceful Jesus and a violent criminal named Barabbas, they chose Barabbas. No room for Jesus in Jerusalem!
Even Pontius Pilate could see that this didn’t make sense; he had looked at Jesus’ case & talked with Him, & found Him innocent = it was a religious & political witch-hunt. In Luke 23 Pilate said, “I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish him and release him”. He then whipped Jesus to make the people feel sorry for him. But nothing worked; they kept crying out for his crucifixion. So Pilate gave up, and gave Jesus over to be crucified & killed. No room on earth for Jesus!
But there was one more time that there was ‘no room’ == do you remember? Jesus is nailed to the cross, wracked by pain & thirst & insults. But in order for Him to suffer our hell for our sins, one more door would be slammed in his face. We hear it in his anguish when he cries out: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46) ‘God made Him who knew no sin – to become sin for us, so that in him – we would receive the righteousness of God.’ (2Cor.5) God the Father pours out his anger over the world’s sin on His Son Jesus; he was punished for the wrongdoing & guilt of every man, woman, & child who ever lived. As Jesus dies for you on that cross, he is abandoned by the Father in heaven. No room for Jesus in the Father’s heart!
That there was no room for Jesus goes all the way back to Bethlehem, as he comes into his creation which rebelled against him. Why do we have these signs, these miracles, that there was no room for him wherever he went? Why? So that you would know what a miracle it is that this is how he made sure there is always room in the Father’s heart for you. It is so that you would stop looking to Jesus to establish some sort of earthly kingdom for you. Such as a life that gives you health or wealth on this earth, or a long life, or a life free from sorrow or troubles or illness, or a life free from hard work, or a life free of bias or unfairness, or racism or injustice, or free from mental illness or strained relationships. Jesus is not a santa claus.
This little baby began in a manger to establish a better kingdom than those; a spiritual kingdom that brings us deep & lasting things that this broken world cannot give: including forgiveness for the sins that condemn us, and grace from the Creator that is patient in His love, and a peace of mind that no trouble can take away; not even death can take away from us the hope & life He gives. His kingdom brings to us a life right now that enjoys things that are kind & moral & good, helpful & gentle, admirable & self-controlled. That is the real life of walking by his teachings & His words of truth.
His kingdom also holds before us a heavenly home, with a reservation made for us by the blood of the One crucified for us. That reservation in heaven is a miracle of God’s grace to you.
That’s the gospel sign. There was no room for Jesus so that the Father could say to each of us: ‘There is room for you.’ That also means there is room in His church for you = here. Sometimes this place looks a little crowded with so many other sinners in need of God’s mercy & help to live a better life according to His teachings. But here there is room for all; because all have been forgiven by His blood. So there is room in God’s family for you, where we are to help each other bring our sins to the foot of his cross, and learn to walk in his word & faith.
The good news of great joy that is for all people is that Jesus has made room for you. So, now the question comes back to you & me: do you have room in your heart & in your daily life for your Creator & Savior? Is your life so great right now that you have no room for the improvements that his life of worship, prayer & obedience gives? Do you have no room for the way he can calm a guilty conscience; no space for a hope that is beyond your bank account & house & phone & friends? Surely there are some areas in your life that the Son of God can come into to improve & bless your life.
We can look around & see the lives of those who have seen Jesus coming & have put out the ‘no vacancy’ sign. Is that the kind of life we want? They have room for parties & presents, & holiday music & movies, but no room for Jesus. A recent poll shows that only 46% of Americans think that Christmas is a religious holiday; less than half now think its about Jesus who came to save us from sin, death & hell.
We pray that the Lord will help us to resist that flow away from Him. It’s such a nice holiday with its history & traditions, with foods & presents, with trees & lights & music;
but may the Lord make us willing to give up all those things as long as we can keep Christ-the- Lord, born to the Virgin in Bethlehem, to be the Savior of the world.
The good news is that -in Jesus- there IS room for you in the heart & mind of the Father. And the sign for that began in Bethlehem, when there was no room for Him in the inn. With that Gospel, the Holy Spirit stirs in you a change in your own heart & mind, so that you will make room in your life to trust Him, to follow & obey Him. The one born in a stable, & laid in a manger, has made room for you in His heavenly home. Amen