After all these years, I still find myself humbled and amazed at the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. Why would God allow His Son to have such a humble and obscure birth in a stable? Don’t you think that the God of the universe could have made sure that there was a vacancy in the Bethlehem Holiday Inn on that night so many years ago? Instead, Jesus’ first welcome into the world was, “Sorry, there is no room in the inn.”
I just can’t believe that God the Father was caught off guard. If God went to all the trouble to have this young mother carry His Son in her womb, then surely he could have had enough foresight to make a hotel reservation in advance. Perhaps God had his reasons for the birth of His Son in a stable. I think there are some real lessons to be found in the birth of Christ.
In his birth, Jesus embraced poverty. While he could have been born in the finest of hotels or hospitals, he chose to be an outcast. He was not given a luxurious palace, instead his mother laid his head down in a manger. Jesus became poor for a reason – so that we could become rich. The Apostle Paul said, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 7:8-9). Jesus Christ stepped out of the riches of heaven and humbled himself to become a man. And as a man, he didn’t become a king, but he embraced human poverty to the fullest extent. In his poverty, Jesus was embracing the poverty of our human condition. He became poor, however, so that we might receive the riches of God’s mercy and grace. The person who comes to know and receive Jesus Christ is truly rich indeed.
In his birth, Jesus not only embraced poverty, but also humility. God allowed his son to be born in the most humble of circumstances. God found a stable full of animals to welcome and receive his Son into the world. God did announce the birth of his Son to some humble shepherds in a field, and some visiting Magi dropped in later. By and large however, the birth of Jesus was a rather quiet event. There was no great fanfare for the Son of God that night. God took that humble beginning though and did something that would change the world. God says he uses the humble things of the world to shame the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27). Jesus is attracted to humble things, humble places, and humble hearts. God says he rejects the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Do you know that Jesus is still born in stables? He looks for humble hearts that will acknowledge their need of forgiveness and receive Him. Is your life like a manger – a humble place for Jesus to rest His head?
Jesus’ birth also revealed how some people will treat Him. There will always be those who simply declare that they have no room for Jesus. They will reject Him and have no room in their lives for this King. Some will simply shut the door on His presence in their lives.
What about you? You may have gone to church for years, but your heart has had a “no vacancy” sign over it? Have you shut the door on Jesus and declared that you have no room for Him? Or maybe now you hear him knocking, calling you to open the door. Remember these words from that great Christmas hymn: “Joy to the World, the Lord has come. Let earth receive her king. Let every heart prepare him room…” Make room. Make room, and open your heart to Jesus. And that’s the Word.