There was no room in the inn

Joseph, being in the lineage of David, was required to enroll in a census to be counted for taxation purposes. So, he and his espoused wife, Mary, traveled the 85 arduous miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the birthplace of King David. Since Mary was pregnant, she likely rode atop a donkey led by Joseph. Both arrived in Bethlehem exhausted from the weeklong trip and sorely needing a place to stay. Mary was nearing the time of delivery and needed a warm, clean place to birth her baby.

But Bethlehem was crowded—with no vacancies throughout the city. While Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem, the time came for Mary to deliver her baby. Luke 2:7 states: “she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”

We envision Joseph racing from inn to inn, frantically looking for a vacancy, but none could be found. In desperation, Joseph may have told the last innkeeper that delivery was imminent and that any place would do. Since the innkeeper had an animal stable, he permitted Mary and Joseph to use his stable to birth the Child.

John 1:14 declares that Baby Jesus was “God in the flesh.” It defies comprehension that Almighty God would be relegated to an animal stable, but there was no room for Him in the inn. (Today, there is no room for Him in the hearts of many.) The whole meaning of Christmas is God came to earth as a baby (John 1:14). He is ‘Immanuel’ (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23) meaning, “God with us.”

Even though the “Savior of the world” was denied a decent room at His birth, He promised to provide a place for us in His eternal kingdom. Jesus said to His disciples: “In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” The disciple, Thomas, asked: “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus replied, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Everyone has the opportunity of admittance to God’s eternal paradise. Jesus stands outside the door of our heart. He is constantly knocking and whispering: “If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and be with you” (Revelation 3:20).

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