It’s late at night, you’ve just arrived in town, bone tired and a little irritable after driving many miles, only to find no motel rooms in which to lodge. “Sorry, no room,” is the word from one motel desk clerk after another. At some motels you don’t even stop, because the blinking neon sign brightly flashes, No Room! “But all I want is a place to flop for the night,” you mumble.
Now, you know how Mary and Joseph must have felt as they bumped along the dusty, crowded road over the Judean hills, ascending up to Bethlehem. They had no super expressway to speed down with the cruise control set on 65 miles per hour in a comfortable, heated car, listening to the latest Jewish music blasting in their Quiet-Comfort acoustic, noise-cancelling earphones. It must have been very difficult for Mary, nine months pregnant, moaning with every step the donkey took and feeling his bony backbone dig into her as she swayed back and forth on the animal. She was probably starting to feel birth pains as they neared Bethlehem. There was no comfortable restaurant like a simple McDonald’s at which to stop and be refreshed, or use the facility to tidy up a little.
Yet, born into poverty, Messiah Jesus would change the world like no other man who traversed the earth.It must have been very difficult for Joseph, wanting to provide the best facility for Mary, knowing that at any moment she might give birth. But, “Sorry, no room,” was all Joseph heard as he stopped inquiring for a place for his pregnant wife to be delivered; probably pleading with each innkeeper—”Please, just a simple room.”
Luke tells us, “And she brought forth her firstborn Son, . . . and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7). Joseph found a cover for the night, but it wasn’t a motel room or even a barn, but a simple, unadorned, humble place to tie animals––or maybe just a damp, cold cave. Maybe it was a public shelter of some type where many people hunkered down together for the night.
Well, Mary successfully gave birth, and Joseph immediately wrapped the baby in strips of swaddling cloth as was the custom, and laid him in a dirty, animal-feeding trough. The mention of a feeding trough suggests that Jesus was born in some type of animal room. Might have been a simple type of enclosure next to a place of lodging. This primitive place, without the bare essentials or any assistance, must have made Mary’s delivery a most difficult experience. Just think of the humiliation and degrading privation into which Jesus was born. But this would be the testimony of His life; often there was no place for Him to lay His head. Yet, born into poverty, Messiah Jesus would change the world like no other man who traversed the earth.
Today, many people have a flashing sign posted over their life: “Sorry, no room for you, Jesus!” Some celebrate Christmas as a weeklong party ending on New Year’s Eve, but have no room for Jesus. Others celebrate a commercial Christmas, planning to do half of their yearly business during the month of December, but have no room for Jesus. Still others are involved with beautiful plays and cantatas, bringing out all the wonder and joy within the Christmas story, but have no room for Jesus. Are you one of these?
At one time, I was one of these, putting a sign over my life that proclaimed—“No room for Jesus.” You see, I am Jewish, and we just don’t believe in Jesus. But God sent a Jewish man into my life who did believe in Jesus. Long story short, I listened to him, looked into the Jewish Scriptures, and saw Jesus was the promised Messiah of Israel who died for my sins, now lives to provide me with peace of heart (shalom, as we say), direction in life, and assurance of eternal life.
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Let me leave you with this one thought. Try Him––you’ll like Him! He is God and will bring you peace and comfort right now. The Friends of Israel is here to tell you how to let Jesus the Messiah into the rooms of your life. Want to know more? Leave a message in the comments box and we’ll connect with you.
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