“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 2:7). Many lessons come from this passage. Most of the seasonal stories and lessons mention an innkeeper. Some accuse the innkeeper of being evil, not caring or making room in the inn, and otherwise deprived of seeing the Savior. Seldom if ever is the innkeeper commended for properly doing his job and providing a safe place to stay in the crowded city. Since there is no mention of the innkeeper in scripture, all of these stories are made up and tend to keep our minds away from the real purpose for which the Savior came to earth. It may be that we are the ones who have no room for the crucified Savior.

The very people that should have welcomed Him into their presence were the first to show they had no room for Him in their lives. “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11). The Jewish nation rejected him as the Messiah. “And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31). Decades after the establishment of the church, one of the last letters to the church has Jesus knocking from the outside (Revelation 3:20).

The question for us: Is Jesus in or out of our lives? Let us compare some of Jesus’ closest friends

Two sisters, Mary and Martha, received Jesus and His disciples into their home many times. But where was Jesus in their hearts? “But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:40-42).

As Jesus was preparing the disciples for His arrest, He told them that they would deny even knowing Him. “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night… ‘Peter answered,’ Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble” (Matthew 26:31-35). Peter denies Jesus three times and weeps bitterly (Matthew 26:69-75).

Judas loved money and conspired with those who wanted to kill Jesus. “Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?’ And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver” (Matthew 26:14-16) Thirty pieces is the price of a common field slave in Exodus 21:32.

But we could never be like Martha with her work. Or Peter, who denied Him. Or Judas who betrayed Him. Right? Jesus promised his disciples, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20).

  • Do we go where He will not go?
  • Do we say things He will not hear?
  • Do our best friends refuse to worship Him?
  • Do we shut Him out with a preoccupation with our affairs? Work? School? Sports? Videos? Music? Movies? Friends?

We can’t have room for Jesus if we are not where The Son is!  If we go places and do things that drive Him from our presence, the message we send to God is, “we have no room for You and Your Son.”

Do you have room for Jesus?