“And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger—because there was no room for them in the inn.”
Luke 2:7
When the world seems so cold and cruel, just remember there’s One Who understands.
“Because there was no room for them in the inn.”
Oh how sharp the sting of slight and rejection! Oh how barbed others’ nasty nouns, venomous verbs and acrid adjectives/adverbs can be at times! But, today’s Manna reminds us the same One Who loved us enough to die for us on the Cross is the same One Who’s been “tempted in every way we have, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:14-16). Hallelujah!!
There’s no way the innkeeper and those trying to check in could keep from noticing that Mary “was great with child” (v.5).
She was nine months’ pregnant. Her stomach was as big as a bowling ball or small watermelon. Even now we can see her wincing in pain as she gets off the back of the burro and waddles into the inn’s foyer, Joseph holding onto her arm.
But, sadly, no one seemed to notice. Or care.
They’d seen pregnant women before. And, it’s very likely there were other pregnant women in Bethlehem that day because of Caesar’s required census and taxation.
But, none of them were like Mary.
She alone had been chosen by the God of the universe to bear “His only begotten Son, Who was/is the Son of the Highest, the Savior and the long-awaited Christ the Lord” (Lk. 1:32; 2:11).
Yet, the innkeeper and the patrons didn’t know Whom she was carrying. And, it’s likely they still would have disbelieved her if she’d told them the story of Gabriel’s appearance and the message from God he’d given her (Lk. 1:26-38).
Yes, the world can be pretty cold and cruel at times.
But, give thanks the Heavenly Father never is. Glory!!
At least the harried, hassled and hurried innkeeper allowed the weary couple to bed down for the night out back in the cave-stable. We can only speculate if he did so out of compassion or compulsion.
But, in reality, it doesn’t really matter, does it?
No, it doesn’t matter. In fact, it’s very likely our sovereign God wouldn’t have had it any other way. Why is that? Simply because this same One Who would be “despised and rejected of men—a man of sorrows, well-acquainted with grief” (Is. 53:3a)—wanted to know how it affects a child who’s been abused or abandoned from birth. . .for it helps us know we’re not alone in when those pains continue to plague us even years later. Isn’t the Heavenly Father a loving God? Assuredly He is. May we make sure there’s never a “No Vacancy” sign on our heart’s door when He comes knocking.
By Tom Smith Morning Manna Dated December 23, 2009
