There was room…
Dr. David A. Baillie
December 24, 2017
If
we’ve ever been in a church for a Christmas Eve service we’ve seen it happen at
some point in time. You know how churches always try to do these adorable
children’s Nativity recreations, and parents and grandparents turn their cell
phones into cameras to capture the moment.
There is always this seen where there is a solitary prop on the stage, a
door, usually a leftover home depot one with a nice turning nob. We watch as the neophyte actors portraying
Mary and Joseph knock on the door and an equally young boy turns the nob and
opens the door with a very stern face, shakes his head, and points the couple
in another direction.
We
smile and nod as the dejected Joseph leads Mary away because, “there was no
room for them in the inn (Luke 2:7). Our
minds quickly interpret this action and these words to mean that even before he
was born Jesus was being rejected. Yet,
that interpretation my not be entirely accurate.
We
make that interpretation in light of our own cultural assumptions. We are used to travelers making their way to
places where there are multiple lodging options. A Marriot is here, a Hilton there, and even
Motel 6 is leaving the light on for us. We
have come to see the lack of room as the lack of “a room” and a frustrating
thing.
When
we look a little closer however, we see something entirely different. Bethlehem, the “House of Bread”, was a small
place. At the time of Jesus’ birth there
were maybe a hundred or two hundred people who resided there. Surely a multitude of inns was unlikely. What was more likely was that there was a
house or two in town that might provide some space to travelers as they came
through.
Joseph
was there with Mary for a simple reason, Caesar had issued a decree that
everyone should pay taxes, and to pay those taxes each person had to go to
their home town. Joseph was betrothed
Mary, which basically means they had said the bows, they had done everything
they need to do to be married accept one thing.
After the vows Joseph had to wait a year then go surprise Mary and take
her home. He was originally from Bethlehem, or his father was, and was living
in this seemingly forsaken disconnected little town of Nazareth, but the decree
said he has to go home.
Joseph
surprises Mary, quite possibly completely their marriage arrangement in the
process, and takes her on a trip, by donkey for at least four days, to
Bethlehem. We don’t know for sure how
long the trip took with the pregnant Mary, but when they got there they may
have been a little exhausted.
When
they got there this little town of a 100 or so is filled with people coming to
register for the tax, and they are all related.
Everyone had to come back home, and it’s like a big family reunion with
a bunch of people really not too excited about being taxed, or traveling. There is no place to move. No place to lay down. All the beds and floor space are gone.
Yet
somewhere in the midst of all this stress, someone, we do not know who, looks
at Joseph and Mary and has mercy for them.
Someone says, wow, what a hard journey.
We have to find space for you, and the inn has nothing, but you Joseph
are family, and because of that you, Mary, are also family, so let’s get you
away from these people. We have a stable
and place you can stay. The animals may
make some noise, but they won’t be pushing and shoving and they’ll smell better
than these travelers.
So
Joseph and Mary came to Bethlehem and in the midst of the noise and confusion,
the found family, and acceptance, and a place that suited their needs. We have no idea how long they were there
before Jesus was born, but what we know, if we really read what the story says,
is that when Jesus came he was not rejected, that would come years later when
people heard his message of love.
For
one night, in the midst of the storms of life, there was acceptance, and security
and love, and Jesus entered this world safe, accepted, and protected by family,
by his father and mother, and by those who knew them. In the town of Bethlehem there was room and
the heavens rejoiced.
