A young couple makes the eighty-mile, three-day trek from Nazareth to Bethlehem. The young lady is about to give birth to a child. This is not any child, but this child had been conceived of the Holy Ghost. She had never known a man, and yet her husband believed God that this would be no ordinary Child.

Multitudes made their way to Bethlehem to pay the Roman sanctioned tax (Lk. 2:1-3). Guests filled family and friend’s houses. Mary and Joseph looked high and low for a place to stay that clear night, but to no avail. To make matters worse, the holy child was about to be delivered.

They came to an Inn and knocked on the door. The man who owned the Inn told them there was no vacancy. His place had been filled up for quite sometime. There was nothing he could do, but point them in the direction where the animals stayed. That’s the best he could offer, it was take it or leave it but he had to room for them (Lk. 2:7).

I want you to realize that this Innkeeper looks and sounds very familiar. There are those reading this who have no room for Jesus. They would rather point Him in another direction than make room for Him. I want to encourage you to listen for someone knocking on your heart’s door. Jesus stands there desiring that you will let Him in.

Wrong Time

The first thing we must realize it was the wrong time.

To the Innkeeper, they were just too late. Had they gotten there earlier, or perhaps gotten there later he could have had space for Jesus.

But Paul says, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,” (Gal. 4:4). The eternal God stepped into time and subjected himself to nine months of living inside of a womb. The God, who had no beginning, had his first day. The Creator, who breathed into the nostrils of man the breath of life, was now gasping for His first breath.

The Creator that created man’s eyes was seeing for the first time. The God who had made man’s mouth was crying for the first time. The Creator who had made man’s heart now had God’s own blood flowing through His veins.

But the Innkeeper didn’t have room.

If Jesus had shown up when the place was empty, then He could have had room. Had Jesus shown up later, then He could have had room. People will say, “If only Jesus had come earlier in my life then I would have made room for Him.” Or they will say, “I will wait until later in life to make room for Him. Try back in a few years.” “Wait until I’m older and have nothing better to do. Then I will make room for Jesus.”

It’s always the wrong time.

Critics say we live in a different age. Jesus and His teachings are antiquated and outdated. Morality and teachings about a divine being are for simpler times. This is the wrong time for Christianity. We don’t have room for another god. We don’t have room for religion. This is an age of enlightenment and progress, why believe in an old book that was written thousands of years ago? There’s just no room for Jesus at this time. We are too smart to believe in something supernatural. Science and technology have taken over as deities. This is a time of learning, a time of doubting, a time questioning, and just not time to make room for Jesus.

Take note as well, that it wasn’t just Jesus who was left out in the cold. The Innkeeper didn’t have room for Mary and Joseph either. If the world doesn’t have room for Jesus, they also don’t have room for Christians. Jesus said that if the world hated Him, then they will hate His followers too (Jn. 15:18-27).

Jesus is the Rock of Ages, the Ancient of Days, the Beginning and the Ending. He didn’t show up at the wrong time, He is timeless. He’s always on time. Behold, today is the day of salvation (2. Cor. 6:2).

Wrong Place

Ancient Israel’s innkeepers were to provide certain things for their guests. The Innkeeper was to provide shelter, fire, food and water. But when Joseph and Mary arrived he offered them none of those things. There just wasn’t room for Jesus.

This was the wrong place for them. Perhaps they could try somewhere else. Many don’t have room for Jesus because He’s at the wrong place at the wrong time. They kindly point Jesus in the direction to which He can go.

They will say, “You’re at the wrong place. You’ve got the wrong person. I don’t have any need for Jesus. I don’t need saving. I’m a good person. I’m sure I’ll make it to heaven.”

They point Jesus in the direction of the poor and rejected. The rich, or the affluent do not need him. Go to the ignorant and simple. Not the educated and learned. Such thinking is faulty. Everyone needs Jesus!

Many will accept particular parts of His teaching. They like the parts of loving your neighbor and not judging people. But they don’t like the parts about being the only way to God, about being born of water and spirit, and being told to take up a cross and follow Him.

Why would the King of Glory come to a small town like Bethlehem? A King should announce his arrival in the courts of a palace. A King didn’t need to come to an inn seeking shelter, warmth, food and water. But this wasn’t an ordinary King. And this King wasn’t seeking shelter, fire, food and water. This Guest would be the shelter in the storm. This guest would baptize others with the Holy Ghost and fire. This Guest would be the Bread of Life. This Guest would be the Living Water.

The Innkeeper wouldn’t expect such royalty to come this place. Why would He choose this Inn? Many missed His arrival because they expected Him to arrive like David, destroying enemies and setting up a kingdom. Instead He set up His Kingdom when He arrived and would destroy His enemies by His death.

No Room

“Take it or leave it” was the Innkeeper’s advice. It was either stay outside with animals or find somewhere else to stay. The only thing the Innkeeper could offer was the least. The Innkeeper wasn’t going to offer his own room. If they were going to stay anywhere on the Innkeeper’s property it’s going to be on the outside, not on the inside.

Myriads of people will only offer Jesus a small place in their life, or only the leftovers. They don’t want to give up anything to house Jesus. It’s a take it or leave it mentality. They will only allow Jesus to visit every once in awhile. He is not to take up space, or rearrange anything. Jesus can show up on Sundays and the occasional holiday.

They stand at the door holding the vacancy schedule looking over who and what is taking up permanent vacancy. All the slots and rooms are taken up:

• My mind? It’s filled with enough information already.
• My heart? I love everything the world offers.
• My soul? I’d rather take care of my physical body than my spiritual being.
• My finances? I don’t have enough as it is. I’ve got bills, entertainment, and addictions to pay for.
• My time? I’ve got ball games to get my kids to, Netflix to binge, and social media to mindlessly scroll through.

This was a picture of Jesus’ earthly ministry. The foxes had holes and the birds had nests, but the Son of Man had nowhere to lay His head. No comfortable or soft bed to lay his sovereign head. He had to stay with friends and families.

The only place that was prepared for Jesus, and the only place that room for Him, was the Cross. Everyone was willing to give up their cross for Him. No one wanted to take up residence at Calvary.

The Innkeeper wasn’t the only who would reject Jesus and point Him in another direction. The townsmen of Gadara didn’t want Jesus to stay after He had healed a man afflicted with legions of demons. The Rich Young Ruler walked away and refused to sell His possessions when he implored Jesus about eternal life. Even Jesus’ hometown rejected Him with their unbelief.

Do You Have Room?

Beloved, do you have room for Jesus? Are you willing to open the doors of your life and let Jesus in and take up residence? Do you have room? Or is it the wrong time? Would you rather come back at another time and seek vacancy? Or is it simply the wrong place? You have no room because you refuse to take Him in? Or perhaps you point Jesus to the smallest and least significant part of your life? You don’t mind Him being in the barn as long as He’s not in the house. Or would you rather have Jesus only show up on holidays and when He’s invited?

What a fatal refusal to turn away the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Innkeeper refused to give room to Jesus at the greatest time in history.

And thus it was that the Lord of glory arrived on planet earth by way of a virgin’s womb and was born in a barn and laid in a manger. A manger of all places! Manure for carpeting and cobwebs for curtains. While men slept and angels sang and the Innkeeper retired to his bed and went to sleep to snore his way through the greatest of miracles that the Son of God became the Son of Man so that the sons of men might become the sons of God.

The nameless Innkeeper has gone down into history. All we know about him was that he had no room for Jesus. What a sad way to be remembered-as the man who had no room for the Son of God.

What about you reader? Will you make room for the Son of God? Will you open the door as He stands at the door and knocks? Jesus Christ simply wants to make His abode in your life, and be King of your heart, soul, mind and strength.