NO KO OM FOK Hl by Charles L. Feinberg, Th.D., Ph.D.
“ A ND SHE brought forth her firstborn son; and she ■I j L wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7). Censuses were taken by order of the Roman govern ment for the purpose of imposing a poll-tax. Every in dividual had to be enrolled in his native town or city. In Mary’s condition the journey would of necessity be a slow one. Before they arrived in Bethlehem, the small village, for it amounted to that, was well crowded. There was rarely more than one inn in such a small place. When the inn was full, Mary had to go with Joseph to the stable. There she laid the Child when He was bom (the bread of life from heaven) in the manger where the animals were fed. Some tell us that no inhospitality was intended. Joseph had not made any previous arrange ments, possibly depending upon the hospitality of a friend whose guest-chamber was occupied when Joseph arrived. But beyond these simple facts there are great truths for our own hearts. No matter how many times it is repeated the fact is still strange and startling, that after so many promises of His coming, and even though the angels even now were heralding His birth with praises from heaven, He would come so unnoticed and unrecognized. When He came and was refused an abiding lodging-place, it was so that He might open heaven to us not for a temporary visit, but as our eternal abode and inheritance.
NO ROOM FOR CHRIST IN HIS DAY John has rightly recorded, “He came unto his own, and they that were his own received him not” (Jn. 1:11). Nazareth had no room for Him. When He came into the synagogue at Nazareth where He had been accustomed to attend, He was given the prophecy of Isaiah to read. After He had read the great Messianic prophecy of Isaiah 61:1, 2 and applied it to Himself, the enraged multitude led Him to the brow of the hill where the city was built, in order to cast Him down headlong (Luke 4: 29). No, Nazareth had no room for Him. Furthermore, Capernaum had no room for Him. When He had cast out the demons from the two possessed of these evil spirits in the country of the Gadarenes, there was no small stir over the matter. As a result the whole city turned out, not to greet nor acclaim the great Sovereign over all spirits, but to beseech Him to depart from their borders! (Mt. 8:34). Strange obsession was this! No, Capernaum had no room for Him. Moreover, Samaria had no room for Him. When the Lord Jesus Christ knew that the hour of His departure from this world had come, He set His face as a flint to go up to Jerusalem to die for sinners at Calvary. When His messenger went ahead to prepare the way for Him through a village of the Samaritans, they would not re ceive Him, because of His determination to carry on through to Jerusalem (Lk. 9:53). No, Samaria had no room for Him. Again, Judea had no room for Him. The brethren of our Lord could go up to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast in accepted manner, even the Feast of Tabernacles, but He would not walk in Judea for they were seeking to kill Him. He was not wanted at the heart of the religious life of the nation (Jn. 7:1). No, Judea had no room for Him. In His lifetime He had not where to lay His head, though the foxes have holes and the birds of the heaven have their nests (Mt. 8:20). When it came to His death, He died on the Cross, as though there was no room for Him on earth or in heaven. There He was utterly alone.
“Wrapped in His swaddling bands, And in His manger laid, The hope and glory of all lands Is come to the world’s aid.
No peaceful home upon His cradle smiled, Guests rudely went and came where slept the royal Child.” —Keble Not only was there no room for Christ at His birth, but there was
THE KING'S BUSINESS
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