...because there was no place for them in the inn.
Luke 2:7b
Yesterday my husband challenged me to blog about the inn keeper. My first reaction was, "Innkeeper! What on earth could I write about the inn keeper?" But as usual my mind rose to the challenge and I began thinking. What about the inn keeper? What might he represent in the story? I often find that God's word has multiple levels of understanding and meaning. And I think it might be good to explore some of those understandings as long as I never stray from the whole of Scripture. So here's where I landed.
When I was young all the elementary schools in my district came together for a festive and touching Christmas program. I remember it well. It took place in the high school gymnasium. That alone set all of us twittering! We would be placed on one whole side of the high school bleachers, a small stage of low scaffolding set for the story action, which wasn't much acting at all; Mary and Joseph would take their seats next to the manager, a swaddled doll lovingly (that was the acting folks!) laid to rest there. And then each grade would take their turn singing the Christmas carols selected for them to do. It was the highlight of my year!
I've also born witness to the Christmas plays, usually done for a Christmas Eve service, where Mary and Joseph arrive in Bethlehem looking for a place to stay, Mary painfully waddling, not because she was a good actor but because the two pillows stuffed under her robe continually slip! They move from one establishment to another, painted sets composed of cardboard and scrap lumber, each time receiving an emphatic "No!" Finally one weary inn keeper points to a tiny stable behind his establishment and says, "You can stay in my stable." Ah! We have a hero!
But that's no where to be found in the Christmas account in Luke. All we get is that Jesus was laid in a manger..."because there was no place for them in the inn." (Luke 2:7b) It made for some good (okay, so I stretch things a bit!) drama. It has, however, wrongfully shaped my thinking regarding the Christmas story. Yes, there was no room in the inn but there was a hero who made room. And truly, I heard that message preached in days gone by. "You need to make room for Jesus." This concept flies in the face of the Gospel, however. John's account of the advent of Jesus states, "He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him." (John 1:11 NASB) This verse is usually viewed as Jesus coming to Jews who didn't receive Him. But what if it has a deeper meaning lying in the fact that Jesus came to humanity and humanity didn't receive Him?
What if the inn keepers of Bethlehem represent the bulk of humanity that turn Jesus away because its perception of Him is that He cramps our style, or makes life inconvenient, or takes too much time, or, or, or... ? The list goes on and on and on.
Let me rephrase that question in the positive: what if the inn keepers represent our excuses for not receiving the Savior of the world into our lives? Oooh. That changes things a bit. The Gift has been given. The Bible gives clear, historical evidence of this fact. Yet many world religions, while accepting Jesus as a historical figure, only go so far as to claim that Jesus was a good man. "His own did not receive Him." Or merely a prophet. "His own did not receive Him." Or only one son of God, but not necessarily a Savior. "His own did not receive Him." Or it's all pretty much the same, isn't it? "His own did not receive Him." I have personally heard every single one of those excuses.
If that's all there is to the story, it's a very sad one, indeed. Where's the hope in that? You see, the biggest reason to celebrate Christmas is because the greatest Gift ever given to mankind is the One who brings us hope. Hope that there's more to life than what we can see, and what we can't see is better! Hope that love overflows for each of us! Hope that I am not the one responsible for the goodness (or I could get religious and say "righteousness") of my life.
John brings hope to his gospel account by continuing:
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God, who were born,
not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man,
but of God. John 1:12-13
When the inn keepers of Bethlehem shut the door on Joseph and Mary, they shut the door on hope. But God left the door of hope open! The gospel gives us a new rubric. Believe. Receive. Become children of God. Hope enters the equation. Now that's something to celebrate!!!!!
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