Joseph and
Mary were making their way through the streets of Nazareth looking for a place
to have the baby. By now, Mary was in labor and her water may have broken.
Because the city was packed with people waiting to register their families, a
place to stay was hard to come by. But they continued on, praying for a place
of refuge. The one they knew God would provide.
There was an
inn on the edge of town, one of their last hopes. When they knocked, the door
opened to a room already bursting with people. Joseph pleaded with the
innkeeper but the innkeeper knew he was already swamped with demanding guests. He
wanted to help but he couldn’t. The innkeeper began to shut the door, when he
had a thought…the stable outback! So he hollered for the couple to come back. He
told them they could use whatever they found in the stable. That was the best
he could offer.
Joseph
thanked the man for his kindness. His main concern was Mary and the baby. The
stable was not what he had wanted but it was shelter and private. Now…to
witness the born of the long awaited King.
The quote that got me to thinking. |
As I pondered, these were some of my thoughts:
The Innkeeper had no
idea who the couple was. He hadn’t been informed by a dream or visitation like Mary, Joseph, and
the shepherds. The man was just doing his job the best he could. However, he
did give what he had and that was the stable. As they left, Mary and Joseph
didn’t feel rejected but blessed with a safe haven to have their child. Did God
inspire the innkeeper’s offer?
Jesus had to be born in
a place where no one could take credit for or profit from the occasion. God wanted Jesus’s birth alone to be
center stage not the cleverness or effort of mankind. Jesus would have no
obligation to anyone from the start. Plus, wouldn’t all the noise and confusion
from those in the inn spoiled or taken away from the glory God wanted to share
with only those He trusted?
Jesus’s birth had to be
protected because of those who were out to destroy Him. If Jesus had been born in the inn,
the news would have been spread quickly after the confirmation of shepherds and
the Wiseman. Caesar was clearly after information leading to the baby’s
whereabouts. Would the story have been drastically changed?
It was a place where those
whom God chose could come freely. In our view, the stable may not be the most sanitary
conditions, but no one was there to shame the shepherds or laugh at and question
the wisdom of the men who traveled so far (maybe even steal the gifts). This
was God’s moment, God’s way. Peace and praise were the only things that
mattered. Was there really a better
way?
Today, when we are carrying the King of kings within us, life may not always be what we think it should be. God’s guidance does not always mean it will be the easy way. What it does mean