Finding Purpose, Hope and Joy Through Jesus’ BirthSample

Day 4 – Innkeeper’s Purpose

The crowds were thick in Bethlehem that night. Joseph and Mary had traveled to the town to register. They were still pledged to be married and Mary was very pregnant. The passage we read today says there was no room for them at the inn. The book of Luke was written in Greek, and when translated, inn could also be interpreted as "guest house." Some believe it was a house with a lower floor that sheltered the animals. We simply don’t know whether it was an inn or a guest house.

But we do know that it was nighttime, and no one had a suitable space for Mary and Joseph. Everything was full, except the area for animals. The innkeeper turned them away. Luke does not share whether the innkeeper was simply a jerk or if he was a kind-hearted man who found a way to keep a young woman from giving birth on the streets. He provided her with a private space, the best he had available.

Mary gave birth that night, wrapped up her newborn son, and laid Him in a manger. 

Can you imagine? Mary was in labor, contracting as she and her husband traveled around town looking for a place to give birth to their firstborn son and Savior. Surrounded by smelly animals and manure, Mary gave birth for the first time. This must have been so difficult for Mary and Joseph. Their newborn son—the King of Kings, the Messiah—was sleeping in a manger meant for animals. Did they question their God? We don’t know. God’s plan may have been clear to them later—Jesus had arrived in a humble circumstance, instead of as a pampered ruler. His first bed was a trough meant for animals.

How did God use that innkeeper to fulfill His perfect plan? God knew the inn would be full. He sent the people there. God knew the setting He wanted His Son to be born in. He orchestrated the details. The innkeeper may have found a way to serve a scared young pregnant woman the best that he could. 

Just 33 years later, Jesus would die for that innkeeper.