“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” ~ Luke 2:7

The phrase “…no room for them in the inn” is perhaps the most revealing comment in the beautiful Christmas story. In just a few words it describes both man’s problem and God’s solution. The issue here is not that there was no room specifically for Joseph and Mary, who was pregnant with Jesus. Neither the guests in the inn nor the innkeeper was aware that the Messiah was nestled in Mary’s womb. The shame was that no one was willing to give up their place in the inn for a heavily pregnant young woman.

Interestingly, there was nothing in the Mosaic Law that required any special treatment of pregnant women. Therefore, to make room for Mary, someone in the inn would have to be internally motivated to respond to her plight. Someone in the inn would need to have enough compassion to show her mercy. But no one in the inn did.

No one in the inn was willing to give up their comfort so that someone imperiled by circumstances could be rescued.

But then there was Jesus.

About to emerge from Mary’s womb was Immanuel.

God, The Father, saw mankind imperiled by sin. And He sent Jesus, His only begotten Son, to save us. Jesus left the comfort of Heaven, relinquished His glory and took on flesh, bore our sin and shame on the cross, all to make room for us in Heaven.

Understand, before Jesus came, there was no room for us in Heaven: sin disqualified us from entering. But Jesus had compassion on us and He was willing to show us mercy: He was willing to do whatever was needed to rescue us from condemnation.

If you are willing, in faith, to knock on the doors of Heaven, you will find there is room, lots of room, all because of Jesus.