Luke 2 v 1-7 Why didn't God find a nice hotel room for Jesus' birth?

Luke c2 v 1-7 [ESV]

'In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.'

Reflection:

When I say: Jesus Christ is born today

will you say: Praise the Lord.

Practice

Me: Jesus Christ is born today

You: Praise the Lord.

Luke tell us that God used the Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus to ensure that Jesus Christ is born in Bethlehem. Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth but God had declared that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem: O Bethlehem from you shall come forth, one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

God uses Caesar to call a census that compels Mary & Joseph to travel some 90 miles from their home town Nazareth to their ancestral royal town Bethlehem. God’s will is done and Jesus He is born in Bethlehem. Hence we celebrate: Jesus is born today. Praise the Lord.

But hang on! Like tells us: Mary laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. If God can get Caesar Augustus to get Jesus born in Bethlehem why cant he organise a nice hotel room for Him to be born into? Why is He born in a stable, a place where animals live. There is something very deep going on. This is why.

God’s creation has one very special great purpose God created us to be with us. He made us in order to dwell with us and for us to be his people. And He made us in his own image. But what is His own image? As Paul tells us: it is Jesus, He is the image of the invisible God. Jesus is not just another human being, He is both the exact representation of God and the perfect model of a human being. Jesus is born today. Praise the Lord.

But animals? Back to Genesis. Before God made men and women He created land dwelling creatures from livestock to wild animals. Jesus birth in a stable is not a mistake. It’s a prophetic sign. Jesus Christ, as Paul [Colossians 1v15] the baby in the manger is the firstborn over all creation. Through Him God is bringing into being a new community of His people and healing the creation that was broken by our disobedience. Jesus is born today. Praise the Lord.

Going more deeply. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15: 45-49, Jesus is the Last Adam: ‘So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.’

Remember Jesus, in order to save us, who are from Adam, bore our flesh. To rescue us from death, the sin legacy of Adam, Jesus chooses to die for us. By his death and resurrection He brings all who believe in Him into our intended relationship with God our Father. Through Christ we enter into God’s chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession … Once we were not a people, but now we are the people of God [1Peter 2:9-10b] Jesus is born today. Praise the Lord.

As God said to Moses, in calling him to lead His people out of Egypt 6:6-7 “say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm … I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.

Through Jesus God provides a greater Exodus, rescuing us from the dominion of darkness bringing us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. [Colossians 1:13] Jesus is born today. Praise the Lord.

Through Jesus the Son God achieves His purpose to be God of an eternal community of people, people who live with Him in love, joy and peace, people growing more and more like Jesus, people for whom there is no more death, or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. [Rev 21:14] As Paul tells us in Romans 8: 28-29 ‘... God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose … [whom He] predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.’ Jesus is born today. Praise the Lord.

By our first birth we are natural. But the natural is broken, fallen, sinful, death bound, subject to darkness and the devil’s dominion. But by our second birth – our believing in Jesus - God gives us the right to become His children, born not of nature, human decision or a husband’s will but born of God. [John 1:12-13] That birth,by the Holy Spirit, gives us spiritual life. And so as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 ‘Christ [is] the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep … since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man… as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.’ … So it is written: ‘ “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.’ Our natural bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, but our spiritual bodies do. Jesus is born today. Praise the Lord.

Our Fall also broke creation. In destroying the work of the devil Jesus also heals creation, which waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. It will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. There will be a new creation, Jesus is the first born of that and we His brothers and sisters will be with Him in that and logically as the first creation was called very good by God, before we spoilt it, so the new creation will be very good, without any corruption, without a nature red in tooth and claw, [Tennyson, In Memroriam A.H.H] in any way at all. And all this is through Jesus born today. Praise the Lord.