The account
of Jesus' birth (Luke 2) tells us, "...there was no room in the inn."
No room for the baby Jesus who
was Emmanuel, the "God With Us" (Matthew 1:23), foretold by the
prophet, Isaiah (7:14). Incredible that there was no room for
Jesus to be born -- no room for God. Yet this sort of thing
happened over and over again in His life on earth. He came to
be with us yet we had no room for Him.
King
Herod slaughtered scores if not hundreds of boy babies two years old
and under because there was no room in Bethlehem for Jesus -- no room
in his realm for God. Later there was no room for Jesus in
his hometown synagogue in Nazareth. The people of the
synagogue sought to kill Him but He escaped. In John 8:59 the
religious leaders of Jerusalem were about to stone Him, but he
escaped. Later, those same leaders were responsible for His
death by crucifixion. Indeed there was no room on earth for
God. Incredible that we humans had no room for our Creator,
but that has always characterized humans. The ancient Israelites told
Moses in Exodus 20:19, "You speak to us and we will listen, but do not
let God speak to us..." And, of course, the story of Israel
is that they continually rejected God and killed the
prophets. And is the human story today much different from
that? Do we, today, have room for God in our lives?
...BUT GOD HAS ROOM FOR US
God
is different from us, and thank God for that. God, our
Creator, has always wanted a relationship with those whom He
created. In Leviticus 26:12 He said, "I will walk among you
and be your God, and you shall be My people." He has desired
that relationship with us so that it will be well with us.
The imagery of Isaiah 40:11 illustrates God's loving heart for us, "He
will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His
arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with
young." God is the same, always. He does not
change. In Revelation 21, in the closing pages of the Bible,
we see a future happy time when, "the dwelling of God is with men, and
he will live with them. They will be his people, and God
himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe
every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or
mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed
away."
NOW CONSIDER JESUS -- HE PREPARES
ROOMS FOR US
Jesus,
being God and of one mind with the Father, illustrates His heart for us
humans in Matthew 23:37-39, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who
kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed
to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her
wings, but you were not willing." Perhaps thinking about the
time when there was no room in the inn for Him to be born Jesus tells
us what he is doing for us now. He said, "In my Father's
house are many rooms;...I am going there to prepare a place for
you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I
am." This is the Creator we so callously reject, preparing a
place for us. Here is Jesus, for whom we humans have had no
room, preparing rooms for us!
What a wonderfully forgiving, merciful and loving God He is!
The question of the season. Do we have room for God? |
