“and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.” (Luke 2:7 NIV)

In the past two devotionals of this series, we’ve been highlighting the fact that Jesus’ life was in danger from the moment He was born. Now we see from the above text that He was also unwanted. There wasn’t any room for Him in the inn of Bethlehem!

When we go to the story of Jesus’ birth in the book of Matthew, we also see that He was unwanted: “Herod then arranged a secret meeting with the scholars from the East. Pretending to be as devout as they were, he got them to tell him exactly when the birth-announcement star appeared. Then he told them the prophecy about Bethlehem, and said, ‘Go find this child. Leave no stone unturned. As soon as you find him, send word and I’ll join you at once in your worship.’ … In a dream, they were warned not to report back to Herod. So they worked out another route, left the territory without being seen, and returned to their own country. After the scholars were gone, God’s angel showed up again in Joseph’s dream and commanded, ‘Get up. Take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt. Stay until further notice. Herod is on the hunt for this child, and wants to kill him.’ Joseph obeyed. He got up, took the child and his mother under cover of darkness. They were out of town and well on their way by daylight. They lived in Egypt until Herod’s death. This Egyptian exile fulfilled what Hosea had preached: ‘I called my son out of Egypt.’ Herod, when he realized that the scholars had tricked him, flew into a rage. He commanded the murder of every little boy two years old and under who lived in Bethlehem and its surrounding hills. (He determined that age from information he’d gotten from the scholars.).” (Matthew 2;7-8, 12-16 MSG)

Herod did everything he could to ensure Jesus’ death, to the point that he had all children who were even close to Jesus’ age murdered! There was simply no room for Jesus in Herod’s entire kingdom!

Of course the evil ones were in agreement with Herod, and Herod was being used as their human hands on Earth. I think it’s interesting that many people actually follow the evil one and do his bidding; however, most of the time they aren’t even aware of it!

Though our Heavenly Father saved Jesus’ life when He was a baby by sending Him to Egypt, there was never a moment of His life that He was not in danger. There were very few moments of His life where people understood Him, where they made room for Him. Especially not in His home town…: “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit… All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.” (Luke 4:14, 28-30 NIV)! There was simply no room for Jesus on Earth.

Even a couple years later, there was no room for Jesus in Jerusalem, so they hung Him on a cross…

Why? Why did Jesus come to this planet even when He knew His life would be in danger? When He knew He would be treated this way? When He knew that there would be very few who would actually make room for Him?

That’s how much He loves you, my friends! Enough to risk everything for … you!

What about you? Have you made room for Jesus? Have you made Him number one in your life? If not, why not answer the Saviour’s Call? Do it today!

Rob Chaffart

(To access the entire “When Grace Came Down” devotional series, please click here.)