Luke 2:6-7

When Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem, they found that it was heaving with people who had arrived for the census, which the Romans had demanded. In the Jewish law, censuses were forbidden and so the holding of a census was a further reason for the people to resent the occupying power. However, Joseph was a law-abiding man and, if required to go to his family’s ancestral home, he was willing to comply. The fact that there were no lodgings available when they finally arrived in Bethlehem must have been a horrible surprise for the young couple. We are told nothing about the exact location of Jesus’ birth. All we know is that he was placed in an animal feeding trough, a manger, when he was born. That makes it clear that he was in a place where animals were kept and, in Bethlehem, that usually happened in caves.

The fact that there was no room for Jesus at his birth serves as an agonising summary of the lack of welcome that Jesus received throughout his life. In his Gospel John summed up the situation by declaring: “He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognise him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him” (John 1:10-11). I find these two of the most painful verses in the Bible. In sending Jesus into the world, God was showing his incredible love for humankind, but the majority of people simply didn’t want to know. And they still don’t. But we can rejoice with John that “to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).

Question

How can you welcome Jesus this Christmas?

Prayer

Lord God, thank you for the miracle of Christmas. Thank you for sending Jesus into our confused and broken world. Amen