The Symbolism of the Stable

Luke 2:7, NASB

And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Last week we looked at this verse and talked about how there’s no such thing as an oversight by God—that what appears to be an oversight is always ordained.

But there’s one more thing I felt prompted to point out this year as we meditate on this verse—the symbolism in the fact that there was no room for them in the inn.

Have you ever felt like there was no room for you in the place where everyone else seems to be resting comfortably? Have you ever felt like you don’t quite belong anywhere, like there wasn’t exactly room for you among everyone else—and you’re sojourning somewhere on the outskirts?

So did our Savior. And not just at his birth:

Luke 9:58, NIV

Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

And this goes all the way back to the very first patriarch—Abraham—who sojourned in tents on the outskirts of the promised land:

Hebrews 11:9, ESV

By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.

Just like Jesus, Abraham never settled in the cities. Rather, he sojourned along the outskirts.

And so it will often be with us. 

While God is gracious and kind and will lead us to our people and places, there is simultaneously an element to this life on earth that will always cause us to feel like we don’t fully fit—like there’s not a “room for us” in this place.

And it’s supposed to feel that way. It felt that way for the apostles—and it felt that way for Jesus. Not only was there no room for Him in the inn, there was no room for Jesus among so many of His people. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him (John 1:11). 

We’ll never feel like we fully fit here in our world—because we were created to be forever at home in another one. With our Savior. A place where we will fit forever, a place where there is already a room for us:

John 14:2, NIV

My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?

So this week, as we celebrate the birth of our Savior, remember this: Jesus, the One for whom there was no room, has a room ready and waiting for you and for me.

And that place will be worth the discomfort of the stable.

~Merry Christmas from the APM team!