VACANCY… when He came to earth, our world made no room for Him… but He has plenty of room for us.
The other day, I went Christmas shopping… waited patiently in the heavy traffic, stood in the long lines, and at most checkouts, was greeted with, “Happy Holidays.” I stopped at two major stores, hoping to purchase Christmas gift wrap. However, again this year, I could not find anything that had the nativity or the meaning of Christmas anywhere on it, except for one roll that had the words ‘Merry Christmas’ printed all over it. I found paper printed with snowmen, elves, Santa, trucks, ornaments, and cartoons… but nothing with baby Jesus.
Later that day, I was thinking about the birth of Christ and how He entered the world. Mary was giving birth to our Savior, yet our world made no accommodations. I can only imagine after their long travels and Mary in labor, going into the inn only to be told ‘no vacancy.’ Luke 2:7 details, “And she [Mary] brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn” (KJV).
And then, I thought of Jesus and the cross. The people chose to release a criminal and crucify our Lord. In Matthew 27:21, the multitude is asked, “…Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you?,” and in that same verse, the people answered, “…Barrabas” (KJV). Then in Matthew 27:22, Pilate asks what they would have done to Jesus, and the people answered, “Let him be crucified” (KJV). They chose a criminal over Jesus. They had no room for Jesus.
Yet, in John 14:2, Jesus says, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” (KJV).
From no vacancy to a death sentence, He entered this world and conquered death to make room for us.
As we celebrate Christmas, let us not only make room for our Savior, let us make Him the focus. After all, CHRISTmas is all about CHRIST.
