Lamb of God

Luke 2:7
7 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.

Because Caesar Augustus had ordered a census, everyone was going back to their home town. The houses were filled with families. The inns were filled with people from all around. By the time Joseph and his very pregnant Mary arrived there was no place left for them to stay. Since there were no rooms available at any of the inns, they stayed in a stable. A barn, that’s where the Son of God would have to be born.

I’ve been thinking this through, and these are the questions that I have. Was Jesus born in a stable because there was no room at the inn? Or, was there no room at the inn because Jesus had to be born in a stable?

I’ve heard the first question before and the answer given was true, to a degree. If I might explain. It’s been said that Jesus was born in a stable to show that He’d taken on the lowliest of positions. He wasn’t born into luxury, but He became the least of all men. He submitted Himself to poverty, to nothing, so that we could live our lives based on His example. His birth in a stable was to show us that we must be willing to step down, to be humble, to submit to authority, to surrender all of our luxuries, in order to gain the blessings and the richness that God has prepared for us.

Yes, Jesus did do all of those things, but not so that we would have to do the same in order to gain favor in the eyes of God the Father. In some cases, we may be required to submit to authority, to give up our luxuries, to humble ourselves, to surrender our riches, but not to gain favor or blessings. We are called to do those things because God has already given us all that we’ll need to get through tough times, not so that we’ll get a blessing through tough times.

Now, the second question. I think this question leads more towards the real reason Jesus was born in a stable and not in an inn. I’ve never heard this preached before, and maybe this idea is a stretch. Could it be that God, before there was time, planned to have Caesar call for a census not just for the sake of bringing Mary to Bethlehem to fulfill the words of the Prophets, but for something even greater? Could it be that God was hiding a small secret in the very birth story of His Son? A prophecy of sorts? I think yes. I believe that there was no room at the inn because Jesus had to be born in a stable. Where else would a Lamb be born?

John 1:29 refers to Jesus as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” It’s symbolism, I know. But if we believe that Jesus did fulfill all of the Law, all of the sacrificial requirements, then how hard would it be to think that, as a Lamb, He had to be born in a stable. How many lambs have been born in houses or hotels or inns? There is more to the story of Jesus being born lowly and poor in a barn in Bethlehem then just a cute Christmas play. There are things hidden in scripture that the Spirit longs to reveal to mankind about the King of Kings. The Lamb of God was born in a stable where lambs ought to be born. The Bread of Life was laid in a manger, where grain is put out for consumption.