The original Apple Mac engineering team used to wear t-shirts that said, “Working 90 Hours a Week and Loving It.” Facebook programmers are known to pull all-nighters in the office in which they order dinner as the sun sets then order breakfast as the sun rises. According to a report from an international labor organization, American employees work more hours than anyone in the industrialized world, we work longer days, and use less vacation time.[1] One study in 2013 showed US employees forfeited more than 52 billion dollars worth of paid vacation time.[2]
Why work so much and so hard? Americans are busy. We’ve got jobs, production quotas, projects, deadlines, reviews, and sales quotas. We are busy, busy, busy. And the time when Jesus was about to be born was a busy time too because of a census ordered by Augustus.
“Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria” (Luke 2:1–2).[3] This census was decreed by the Roman Emperor, “Caesar Augustus”[4] and was a registration for citizens to assess taxes. This meant “everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city” (Luke 2:3). At that time approximately 8 million Jews lived in the Roman Empire.[5] Joseph and Mary were among millions of Jews traveling for the census. “Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child” (Luke 2:4–5).[6]
The people of Bethlehem probably did not have space to accommodate all the people going there to register for the census. Most middle-class housing in Bethlehem had one large common area, rooms for the family, and often a guest room for travelers. Homes often had a lower level section built into the side of a hill and animals would be kept there (or in a cave).[7]
Luke is showing us how a Roman Emperor makes a decree, lots of commotion happens, and then when it’s time for Jesus to be born, there’s no room for them in the common places guests would stay. Luke writes, “While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. 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” (Luke 2:6–7). Because there were no guest rooms available, the child was placed in a room where animals normally stayed. He was born there and placed in a manger (a watering trough for animals) and wrapped in strips of clothing to keep his body straight and warm.
Like those people in Bethlehem, you and I have our own stuff going on. We’ve got cookies to bake, a house to clean, trips to Wal-Mart for shopping, a ham to prepare, a career to keep moving on track, and gifts to wrap.
There was no room for Jesus in Bethlehem, but is there room for Him in our hearts and our lives? Does He get a portion of our time everyday when we read His Word? Does He receive uninterrupted communication with us in prayer? Does He have a say in the decisions we are considering making? Does He get our attention only when we desperately need Him for something? Does He hear from us only when we have a prayer that we need answered?
More than 2,000 years ago there was no room for Jesus Christ, but I pray that we have room for Him in our lives. Whether we make room for Him the first time by placing our faith in Him, or instead making more room for Him in how we use our time and energy and money. This Christmas let’s make room for the Redeemer.
[1] Ruth Whippman, America the Anxious: How Our Pursuit of Happiness Is Creating a Nation of Nervous Wrecks (New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press, 2016), p. 96, fn 4.
[2] Ruth Whippman, America the Anxious: How Our Pursuit of Happiness Is Creating a Nation of Nervous Wrecks (New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press, 2016), p. 96, fn 5.
[3] Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.
[4] Emperor of Rome, Octavian, later became known as “Caesar Augustus” is the person Luke names here. He reigned 27 BC to AD 14. He was known for having a peaceful reign over the Roman Empire. He’s the man that said it was better to be Herod’s pig than to be Herod’s son (Macrobius, Saturnalia 2.4.11, AD 400).
[5] Darrell Bock, Studying the Historical Jesus (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002), 109.
[6] Bethlehem was the birthplace of David and location where David was anointed king of Israel by Samuel (1 Sam 16:1). This trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem would have been 70 miles in a straight line, but as long as 90 miles if the avoided the Samaritans in the area of Samaria. People at that time could travel about 20mi a day, so this was a 4-5day trip depending on the route they took (Darrell Bock, Studying the Historical Jesus, 113).
[7] The Grk word, “κατάλυμα” suggests that a formal inn is not in view here. Lk uses the term in 22:11 for a guestroom of a house. Then in Luke 10:34 Luke uses another term to describe a formal inn. See, κατάλυμα refers to some type of a reception room in a private home or some type of a public shelter.