A Messiah for the Messy (Luke 2:1-7)
A Christmas Sermon on the Birth of Jesus Christ from Luke 2:1-7
Introduction: Rethinking the Nativity
The picture you have in your head of this story is likely very different than the story that actually happened. I don’t know about you, but when I was exposed to this story, I heard sermons that said Mary and Joseph journeyed to the town of Bethlehem, only to find that all the accommodations were taken. So, with urgency, they went to an inn—like a motel or hotel—and asked for a place to stay. “Please, sir, you can see she’s pregnant.” The innkeeper sees Mary and says something like, “Sorry, we’re all booked up, but if you’re desperate, there’s a stable out back.”
The image we all have is of Jesus being born in a barn, a stable stall, or a standalone building. There they are, a new family, in a strange city, surrounded by strangers, with no one to celebrate the birth of their son. The savior of all people, alone with just mom and dad.
Is that the picture you have in your mind? Is that what you’ve always imagined?
A Closer Look at What Happened at the Birth of Jesus
The Misunderstood Inn
Let’s pause for a moment and really look at what the Bible says. First, there is no mention of an innkeeper in the gospel stories. The innkeeper, as a figure who denies a place for Mary and Joseph, doesn’t actually exist in the story. So, the image of a cold-hearted or reluctant innkeeper isn’t in the text. Not just this one. The innkeeper isn’t anywhere.
Second, let’s clear up an even bigger misconception. The word “inn” in Luke 2:7 doesn’t refer to a commercial inn like a motel or hotel. The New Testament was written in Greek and the Greek word used there is “kataluma,” which actually refers to a guest room—the space in a home where visitors would stay. Many people had an additional room built on or connected to their residence where visitors or travelers could stay. It does not refer to a commercial place. “She placed him in a manger because there was no space for them in the guest room.”
The Census and Family Crowds
The guest room was full. Why? Because of the census. If the Emperor wanted to conduct a census, you did not stay where you were living. You returned to your ancestral town. So Joseph, his siblings if he had any, cousins, other extended family members, and EVERYONE descended from the line of King David, had to return to Bethlehem. Undoubtedly, every room in every house is packed with family and friends who’ve returned.
There is no innkeeper, there is no hotel, and there is no space in the guest room. It seems likely that Mary and Joseph were staying with family in a home that was already filled to capacity with people who had returned to Bethlehem for the census.
So where was Jesus born? If Joseph is staying with relatives, why does the Bible say Mary places Jesus in a manger, a feeding trough for animals? He was born in a barn, right? No.
The Birthplace of Jesus
Houses in first-century Palestine typically had a living area and a guest room. Many houses had an area beside or below the house where animals were kept at night to protect them from wild animals and the weather. This area was often more of a part of the house than a separate structure, and it was in this area that Jesus was most likely born.
No inn. No innkeeper. No barn. No standalone stable. What is going on with this story?
The Scandal of Mary’s Pregnancy
For me, it gets even more complicated. If Mary and Joseph return to Bethlehem to be with his family, then why are the shepherds the first to know about Jesus’ birth? Wouldn’t they have known she was in labor? Would they have not heard the small cries of an infant child?
Joseph’s family is there in Bethlehem. Wouldn’t they want to be there? Why wouldn’t they give a pregnant woman who is close to labor the bedroom that’s inside the house?
Or, what if Mary and Joseph weren’t only turned away because of a full guest room? What if the shame of her pregnancy—the scandal of being pregnant before marriage 2,000 years ago was the reason she had to give birth outside the main part of the house?
Think about it, Joseph and Mary were from Nazareth, a town over 70 miles away. Although Mary’s pregnancy was prophesied, that doesn’t mean everyone heard about it or understood it. Imagine the chatter, “I hear little Joseph is coming home for the census. I hear he’s engaged.” And then Joseph and Mary show up and she’s nine months pregnant, and they are not married. Like any time, it was a time of gossip, judgment, and societal expectations for women.
Just as the woman at the well in John 4 was shunned because she didn’t conform to social norms, Mary might have faced similar rejection. Her pregnancy before marriage, even with the divine explanation, could have led to judgment and isolation from her own family. Perhaps they, too, distanced themselves from Mary, not wanting to be associated with her perceived scandal. “Not in my house.”
God’s Upside-Down Kingdom
This is where we get to the real stuff, isn’t it? We know God could have chosen any way to bring Jesus into the world, and yet, this way was chosen—this humble, possibly even scandalous, way. This wasn’t a birth in a royal palace or a comfortable home. God didn’t choose the best hotel or a warm, private room. Instead, God chose a lowly, humble animal shelter where the savior of the world would be laid in a feeding trough.
The way the gospel is written, the announcement of Jesus’ birth seems to be made to the shepherds as if they were the first to hear it. The text doesn’t mention any other people present at the birth—no family members, no friends—just Mary, Joseph, and Jesus.
Embracing the Real Christmas
God Meets Us Where We Are
You see, God’s kingdom is upside down. God’s way is often the unexpected way. God shows up in the places we least expect, in ways that challenge our expectations, in moments that make us uncomfortable.
Jesus’ birth teaches us that God is often alive and well in the very place we would choose to avoid in conversations we’d rather not have. God is in the manger, not the palace. God is in the shame, not the glory. God is in the difficult, cloudy, unclean, and complex, not the easy, feel-good Hallmark story.
The truth is, God’s story isn’t about a clean, perfectly written narrative. It’s about the messiness of real life—the hurt, the rejection, the unexpected turns.
It’s possible that the family in the house, those who opened the door to Mary and Joseph and the newborn Jesus, were the first to hear the news. Perhaps they too rejoiced at the birth of this child. Perhaps they got excited and said, “Come on. You’ll want privacy. Let’s clean up downstairs. I’ll wash the floor out and ask the neighbor if they can take the animals for the night. Oh, look, the manger would be perfect for a bed if we add straw and cloth.” Maybe the family participated in caring for the newborn King, but the good news was announced to the shepherds. Why?
Perhaps because they, like Mary and Joseph, understood what’s it’s like to be on the outside or misunderstood.
What would you have done if we were there? If we were in the story, how would we have responded? Would we have seen the messiness and the scandal, and turned away? Would we have given Mary and Joseph the space and support they needed?
The challenge of this text isn’t just about recognizing the ‘perfect’ Christmas story, but about seeing the real Christmas story—the messy, upside-down, uncomfortable kingdom of God. How do we embrace God in the uncomfortable, the awkward, and the complicated parts of life? What does it look like for us to meet God in those moments?
The Messiness of Life
See the real Christmas, not the idealized version that doesn’t exist.
Likewise, don’t get lost in the idea of a perfect Christmas with your family. The story of Jesus’ birth wasn’t perfect by the world’s standards – there’s plenty of material in the story that any smart editor would say, “Are you sure this is how the story is supposed to go?”
That’s the beauty of Jesus’ life and his birth. The real Advent, the real Christmas, and real life are messy, complicated, confusing, and misunderstood.
And don’t get lost in the idea of a perfect life. We can get tricked into chasing a version of our life that only exists in our imagination, and we think that ideal situation is paradise on earth. And if we don’t have it, then we are not living our true story. We that kind of living fills us with discontent and an astounding lack of joy and gratitude. See and love the life you have not the one you imagine.
It’s really easy this time of year to crave and long for an ideal Christmas Eve, an ideal, storybook Christmas Day, and time spent with loved ones. It’s easy to crave an ideal life that is nicely put together, clear, and not complicated or messy.
Finding Joy in the Imperfect
I want to encourage you this week to enjoy the Christmas you have, not the one you imagine but doesn’t exist. Enjoy the real Christmas—the one where you are with family, where you deal with chaos, messiness, imperfection, and frustrations. That’s where the Messiah shows up. Those are the moments where God enters in and they are just as precious and lasting as the perfect moment we wish for.
It's in the real, messy life Jesus meets us.
That’s what we read in each of the gospels. The story will introduce us to a person whose life is complicated or messy and then we see that Jesus enters their story and redeems it. I wonder if you can allow Jesus to enter into those messy parts of your life and be your Messiah, the one who delivers, loves, and redeems.
He’s the Messiah for the messy. So, come, let us adore, Christ our newborn king.
