The Poverty Birth of Christ

The Poverty Birth of Christ

Luke tells us that when Jesus was born, there was no room in the inn. “And she 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.” – Luke 2:7 It is interesting to note that the timing and place of the birth of Christ were settled in the mind of God and confirmed by prophetic Scripture, for Micah actually confirmed the birth town. (ref. Mic.5:2) As we view the setting for His birth, strictly from the standpoint of human thought, it appears as a last-minute pandemonium event. The initial response is to conjure up a picture of Mary and Joseph in a panic mode seeking a suitable place for Mary, during the final stages of labor, to birth her child. We are told that there was no room in the inn. You might be interested to know that there are two Greek words for “inn”. One word is “pandocheion” and the other word is “kataluma”. The word, “pandocheion” refers to what we might call a motel in modern times as a “5 star” motel. The word, “kataluma” would refer to a lodging facility of that day which would provide minimal amenities. It would be just an enclosure with just walls where cattle might be driven for the night and sometimes there would be a simple place for the traveler to rest, yet no food would be provided. It would have been the equivalency of, what we would call, the worst rated motel of our day!
We are told that there was no room for them in the “kataluma”! There was no room even there, even the very least comfortable place to afford Mary’s giving birth to her child. Christ, then, was born outside of any semblance of comfortable circumstances, including even a place where cattle might be sheltered. He was born in adject poverty! It would do us well to realize that every aspect of the birth of Christ was in accordance with God’s plan, even the geographical site within the town!
Try to imagine Mary’s trauma. She, the Bible says, “wrapped him in swaddling clothes”. The mother wraps her own, just born baby! There was no one to assist her at the time of her child’s birth. You mothers could come closer to imagining her added pain on the top of pain far more than any of us men could even begin to imagine. Every aspect of the birth of Christ was cloaked in poverty!
God looked beyond the poverty of His own precious Son and saw the wealth in the redemption of the lost. The precious Lamb of God underwent the greatest experience of poverty in order that we might receive the greatest possession of wealth!
I also believe that the shepherds, watching over their flock by night, were “Temple” shepherds and were tending sheep which were to be sacrificed. They were the first to see “The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world”! The shepherds were the first to see the Lamb who was born to be sacrificed on the altar of Calvary. I, too, feel the urge to say, “Glory to God in the Highest”!
He left the highest riches of Glory and condescended to the lowest, poverty-stricken state in physical life, to make possible the greatest wealth for those deserving the lowest hell!

Chuck Peters – 12/14/2022