No Room at the Inn

There was no room at the inn because Bethlehem was crowded with visitors. This was not an act demonstrating rudeness or lack of hospitality. The place was booked. One summer we were traveling in Germany in the general direction of Neuschwanstein castle. The autobann was so crowded it was a parking lot because the whole country was on vacation. We traveled the back roads and when we arrived in town there were no vacancies. It was one of our many memorable experiences in Germany in the month the wall came down. However, we ended up in the middle of nowhere with no place to stay. Fortunately we found a farmhouse where we could stay.

The 5000 were in the middle of nowhere. The twelve disciples suggested to Jesus that the crowd be urged to leave to find food and lodging in town. Only Luke uses the Greek word for "lodge" in the feeding of the 5000. I suppose this is subtle link to the manger scene at the beginning of the Gospel. Because there was no room at the "lodge" they stayed in a manger.

copyrighted 2005