December 5, no detour from Calvary.

And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid

him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

You would think that if God so rules the world as to use an empire-wide census to bring

Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, he surely could have seen to it that a room was available

in the inn.

Yes, he could have.

He absolutely could have.

And Jesus could have been born into a wealthy family, and he could have turned stone into

bread in the wilderness, and he could have called 10,000 angels to his aid in Gethsemane,

and he could have come down from the cross and saved himself.

The question is not what God could do, but what he willed to do.

God's will was that Christ was rich yet for your sake, he became poor.

The no vacancy signs over all the motels in Bethlehem were for your sake.

For your sake, he became poor 2 Corinthians 8.9.

God rules all things, even hotel capacities and available Airbnb's for the sake of

his children.

The Calvary Road begins with a no vacancy sign in Bethlehem, and ends with the spitting and

scoffing of the cross in Jerusalem.

And we must not forget that he said if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself

and take up his cross, Luke 9.23, we join him on the Calvary Road and hear him say, remember

...