Luke 2:1,4-5 ” In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. So, Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.”

This census was being done primarily for taxation purposes…so from the start, no one was overjoyed to travel to their ancestral home. But Joseph was forced to go to Bethlehem… with a very pregnant Mary. Now Bethlehem wasn’t a huge city, it was more like a small hamlet with very limited places that a traveler might safely stay for the night. And by the time Mary & Joseph finally got there, the small town had ballooned to overflowing. This is when we meet an unnamed Innkeeper who had been “stuffing” people wherever he could all day. He was weary from feeding & watering animals and exhausted from dealing with travelers. So when Joseph knocked on his door, he might have taken one look at the harried & very pregnant Mary and shooed them away…but he didn’t. Even in his overwhelmed condition, the Innkeeper unwittingly became part of God’s magnificent plan…his compassion for the weary couple overriding his own exhaustion as he found room for them.