Luke 2:1-7, In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 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.
I contend that verse 2 in this text is the most boring sentence in the whole Bible: This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor in Syria. This is the story of the birth of Jesus! Why are little details like this in the story at all? Remember that at the beginning of Luke’s gospel, he promised to offer an orderly account of the life of Jesus to his friend, Theophilus. Luke is a proclaimer of the good news of Jesus, but he is first a historian of the life and ministry of Jesus. He, just like the other gospel writers, is a biographer. Details like this are important to the story because they are referential to things that the first audience would understand. Luke is saying, you remember this census?! He mentioned dates that make sense and places that are identifiable so that it can be cross-examined. If the story of Jesus is just a myth meant to inspire, details like this wouldn’t appear in the story. Luke not only wants you to be blown away at the power of the story of Jesus, he wants to confirm its historical accuracy so that your belief in Christ is grounded in absolute reality.
To be born in Bethlehem matches the prophecy in Micah 5:2 that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem, and his birth in the line of David fulfills several OT prophetic passages. This small detail about the inn is the only reference we have to that place, but it would make sense that things would be unnaturally crowded during the time of the census - a number of people of people would have returned to Bethlehem for this event. To be born in a cattle trough fits in with Jesus' appearance in meekness, in a humble estate. He would come to associate with the humble, to eat with sinners and tax collectors, to rescue those who know their need of salvation. Consider these words from the prophet Isaiah (57:15):
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly,
and to revive the heart of the contrite.
Hymn for Reflection: Angels We Have Heard on High. Here’s a Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtByTy_5jqI