Did the Innkeeper Ever Know?

I like to think about the people in the stable the night the Lord Jesus was born. Did the innkeeper feel a twinge of sympathy as Joseph asked for lodging and was told there was no room for them? Did he ever, in future years, realize he had assigned the King of Kings to a lowly birth? Why he didn’t give up his own room to a young woman about to have a baby? 

Joseph must have hated telling Mary that, after having come so far and being so tired, the inn was full; it had room for everyone but them and they were to spend the night among the animals.  I wonder how they felt.

When the Lord Jesus was born and lay in Mary’s arms looking up at her, were angels hovering near? The Bible does not mention them being in the stable, just in the sky over the shepherds. Was there a hush among the animals and maybe a warm glow in the stable? When the shepherds came into the Lord’s presence, they knew what the innkeeper did not know. they were in the presence of Royalty, witnessing the greatest event in human history. With the words of the angels still ringing in their ears, they bowed down and worshiped this tiny Baby bundled snugly in swaddling clothes. Besides Mary and Joseph, they were the first people to know that something magnificent, astounding, and wonderful had occurred.

 Was the stable the same after that miraculous birth? What about the manger? Did it continue to hold straw for the animals after having sheltered Jesus? I don’t know the answers to these questions but I like to imagine what might have happened. As Christmas nears, I wonder how many of us pause to thank God and think about the mystery of that first Christmas. And, I wonder, Did the innkeeper ever know?