What Does it Mean to “Make Room” for Jesus?

Making room for Jesus means actively, sometimes sacrificially, clearing whatever stands between someone and an encounter with Christ — rather than waiting for space to open up on its own. That’s the picture the Bible paints in Luke 5, where four friends carry a paralyzed man to Jesus, find the house packed shoulder to shoulder, and respond not by giving up but by climbing onto the roof, tearing it open, and lowering their friend down in front of Jesus. Their persistence, not just their friend’s need, is what Jesus responds to. It’s a strange, almost comic image — grown men digging through someone’s roof because there simply wasn’t room inside. But it raises a question worth sitting with: what do we do when there isn’t room for someone to encounter Jesus? Do we wait, or do we make room?

The Story: No Room, and a Persistent Faith

Luke 5:17-19 sets the scene. Jesus was teaching in a house so full that people couldn’t even get near the door. Meanwhile, four friends were carrying a paralyzed man on a mat, determined to get him in front of Jesus for healing. When they couldn’t push through the crowd, they didn’t turn back: 

“Finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus.” (Luke 5:19)

What happens next is the turning point of the story:

“And when he saw their faith, he said, ‘Man, your sins are forgiven you.’” (Luke 5:20)

Notice what Jesus responds to: not a request, not a demand, but faith — visible, active, costly faith. The friends didn’t wait for the crowd to thin out or for someone else to make space. They made room themselves, even if it meant damaging someone’s roof to do it.

Why Did the Innkeepers Not Make Room, But These Friends Did?

There’s a striking contrast worth noticing between this story and another famous “no room” moment in the Bible: the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, where “there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7). In that story, no room was made, and Jesus was born in a stable. In Luke 5, the friends refuse to accept “no room” as the final answer.

The difference isn’t the presence of an obstacle — both stories have one. The difference is the response. One story is about a room that stayed closed. The other is about people who decided to open one, even at real personal cost. That contrast reframes the question for anyone reading it today: when there isn’t room for someone to encounter Jesus, are we the innkeepers, or are we the friends on the roof?

What Does “Prepare a Place” Really Mean?

Jesus uses similar language about Himself in John 14:2-3, in one of the most familiar passages in the New Testament:

“In my Father’s house are many rooms... I go to prepare a place for you.” (John 14:2-3)

The Greek phrase behind “prepare a place” is hetoimazō topos — which can be rendered more literally as “make ready a room,” or simply, “make room.” The same concept that drove the friends onto the roof in Luke 5 is what Jesus says He is doing right now, in heaven, on behalf of those who trust Him. Making room isn’t just a human act of persistence — it’s something God Himself does first.

Is There a Difference Between Good and Bad “Room-Taking”?

Scripture doesn’t celebrate every act of taking up space. Later in John’s Gospel, Jesus overturns tables in the temple, driving out merchants who had turned a place of worship into a marketplace (John 2:14-16). His anger wasn’t random — those merchants were physically blocking ordinary people from reaching God, taking up room that belonged to worshippers.

That’s the same underlying value at work in both stories, just from opposite angles: Jesus opposes anything that blocks people from reaching Him, and He welcomes anything — however disruptive — that clears the way. The friends on the roof weren’t rewarded for causing chaos; they were commended for removing an obstacle between their friend and Jesus.

FAQ: Making Room for Jesus

What is the story of the paralyzed man in Luke 5 about? 

Four friends carry a paralyzed man to Jesus for healing, but find the house too crowded to get inside. They lower him through a hole in the roof, and Jesus responds to their faith by forgiving the man’s sins and healing him.

What does “make room” mean in a spiritual sense?

It refers to actively removing barriers — logistical, personal, or spiritual — that keep someone from encountering Jesus, rather than passively waiting for space or opportunity to appear. What does John 14:2 mean by “many rooms”? Jesus tells His disciples that He is going to prepare a place (“make room”) for them in His Father’s house — a promise that God is actively preparing space for those who trust in Him.

Why did Jesus get angry at the money-changers in the temple but not at the friends who broke through the roof?

The money-changers were blocking people from reaching God for their own profit. The friends on the roof were doing the opposite — sacrificially removing a barrier so their friend could reach Jesus.

Keep Exploring This Series

This message opened “Make Room,” a new series at Christ’s Family Church in Davenport, Iowa, serving the greater Quad Cities area. As our church continues to grow, we’re asking what it looks like for us to make room — for newcomers, for the hurting, and for anyone seeking Jesus. Join us Sunday at 9:30a at Christ’s Family Church (TWO SERVICES BEGIN September 13th, 9:00 & 10:40a), watch or listen to the full message, or find a Life Group where you can keep exploring what it means to make room for others by clicking the buttons below.