Our real home

In three places in the New Testament Gospels, brief yet profound accounts are given of something Christ Jesus did soon after his resurrection. In all three, the disciples had gathered in a private dwelling with doors locked, hiding out for fear of the Jewish authorities. Suddenly Jesus appeared right before them in the house! Each account records that he “stood in the midst” of them (Luke 24:36; John 20:19; John 20:26). The implication is that the risen Savior, who had just emerged from a stone-sealed tomb, found no additional barriers to his physical movements. He simply appeared within the room. And in each account his first words to his disciples were, “Peace be unto you.”

Christ Jesus’ extraordinary dominion over the grave and all material obstacles was apparent. He had returned to share his profound peace with his friends. Not death and matter, but divine Life and Spirit—the one infinite and omnipresent God—remained real to him.

Today we look around us and see solid, impenetrable walls. We may think of them as constituting our home or dwelling place. Perhaps we feel fearful about finding a good home or unhappy with what appears as a less-than-perfect dwelling. But like the disciples, we can begin to see there is more than meets the eye here. And we can grasp, as they did, something of what Jesus understood about his own dwelling place in God to feel at peace—right where we are.

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