Welcome!

His wife was yammering on about the Passover feast she was preparing again. If Tzad had to hear anymore about figs versus grapes, he would go insane.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Tzad jumped up from where he had been sitting with his wife. "I'd best go see who is at the door, my dear."

She rolled her eyes, clearly seeing that Tzad was all to happy for the escape, but he didn't care. Throwing the door open, Tzad's greeting hung on his lips. He didn't know these men.

"What can I do for you?" The sun illuminated the men. They couldn't be more different. They looked just as uncertain as he felt about this situation.

A slightly taller man with dark facial hair spoke. "The Teacher says, 'My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.'"

"What? Who? The Teacher?" His furrowed brows started to rise as he realized WHO they were talking about. "Jesus?"

The men nodded in unison.

Tzad knew two things for certain. He had no preference over figs or grapes. And he would absolutely welcome Jesus' presence in his home.

Throwing the door open, he bellowed, "Come in! Come in!"

Based on Matthew 26:17-19

I don't know if I've ever really thought about this man before, but he's a pretty cool dude. The disciples show up during a busy time of the year for the Jewish people. Then they drop a bomb. "We're going to have the Passover here!"

I have an amazingly awesome family. They will do anything for each other. But if some distant relative showed up on Christmas saying, "My family and I are going to have Christmas here," they would be a bit put out. And put off. You just don't do things that way.

By all appearances, this man wasn't. He welcomed them into their home.

Not a lot of Christians would do that. Not a lot of Christians would just welcome Jesus into their homes like that. Not a lot of Christians welcome Jesus into their hearts like that.

Do we have a welcoming attitude towards Jesus? No matter when He shows up, no matter how inconvenient a time, no matter what holiday we are celebrating, do we welcome Jesus? We need to welcome Him in - always.

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me." Revelation 3:20  

V. Joy Palmer