May 20, 2025

Today's Reading: Revelation 21:1-7

Daily Lectionary: Leviticus 23:1-22; Luke 12:13-34

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more.’” (Revelation 21:3-4)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

Where is God? Everywhere, right? He’s omnipresent, it’s true. But here in Revelation, it says that the “dwelling place of God is with man.” How is that? On the one hand, we can acknowledge that it’s a mystery. On the other hand, we can also recognize that throughout the Scriptures, we see God seeking to be with man. When Adam and Eve fell into sin, there was God, seeking them in the cool of the garden. When God visited Jacob, revealing to him the ladder to heaven, that place became “Bethel,” the “House of God.” When Moses was given the instructions for the Tabernacle, God said of the tent in it, the “Tent of Meeting,” “There I will meet with the people of Israel” (Exodus 29:43). So, this is not a new idea at the Resurrection of the dead at the end of time that we see in Revelation 21. 

But what are we to make of this? To begin, as we often need to, we have to realize that the issue is sin. It’s because of sin that we can’t see God face-to-face. As God says to Moses, we can’t see God and live (Exodus 33:20). That’s why this is hard for us to understand. However, God came and met with us in Jesus. He came into a body. He came to a place, Judea and Jerusalem. In that place, He carried our sin to the cross so that by the life in the resurrection of His body in that place, now we have life and the victory over sin won by this forgiveness. Now, God meets with us in His Word, in the Waters of Holy Baptism, in His Holy Supper. He does this to deliver that forgiveness to us, to make us holy so that we can dwell with Him forever in that place. 

What does this ultimately mean for us to understand how God is everywhere but in a place? Once again, we still have to say it’s something of a mystery, but we can understand more of it in light of Jesus. Yes, God is everywhere, but He’s made us to be in a place and He wants to be with us, which He does in Jesus in a very specific way. Through Jesus, then, we see that the fullness of God dwells in a man bodily (Colossians 2:9). It’s Jesus that we’ll see on that Last Day, and when we do, it will make a lot more sense. It will also be the greatest comfort as He promises to be with us and even wipe away our every tear. 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Lord Jesus, thank you for meeting us in Your Word and Sacraments to cleanse our sin and prepare us to live with you forever on the Day of Your Return. Amen.

- Rev. Matthew Zickler, pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Western Springs, IL.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.

Andrew R. Jones identifies ten lies Satan uses in attempts to dismantle God’s people and His kingdom. Find encouragement in God's Word of Truth and remember the final victory we have in our Savior, Jesus Christ.