What Do You Seek? Where Do You Dwell? (Part 2)

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They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?” (John 1:38).

Two disciples of John the Baptist began to follow Jesus. They were seeking a place to dwell, an abode with God (see Part 1).

David said, “I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psalm 21:6). And now here was the Son of David dwelling among men. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” John’s Gospel says (John 1:14). This is the same Word that was with God in the beginning, and indeed, is God (John 1:1).

The Greek word translated “dwelt” here is the verb form of a noun that literally means “tent” or “tabernacle.” In the Old Testament, the Tabernacle in the Wilderness was the place where God manifested His presence and met with His people. And when David recovered the Ark of the Covenant, he brought it into Jerusalem and set up a tabernacle, a tent for it, and he danced before the Lord, whirling and leaping with great joy (2 Samuel 6:16-17). It was the “House of the Lord,” God’s dwelling place on earth, and the only place David wanted to be in all the world.

One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.

(Psalm 27:4)

This is echoed by another psalm writer:

How lovely is Your tabernacle,
O LORD of hosts!
My soul longs, yes, even faints
For the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

(Psalm 84:1-2)

Now Jesus, the Word that was in the beginning with God, and is God, came to tabernacle among men, and the disciples of John the Baptist wanted to meet with Him in His dwelling place.

“Where do you dwell,” they asked.

“Come and see,” Jesus answered.

It was an invitation from God.