The Open Door and the Closed: Three Men in the Early Church

The knock comes at dusk.

Gaius is just sitting down to his evening meal—simple fare, bread and oil, a few dried figs—when the sound echoes through his modest home. He rises, sandals scraping the packed-earth floor, and opens the door to find three strangers.

Dusty robes. Cracked lips. The unmistakable weariness of travelers who've walked too many miles on too little food.

"Peace to this house," the eldest says. "We come in the name of Christ, sent by the Elder in Ephesus."