KNOCK, KNOCK! WHO'S THERE?

“Knock, knock…”

“Who’s there?”

“It’s Me, Jesus!”

“Jesus! No way. You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“No, it’s really Me and I can’t come in until you open the door!”

Does that sound like an implausible situation, like that could never happen? Well, it happens…and more frequently than we would like to believe. Jesus knocks and we don’t open the door!

One of the very first verses I learned to use for soul-winning was Revelation 3:20:

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (New King James)

The good news is that this is a verse that I have used countless times in sharing how to receive Christ. The unintended side effect is that I set the verse aside over in the mental file marked “soul-winning” without allowing the verse to have its intended effect on me. Revelation 3 is not a soul-winning presentation in the traditional sense; it is a part of the vision that was given to the Apostle John about the seven churches of Asia. Contained in the descriptions of each church are truths that are not only applicable to these representative churches but also to us. One of those great truths is contained in 3:20.

You know from previous articles that I believe God is never silent. Even when it seems as though we cannot hear what God is saying, He never stops talking to His people. It is up to us to get where the conversation (as I call it) is ongoing. Where is that? I’m glad you asked. The conversation never ceases in and through His Word. Even when it seems like the heavens are brass, Hebrews 4:12 says God’s voice is still active, “For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power…” (Amplified)

Revelation 3:20 says that Jesus not only knocks but He speaks to us. I believe this is the rising awareness that comes to us when the Holy Spirit is trying to get our attention, trying to get us to listen. The knocking/speaking might be circumstances arranged to get our attention. The knocking also can be the “dealing” of the Holy Spirit or it can be an “alert” given to us by a friend who says something like, “I think the Lord is trying to tell you something!” Most often God will cause His Word to come alive (knocking) in our spirit and “speak to us.”

One of the famous paintings of this Revelation scene shows Jesus on the outside of a door that has no outside latch. The only latch is on the inside, meaning that we open the door when we are aware that Christ is knocking. This is borne out in the example of Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). Jesus knocked and Paul fell off his horse. Paul’s conversion didn’t happen by his being knocked on his backside but when he addressed Christ as Lord. At that moment Paul, by an act of his own will, opened the door to Christ’s power entering his life.

Jesus says, “If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and dine him and he with me.” Here is the picture as I see it. Christ is not suggesting that we are being invited to a giant banquet with thousands in attendance. Jesus is not sitting at a head table with Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Noah (and a sprinkling of the prophets for good measure), with us at a round table with eight or ten others hundreds of feet from the podium. That is not the correct picture at all. What I believe the Lord is saying here is that He and the hearer (the person who opened the door) will have an intimate dining experience…just the two of them! In the original language the word that is used for “dine” indicates a very personal and intimate time of fellowship and communication.

As I understand the intent of this Scripture, I believe that what the writer was trying to convey was the understanding that:

1. The Lord desires this kind of personal contact and communication with each of us. (Behold, I stand at the door and knock.)

2. The Lord is restrained by our passivity or inaction. (If any man hears and opens the door…)
3. Jesus has things to share with you that are for your ears only. (I will dine with him and he with Me.)
“Knock, knock!”

“Who’s there?”

“Jesus!”

“Welcome, the door is open!”