Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him [her] and dine with him [her], and he [she] with Me. Revelation 3: 20, NKJV
Dear Lord, we pray that Your Holy Spirit will come very close, and interpret to the fullest, the message You have for us today. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen
Today I would like us to look at this beautiful promise in the light of an incident that took place after Christ’s resurrection.
There is a well known painting of Jesus. I do not know the name of the artist who painted it. Jesus is standing at the door knocking. What is unique about this painting, is that the door does not have a knob on the outside. In order for Jesus to gain entrance, the person on the inside has to open the door. It is said that the door represents the human heart. Christ stands at the door of our heart seeking entrance, but He will not force Himself into our lives; we have to let Him in. Perhaps some of you have heard about this painting, and its application to our lives. Today we are going to try to better understand, why it is important that we let Jesus into our lives.
“Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. But they constrained Him, saying, ‘Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.’ And He went in to stay with them. Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight” (Luke 24: 28-31). These disciples, on their way to Emmaus, would never have had their eyes opened, had they not invited Jesus in to dine with them. One translation of Scripture says that [H]e walked ahead as if [H]e were going on. But they urged [H]im strongly…” (NRSV). Jesus is anxious to hold communion with us, but He will respect our decision to invite Him in or not.
“…[A]s He sat at the table with them He took bread, blessed and broke it.” It was as they were holding communion around the table that He blessed and broke the bread. There is something very special about meeting around the family table. An intimate atmosphere is created, and we become better acquainted with one aother. As we share the experiences of the day, we learn things about each other that perhaps we would otherwise not be aware of. It is usually friends who meet around the family table. We are blessed by breaking the bread with Christ. As we study His Word, He comes very close to us, and His presence blesses us.
After their eyes were opened, “they knew Him.” If we are going to enter into life eternal, we have to get to “know… the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom [He has] sent” (John 17: 3). What better way to get to know God the Father, than to spend time with Jesus the Son. The invitation in our promise is for Christ to come in and “sup,” or “dine,” with us. This is not a lunch, but a supper, an evening dinner. The idea is that Christ will abide with us. “But they constrained Him, saying, ‘Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.’ “And He went in to stay with them.”
Like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, we long for our hearts to “burn within us” Luke 24: 32), as we study the Word of God, and become better acquainted with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Prophetically speaking, it is indeed evening; the day is almost gone. Earth’s dark night is settling over us. If there was ever a time we needed Jesus to abide with us, it is now. May God make us willing to allow Christ to come in and dine with us; not for a night, but for always!