Magyar Egyház, 1979 (58. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1979-02-01 / 2-3. szám

MAGYAR EGYHÁZ

9

MAGYAR

CHURCH

BEHOLD, I STAND AT THE DOOR

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20)

One of the famous religious paintings of the early twentieth century is “The Light of the World,” by William Holman Hunt. It shows Christ as a regal figure carrying a lantern and standing before a closed door, knocking. The door is surrounded by weeds and thorns. The door is that of the human soul. Undoubtedly the artist was inspired to create this picture by the words spoken by the exalted Christ in Revelation 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

As you may know, the artist painted the door with no handle on the outside. The door must be opened from within. The artist is saying to us that the living God in a human personality, Jesus Christ, will not coerce. He will not make himself known until the householder opens the door from the inside. A child to whom a small copy of the painting had been given was fascinated by the symbolism. She brooded about it. She asked her father why the people inside didn’t answer the knock and open the door. When no satisfactory answer came from her parent, she offered her own explanation: “I know. They’re downstairs in the basement and can’t hear him knocking.” Sometimes we spend more time in the cellar of life than we should, and we may not hear God knocking at our heart’s door. We are immersed with things, and we do not always hear the touch of God upon our lives, our communities, and our church.

But when we open the door and are receptive to what we may call spiritual influences or religious intimations, what then? Is God, who came long ago in Jesus Christ, waiting to enter? And if we invite him, how docs he come in? Will God, who came in the historic Jesus of Nazareth, come again in the living Christ? If he is really waiting to enter our lives and

beyond all argument and doubt is the most real fact in the universe, the creative Mind and Spirit, personal as well as cosmic, intimate as well as beyond our imagining, will he come in?

The answer to the first question — Is God waiting to enter? — is Yes. This is the answer given by millions, throughout the ages and today. Not all of them claim to be mystical in temperament. Not all of them could claim that they have resolved all doubt. Often they wonder, because they have been exposed to psychology of certain schools, whether this feeling is a kind of wishful thinking on their part, a projection on a cosmic screen.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him. . . .”

Undoubtedly New Testament scholars and theologians are right in saying that this verse in the book of the prophet John has what they call eschatological meaning. New Testament writers expected the second coming of Christ to take place within their own lifetime. Mark records that Jesus predicted he would not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the day when he would drink it in the kingdom of God (see Mark 14:25). Luke records the warning given to the disciples: “Be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the marriage feast, so that they may open to him at once when he comes and knocks” (Luke 12:36). This is spiritually true, even if it is not historically true. At moments when we think not, God comes to us. This interpretation is strengthened by Christ, who says that when the door is opened he will come in and eat with the householder. In the mind of the writer of this passage, the thought of the second coming of Christ seems to have been dominant.

This does not mean that we may not also interpret this haunting saying in personal, contemporaneous, and mystical ways. Through the power of the Spirit, Jesus Christ is knocking at the door of our hearts. He takes the initiative. As Pascal said, “You would not seek him if he had not first sought you.” He is the hunger as well as the food. He is not only the answer but the question. He wishes us to welcome him into our personal lives and into our society.