Mark started his sermon at the carol service with a series of ‘Knock, knock’ jokes before going on to talk about the knock on the doors of the inns in Bethlehem which ultimately led to one innkeeper offering Mary and Joseph the shelter of a smelly stable. If the innkeepers had known who was going to be born that night, they might have responded differently to the knocks on their door, but Jesus was born into obscurity, born in a stable, placed in a feeding trough – an unexpected place for the Light of the World to make His entry into our world.
Jesus continues to knock on doors today, but these are the doors of our hearts. Revelation 3:20 says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” As the Holman Hunt painting ‘Light of the World’ clearly illustrates, there is no door handle on the outside. It’s up to us to respond to Jesus knocking; only we can open the door to allow Him access into our lives.
Jesus wants us to let Him in on a regular basis. He’s not just for Christmas. He is our best friend who will never leave us or forsake us, but our response is needed to His knocking.