Have you ever experienced a dinner that was life-changing? Have you said yes to a simple dinner invitation, only to receive something far greater and long-lasting than the meal? We certainly have! For the next several weeks on this blog, we will be sharing our personal stories as dinner guests, and we will be painting portraits of other dinner guests whose lives were transformed by their experiences at the table. To set the stage, we wanted to explore the ultimate dinner guest, Jesus Christ. Throughout the New Testament, we see several occasions with Jesus as the dinner guest. He was invited to dinner (see Luke 7:36-50), invited Himself to dinner (see Luke 19:1-10), miraculously made dinner for a multitude (see Matthew 14:13-21), and ultimately initiated a whole new worldview through a dinner called the Last Supper (see Luke 22:7-20). The most intriguing portrait of Jesus as a dinner guest, however, is found in Revelation 3:20. In this verse we see Jesus standing outside the door, knocking, and we not only are left to wonder whether the door is opened to Him, but we discover our integral role in the final outcome.
Revelation 3:20 is a verse that stands in the middle of Jesus’s messages to seven churches in Asia. At this point in history Jesus already has died on the cross, risen from the dead, and ascended into heaven. He visits the apostle John in a vision and instructs him to record His messages. The seventh church He addresses is the Church in Laodicea, and He frankly has very little good to say. Laodicea appears to be Christian in name only. Its members say they know Jesus, but they place their faith in wealth, self-focus, and self-indulgence. Interestingly, Laodicea is a city that is dependent on water from other sources, namely from a hot spring. By the time it reaches the city, the water is lukewarm. Jesus describes the spiritual condition of Laodicea’s church the same way.
“I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” – Rev. 3:15-16 ESV
Jesus goes on to explain the reason for Laodicea’s lukewarmness. They believe they are rich because they have prospered, therefore, they need nothing, including Jesus. Oh, they speak of Him, but their words are empty, because they don’t depend on Him. How about you, friend? Does your life and living point you back to Jesus with a realization that apart from Him you can do nothing? Or, are you living fairly comfortably and not really seeing your need for His saving grace? Or, are you caught between an awareness of God’s grace and a belief that you need to pay Him back through proper living and adherence to His laws? Laodiceans seemed to be living comfortably and resting in their own strength to do things for God, rather than submitting to Him. And their focus led to self-worship rather than surrender to the only One who deserves our praise. And what was Jesus’s response? He extended more grace, as well as an understood warning.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with Me.” – Revelation 3:20 ESV
In these words, Jesus was effectively saying, “Laodicea, I am here knocking. Do you hear Me? Do you see that you are focused on yourself? Turn from that and turn to Me. Stop worshiping your work and start worshiping Me who gives you life. If you do, I will gladly come in and feast with you. We will feast together in forever fellowship. If you persist in your current ways, that road will lead nowhere good.”
Be a Door Opener!
While we do not see specifically in Scripture how the Church in Laodicea responded to Jesus’s invitation, history does tell us what happened to the city as a whole. A series of devastating earthquakes repeatedly damaged the once prosperous community until the city was completely abandoned around 610 AD. Prosperity came to a close, but Jesus remains. He is a steadfast Savior then, now, and forevermore. And He wants to fellowship daily and deeply with you. And how does that fellowship look?
Fellowship with Jesus is not a drive through restaurant where you grab the meal and take it along with you to whatever is more important on the agenda. Fellowship with Jesus is not Tapas – a small-plate sampling that gives you a little taste of the food but often leaves you wanting more. Fellowship with Jesus isn’t even the one-course meals we typically eat, where you are satisfied, maybe even full.
Fellowship with Jesus is a multicourse feast where each course leads you into deeper experiences of ever-changing tastes, textures, and revelations. Communing with God in prayer and the reading of His word is just such a feast. As we make Him our central focus (rather than ourselves) we come to know our God through interactive, personal relationship, and He reveals the living attributes of His word that are described in the book of Hebrews.
“For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirt, of joint and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” – Hebrews 4:12 ESV
Like a glass of wine can reveal new notes of fruit, soil, flower and foliage with each pass over the tongue, so does God’s Word with each reading, revealing new facets of His character and plans. And like the 10 million tastes that can enliven our tastebuds with each bite of food, so can our souls be enlivened with each interaction we have with God. For all who follow Him, who have received His gift of everlasting life through faith in Jesus Christ, He is always with us. Indeed, He is in us. And He will work in us and through us every day if we let Him. Leave the door open to Him, friend. Allow Him to show you the places of your heart where the door might be closed, and let Him open that door too. Pastor David Guzik poses the question, “Is there any soul harder to reach than the one who has just enough of Jesus to think they have enough?” Let’s drive by the drive-throughs. Let’s forgo the small plates. Let’s feast with Jesus through prayer, fellowship, and the study of His word, the Bible. He’s the Only One who can give us beyond what we request, yet always leave room to offer us more.
— Linda R. Maynard for The Sublime Soiree (c) June 2025
