He Comes To His Own

Quiet Talks on John's Gospel by Samuel Dickey Gordon written over a hundred years ago in 1915, yet still ringing true today.

He came to that which was his own, but His own did not receive Him.

John 1:11

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He comes to His own. That's you and myself. We belong to Him. He gave His breath to us in Eden. He gave His breath to you and me at our birth. He gave His blood for us on Calvary. We belong to Him. The image of His kinship is stamped upon us. We may not acknowledge it, but that can't change the fact. 

He came to His own front door, and they whose very image revealed their close kinship to Him, received Him not into the home, but kept the door fast in His face.

Or; He comes to His own, and His own—puts a chair outside the door on the top-step. It's a large armchair with a cushion in, perhaps. And then His own talks about Him through the crack of the door, or likelier, the window. It's reckoned safer to keep the door fast. Listen to what he says:

"He's a wonderful man this Jesus; great teacher, the greatest; the greatest man of the race; His philosophy, His moral standards are the ideals; wonderful life; great example." 

They fairly exhaust the language in talking about this Man. But notice. It seems a bit queer. The Man they're talking about is outside the door. His own claim is left severely outside. 

Some make it read like this: He comes to His own, and they who are His own open the door a crack; maybe a fairly respectably wide crack. We all like the word Saviour. Yes, we cling tenaciously to that. Selfishly, would you say? We want to be saved from a certain place we think of as down, that we've been taught about, and don't want to go to—if it's there; the way men talk about it today.

And we want to be saved into another certain place we think of as up, and where we surely want to go after we get through down on the earth, and must go away somewhere else; with that ''after" and "must" carefully underscored. And we want to be saved from all the inconveniences possible along the way, and to secure all the advantages and help available: yes, yes, open the door a crack.

But be careful about the width of the opened crack. Let it be just the proper conventionalized width. Let there be no extremeism about the wideness of that opening. Things must be proper. For what would the other crack-open-door-owners think? 

And then, too, yet more serious, this Jesus has a way, a most inconsiderate way of coming in as far as you let Him, and of taking things into His own hands. Certain people use that word "inconsiderate" to themselves, in secret. Jesus changes some things when He is allowed all the way in. He might change your personal habits, your home arrangements, some of your social customs and your business plans.

Of course He changes only what needs changing, as He sees it. But then you well, some

things can be carried too far to suit you. 

This Jesus has the all habit. He gave all. And He has a way of coming in all the way, and of reaching in His pierced hand and taking all. He might even put His hand in on that most sacred thing, that holiest of all, that you guard most jealously—that box. It has heavy hinges, and double padlocks, and the keys are held hard under the thumb of your will. Of course there may really not be much in it; and again there may be very much. But much or little, it is securely kept uuder that thick broad thumb of yours. 

Oh! you give; of course; yes, yes, we're all good proper Christian folk here. We give a tenth, aud even much more. We support an aggressive missionary propaganda. That's the thing, you know, in our day, for good church people. We give to all the good things. Yes, no doubt. Aud we are very careful, too, that

that inconsiderate Hand shall not disturb the greater bulk that remains between hinge and lock. That's yours. 

Of course you are His, redeemed, saved by His blood. But through it all we hold hard to that key, we don't let go even to Him, though it is He who entrusts all to our temporary keeping. We do guard the

width of that opening crack, do we not ? 

One day I looked through that crack and caught a glimpse of His face looking through full in my own, with those eyes of His. And I wanted to take the door clear off of its hinges and stand it outside against the bricks, and leave the whole door-space wide for Him.

He comes to His own, and His own opens the door wide, and holds it wide open, that He may come in all the way, and cleanse, and change, readjust, and then shape over on the shape of His own presence.