Thinking in 3’s: Luke 11:9-10 - Ask, Seek, Knock (3)

Thinking in 3’s: Luke 11:9-10 - Ask, Seek, Knock (3)

Asking, seeking, and knocking go together. They seem to escalate in urgency. We may ask in the quietness of our hearts. We seek with our eyes and our feet. Then we mount the stairs and knock on the door with our knuckles.

What is it that we want? In our asking, we want the desires of heart fulfilled, or the obstacles of life removed. In our seeking, we want answers to life’s questions. We want the discovery of something that is missing. In our knocking, we want the door to be opened, so that we might see face to face; that we might enter into more personal, unmitigated relationship. 

If asking is polite, knocking is a bit of an assault. To knock is a rapping at the door; a beating on the door (cf. Mt 11:12). There is no use to knocking softly. The whole purpose is to raise the attention of the One pursued. 

The story in Acts 12 of Peter knocking at the door is a bit humorous. He was under death sentence in jail, but was released by the angel of the Lord. He was then freed to go and rejoin other believers, but when he knocked on the door and the servant girl opened, she couldn’t believe it was him, so did not bid him enter. As we seek personal communion with Jesus, our desire for face-to-face relationship being the goal, He will not fail to open due to disbelief. Rather, we may wait until the right time, judged not right by us, but by the Father.

Jesus shares a parable just before our verses in Luke 11, verses 5-8, in which a friend seeks to rouse his friend at an inopportune time, at midnight. Friends reach out to friends. Friends respond to their friend’s importunate requests.

Knocking on heaven’s door (Dylan) is not the end. It is the beginning. It’s worth asking for. It’s worth seeking. It’s worth beating on the door. Jesus will open, at just the right time.