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THE WELCOME GUEST

Now as they were travelling along, He entered a certain village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.

Many homes still have wall plaques dating from the Victorian era, and I recall seeing them quite often when, as a youngster, I used to visit elderly relatives or friends whose parents would have them on the dining-room wall. They would proclaim the message Christ is the unseen head of this house or Christ is the unseen guest at this table. Others carry messages such as Our house is open to God. I have no doubt from my recall of the people concerned, that those really were homes where our Lord would have been welcomed with open arms.

I wonder how welcome Christ would be in people's homes today. An old poem asks the question, If Jesus came to your house ... and then goes on to question whether He would be welcomed right in or whether it would be necessary to put the house straight first. Would there be some things that needed to be hidden away? Would it be necessary to pretend that things were different to the way that they appeared?

Christ was welcome in the home of the two disciples who lived in Emmaus, (Cleopas and probably his wife). We read in Luke's account that, they urged Him, saying, "Stay with us, for it is getting towards evening, and the day is now nearly over." And He went in to stay with them (Luke 24: 29). There are many instances in the Bible where Jesus was welcomed into individual homes.

· He was welcomed into Peter's home where He not only healed his mother-in-law, but also delivered those who were under demonic possession who were brought to the house, along with many more sick people (Mark 1: 29-34).

· Jesus, seeing Zacchaeus the tax-gatherer up a sycamore tree which he had climbed in order to get a better view, invited Himself to his house. We read in Luke 19: 6 that Zacchaeus hurried and came down, and received Him gladly. Christ came to make some changes in the life of Zacchaeus and his household, and Zacchaeus listened, responded, and rejoiced over the great changes that came about because of Christ's presence.

There are other New Testament passages which record visits Jesus made to people's homes, and there’s always a sense of joy and rejoicing at His presence. Amongst these we can find records of His visiting His friends, Mary, Martha and Lazarus on three occasions, although there are almost certainly many more that go unrecorded.

Jesus paid an unexpected visit to Martha and Mary, according to the passage in Luke 10. We know that it was unexpected because we are told that Martha was distracted by the preparations that she had to do. If she had known He was coming then she would have got things ready beforehand. Perhaps He was a self-invited guest on this occasion as the living demonstration of God's grace. We can reasonably assume that Jesus often invited himself into people's homes in order to bring God's blessings to them, and as a friend of the three, it’s quite probable that He had a standing invitation to visit whenever He was nearby.

Probably the best known occasion was when He received the message from Mary and Martha that Lazarus was sick. The Bible records that by the time He arrived at the house, having delayed his departure, Lazarus had been dead for several days, and we are told that Jesus wept (John 11: 35). Yet Jesus, arriving to a house of sorrow, used the opportunity to demonstrate His resurrection power, calling Lazarus to come from the grave, and restoring him to his grief-stricken sisters. Why did He weep? After all, Jesus knew that in a few minutes he would raise Lazarus back to life. I believe that his weeping was a demonstration of the immense love and compassion that He felt, and still feels, for every soul created by Him. His love for all of us is such that he shares not only our moments of joy but also those of pain and grief. All around Him the family and friends of Lazarus were distressed and grieving their loss, and Jesus would have empathized with them in their pain.

Later we read in John 12 that Jesus made another visit to Lazarus' home, and celebrated a feast with them (1-3). He was a specially invited guest on this occasion, and it was a happy and festive time. These stories show Christ's presence at the house on all types of occasion, always a welcome visitor, always a reliable friend. If you and I want Him to come and stay with us in our times of sorrow and of joy then we need to ensure that He has a standing invitation to come as often as He wants and stay as long as He wants. Importantly, our homes need to be fit places for Him to come to at any moment.

We read in Mark 10: 45 that the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, ... He didn’t intrude where He was unwelcome. He would never cause embarrassment to people by suddenly arriving where He was uncertain of the welcome. He visited to fulfil both his own needs and the needs of others, for He was both divine and human, and He had the same needs that others had for nourishment. On two of His visits we read that He sat down to eat with His hosts. He had a need for the friendship and companionship of others, selecting the twelve apostles in order that they might be with Him. He needed encouragement, being aware of the imminence of His death upon the cross, and when Mary poured out the expensive perfume on Him it was a special sign of devotion that would help to strengthen Him as He faced death. He came to this home to teach the loving ways of God. Luke records that Mary was listening to the Lord's word, seated at His feet (10:39). Jesus gently admonished Martha for worrying unduly about the things of comfort. The meaning of this, in all probability, is that we can go without food and comfort without doing any real or lasting harm, but we cannot go without communication with our Lord because He supplies our spiritual food, and to go without spiritual food would be a massive deprivation with lasting effects. The lesson for us here is to understand the importance of prayer in our lives over all else.

We can also learn from these situations that Jesus comes to bring sympathy in times of sorrow, to share joy during times of happiness, and that when He comes into the home then He brings with Him the power to give new life.

Learning what the stories mean is one thing, but it is putting that learning into action that’s the most important thing. Jesus wants to come into your heart to be your Lord. Bringing love and power, He wants to make the necessary changes in your life, reversing some things and reorganizing others. He wants to complete, enrich, empower and use your life.

Is Christ the Unseen guest at every meal, and the Unseen Head of the Household in your home? If He isn't, I wonder if you will change that situation and invite Him to come in whenever He wants, starting today?

To God be all glory, and power, and dominion, for ever and ever.

Amen.