Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Revelation 3:20

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." — Revelation 3:20 (ASV)

To those who hear the words of rebuke, Christ extends an invitation to dine with him. This figure represents Christ standing at the door to the hearts of the members of the congregation at Laodicea. Christ will come and have fellowship with all those who hear his voice of rebuke and thus prove themselves as Christ’s friends by zeal and repentance. The “eating” (GK 1268) refers to the main meal of the day, which in Oriental fashion was a significant occasion for having intimate fellowship with the closest of friends. It is through the Holy Spirit that Christ and the Father come to have fellowship with us . While most commentators have taken this invitation as addressed to lapsed, halfhearted Christians, the terminology and context (v.18) suggest that these Laodiceans were for the most part mere professing Christians who lacked authentic conversion to Christ in the first place, which is the essential prerequisite for true discipleship. Verse 20 is, therefore, more evangelistic than admonitory. Those who find in it an allusion to the Lord’s Supper may be right.