for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey
and I have nothing to offer him
This friend can be seen as Jesus himself, or Jesus as he is present in those who are poor and in need. Of ourselves we have nothing to offer, nothing to sate the the midnight hunger of the one who endured much to come to us. Jesus desires that we give him the "three loaves" of faith, hope, and charity, and hospitality demands at least as much of us. We may have some lesser food, but for Jesus, whose bread is to do the will of God (see John 4:34), this will not be enough.
‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked
and my children and I are already in bed.
I cannot get up to give you anything.’
We can go to the Father himself for what we need to respond in love to others. But he does not arise at once to give us what we ask, as if what he was going to give was a thing owed to us. Nevertheless, the longer we stay, the more we knock, the more he comes to recognize in us the loving heart of his own Son. The Father does not want to send us back to respond to Jesus with cheap grace, but rather transformed with genuine faith, hope, and love. The locked door turns out to be locked only until faith comes alive. But often this takes a long time as we gradually wear down the hope of earning or deserving it.
I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves
because of their friendship,
he will get up to give him whatever he needs
because of his persistence.
God himself will supply what we need to live the Christian life. Even faith itself is a gift from him, and every step along the path is similarly unearned.
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence (see Second Peter 1:3).
No matter how long the door stays closed we must not come to believe that God is stingy, lazy, or indifferent to our plight. Rather, he desires that we open our hearts wide enough so that he can give, not the little we ask, but the abundance he desires to bestow.
Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you (see Matthew 7:7, Amplified Bible).
Without faith our horizon narrows and we take the perspective of those of whom Malachi wrote:
You have said, “It is vain to serve God,
and what do we profit by keeping his command,
And going about in penitential dress
in awe of the LORD of hosts?
Rather must we call the proud blessed;
for indeed evildoers prosper,
and even tempt God with impunity.”
Faith is the perspective the there is more to the present reality that we cannot yet see. The hardship of a moment, from the perspective of faith, is always seen in the context of a divine plan, as ordained by a heart of unfathomable love. Doors that seem locked from a human perspective already give way and open to hearts full of faith, even while we are still in some sense knocking.
But for you who fear my name, there will arise
the sun of justice with its healing rays.
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