The Third Thursday in Advent -- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

A Reflection on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s The Coming of Jesus in our Midst (pp. 201-04)

The text for Bonhoeffer’s Advent reflection is Revelation 3:20:  “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”

Rather than offer my own thoughts on Bonhoeffer’s piece, I thought I would share a painting instead, perhaps the most famous rendering of this same text from Revelation: William Holman Hunt’s “The Light of the World,” which is housed in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. 


Here is a short analysis from the Cathedral’s website:

“There are two lights shown in the picture. The lantern is the light of conscience and the light around the head of Christ is the light of salvation. The door represents the human soul, which cannot be opened for the outside. There is no handle on the door, and the rusty nails and hinges overgrown with ivy denote that the door has never been opened and that the figure of Christ is asking permission to enter. The morning star appears near Christ, the dawn of a new day, and the autumn weeds and fallen fruit represent the autumn of life. The writing beneath the picture, is taken from Revelation 3 ‘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.’

The orchard of apple trees evokes several biblical references. The tree of knowledge in the garden of Eden was, according to legend, an apple tree and in some Christian traditions the wood of that tree was miraculously saved to construct the cross on which Christ was crucified. The fallen apples could symbolise the fall of man, original sin, and sometimes in Italian art can refer to redemption. Neil McGregor, Director of the British Museum,  has noted that in the painting Christ not only knocks at the door; he is himself the door.”


Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-45) was a Lutheran theologian and a leader of the Resistance in Nazi Germany. He participated in a failed plot to assassinate Hitler for which he was arrested and eventually executed by the Nazis. He is perhaps best known for his Letter and Papers from Prison, posthumously published after the War.

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