_He comes to His own, and His own_--and here, as the scholars would say, there are variant readings. Let me give you one or two I have found. Here is one: He comes to His own, and His own--puts a chair outside the door on the top-step. It's a large armchair with a cushion in, perhaps. And then His own talks about Him through the crack of the door, or likelier, the window. It's reckoned safer to keep the door fast. Listen to what he says: "He's a wonderful man this Jesus; great teacher, the greatest; the greatest man of the race; His philosophy, His moral standards are the ideals; wonderful life; great example." They fairly exhaust the language in talking about this Man. But notice. It seems a bit queer. The man they're talking _about_ is _outside the door_. His own claim is left severely outside. Some make it read like this: He comes to His own, and they who are His own open the door a _crack_, maybe a fairly respectably wide crack. We all like the word _Saviour_. Yes, we cling tenaciously to that. Selfishly, would you say? We want to be saved from a certain place we think of as _down_, that we've been taught about, and don't want to go to--_if it's there;_ the way men talk about it to-day. And we want to be saved into another certain place we think of as _up_, and where we surely want to go _after_ we get through down on the earth, and _must_ go away somewhere else; with that "after" and "must" carefully underscored. And we want to be saved from all the inconveniences possible along the way, and to secure all the advantages and help available: yes, yes, open the door a crack. But be careful about the width of the opened crack. Let it be just the proper conventionalized width. Let there be no extremeism about the wideness of that opening. Things must be proper. For what would the other crack-open-door-owners think? And then, too, yet more serious, this Jesus has a way, a most inconsiderate way of coming in as far as you let Him, and of taking things into His own hands. Certain people use that word "inconsiderate"--to themselves, in secret. Jesus changes some things when He is allowed all the way in. He might change your personal habits, your home arrangements, some of your social customs and your business plans. Of course He changes only what needs changing, as He sees it. But--then--you--well, some things can be carried _too far_--to suit _you_. This Jesus has the _all_ habit. He contracted it when He was down on the earth. Our needs grew the habit. He _gave_ all. And He has a way of coming in all the way, and of reaching in His pierced hand and _taking_ all. He might even put His hand in on that most sacred thing, that holiest of all, that you guard most jealously--that box. It has heavy hinges, and double padlocks, and the keys are held hard under the thumb of your will. Of course there may really not be much in it; and again there may be very much. But much or little, it is securely kept under that thick broad thumb of yours.