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.

Jesus is a gentleman! The thought came back in to mind this morning as I read John 21. The disciples went out fishing. Not for the first time, they caught nothing, but on the way back they saw Jesus on the beach and he invited them to breakfast.
As I thought about this, I realized that we sometimes make that remark about Jesus being a gentlemen, but never get into the detail of how he really behaved. So here’s a challenge for you. Go read the four gospels, and see if you kind find instances of Jesus sending for people, telling them to come to Him.
Both in general and in particular, Jesus never demanded, never insisted.
One way that I look at Jesus’s ministry leading up to His crucifixion is that it is the entry, royal progress, and eventual rejection of the King. Jesus came, set out His stall and proclaimed His message. People flooded to Him … some stayed, some left. He was saddened by those that left — to my ear John 6:67 “Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?” sounds one of the saddest notes in the Bible — but He never threatened or even scolded them. By the end many had left … but the road was open for them to return.
It’s still the same. The invitation is always open – but that’s what it is, an invitation not a summons. Maybe that works against us when we think about evangelism. We want to talk to people about following Jesus, but we can’t ever say “you have to come”. We have to follow our master, being winsome, courteous and open … we can’t be aggressive, rude or directive!
Of course there’s a punchline to this story. You can read about it in Matthew 22. Those people who received an invitation to the wedding supper of the Lamb and turned it down will be forced to acknowledge their foolishness. Those who try to go to the wedding without cleaning up first will be punished for their discourtesy. In other words, those who refuse salvation, or who claim to be saved but don’t repent their sins and show the fruit of repentance, will find that gentleman Jesus can only be pushed so far!