THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST TO HIS SERVANT JOHN
The Unveiling of the Kingdom on Earth and in Heaven
Lesson 6
The Covenant Treaty Historical Prologue Continued:
Chapter 3:7-22
The Letters to the Churches at Philadelphia and Laodicea
Holy
and Eternal Lord,
As a covenant people, we are bound in loyalty and obedience to our covenant with
You. It is not only an individual obligation but a communal obligation to keep
sacred our New Covenant established in the Flesh and Blood of Your Son. Help
us to keep our faith communities like the churches at Smyrna and Philadelphia
that Jesus praised in His letter as being worthy of the "crown of life" because
of their faithfulness and for whom the door to Heaven stands open because they represent
a pillar of righteousness. We pray in the name of God the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit. Amen.
+ + +
Your
oppressors' children will humbly approach you, at your feet all who despised
you will fall, addressing you as "City of Yahweh," "Zion of the Holy One of
Israel." Instead of your being forsaken and hated, avoided by everyone, I will
make you an object of eternal pride, a source of joy from age to age.
Isaiah 60:14-15
It
is not by being children through physical descent that people become children
of God; it is the children of the promise that are counted as the heirs.
Romans 9:8
The structure of the four sections of Revelation following the Preamble in Chapter 1 are like the four sevenfold curse-judgments for apostasy against the Sinai Covenant in Leviticus 26:18, 21, 24, and 28 that can be summarized as follows:
The patterns of judgments in the first four letters also follow the curse-judgments for apostasy in Leviticus 26:18-28:
The New Covenant Treaty Format in the Letter to the Church at Philadelphia:
Founded c. 140 BC by Attalus II Philadelphia, king of Pergamum, the city of Philadelphia (Greek: philios = love of family or mankind and adelphos = from the womb/brother) was called the "gateway to the East" because the city was at the crossroads to the approach to the provinces of Mysia, Lydia, and Phrygia. The city's prosperity came from its strategic position as a center of trade and because of its grape-growing and wine-producing industry, and it sometimes bore the title "little Athens" because of the magnificence of its many temples and public buildings.
The cultural centers of the 1st century AD practically floated on the wine consumed by its various populations. As was fitting for a center of wine production, Philadelphia was a center for the worship of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and fertility (and every other kind of excess), but the city also had many other temples devoted to pagan gods. In addition to Philadelphia's location at the crossroads of the Empire, it had nearby volcanic hot springs, which increased its status; however, the city also suffered destruction from numerous earthquakes. Twice the city had been rebuilt and given a new name. The earthquake of AD 17 severely damaged the city, but at the time John's letter was written, the Roman Empire had provided the funds to magnificently rebuild Philadelphia. When the Romans restored the city, they gave it a new name, Neocaesar ("new Caesar"), but the name fell into disuse. Then later, Emperor Vespasian (ruled AD 69-79) renamed the city Flavia after his family name. However, as before, the name Philadelphia persisted. In this letter, Christ will promise the Christian community at Philadelphia another "new name" that will last throughout all eternity.
The Christian church at Philadelphia was small (verse 8) but faithful. Her enemies evidently came from the outside, not inside the community, since there is no mention of heresy or factions promoting secularism within the church. But like the church at Smyrna, apostate Jews were persecuting the faith community at Philadelphia. Today modern Alasekir (Turkey) occupies the site of ancient Philadelphia.
Revelation 3:7-13 ~ Jesus' Letter to the Church in Philadelphia: A Community Small in Numbers but Great in Faith
7
"Write to the angel/messenger of
the church in Philadelphia and say, Here is the message of the holy and true
one who has the key of David, so that when he opens, no one will close, and
when he closes, no one will open: 8
I know about your activities.
Look, I have opened in front of you a door that no one will be able to close,
and I know that though you are not very strong, you have kept my commandments
and not disowned my name. 9 Look, I am going to make the synagogue of Satan, those
who falsely claim to be Jews but are liars because they are no such thing, I
will make them come and fall at your feet and recognize that I have loved you.
10 Because you have kept my commandment to persevere, I
will keep you safe in the time of trial, which is coming for the whole world, to
put the people of the world [those who dwell upon the land] to the test. 11 I am
coming soon: hold firmly to what you already have and let no one take your
victor's crown away from you. 12 Anyone who proves victorious I will make into a pillar
in the sanctuary of my God, and it will stay there forever. I will inscribe on
it the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem
which is coming down from my God in heaven, and my own new name as well. 13 Let
anyone who can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.'"
7"Write to the angel/messenger of the church in Philadelphia and say, Here is the message of the holy and true One who has the key of David, so that when He opens, no one will close, and when He closes, no one will open.'"
Question: What title does Jesus use to greet
the church, and what does it recall from Chapter 1?
Answer: Jesus Christ refers to Himself as "the holy and true
One who has the key of David." It recalls the title He used in His greeting to
John in 1:18 in which Jesus said He held the keys of death and Hades.
"Holy" is an established Biblical term for God: "To whom can you compare Me, or who is my equal?" Says the Holy One (Is 40:25), and that God is "holy" appears repeatedly in both the Old and New Testaments, and God's holiness is a central theme of the Book of Isaiah (Is 1:4; 5:19, 24; 6:3; 10:17, 20; 41:16, 20; etc.). The word "true" (alethinos in Greek) tells us that Christ is entirely reliable in contrast to the apostate Jews who rejected the truth.
It is the first time Jesus uses a title for Himself that does not appear in John's description of the glorified Christ and which Jesus did not apply in identifying Himself to John in Chapter 1 except to the reference to the "keys of death and Hades" in 1:18. However, the "key (singular) of David so that when he opens, no one will close, and when He closes no one will open."
It is significant that Jesus, the Messiah, has "the key of David."
Question: Who is David referred to in this
passage, and what was his connection to Jesus? Read 2 Samuel 7:1-16, giving
special attention to verse 16: Your dynasty and your sovereignty will ever
stand firm before me and your throne be forever secure. Also see Luke 1:32,
3:23-32, Matthew 1:1 that begins Jesus genealogy: Roll of the genealogy of
Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham, and 1:20.
Answer: Jesus is a descendant of the Great
King David through both Joseph (His foster father) and Mary, His mother.
Question: To who were the keys of the Davidic
kings entrusted? See Is 22:15-25.
Answer: The Davidic kings entrusted their keys to the chief
steward/vicar or prime minister.
The title Jesus uses refers to God's eternal covenant with David to which Jesus is the Davidic heir and the witness to the promise God made to David (2 Sam 7:16, 25-27; 23:5; Ps 89; Is 55:3-4; Zec 12:8). The title is also an allusion to Isaiah 22:15-25. In that passage, God accuses a royal prime minister (the chief minister of all the king's ministers) of falsehood and betrayal of trust and replaces him with a vicar in whom the king's authority will be faithfully exercised. With this reference to Isaiah 22, Jesus' message to the Christians of Philadelphia concerning the apostate Jews is that those who refuse to accept Christ as the Davidic Messiah are false, unfaithful servants. They have been deposed of their office and removed from their authority as representatives of the One true and holy God. Like the unfaithful steward/vicar in Isaiah 22, they have been replaced.
Question: When the "keys of the kingdom" were
taken from those who occupied the "chair of Moses" (Mt 23:1) to whom did Jesus
the Messiah, the son of David and King of kings, give the "keys" to His New
Covenant Israel? Read Mt 16:13-20.
Answer: Jesus gave them to His new Vicar, Simon/Peter.
With the establishment of the New Covenant Israel, Peter's successors will sit on the "chair of Peter, and like Eliakim in Isaiah 22:21, Christ will put a sash round his waist, I shall invest him with your authority; and he will be a father, but not to Jerusalem which had been the center of the Old Covenant Church but to Rome, the center of the New Covenant Israel, the Catholic (worldwide) Church.
7b
when he opens no one will close,
and when he closes, no one will open."
This phrase is another allusion to Isaiah 22:15-25. In His covenant lawsuit in Matthew 23:13, Jesus said, "Woe to you,
scribes and Pharisees ... you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you
neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in." Christ
has transferred the doorkeeper's authority first to His Vicar, Simon/Peter in
Matthew 16:16-18, and then to include the rest of the Apostles in Matthew 18:18
and John 20:23, who became the Church's first Magisterium. So now Peter,
Christ's Prime Minister/Vicar, and his associates have the privilege of first
admitting not only Jews but also Samaritans and Gentiles to permanent
membership in the kingdom of God. The faithful Christians have nothing to fear
and everything to gain.
Question:What is the door that has opened?
See Acts 14:27; 1 Cor 16:9; 2 Cor 2:12; Col 4:3, and CCC 303.
Answer: It is the door of faith and the invitation to salvation.
If this letter was written circa AD 96, as some scholars suggest, Christianity's break with Old Covenant Israel has been established for 30 years. But if it is between AD 64 and 68, the wounds of that separation are very fresh but not completely severed. Initially, the Messianic Jews (those who accepted Jesus as the promised Messiah) still considered themselves a part of Old Covenant Israel. The Roman Empire and the Temple in Jerusalem regarded Christians as a split-off sect (even if the Temple authority considered them to be a heretical sect). In the early years of the New Covenant Church, Jewish Christians celebrated the Eucharist on Sunday, the Lord's Day, but they still went to the Synagogue on Saturdays, and if they were in Jerusalem, they attended both the synagogue where they studied the holy Old Testament Scriptures and the Temple to offer prayers and sacrifices (see Acts 3:1; 13:4 & 14; 14:1; 21:26). This deep attachment to the Temple is one reason the inspired writer to the Letter to the Hebrews wrote it had to be destroyed before the New Covenant could be fully established (Heb 9:9), and why Christ was "abolishing the first sort to establish the second" (Heb 10:9b). God, in His mercy, gave the New Covenant Jews 40 years to adjust to the New Covenant celebrated not in Temple sacrifices but in the Eucharistic sacrifice (from Christ's ascension in AD 30 to the destruction of the Temple in AD 70 is 40 years).
As time and tensions progressed Jews, became more hostile to the growing numbers of Jewish converts to Christianity and the disruption Christian apologists caused in the synagogues. But the real split came with the Jewish Revolt in AD 66 when Christians refused to join the Jews in a rebellion against the Roman Empire. Worse than misguided messiah-zealots, now the Christianized Jews were traitors, and the split was final, complete, and painful. The Jews excommunicated the Jewish-Christians from the synagogues, as Jesus foretold in Matthew 10:17 (also see Mk 13:9; Jn 16:2). In this passage, Jesus may be saying to the Christians at Philadelphia that even though the Jews may believe they have shut you out, what Christ opens the Jews cannot close. There is also a reference in this passage to the admission to or the "opening up" of the city of David that is the heavenly Jerusalem where Christ alone opens or shuts the door of salvation. The next verse supports both these interpretations.
8
I know about your activities
(deeds or works). Look, I have opened in front of you a door that no one will
be able to close, and I know that though you are not very strong, you have kept
my commandments and not disowned my name.
"I know your works," He assures them, and He has compassion for their lack of
strength. The church of Philadelphia is not a large or prosperous church, but
they have remained faithful to what they have received concerning the Gospel of
Jesus (see Lk 19:26). They have kept His commandments and have not denied His
name. Because of their faithfulness, Christ the key holder, the Lord of the
New Covenant Himself, has admitted them to fellowship and has cast out the ones
from whom He removed the "keys" of authority.
9
Look, I am going to make the
synagogue of Satan, those who falsely claim to be Jews, but are liars, because
they are no such thing; I will make them come and fall at your feet and
recognize that I have loved you."
Again, we have Jesus' testimony that there is no separate means of salvation for the
Jews apart from Jesus Christ. See the prophecy in Isaiah 60:14-15.
Question: As in Revelation 2:9, in the letter
to Smyrna, how are the apostate Jews revealed in their true identity?
Answer: They are liars because they falsely claim to be Jews
by standing in opposition to God's divine will, and therefore belong to a
"synagogue of Satan.
Jesus writes that they are not true Jews because they reject Him as the Christ/Messiah. As St. Paul wrote: It is not that God's promise has failed. Not all born Israelites belong to Israel, and not all the descendants of Abraham count as his children ... That is, it is not by being children through physical descent that people become children of God; it is the children of the promise that are counted as the heirs (Rom 9:6, 8). The true descendants of Abraham are those who accept Jesus as the Messiah. They are the New Israel of a New Covenant (also see Mt 3:7-12; Jn 5:39-47; 8:39-44; Rom 2:28-29; 9:6-8 and Gal 3:7-9, 26-29; CCC 877).
Reconstructed Rabbinic Judaism is not Biblical; there is no such thing as a genuine belief in the Old Testament that is consistent with a rejection of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Jesus says that to reject Him as the Messiah comes from Satan. The true Jew, the true Israel, recognizes Jesus as the Messiah and the only path to eternal salvation. When Jews who reject Jesus claim to follow in the footsteps of Abraham, Jesus says, they lie. Jesus' promises to make them (the false Jews) come and fall down (or bow down) at your feet that is an ironic reference to Isaiah 60:14-15 where God gives this promise to the Covenant people who have been persecuted by the pagans: Your oppressors children will humbly approach you, at your feet all who despise you will fall addressing you as "City of Yahweh," "Zion of the Holy One of Israel." Instead of your being forsaken and hated, avoided by everyone, I will make you an object of eternal pride, a source of joy from age to age.
Apostate Israel's rejection of Jesus has caused them to be pruned out of the Tree of Life of the covenant people, while believers in Jesus Christ from all nations of the earth have been grafted in, as St. Paul wrote in Romans 11:7-24. In verse 19, he wrote: You will say, "Branches were broken off on purpose for me to be grafted in." True; they through their unbelief were broken off, and you are established through your faith. Then in verse 23, he wrote: And they, if they do not persevere in their unbelief, will be grafted in; for it is within the power of God to graft them back again." Jews who have rejected Christ will remain outside the people of God unless and until they are grafted into the covenant line by God's grace through Christ, Jesus. And then there is Jesus' most intimate assurance of His love for His covenant people in 3:10.
10 Because you have kept my commandment to persevere, I will keep you safe in the time of trial, which is coming for the whole world, to put the people of the world [those who dwell upon the land] to the test. 11 I am coming soon: hold firmly to what you already have and let no one take your victor's crown away from you."
Question: What is Jesus' repeated command to each of the seven churches?
Answer: They must persevere!
The "whole world" refers to the inhabited known world of the Roman Empire. The people of John's time had no knowledge of the world outside the Roman Empire, and to them, it was the only "world" that mattered. The Greek word translated "world" is oikoumene from the word oikeo, which means "to occupy/dwell in a house." The better translation of the phrase the people of the world is "people who dwell upon the land," using the Greek word ghay, which means "soil" or by extension, "a region," referring to the land of Israel.
The expression "those who dwell upon the land" appears twelve times in Greek text of the Book of Revelation; symbolically for each of the twelve tribes of Israel and in reference to an apostate Israel (Rev 3:10; 6:10; 8:13; 11:10 twice; 13:8, 12, 14 twice; 14:6; 17:2 and 8). In the Greek version of the Old Testament (the translation used by the early Church and the most frequently quoted text of the Old Testament Scriptures in the New Testament). Tt is the same expression that appears in the historical books for rebellious, idolatrous pagans about to be destroyed and driven from the land (Num 32:17; 33:52, 55; Josh 7:9; 9:24; Judg 1:32; 2 Sam 5:6; 1 Chron 11:4; 22:18; Neh 9:24). It is also the same expression that appears in the Books of the Prophets for a rebellious, idolatrous Israel about to receive God's divine judgment and to be driven from the land (Jer 1:14; 10:18; Ez 7:7; 36:17; Hos 4:1, 3; Joel 1:2, 14; 2:1; Zeph 1:18). Therefore, when the expression applies to Israel, it means they have become like idol-worshipping pagans who no longer deserve to dwell in the Holy Land God gave them.
The use of this phrase
twelve times in the Book of Revelations calls to mind the twelve tribes of
Israel (Jesus had just been speaking of the false Jews).
Question: Do
you see any connection between the use of this phrase twelve times in
Revelation and the use of this expression in the Old Testament?
Answer: It is possible that Christ is saying that Israel has become a nation of pagans, and is about to be destroyed, exiled, and supplanted by a new nation that is the New Israel of the Kingdom of the New Covenant Church.
If John wrote this letter between AD 64 and 68, this is precisely what is about to happen. Emperor Nero was a man mad who had inaugurated a period of intense Christian persecution, intending to wipe out Christianity. The entire Roman world was in turmoil with revolts against Roman rule throughout the empire. Judea would initiate and then lose their rebellion against the Roman Empire, and the Romans would take their revenge by destroying Judea, Jerusalem, the Temple (AD 70), and by enslaving and exiling the majority of the Jewish population out of the land for their sins like the pagan Canaanites.
Jesus' promise of protection to the church at Philadelphia doesn't make sense if it is a protection from something that would happen thousands of years in the future. Christ is not promising to "rapture" this church out of an end-times tribulation. He is instead promising to preserve them in a time of severe hardship that is coming in their lifetimes and protect them from forfeiting their gift of eternal salvation (see Jude 24-25). This verse says nothing about the end of the world or the Parousia/Second Coming as dispensationalist fundamentalist Christians have claimed. The "time of trial" spoken of here is identified as a test for the whole known Roman world and is in the immediate future. If Jesus was referring to preserving them until the time of His Parousia, He didn't keep His promise because the seven churches suffered destruction and ceased to exist after the Muslim conquest in the early 14th century.
and let no one take your victors crown away from you.
Christ "opened the door" of faith to the Church at Philadelphia and granted them the privilege of
fellowship with the King of Kings. We serve Him in a royal priesthood and
endure and persevere in His comings throughout history as He shakes the
kingdoms of the earth. For more Biblical references to the "crown" of
salvation, see
1 Cor 1:25;
Phil 4:1;
1 Thess 2:19;
2 Tim 2:5; 4:8;
Jam 1:12;
1 Pt 5:4; and Rev 2:10. St. James wrote: Blessed is anyone who perseveres
when trials come. Such a person is of proven worth and will win the prize of
life, the crown that the Lord has promised to those who love Him (Jam 1:12)
And in Revelation 2:10b, Jesus' message is, Even if you have to die,
keep faithful, and I will give you the crown of life for your prize.
12 Anyone who proves victorious I will make into
a pillar in the sanctuary of My God, and it will stay there forever; 13 I will inscribe on it the name of My God and
the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem which is coming down from My
God in heaven, and My own new name as well.
The church at Philadelphia is three times sealed: 1) belonging to God, 2) belonging to God's
city, and 3) belonging to God's Son. His loving promise to those who are
painfully aware of their weakness is that they will finally belong. The
expression I will make into a pillar in the sanctuary of My God is related
to the complex imagery of the Temple in Jerusalem and the robes of the High
Priest. The Temple's architectural structures corresponded to the garments of
the anointed High Priest. The two pillars of the Temple at the entrance to the
Holy Place were "the shoulders," while the lintel, which arched over the
pillars, corresponded to the headdress of the High Priest inscribed with the
name of Yahweh (Ex 28:15-39). When Jesus said: "I will inscribe on it the
name of my God," He might have been referring to God's holy Covenant name
inscribed on the lintel or on the gold band the High Priest wore on his turban:
"Holy (or consecrated) to YHWH" (Ex 28:36).
The two pillars of the Temple at the entrance to the Sanctuary's Holy Place were named (1 Kng 7:21). The pillar on the right was Yachin (or Jachin which means "He shall establish") and the one on the left was Boaz ("in Him is strength") and can correspond to the shoulders of the high priest's ephod which were inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel (Ex 28:9-12). All this Old Covenant Temple symbolism is brought together in the Book of Revelation. The faithful overcomer is a firmly "established" pillar of "strength" in God's heavenly Temple. The faithful of the New Covenant Kingdom have been redeemed from their wandering ("and it will stay forever") and are characterized by permanence and stability (see Jer 1:18, 1 Tim 3:15).
Question: How many times does Jesus refer to Himself in verses 12-13?
Answer: Seven times, using "I" twice and "My" five times!
I will inscribe on it is also translated I shall write on him may be connected to Revelation 22:4 ~ they will see Him face to face, and His name will be written on their foreheads. The name of God inscribed on the forehead symbolizes the restoration of redeemed man to fully restored communion with God. All this symbolism and imagery speaks of the full restoration of God's holy people who, through the Sacrament of Christian Baptism in Christ are restored to the image and likeness of God as He created man before sin corrupted creation.
Through the sin of Adam, we lost the grace of divine sonship (in the image of God). When we were reborn into the family of God through Christian Baptism, we experienced the forgiveness of original sin and through our death to this world and our resurrection in Christ we became God's image-bearers restored to divine daughter and sonship (see Ex 34:29-35; Num 12:6-8; Psalms 80:3, 7, 19; 2Cor 3:7; 4:6; 1 John 3:2). And not just sonship, but citizenship in the New Jerusalem, which is coming down from heaven. If this is AD 69, the old Jerusalem is about to be destroyed, but Jesus promises a new, heavenly Jerusalem which will be the inheritance of the believer. In Galatians 4:21-31, St. Paul compares the two covenants of the Old Sinai Covenant with Israel and the New Covenant Israel/ Catholic Church by making a comparison between the son of Abraham's slave girl Hagar and the son of his wife, Sarah. In Galatians 4:24-26, he wrote: There is an allegory here: these women stand for the two covenants. The one given on Mt. Sinai that is Hagar, whose children are born into slavery; now Sinai is a mountain in Arabia and represents Jerusalem in its present state, for she is in slavery together with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and that is the one that is our mother.
Question: Can
you find any connection between the repetition of "new name" in Revelation 3:12
and the history of Philadelphia? See the commentary on the introduction to the
letter.
Answer: Historically,
Philadelphia had received a "new" name twice that didn't last.
The repetition of "new name" in verse 12 may be drawing on the failed renaming of the city historically that didn't last in contrast with the new name that the Christians of Philadelphia will receive that will endure forever. It is the name of God and the name (indicating ownership) of the New Jerusalem.
Question: What
about Jesus' reference to His "new name" and what will it be? See Revelation 19:13. In Chapter 21, we will return to his subject, but for more about the
name or names of Christ read Isaiah 62:2, Ezekiel 48:35; and Revelation 21:2,
and see the list at the end of this lesson for the different "names/titles" of
Jesus that are found in the Book of Revelation.
Answer: Jesus
will be known by the name, "The Word of God," which indicates Jesus is the
revelation of God and carries out His judgments.
Question: Did
Christ find any fault with Philadelphia?
Answer: No.
Apart from Smyrna, Philadelphia is the only other church with which Christ
finds no fault.
The Old Testament references in the Letter to Philadelphia are less obvious than those in the other letters:
The Letter to the Church at Laodicea
Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these
practices, for it was by such things that the nations that I am driving out
before you made themselves unclean. The country [land] has become unclean;
hence I am about to punish it for its guilt, and the country [land] itself will
vomit out its inhabitants ... If you make it unclean, will it not vomit you out
as it vomited out the nations there before you? Yes, anyone who does any of
these hateful things, whatever it may be, any person doing so, will be outlawed
from his people; so keep my rules and do not observe any of the hateful laws
which were in force before you came; then you will not be made unclean by
them. I am Yahweh your God.
Leviticus 18:24-28
When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you
must realize that it will soon be laid desolate ... For great misery will descend
on the land and retribution on this people. They will fall by the edge of the
sword and be led captive to every gentile country, and Jerusalem will be
trampled down by the gentiles until their time is complete.
Luke 21:20-24
The New Covenant Treaty Format in the Letter to the Church at Laodicea:
Built at the junction of the Lycus and Maeander valleys, Laodicea was at the intersection of three major Roman highways. Beyond Laodicea was the Rome's eastern province, Phrygia. Laodicea's strategic position helped to make it one of the wealthiest commercial and financial centers in the Roman Empire. The city was famous for its local black wool, which helped to make Laodicea a textile-manufacturing center. It was also known for its medical school and for an eye salve that was famous throughout the Roman world. In addition to the city's great wealth, Laodicea had one of the largest Jewish populations in Roman Asia, with over 7,000 adult male Jews according to a 1st-century Roman census. These were Hellenized (Greek culture) Jews who Rome granted the right to preserve their own customs and religion.
Located between her affluent sister cities of Colossae and Hierapolis, the congregation of Laodicea found itself surrounded by an extremely wealthy and sophisticated Hellenistic (Greek culture) society. St. Paul wrote that their Christian community began by meeting in the home of a woman named Nympha: Please give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea and to Nympha and their church which meets in her house (Col 4:15), and the preaching of Paul's associate Epaphras may have established the community. It was Epaphras who had introduced the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Laodicea's sister cities of Hierapolis and Colossae. In Colossians 1:5-8, St. Paul wrote: because of the hope which is stored up for you in heaven. News of this hope reached you not long ago through the word of truth, the gospel that came to you in the same way as it is bearing fruit and growing throughout the world. It has had the same effect among you, ever since you heard about the grace of God and recognized it for what it truly is. This you learned from Epaphras, our very dear fellow-worker and trustworthy deputy for us as Christ's servant, and it was he who told us about your love in the Spirit (Col 1:5-8). And in Colossians 4:12-17, Paul mentioned Epaphras again: Epaphras, your fellow-citizen sends his greetings ... I can testify for him that he works hard for you, as well as for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis (Col 4:12-13). At the time St. John wrote his message, the spiritual condition of this church had sadly deteriorated. Laodicea receives the most severe condemnation of all the seven churches. The state of this church is in sharp contrast spiritually to the city materially. The city is prosperous, produces a world-famous eye medicine to improve eyesight, and luxurious wool clothing, but this church is spiritually poor, blind, and naked
Revelation 3:14-22 ~ The Letter to Laodicea: A Community that is Neither Hot nor Cold
14 "Write to the angel (messenger) of the church in
Laodicea and say, Here is the message of the Amen, the trustworthy, the true
witness, the Principle [Source] of God's creation. 15 I know
about your activities, how you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were one
or the other, 16 but since you are neither hot nor cold, but only lukewarm,
I will spit you out of my mouth. 17
You say to yourself: I am rich, I
have made a fortune and have everything I want, never realizing that you are
wretchedly and pitiably poor and blind and naked too. 18 I warn
you, buy from me the gold that has been tested in the fire to make you truly
rich, and white robes to clothe you and hide your shameful nakedness, and
ointment to put on your eyes to enable you to see. 19 I
reprove and train those whom I love; so repent in real earnest. 20 Look, I am standing at the door, knocking. If one of
you hears me calling and opens the door, I will come in to share a meal at that
person's side. 21 Anyone who proves victorious I will allow to share my
throne, just as I have myself overcome and have taken my seat with my Father on
his throne. 22 Let anyone who can hear, listen to what the Spirit is
saying to the churches.'"
The letter begins like Jesus' other letters with His command for John to write to the angel/messenger of the faith community: 14 Write to the angel of the church in Laodicea and say Here is the message of the Amen the trustworthy, the true witness, the Principle of God's creation." This is the only letter where the titles for Christ are not drawn from Chapter 1.
Question: What are the three ways in which Christ identifies Himself?
Answer: (1) the Amen, (2) faithful and true witness, (3)
Principle/Source of God's creation
Let's look more closely at
the three titles: "The Amen."
Question: What is your understanding of the meaning of the word Amen'?
Answer: Amen is usually understood to mean "I believe" or "it is true."
"I believe" or "it is true" is the understanding of "amen" now and in the 1st century, but that is not the literal meaning. In fact, using that meaning for verse 14, the sentence does not make sense. The Hebrew word is an acrostic formed from the first letters of three Hebrew words: El meleck Ne'eman, which means "God the trustworthy king" (The Jewish Talmud; Shabbat 1196). Reading verse 14 with this meaning, Jesus' title for Himself makes sense: "Here is the message of God the trustworthy king."
The first use of the word amen
appears in the Old Testament in Numbers 5:21-22 (also see Dt 27:15-26; Neh 5:2-13; etc.).
But it is the Isaiah 65:16 that helps us understand what we are
really saying when we pronounce the word "amen": Whoever blesses himself on
earth will bless himself by the God of truth, and whoever swears an oath on
earth will swear by the God of truth.
It is by Christ's perfect
obedience, atoning sacrifice, and constant intercessions in the heavenly court
on our behalf that He guarantees the covenantal promises made to us
(2 Cor 1:20; Gal 3:13;
Heb 7:22-28; 9:24-28; 10:10-14). So our "amen" in the liturgy
of the Mass, and in every prayer we utter, is both an oath and a
recognition that our salvation is entirely dependent upon the perfect covenant-keeping
of Jesus Christ, "God the trustworthy king," and not on our keeping of the
covenant because He has placed Himself under the covenant stipulations and
curses in our place.
"The faithful and true Witness": He is a faithful witness because He is an infallible, authoritative witness, and we can eternally depend entirely upon His word!
"The Principle/Source of God's creation": The Greek uses the word arche, which in Greek can mean "origin/source" as well as "ruler" or "supreme authority." St. Paul uses this same word in Colossians 1:18b. Christ is both the Origin and the Ruler of all creation as Paul wrote in Colossians 1:15-18b: He is the image of the unseen God, the first-born of all creation, for in Him were created all things in heaven and on earth ... He is the Beginning [arche].... Jesus, God the Son, along with God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit, is the Creator of the cosmos. The Greek translation of Genesis 1:1-3 records: In the beginning [arche] God (the Father) created heaven and earth. 2... there was darkness over the deep, with a divine wind (God the Holy Spirit) sweeping over the waters. God said (God spoke Words), "Let there be light ..." (God the Son). For a more completely understand, read John 1:1 ~ In the beginning [arche] was the Word: the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning [arche]. Through Him all things came into being, not one thing came into being except through Him. What has come into being in Him was life, life that was the light of men; and light shines in darkness, and darkness could not overpower it.
The One who bears testimony against the church at Laodicea is the Trustworthy king, the guarantor of the covenant, the infallible, "true Witness" who comes with all the authority promised by the Creator and King of the Universe.
15 I know your activities: how you are neither cold nor
hot, I wish you were one or the other, 16 but since you are
neither hot nor cold, but only lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth."
Laodicea's location was between
two other wealthy cities: Colossae (Paul requested that his letter to the
Colossians be sent on to Laodicea in Col. 4:16) and Hierapolis (St. John's
disciple Papias was bishop here for circa 30 years). Icy mountain streams
watered the city of Colossae, situated in a narrow valley between tall
mountains. But Hierapolis was famous for its hot mineral springs. It was these
same heavily laden mineral waters that were carried by a Roman aqueduct to
supply Laodicea with water, but by the time the water reached the city, it was
no longer hot but lukewarm and putrid. The community at Laodicea, like the
water, was ineffective: neither hot and healing, nor cold and refreshing.
On what was the church being judged, and why does Jesus say, "I wish you were one or the other"? It is likely that Jesus was not judging the church on her spiritual temperature but on the barrenness of her works. That is why He says, "I wish you were one or the other." Jesus isn't saying that outright apostasy is preferable to middle-of-the-road commitment. He is instead calling for them to have an influence on the pagan and Jewish society, to either actively and energetically evangelizing them (hot) or to turn away and to completely reject interaction with their lifestyle and worldview (cold). If a church is not transforming its society and Christianizing the culture, what good is it? In Matthew 5:13, Jesus said: "You are salt for the earth. But if salt loses its taste, what can make it salty again: It is good for nothing and can only be thrown out to be trampled under people's feet." It is not our calling to blend in with our environment but to transform it, convert it, reform it, and reconstruct it in terms of what God has mandated in His Word
Question: What about your Parish? Is your Parish active and involved in being a force for Christ in the community and the world?
Question: What will be Jesus' judgment on Laodicea? See verse 16.
Answer: He will spit them out; He will bring judgment by
withdrawing the Holy Spirit from this church.
17 You say to yourself: I am rich, I have made a fortune and have everything I want, never realizing that you are wretchedly and pitiably poor, and blind and naked too. 18 I warn you, buy from me the gold that has been tested in the fire to make you truly rich, and white robes to clothe you and hide your shameful nakedness, and ointment to put on your eyes to enable you to see.
Question: What contrast does Jesus make between what these
people believe they have and what they really are?
Answer: The contrast is between riches and every material
necessity versus their actual state of spiritual poverty, blindness, and
nakedness.
There is a meaningful contrast in verse 17 between the city's wealth and importance:
Their condition recalls the warning in the Book of Proverbs:Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall (Prov 16:18).
18a I warn you, buy from me the gold that has been tested
in the fire to make you truly rich
Question: What is the symbolic meaning of the "gold" "tested in
fire"? See 1 Cor 3:10-15.
Answer: The imperishable "gold" symbolizes the good deeds that
will accompany the Christian to Heaven.
Saints Paul and Peter both wrote about the gold that has been tested in the fire that will make Christians truly rich in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 and 1 Peter 1:7. True faith and genuine works of obedience are often symbolized in Scripture as indestructible gold and bad works as perishable hay/straw. For those who die in a state of grace, the bad works (sins) will be purged in Purgatory, and only the good deeds will survive. Once purified, the person is saved, and our heavenly Father will reward those good works tested by the fire.
18b and white robes to clothe you and hide your shameful
nakedness, and ointment to put on your eyes to enable you to see.
Question: What is the symbolic meaning of "shameful nakedness,"
and what are the "white robes" with which Christ will clothe us?
See Gen 3:7; Ps 104:2;
Is 55:1;
Dan 7:9;
Rev 1:14; 3:5; 19:11; and 20:11.
Answer: Nakedness is a symbol of disobedience (Gen 3:7),
while white is a symbol of righteousness and purity.
White, the color of light, is the divine color because it symbolizes the holiness and perfection of God. In Daniel's vision of the Divine Messiah, he saw: the One most venerable took His seat. His robe was white as snow (Dan 7:9), and in John's vision in Revelation 20:11, he says: Then I saw a great white throne and the One who was sitting on it." In Revelation 3:18, the white robe is a symbol of both our justification and sanctification (Gen 3:21; Mt 22:1l; Rev 19:8) and also calls to mind our white robes which signify our spiritual rebirth in the Sacrament of Baptism (see Isaiah 55:1 which is a prophetic promise of our baptism in Christ).
But what about the reference in verse18 to our ability to see? What does the blindness represent symbolically? Blindness is a symbol for man's impotence and fallen nature without God's restoration to true sight which results in the Spirit-filled ability to judge between righteous and ungodly behavior (see Lev 21:18; Dt 29:4; Mt 13:13-15; 16:3; 2 Cor 4:3-4; Lk 4:18; Acts 26:18; 1Cor 2:14-15 and 1 Jn 2:11). In 1 John 2:11, he writes: But whoever hates his brother is in darkness and is walking about in darkness not knowing where he is going, because darkness has blinded him.
19 I reprove and train those whom I love; so repent in
real earnest.
Question: What is Jesus' final command in verse 19?
Answer: Repent in earnest! His continuing love for this
fallen Bride is the source of His genuine, righteous anger. Because I LOVE YOU,
He says, I discipline you!
As far as the Laodicean Christians have fallen, can they still be restored? Yes. All Christians need God's discipline from time to time, and some of us need it more frequently than others. What is important is whether we pay attention to the warning, mend our ways and, turn back in obedience, restoring our fellowship with Christ and His Church. The inspired writer of Proverbs advises My child, do not scorn correction from Yahweh, do not resent His reproof; for Yahweh reproves those He loves, as a father the child whom He loves (Prov 3:11-12; see the allusion to this verse in Rev 3:19). After quoting these same words in the Letter to the Hebrews (New Testament), the inspired writer adds: It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons (Heb 12:7-8). Remember: God is not a permissive father; He is a perfect Father!
The only thing the Christian Laodiceans feel good about is the church's smugly positive opinion of itself, and that is false. She claims to have everything, and yet she has nothing. The fact that Jesus rebukes her shows that He has not cast her out. He still professes His love for His Bride when He says, "I reprove and train those whom I love: so repent in real earnest" (Rev 3:19). This verse is the eighth time Jesus has urged repentance in the seven letters: 2:5 twice, 16, 21 twice, 22; 3:3 and 19.
Question: Why does Jesus place so much emphasis on repentance?
See Mk 1:15; CCC 1427-33.
Answer: Repentance is the expression of genuine sorrow for
sins committed, a conversion of the heart in turning away from sin and turning
toward restoring fellowship with God.
St. Ambrose wrote that there are two conversions in the Church: there are water and tears: the water of Baptism and the tears of repentance. The call to conversion and true repentance is one of the central themes of the New Testament and a cornerstone of the Christian life. Jesus taught the universality of sin and the need for everyone to undergo conversion that has both interior and exterior dimension (CCC 1430). It begins in the mind and heart with the conviction of the wrongdoing of sin. In the New Testament, the Greek word for "repentance" refers to a "change of mind" (Greek = metanoia). The interior attitude then leads to exterior action in the desire to restore one's relationship with God through confession, penance/atonement, and other acts of self-discipline in resisting a repeat of the sin. Baptism is fundamental to conversion, but there is also continual, ongoing conversion throughout the lives of baptized believers.
20 "Look, I am standing at the door, knocking. If one of
you hears me calling and opens the door, I will come in to share a meal at that
person's side. 21 Anyone who proves victorious I will allow to share my
throne, just as I have myself overcome and have taken my seat with my Father on
His throne. 22 Let anyone who can hear, listen to what the Spirit is
saying to the churches."
Jesus now speaks some of the
most beautiful words in the Bible. This passage is full of symbolic imagery
and meaning to Catholics, and yet it has been widely misinterpreted by
Protestant fundamentalists. The Protestant Evangelist Billy Graham always ended
his Gospel message with this verse, but he only read the first two sentences
and ignored the rest of verse 20. When someone uses verse 20 out of context,
and only partially quotes it, the verse is watered down to the point of
becoming the request from a weak deity who is helpless to open the "door"
without man's cooperation. Remember this is "The AMEN," the trustworthy king,
the faithful and true Witness, the Creator, and Sovereign King of Kings. He is
not making a feeble request.
Question: To who is Christ speaking?
Answer: He is directing His message to His Church, not to
Christians as individuals, but to Christians as members of the Sacred
Assembly. Of course, Christ offers Himself to people outside the Covenant to
come to salvation, but in this case, He is addressing those who have sworn an
oath to the New Covenant in Christ. It is important to remember Christ's offer
of salvation is never made without the commitment to come to Him within the
context of the Covenant Kingdom of the Church. The key to understanding verse
20 comes in the last phrase: I will come in to share a meal at that person's
table.
Question: What is the meal that He will share with us?
Answer: The Eucharist.
The reference to "the meal" is the Biblical doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, the New Covenant sacred "thanksgiving" communion meal that replaces the Old Covenant sacred "thanksgiving" communion meal of the Toda (Lev 7:11-15/1-5). In this verse, Jesus is extending to His Church an offer of renewed communion with Himself, and the very heart/center of our communion and fellowship with Him is at His table (our earthly altar/table which He has made His own). The most basic and most profound offer of Christ's salvation is His willingness to eat with us by offering us Himself as the meal. In Holy Communion, we are genuinely having a sacred meal with Jesus Christ. We are lifted up into His heavenly presence, and we are feasting on the Living Bread come down from heaven. This is truly an example of "You are what you eat." Read the significant verses in Jesus' Bread of Life Discourse in John 6:53-5
Christ has taken His seat with His Father on His throne; for example, see
Also see 1 Pt 3:22; Mt 22:44; 26:64; Acts 2:34-35, 33; Heb 10:12-13.
21 Anyone who proves victorious I will allow to share my
throne, just as I have myself overcome and have taken my seat with my Father on
his throne."
This verse s the final promise to the "overcomer," and it is not
only a future hope. The promise of ruling with Christ belongs to all
Christians, those of us here on earth, and all Christians throughout time. His
dominion is progressive throughout history until the final consummation at the
end of time.
Futurists see verse 21 only as a promise of what is to come in Christ's Second Coming, but Scripture tells us:
22 Let anyone who can hear, listen to what the Spirit is
saying to the churches.
Christ ends His message with the same phrase that He has used at the end of the other letters in verse 22.
The seven letters to the churches in the Roman Province of Asia follow the pattern of Salvation History from creation (the reference to the Tree of Life in Rev 2:7) to the end of the Old Covenant Church. The letter to Philadelphia covered the period of the last of the Davidic kings, who held the key of Davidic covenant, and their Vicars (pointing to Christ and His Vicar), to the destruction of Solomon's Temple, the Exile, the return from Exile, the rebuilding of the 2nd Temple, and the period of the Maccabees, which completes the Old Testament. The Letter to Laodicea alludes to the next period in Salvation History: the Advent of the Messiah, the apostasy of the Old Covenant Church, Jesus' Ascension to the Father" (Rev 3:21), and the Last Days of the Old Covenant (AD 30-70).
The church of Laodicea was overconfident in its self-sufficiency and wealth and yet blind to its actual spiritual poverty and nakedness. This imagery is fitting for Pharisaical Judaism of the first century that rejected Jesus as the promised Davidic Messiah (Lk 18:9-14). In His letter, Jesus warns the church at Laodicea that she is about to be "vomited out of the Land," the curse-judgment of Leviticus 18:24-28 and Jesus' judgment warning in Luke 21:24. This judgment parallels Israel being urged to repent and accept Christ offered in the Eucharistic meal by Christ's Apostles in Acts of Apostles and the letters of Paul and the Catholic letters of the other Apostles and bishops
Among the images in the Book of Revelation, there is a collection of names and titles for Jesus that began with the seven titles Jesus applied to Himself in Chapter 1. Each name and title reflect one aspect of Christ's character and His saving work in God's plan of redemption and salvation. Here is a list of those titles (without including repeats):
| 1. faithful witness (1:5) | 12. Creator (4:11) |
| 2. firstborn from the dead (1:5) | 13. Lion of the Tribe of Judah (5:5) |
| 3. highest of earthly kings (1:5) | 14. Root of David (5:5) |
| 4. Alpha and Omega (1:8) | 15. the Lamb (5:6) |
| 5.Son of man (1:13) | 16. Shepherd (7:17) |
| 6. First and the Last (1:17) | 17. Christ [Christos = Anointed] (12:10) |
| 7.Living one (1:17) | 18. Faithful and True (19:11) |
| 8.Son of God (2:18) | 19. Word of God (19:16) |
| 9.the Amen (3:14) | 20. King of Kings (19:16) |
| 10. trustworthy true Witness (3:14) | 21. Lord of Lords (19:16) |
| 11. Source of Creation (3:14) | |
| The names/titles form a pattern of three times seven: the three Persons of the Godhead times seven, the number symbolizing spiritual perfection. | |
Catechism
references for this lesson:
Rev 3:7 (CCC 303);
3:14 (CCC 1065);
3:19 (CCC 1427*-1433)
Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2000, revised 2019 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.