Read with Me
Revelation 3:14-22 (HCSB)
“Write to the angel of the church in Laodicea:
“The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Originator of God’s creation says: I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I’m rich; I have become wealthy and need nothing,’ and you don’t know that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire so that you may be rich, white clothes so that you may be dressed and your shameful nakedness not be exposed, and ointment to spread on your eyes so that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be committed and repent. Listen! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and have dinner with him, and he with Me. The victor: I will give him the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I also won the victory and sat down with My Father on His throne.
“Anyone who has an ear should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Listen with Me
Laodicea was located on a hill about twenty-six miles east of Ephesus. The city was home to many very wealthy people. The collective wealth of the city was so great, in fact, that when it was badly damaged by an earthquake in AD 60, the people rejected a grant from the Neronian government, preferring to finance the repairs themselves.
The risen and exalted Jesus begins by identifying himself as the Amen. Amen is a Hebrew word meaning something like “truth”, or “may it be so”. Jesus using this title for Himself indicates that in Him all possibilities are realized and all promises are ensured.
He also calls himself the faithful and true Witness. Jesus has much to say in judgment of the Laodicean Christians, but His condemnation is not based on hearsay. Instead, it is based on what He knows to be true because He has been walking among the Churches, seeing all that has been happening (Revelation 1:12-13, 20).
Finally, Jesus calls himself the Originator of God’s creation. Jesus is not some local god like the pagan residents of Laodicea worshiped. He is the Lord and Ruler not only of the whole world, but of the whole universe, holding it all together by His great power (Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:3).
Jesus has nothing positive to say about the Church in Laodicea. Instead, He immediately condemns them for being neither hot nor cold in their devotion to Him and in their commitment to His agenda. They are lukewarm. Just as lukewarm water is neither stimulating like hot water, nor refreshing like cold water, but nauseating, Jesus finds the Laodiceans nauseating. He is going to vomit them out of His mouth.
The Laodiceans, even the Christians in the city, were proud of their wealth. But Jesus knew that in reality worldly wealth counted for nothing. None of it would make it into the next phase of life; all would be lost and left behind. Far from being genuinely wealthy the Laodiceans were wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked, people to be pitied rather than admired.
Jesus’ solution is for the Laodicean Christians to turn away from their worldly wealth and to buy from Jesus the true, pure, refined gold of his presence. It is to turn away from their filthy rags of fancy clothes and possessions, and to buy from Jesus the pure white clothing of genuine holiness. It is to realize that they are blind to God’s working in the world and, and to buy from Jesus the ointment of the Holy Spirit that will open their eyes to truly see. Jesus invites the Laodiceans to understand that His judgment of them and His condemnation is not a sign of his hatred but of his love. He invites them to step out from under His condemnation through repentance, to open the door of both their lives as individuals and of their Church as a whole to the sound of his knocking, so that they can turn away from being lukewarm, or even icy cold, and instead burn with holy fire in the cause of Christ. Like all the other Churches, Jesus makes a wonderful promise to all who hear his voice, who repent, and who thus overcome. Those people will sit with Jesus on his heavenly throne for all eternity and enjoy his presence forever.
Pray with Me
Father, this letter is actually more encouraging to me than any of the others. Our besetting sin in the Church today is not outright heresy or hostility to You, but indifference. We are satisfied with claiming a special status with You, with reveling in our relative wealth and our “stuff”. But all the while, we really are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked, playing at worshiping You inside our comfortable buildings while You are outside knocking and calling out to be let in. What a tragedy! But in this letter, You hold out a challenge for us to repent before we grow altogether cold and really do end up in heresy, or before You are forced to vomit us out in disgust. And You encourage us with the promise that You will come in and live fully in our presence, not just individually, but as Your people, Your body as a whole. Help us, Lord, to not turn away from this judgment or this promise without acting on them today. Amen.