Revelation 2:8-11

What Are We Afraid of?

A sermon by Pastor Joe Haynes

Preached on February 4, 2018 at Beacon Church

In this second of the seven letters John is told to write down and send to these seven churches in Asia, Jesus begins with the reminder that He is “the First and the Last, who died and came to life”. Each letter begins with a unique reminder about who Jesus is, so why would this reminder be meaningful to the people of the church in Smyrna at the end of the first century AD? The first reason is because of what we already read in chapter 1. The second reason is because of what was going to happen to the Christians in Smyrna.

This description of Jesus in verse 8 is taken from the opening part of the vision in Revelation, when John saw Christ Jesus in symbolic form as “One like a son of man”, taking care of His churches as a glorious and divine High Priest. When John saw the unveiled glory of God in the face of the symbolic vision of Jesus Christ, he fell down at Jesus’ feet like a dead man. The prophets Ezekiel and Daniel both fell down the same way when they saw the Lord. We should ask, “why?” John had spent 3 years with Jesus and knew him well. This was different because instead of seeing the humanity of Christ, now John saw the full, overpowering deity of Jesus. It’s appropriate that Rev 1:8 introduces Christ as “the Lord God”, “the Almighty”. The reason even God’s prophets and apostles fall down like dead men when they see the Lord, is that they are sinners. So are we. We need God to save us from His own holiness. So in John’s vision, Jesus reached out His right hand and touched John, and strengthened him for the work ahead. And Jesus said, “fear not”. Because this holy and awesome God is the very one who died to give us life: “17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last,  18 and the living one,” (Rev. 1:17-18 ESV).

Like the people in Smyrna, when they first heard Revelation being read out loud in the gathering of their church, we know that three times already John has said this vision will show us the things that were about to start happening (c.f. 1:1, 3, 19). When John was overcome with fear, Jesus told him not to be afraid and then told him why. In this letter, Jesus tells the Smyrnan believers why, then 2 verses later tells them not to be afraid. Even before predicting the frightening things that were going to happen, Jesus gets them to focus on the same truth about Himself that gave John courage and strength for his mission: The “Almighty” Lord Jesus is the one who died to give eternal life to those who believe in Him. Nothing that can happen in this life is more frightening than the full power and glory of the Son of God. So, as Paul asks rhetorically in Rom 8:31, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died-- more than that, who was raised-- who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.  35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?  (Rom. 8:34-35 ESV)

In the last 20 years statues of various gods have been found in the ancient ruins of the city of Smyrna, including one of Dionysos,[i] whom the Smyrnans called “he who prevails”.[ii] The pagans in the city believed he been killed and eaten by the mythical Titans, but then re-made from the left over heart.[iii] But the Smyrnans who believed in Jesus instead of myths didn’t just hope that a piece of them might live on if their bodies were torn apart. They believed that they were going to share in the resurrection of Jesus. They believed this because Jesus is “the first and the last”: alive and victorious forevermore. And they believed what Jesus had said when he raised Lazarus from the dead, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live…” (Jn. 11:25 ESV). When Jesus pointed the people of Smyrna to think about His resurrection power, it likely reminded them that whatever was about to happen, they were much better off worshipping Jesus than mythical idols like Dionysos.

Why this reminder about Jesus already mattered to the Smyrnans

In chapter 1:19, Jesus told John to begin writing everything he saw in his vision, and Jesus divided the vision into two parts: the things that are, including the seven letters, and the things after that, the predictions that start after Rev 4:1. What Jesus said to the church in Smyrna, in 2:8-11, already mattered to them because of three ways they were already suffering. Jesus lists them in verse 9: tribulation, poverty, and slander. “I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan,” (Rev. 2:9 ESV). The word translated “tribulation” (v9) basically means pressure.[iv] Like crushing pressure. It’s a word that in the New Testament is used for different kinds of suffering—like the pressure a new believer faces (Mar 4:17), or the anguish of a woman giving birth (Joh 16:21), or the way Jews in Jerusalem persecuted Christians and forced them to scatter around the Roman Empire (Acts 11:19), or the hardship that “widows and orphans” face (Jas 1:27). Closely related to that last kind of “tribulation” is the poverty, not just of being on a tight budget, but of having nothing. That’s what this word “poverty” means: completely destitute.[v] The history of Smyrna shows us two likely reasons for their extreme poverty.

The first is that Christianity was banned by the Roman government. 2 or 3 years after Revelation was written, Trajan became the Emperor of Rome. During his reign, a governor of another province bordering Asia wrote to him asking his advice on what to do with Christians. The governor wrote, “I have never participated in trials of Christians,” and asks how they should be investigated and punished. He explained to the Emperor that when someone was charged with being a Christian, he handled it like this: “I interrogated these as to whether they were Christians; those who confessed I interrogated a second and a third time, threatening them with punishment; those who persisted I ordered executed. For I had no doubt that, whatever the nature of their creed, stubbornness and inflexible obstinacy surely deserve to be punished.” Trajan replied that he was doing a good job, but that although Christians should not be hunted, the ones who are charged should have to prove they have really given up Christianity by “worshipping our gods”.[vi] This was the political climate that brought such “tribulation”-pressure and poverty to the Smyrnan Christians. It was dangerous doing business with people who thought your religion was treason against the emperor.

The second reason for their extreme poverty is that they were hated by the Jews in Smyrna who made life difficult for Christians. Jesus says that they aren’t really “Jews” but are a “synagogue of Satan” in verse 9. This is not about race, it is about religion. Remember, in terms of race, Jesus was Jewish, and so was John who was writing this. And this is Jesus telling John what to write! A true Jew in terms of religion, according to Jesus, was one who believed in Him, the Christ, the Messiah. False Jews, were those like Paul, before his conversion, who arrested and killed Christians. So Jesus calls them, not a church, but a synagogue doing the work of Satan—which means “adversary”—making themselves adversaries of Christ by how they persecuted the destitute and frightened Christians of Smyrna.

Why this reminder about Jesus mattered even more later on

The rest of Smyrna, the Jews and pagans, looked down on Christians because outwardly they were destitute. But Jesus “knew” things they didn’t (v9): “you are rich”. Then Jesus “knows” the Jews had rejected the God they thought they were serving (“[they] say they are… and are not”). And He “knows” death is not what it seems. The One who is “the first and the last” knows facts they couldn’t see.

“Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life,” (Rev. 2:10 ESV). Smyrna claimed to be famous for a lot of things. It claimed to be the most beautiful city in Asia; to be the birthplace of the most famous Greek poet, Homer, and to be the first city to worship Caesar as a god.[vii] Their fanaticism for Caesar and against Christianity led them to murder Polycarp, the pastor of the church in Smyrna, who was killed for refusing to worship Caesar as god. Polycarp’s church wrote about what happened in a letter they sent to be copied and spread around, because he was very well-known for his faithful ministry and also for the fact that he had known the Apostle John personally.[viii] But when the governor was visiting the city, a crowd of both Greeks and Jews demanded Polycarp’s death: the letter says, they “cried out with uncontrollable fury, and in a loud voice, ‘This is the teacher of Asia, the father of the Christians, and the overthrower of our gods, he who has been teaching many not to sacrifice, or to worship the gods.’”[ix] Because he was very old, government officials tried to get him to just say that Caesar is Lord, but he refused.[x] Polycarp said, “Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me any injury: how then can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour?”[xi] A mob seized Polycarp and got ready to burn him, and even though it was the Sabbath, the Jews of the city eagerly helped gather wood for the fire.[xii] Just before they lit the fire, Polycarp prayed to God saying, “I give You thanks that You have counted me worthy of this day and this hour, that I should have a part in the number of Your martyrs, in the cup of your Christ, to the resurrection of eternal life, both of soul and body, through the incorruption [imparted] by the Holy Spirit.”[xiii] There is little doubt that Polycarp and the Christians of Smyrna drew a great deal of strength and encouragement in their faith from this letter in Revelation.

Verse 10 said “some” of the believers in Smyrna were going to be thrown in prison, not all. And it said the time of “tribulation” would not last forever, but for “10 days”. Almost all commentators understand this as a symbolic period of time. While some think it means just a “short time”,[xiv] I side with many others who believe this follows the normal “day for a year” scale in Bible prophecy, meaning “ten years”.[xv] The Martyrdom of Polycarp says his death brought the persecutions to an end, so this could be about the 10 years before that.[xvi] Or it could be to the 10-year brutal persecution in the whole Empire from 303-313.[xvii] The point seems to be that persecution would not go on forever. They weren’t going to escape tribulation, but Jesus would bring them through it to the resurrection. They would be “tested” (v10), and would need to “Be faithful unto death”, but Jesus was going to give them “the crown of life”. Not like a royal crown, but a stefanos, a wreath of victory to wear on the head. Like a Greek athlete who wins a marathon, first prize for a Christian is the resurrection—it’s life. And so death is not the end of the road; it’s just the finish line.

Do not be afraid!

The great enemy of the Christian church in this passage is not a supervillain Antichrist, or any race of people like the Jews, but the devil: “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life,” (Rev. 2:10 ESV). And the worst thing the devil can do to us is kill our bodies. And did you notice? Jesus says that God has a purpose for even the devil’s scariest weapon: “that you may be tested”—God has not lost control even when persecution happens to Christians. Yesterday, the President of Trinity Western University sent out an email asking Christians to pray for the 10 justices on the Supreme Court of Canada before their decision that can come anytime between now and June 15th. Even if TWU and all Christians lose this case, the worst result is religious discrimination, not outright persecution. We’re a lot better off than Smyrna was 1900 years ago. What are we so afraid of? If not death, then what? If not the devil, then who? God has not lost control. Christ is risen!

If many Christians in Smyrna were imprisoned, and some executed, do you wonder what happened to the church in Smyrna? Did they disband or close their doors? Did their light go out? Was their lampstand removed like in Ephesus? Jesus had no criticism for the church in Smyrna—not because they were perfect, but because they were faithful. They certainly wondered, when persecution came, whether God was punishing them. But all they had to do was go back and read this letter, and remember that Jesus had predicted their tribulation. And He had told them to remain faithful, to remember that He had died and was raised to life, that He is the first and the last. So Jesus said, “do not fear what you are about to suffer…” but “remember me; believe in me”. “I will give you the crown of life, the prize of immortality on the day I raise you from the dead”. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death,” (Rev. 2:11 ESV). Did you know that even in the 20th century, Turkish Muslims used to call Smyrna, “Infidel Smyrna” on account of the Christians who still lived and worshipped in that ancient city?[xviii] Their lampstand has never completely disappeared. In 1922, the Turkish Army butchered tens of thousands Armenian, Latin, and Greek professing Christians in “Infidel Smyrna”.[xix] But Christianity survives there to this day. What would happen if God allowed all of us to suffer, even to die for the sake of the Gospel? Instead of Dionysos being re-made from a piece of his torn-up corpse, Christians who are martyred for the Gospel, leave a powerful testimony behind. And the Gospel would be like a seed that falls to the ground, and bears fruit once again.

“35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.  36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mk. 8:35-36 ESV). The fact that we believe the Gospel is not something to be afraid of. The Gospel is a reason to never fear anything ever again. Our foes cannot separate us from the love of Christ, and neither can our failures. Rev 1:5 says Jesus already “freed us from our sins by His blood”. What comfort and hope comes from the certainty of knowing even our most powerful enemy cannot steal our “crown of life”—the second death will never touch those who belong to Jesus Christ! No poverty can rob us of the riches that belong to our eternal inheritance in Jesus! No slander or accusation has the power to tell us who we are, to define us, even if it ruins our reputation. Because we actually deserved death, but received life instead, through the sacrifice and amazing grace of our Saviour. So are we going to let the accusations of our adversaries shake us from following Jesus? Or will we together, “listen to what the Spirit says to the churches” (2:11)? Ask Christ to save you, to raise you up by His right hand, to strengthen you to serve Him for the rest of your life, and to give you the crown of life when you cross the finish line.