The Church in Smyrna (Rev. 2:8-13)

The city was located about thirty-five miles from Ephesus (today, it is known as Ismir). It was a famous city in ancient times, highly regarded by the Roman authorities for its devotion to the Emperor. In later times, it retained its prominence. The author of the comments on Revelation in the Matthew Henry commentary says that in his day it was well-known to merchants.

The origins of the church in Smyrna are unknown. It is not mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament. Paul says that when he was in Ephesus all of Asia heard the word of God (Acts 19:10), so it is likely that the gospel was taken from Ephesus to the surrounding locations. What we have here may be a letter to a daughter church, a church that unlike its mother receives no condemnation from Jesus.

The city of Smyrna had undergone a kind of resurrection. Old Smyrna had been destroyed in 580BC, but the city had been rebuilt in 290BC. The name of the city means myrrh and it is often pointed out that myrrh has to be crushed in order for its fragrance to be spread. It is not hard to see the relevance of those two features to the message that John is told to send to the church there. The letter mentions future resurrection and current crushing.

The church in Smyrna is famous for a persecution that took place about sixty years after this letter was sent. In AD155, the well-known Christian Polycarp was put to death in Smyrna. He was the leader of the church at that time. In words that he said at that time, he revealed that he had been a Christian for eighty-six years. That would take us back to around AD70, which suggests that he had already been a believer for twenty years when this letter arrived from Jesus. Polycarp survived the suffering at that time, but later as an old man he gained the martyr’s crown.

The description of Jesus

The Lord Jesus in this description states the wonder of his person, in that he is both God and man. We see his deity in the claim that he is the first and the last because it is a divine title used in the Old Testament of God (Isa. 44:6; 48:12). And we see his humanity in his claim that he died and came back to life.

As far as his deity is concerned, Jesus says that he is the originator of all things – the Creator, and he is the one who will wind up the current creation. So he is saying that he is the Controller of all things. In his human nature, he defeated death, the most powerful enemy of the human race. Even death cannot remove him from the place of supreme authority. Although he died, he reigns.

So the Smyrnians are reminded that Jesus is a great person who possesses two incredible abilities. He is the source of natural life and he is the source of resurrection life. The inhabitants of Smyrna were recognised for their devotion to the Roman emperor and he had given them rewards within his authority and power. In a far higher way, the Christians in Smyrna are urged to show their devotion to a far superior Ruler who could give them far greater rewards.

The commendation of Jesus

The Saviour is walking through or in the church in Smyrna and observed their situation. He mentions three aspects of their circumstances. First, they are experiencing persecution for their faith. Their experience is different from the church in Ephesus, even although it was close by. Second, he knows that persecution has been costly for them because it has made them poor (the word translated poverty was used of beggars). Probably they have lost their possessions. Third, the persecution seems to have been initiated by the Jews, who have slandered the Christians before the civil authorities. This was a common experience for the first-century church.

Yet things are not what they seem to be and Jesus points out two such details. First, the Christians in Smyrna, although they have lost everything, are not poor. Instead they are the richest people in Smyrna because their treasures are in heaven. The heavenly Banker assures them that he is protecting their investments, and these cannot be lost no matter what happens to them. In this regard, they were the opposite of the church of Laodicea.

Second, Jesus assures the Christians in Smyrna that they, and not the Jews, are the people of God. In contrast, the Jewish synagogue in Smyrna is actually the possession of Satan. This is very strong condemnation by the One who knows the hearts of men. Both the Christian community and the Jewish synagogue would have used the Old Testament: one of them had the light of God and saw Jesus in the scriptures, the other were blinded by the devil and opposed Jesus and his people. Jesus here says what Paul says elsewhere that a true Jew is one that is a Jew inwardly. The true circumcision are those who glory in Christ Jesus as they worship God (Phil. 3:3).

So Jesus assures his suffering people of their permanent identity and of their priceless investments.

The counsel of Jesus

Jesus then informs the believers in the church in Smyrna that further suffering is coming. Some of the members are going to be arrested and probably put to death – prison in those days was usually only a place where people were held before they were executed or used in the arena to fight wild animals. How were they to deal with this information?

First, there had to be a resolve, which was that they were not to be afraid of the sufferings. If this comment had only come from John, then the believers may imagined that this was a call to stoicism because he would not be able to help them. But since it came from Jesus, his instructions always carry with them the promise of strength to obey them. They would know that he would be with them in the trials.

Second, there had to be realisation of the purpose of trials. Jesus informs them that the trials are designed to test them. Of course, the devil arranges the arrests in order to destroy them, but behind the scenes Jesus uses the adversities to give them authenticity, and from that would flow assurance. The trials would bring good. Moreover they had to realise that the period of trial had been fixed by Jesus and in comparison with other possibilities the period of trouble would be short (ten days).

Sometimes, the will of Jesus for his suffering people is to allow further suffering. Such prolonged suffering does not mean that Jesus ceases to be sovereign. Instead, he is focussed on their sanctification, on their becoming increasingly like him. When the devil is raging and seems about to crush a church, remember that the crushing adds to the fragrance that is recognised in heaven. The beauty of becoming like Jesus reveals the hidden upholding of Jesus that sanctifies his followers.

The comfort for Smyrna

The Saviour confirms that those arrested will die for their faith. Since the promise is linked to what happened at the Games it is possible that he is indicating that their deaths will take place in the arena where races were held. Victors in races received a laurel crown which soon lost its lustre. In contrast, those who will pay the price of martyrdom are assured that they will have endless life.

The gift of life will be given to each of them personally by Jesus when he returns. So the suffering church in Smyrna was told to gather comfort from the certain blessings of the future. Thinking about the life to come would give each of them strength as they passed through a fiery ordeal. Identification with Jesus often means following the path that he walked, which was suffering unto death and raised to glory.

The conclusion for the churches

The other churches would hear what Jesus had predicted concerning the ongoing persecution in Smyrna. Inevitably, such information would cause brotherly concern and personal fear that the same persecution might come to them as well. What application should they take from what had been said about Smyrna? The application was to realise that true believers would not be hurt by the second death.

What is the second death? Revelation 21:8 says that it is a description of eternal punishment. The first death is physical, and for some it comes through martyrdom. Others will experience it through a variety of ways. Yet there is something common to all true believers and that is they shall never undergo the despair of a lost eternity. What is important ultimately is not how we succumb to the first death but whether or not we will experience the second death. Those who trust in Jesus and serve him with devotion will never be affected by the second death.

Jesus points out that the second death is painful. This is a reminder that a lost eternity is a conscious experience and we can say that it will be painful physically, intellectually and emotionally. Intellectually, those who suffer it will know that it will never end, so they will experience hopelessness. And who can estimate the effect of such despair on the feelings of those who endure it?

Why would Jesus remind the churches of this reality? One reason would be to remind the believers of the importance of personal gratitude to the God of salvation. Another reason would be to stress the urgency of evangelism, that those heading towards the second death would be warned about it. And a third would be to respond intelligently when they heard that the believers in Smyrna had suffered martyrdom, because although their deaths would bring sorrow they would not bring the despair linked to those who die the second death.

Applications

There is no rebuke made by Jesus about the church in Smyrna, yet she seems to have the church of the seven who suffered the most. Here we are reminded that we cannot judge spirituality by providence. Their losses were not evidence of divine judgement but of their determined devotion to Jesus. It was obvious that they put Jesus first.

How do we hold out against strong opposition? The church in Smyrna was under attack from the pagan government and from the religious Jews. They did not have ‘friends’ in the city. The way that they would hold out against their opponents was by having big views of Jesus and his work and by keeping in mind the great future that belongs to the people of God.

We do not need a lot of earthly resources to survive. The Christians in Smyrna had little of this world’s assets. Yet they had a future because Jesus informed them that only some of them would be arrested and killed. It is well-known that usually the churches that suffer for the Lord survive against all the odds. Smyrna had a future because at the time Jesus spoke there was a threat to its lampstand.

The devil hates the people of God. We need to remind ourselves that the devil is consistent in this regard. He hates God and his people. While he cannot touch God, he does aim to destroy the church and sometimes the method he favours is persecution. There are many churches today going through the experience that Smyrna endured towards the end of the first century.

We can bring pleasure to the Saviour as he walks around the church. As we have seen, the letters to the seven churches are the response by Jesus to what he discovered when he walked among the churches. We are told what he felt when he walked near the church in Laodicea. He would have had a very different reaction to the devoted saints in Smyrna. The day is coming when they will hear him say to them, ‘Well done!’