Bible Study - Revelation 1-3 Part 14

Last week, we worked through Revelation 3:14-16, and heard that the people of the church at Laodicea were saying proudly of themselves: “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.” In contrast, Jesus knew them and their works and saw them as “lukewarm” Christians.

In v.17, Jesus says that they did not realize that they were wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked, in a spiritual sense. Jesus had taught, at the beginning of His “Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” People need to know how spiritually poor they are on their own so that they can see how much they need Jesus as their Savior. The people in the church at Laodicea were saying, “I…, I…, I…,” focused on their accomplishments, and Jesus used the set of words in Revelation 3:17, paralleling some of the pride the Laodiceans had in their city, to show how “wretched” they were, in spirit.

Jesus “counsels” them to “buy” some things from Him, in v.18. He is using words we find in other places. What He wishes them to have is actually free, a gift. See Isaiah 55:1-3. “Come everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to Me; hear, that your soul may live.”

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 3:22). See a similar statement in Revelation 22:17: “Come… Let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.” Remember also that we heard last week that a real weakness of Laodicea was that it did not have an adequate water supply. The people said, “I need nothing;” yet they really needed so much, in a physical and in a spiritual sense, with their continual need for the water of Life (John 4:13-14 and John 7:37-39).

They thought they were “rich,” in terms of “gold,”  but Jesus says, in Revelation 3:18, that they really needed “gold, refined by fire, so that they might be (spiritually) rich.” See 1 Peter 1:7, where Peter speaks of “the tested genuineness of your faith - more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire.” They needed faith in Christ, which “results in praise and glory and honor” of Jesus, at His revelation” on the last day.

The Laodiceans were proud of the beautiful garments produced in their city with bright colors and black wool. What they really needed was to be covered with “white garments” (Revelation 3:18) provided by Christ Jesus Himself that would cover the shame and nakedness of their sins. (See the “garments of salvation” and the “robe of righteousness” provided by God in Isaiah 61:10; the new, clean garments provided to Joshua in Zechariah 3:3-5; “the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, which cleanses us from all sin,” in 1 John 1:7-9; and the vision of the believers in heaven, “clothed in white robes… white in the blood of the Lamb (Jesus), in Revelation 7:13-14; etc.)

The Laodiceans were proud of their medical school and an eye salve that was developed or produced there and was widely used. What they really needed was God’s “salve to anoint their eyes,” so that they might truly “see” what they needed to see and believe, in Jesus as Savior. See, for example, Psalm 146:8, which says that “the Lord opens the eyes of the blind,” physically and spiritually; Isaiah 35:4-5, where the blind (and the deaf) can see and hear when Jesus the Savior would come (Matthew 11:2-6); and John 9, where Jesus healed a blind man physically (9:1-7) and then spiritually (9:35-41).

Then Jesus says in Revelation 3:19 that He is speaking all these words of “reproof” (rebuke, disapproval) because He “loves” the people of the church at Laodicea and wants to help them “repent” of their sins and be more “zealous,” rather than “lukewarm" about their faith. “Jesus says He is providing some needed “discipline” for this church, showing people their sins, through the Law of God, and turning them away from trust in themselves to trust in Him and His Word of true Life and hope. See Scriptures about “discipline” such as Psalm 94:12, where the psalmist says that people are “blessed” who are disciplined by the Lord; Proverbs 3:11-12, where discipline is a sign of the Lord’s love, “as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights;” 1 Corinthians 11:32, where Paul says, “When we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world;” and Hebrews 12:5-11, where the writer to the Hebrews says that God disciplines us “for our good;” it may seem painful, but “later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

Jesus speaks harshly in some of this letter; but He speaks in love, for the good of this congregation. This is an important message for us all. Are we sometimes “lukewarm” in our own faith and need to be called back to a more “zealous” Christian faith and life? Are we sometimes too focused on ourselves and forgetful of Christ and His good gifts? That’s why we have a time for repentance for sins and renewal in our life in Christ, week after week, in our worship, as a “discipline” and reminder to us all.         

I will stop here, as I want to spend a little more time on the closing portion of this letter, next week. A proper interpretation is important. The Lord’s continued blessings.