Smyrna: The Suffering Church

The Church at Smyrna: Revelation 2:8-11

Introduction

The Church at Smyrna in Revelation 2:8-11 is one of only two of the Seven Churches of Asia that Christ does not censure for sin and warn with impending judgment. This by no means, however, guarantees this church smooth sailing. On the contrary, the Church at Smyrna, unlike the Church of Philadelphia, is told some very bad news: it will continue to suffer. But is this really bad news, after all? To an escapist staking all on his disappearance from the Tribulation, it certainly would be. Not only would this announcement represent the ultimate reversal of hope; it would prove the catalyst for the Great Falling Away. Could that be why Christ sifts His church through the sieve of suffering? Even a cursory reading of Scripture reveals that God's children--think of Job--have always suffered. In fact, being chosen for suffering is the highest compliment Christ can pay.

The Ethos of Christ

Given the fact that the entire Book of Revelation was delivered as a letter to each of the seven churches, we can imagine that the Smyrnaeans' hearts sank to read that the Church of Philadelphia would be spared suffering. This sounds a bit like Christ's post-resurrection words to Peter and John, prophesying death for Peter and long life for John: "What is that to thee? follow thou Me" (John 21:22). And where does following Christ lead? We all must deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. Whatever Philadelphia's word from the Lord, no one gets a pass. Neither is it strange that Smyrna is chosen to suffer. Consider the Christ they are following. When we read Christ's opening words to Smyrna, we immediately establish our spiritual equilibrium: "These things saith the first and the last, who was dead, and is alive" (Revelation 2:8). How can God die? And yet the weight of the world's sin upon the One who became sin for us did indeed bring sin's penalty of death. Without a doubt, no one suffered like Jesus.

The Logos of Cognizance

Christ immediately follows His introduction with two "I know" statements: "I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty (but thou art rich); and I know the blasphemy of them who say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan" (Revelation 2:9). The Greek word here for "know" is oida and appears in both contexts. Oida does not mean the same thing as ginosko, the process of learning to acquire knowledge; oida refers to intuitive knowledge gained from observing. To know that Christ already sees and knows both sides of any difficult situation provides not only unspeakable comfort but also inescapable accountability. He who is no respecter of persons sees what I am going through right now, and He also sees if I fail Him as I go through it.

Christ knows Smyrna's works--which is the same announcement He gives to every church among the Seven. For some, this "knowing" should cause sweating. For Smyrna, it causes comfort. What are Smyrna's "works"? These are not self-righteous works to earn salvation; these are the works of obeying Christ at any cost. Christ knows not only Smyrna's works; He knows its tribulation, or thlipsis, meaning "pressure" or "pressing together." Why should it take torture to crush fragrance from the myrrh after which Smyrna is named? Yet this church's very essence has been formed from suffering, like the corn of wheat that falls into the ground and dies in order to bear much fruit. Although human nature would assume that a reprieve would be in order, the pressing afflictions Smyrna is now bearing will continue and even worsen. These sorrows include not only physical but also mental and emotional persecution.

Christ also knows Smyrna's poverty. Of the two Greek words for poverty, the one used here--ptocheia--contrasts with penia, which means to scratch around to make a living. By contrast, ptocheia refers to abject poverty--having nothing at all. This poverty is likely part of the persecution resulting from Smyrna's refusal to worship the Roman Emperor. Choosing to serve God instead of mammon has an obvious application here and will, in fact, define those who resist the Mark of the Beast, unlike all the others who succumb to survive the Tribulation. The most comforting word of all is Christ's immediate qualifier--paradoxically both parenthetical and primary: "but thou art rich" (Revelation 2:9). Clearly, this struggling church with next to nothing has everything Ephesus did not: they have Jesus.

Because Christ knows Smyrna's suffering, He also knows the source of its suffering: this is not merely political persecution; it is religious persecution. The blasphemous "Jews" who have pitted themselves against these Christians--the real Jews--are labeled the "synagogue of Satan" here by Christ Himself. He should know. It is the ideology of this group of people who crucified Him. To continue with business as usual in the Jewish religion, following the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, is nothing short of blasphemy in the spirit of Antichrist, and this is the sole source of Smyrna's suffering. The riches of standing up for Jesus keep this struggling church red-hot in their love for Christ. Might we suggest that the cure for Ephesus's lack of love would be a double dose of "bad news"?

The Pathos of Command

The Christ who has conquered death Himself and who sees the near-death Smyrna is enduring foretells the worst: not only will their suffering continue; they must indeed be "faithful unto death" (Revelation 2:10). But the anchor of all suffering is here thrown out to this terror-stricken but tender church: "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer" (Revelation 2:10). "Fear none"--oh, my! That implies the full gamut. "Those things"--one after another. "Shalt"--there seems to be no end in sight. But here we see the brilliance of Christ's psychology: He forbids our fears, but He does not deny our pain. "Fear none" versus "shalt suffer"--He isn't asking the unreasonable. Both well-meaning and cruel people fail alike here: an over-pious heart doesn't know the difference between suffering and self-pity and lands its blows on the broken reed; a hard heart doesn't care at all.

My mother used to tell of her godly paternal grandmother, Elnora Shue--a bold, large-boned German woman who was afraid of almost nothing--not even the 1918 influenza pandemic which was one of the deadliest in recorded history. With her homemade mustard poultices, she walked from house to house in northern Michigan, saving her stricken neighbors while the town doctor's patients died. Singing and praying in every sickroom, she put Satan to rout everywhere she went. When my great-grandmother heard a no-good husband chastising his wife for weeping over the death of her child, she commanded, "If she wants to cry, let her cry!" Jesus doesn't prevent all suffering, and He lets us cry.

Smyrna would suffer being cast into prison by the devil himself. They would be tried and would endure tribulation "ten days" (Revelation 2:10). Exactly what this means has been long debated, but this much is clear: suffering on this side of heaven has a limit. Jesus knows exactly when we are done to perfection. He doesn't let His children burn. Even when we must be "faithful unto death"--His ultimate command--we know that the very second we die, we receive the "Crown of Life."

Conclusion: The Condition of the Crown

A sleazy version of popular Christianity assumes that all professing believers are entitled to a crown, but Jesus says otherwise: "Be faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life" (Revelation 2:10). The inference is obvious: if you are not faithful, you will not receive a crown of life. This is not a diadem; this is the laurel wreath of the stephanos, granted for winning a race. And following this promise, Christ says, "He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death" (Revelation 2:11). That death, we know, is unending hell. The stakes could not be higher: overcome and live; succumb and die. Let's be honest: sometimes the only thing that holds us steady is a holy fear of God--as Job found when he couldn't feel God's Presence, even though He knew what Job was suffering and was standing just behind the veil. If we fear Christ, we need fear nothing else. Let us with Smyrna "Embrace the Cross" that we might win a crown.