Letters to the Churches: Laodicea

The final letter is to the church at Laodicea:

¹⁴ “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
   These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. ¹⁵ I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. ¹⁸I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
   ¹⁹ Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. ²⁰ Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
   ²¹ To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. ²² Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”


Laodicea was located about fifty miles from Philadelphia. They were a very wealthy city famous for its black wool. They were a city of bankers and financial centers that were completely self-reliant, so much that when an earthquake occurred in 60 AD they declined any help from Rome. Laodicea was a center for Hellenistic culture and had a large population of Zeus worshipers. 


Jesus greets the church as the Amen, which was Old Testament for the God of Truth. He also calls Himself the ruler of God's creation, which was what Paul referred to Him as in Colossians


           ¹⁵ The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
         Colossians 1:15


Jesus then criticizes the church for being lukewarm. They are complacent and indifferent. They have no spiritual fire or rejection of God, they are apathetic. They are going through the motions, but they have no heart for what they are doing. The church, much like the city itself prides itself on its self-sufficiency. They have gotten to the point that they are proclaiming that they are Christians, but they rely, not on God, but on themselves. Jesus says that he will spit them out. He will reject them for their self-sufficiency. The saddest part is that the church does not realize that they are not spiritually healthy. Jesus implores the church to open their eyes to what they are doing and to change their ways. They need to depend on God and not on their physical wealthy, which means nothing. Jesus tells the church that He is only rebuking them out of love, and that He is waiting for them to truly embrace Him, they only have to accept Him.  Jesus then offers the ones who accept Him the right to rule with Him.