The original name of the city of Laodicea was Diospolis, meaning "city of Zeus." Antiochus II renamed the city in the middle of the third century B.C., naming it after his wife, Laodice. The name Laodicea is etymologically derived from two Greek words, laos meaning "people," and dike meaning "to judge" or "to decide." This name became particularly appropriate for the citizens of Laodicea, since they seem to have been quite interested in self-determination and self-rule and deciding for themselves.
The city was located on a plateau about 100 feet above the Lycus River valley. The Romans developed Laodicea into a major trade center, the hub of three major trade routes. Laodicea was part of a tri-city area ( Col. 4:13) that included Hierapolis, six miles to the north, and Colossae, eleven miles to the east. Ephesus was about 100 miles to the west of Laodicea.
Being an important trade center, many in Laodicea became quite wealthy. Laodicea became the banking center of the region. The citizens were apparently so affluent and the city coffers so well-invested that when a major earthquake damaged the city in 60 A.D., they declined "imperial disaster aid." The historian Tacitus noted that they "recovered by their own resources."
One drawback to this well-settled city was the lack of a natural water supply. There were hot-springs in Hierapolis, six miles up the river valley, but by the time the water flowed down to Laodicea it was tepid and so full of minerals that it was distasteful. Jesus may have been alluding to this fact in the comments He makes to the church at Laodicea.
Religion was alive and well in Laodicea. Since the city had originally been Diospolis, "the city of Zeus," there was obviously a temple to Zeus, the foremost god in the Greek pantheon. There was a famous medical school in Laodicea apparently associated with Aesculapius, the Greek god of healing. This medical school had developed a "Phrygian powder" which was used as an eyesalve. Adding to the religious diversity of Laodicea were 7000 adult Jewish males who had been granted the right to preserve their religious customs in Laodicea.
The Church of Jesus Christ in Laodicea was probably established during Paul's extended stay in Ephesus (Acts 19:10; 20:31). Epaphrus may have been a native of the region who became a Christian under Paul's ministry in Ephesus, and later shared the gospel of Jesus Christ in the tri-city area (Col. 1:7; 4:12).
In beginning His message to the church at Laodicea, Jesus identifies Himself as "The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God" (3:14). The self-sufficient Laodiceans needed to remember the source of all sufficiency. Jesus Christ, as God, is the creative source of all things. "All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being" (John 1:3). That form of religion which seeks to deny the deity of Jesus Christ, often interprets the statement that Jesus is "the Beginning of the creation of God" to mean that Jesus was the first thing God created. (They do the same with Col. 1:15). Not so! Jesus was "in the beginning with God, and was God" (John 1:1). As the eternal Word, Jesus is the "faithful and true Witness" who expresses and images God visibly within His creation. In His redemptive mission He faithfully exhibited the reality of deity within humanity even unto a martyr's death, wherefrom He was raised from the dead. Jesus is the "Amen," the essence and the validation of God. Religion in every age tends to think that man can create his own destiny, give witness to the veracity of his own conclusions, and affirm such with the punctuations of his own "amens."
As in all His addresses to the churches, Jesus begins His observations of the situation in the church at Laodicea by saying, "I know your deeds..." (3:15). In this case their deeds are not "wrought in God," and are therefore "dead works."
Jesus continues His observations charging, "You are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth." The Christians in Laodicea were not "fervent in spirit" (Rom. 12:11), burning with zeal and excitement about the life of the Lord Jesus. Neither were they totally chilled to the point of apostatizing. Instead they were just lukewarm, tepid, apathetic and indifferent. Does this not picture the bland tepidity so often evident in religion? Attempting to cater to everyone at the same time, they take the "middle of the road" approach in order to appease the majority. Jesus is not content with such half-hearted neutrality. On an earlier occasion Jesus said, "He who is not with Me, is against Me" (Matt. 12:30). Jesus finds such dispassionate compromising to be nauseating and repulsive. He rejects such and would rather "spit you out of My mouth," that is, expel and repudiate such insipid and disinterested followers who do not appreciate what they have been given in Christ, and misrepresent such by their attitude and behavior. Vituperative antagonism is to be preferred over vacillating and vapid neutrality.
The Laodiceans had been lulled into misplaced security and misplaced sufficiency. They claimed that they were "rich and wealthy, and had need of nothing" (3:17). In the Old Testament the prophet Hosea lamented that some of God's people, and in particular Ephraim, said "Surely I have become rich, I have found wealth for myself" (Hosea 12:8), and the Lord was provoked to anger. Jesus had mentioned the rich man who said, "Soul, you have many goods...eat, drink and be merry," and God said, "You fool; this night your soul is required of you" (Luke 12:19).
Religion often fosters a false-security in physical wealth and riches. Time and time again religious "prosperity doctrines" have promised health and wealth to unsuspecting followers. Many religious groups cater only to the affluent and wealthy who can "dress for success." Perhaps the Laodiceans had been drawn in to such religion folly.
The Laodiceans were "banking" on their material riches, and were forgetting the prior command of Jesus when He said, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matt. 6:19-21).
In their self-sufficiency the Laodiceans claimed to have "need of nothing." It is the utmost of arrogant audacity for any man to claim that he is so self-sufficient that he has "need of nothing." Man is a derivative creature who is nothing, has nothing and can do nothing (John 15:5) in and of himself. We are needful creatures. We are in need of everything being provided for our identity, sustenance and activity. "Not that we are sufficient in ourselves, to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God" (II Cor. 3:5). "My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:19).
Contrary to this need-awareness explained throughout the Scriptures, religion promotes humanistic self-sufficiency. The abundance of religious "self-help programs" being offered encourage people to assert, "I can do it; I don't need any help!" Joining the Laodiceans, they claim to have "need of nothing."
When a Christian recognizes that Jesus Christ is his sufficiency for all things, for his identity, his sustenance and his activity, then it can be affirmed that he is "lacking in nothing" (James 1:4). This is a recognition of spiritual sufficiency in Christ, rather that the false-sufficiency claimed by the Laodiceans based on their physical and material abundance.
Despite what the Laodicean Christians thought they had, Jesus explains to them that they are "wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked" (3:17). They thought they had it all physically, but spiritually they were bankrupt. They were deceived, having no spiritual discernment. In their complacency they were not even aware of how miserable and wretched their condition really was. Thinking themselves to be rich, they were spiritually poor. Thinking themselves to be wise and to be able to "see things as they really are," they were spiritually blind. Thinking themselves to be clothed in moral cloaks of right behavior, they were spiritually naked. Were they not in the unenviable position of the emperor in the tale told by Hans Christian Anderson of The Emperor's New Clothes? Parading around in the pretense of having the best of everything, they only revealed their spiritual bankruptcy, blindness and nakedness.
Jesus advises the Laodicean Christians to make some faith responses whereby their spiritual lack can be supplied by Himself. In terms that the consumer-oriented Laodiceans could understand, Jesus urged them "to buy from Me..." (3:18). What Jesus has for us is not really "for sale" in any monetary market; it cannot be "bought." God's gracious provision can only be received by faith our receptivity of His activity. The prophet Isaiah foretold the availability of all things in Jesus Christ within the new covenant, saying, "You who have no money come, buy and eat...without money and without cost. ...Delight yourself in abundance" (Isa. 55:1,2). In fulfillment of this, Jesus makes available the solution to all the spiritual needs of the Laodicean Christians by advising them to "buy without cost," receive God's grace from Him.
The first investment the Laodiceans are encouraged to make is "to buy from Jesus gold refined by fire, that they might become rich" (3:18). The Laodiceans thought they were rich already (3:17), as do many religious organizations with accumulated assets and holdings totalling billions of dollars. Religion does not understand spiritual riches in Christ. Jesus indicates that we need to acquire that which is of spiritual value, which He calls "gold refined by fire." "Gold refined by fire" is best explained as the tested life of Jesus Christ, which was tested in the crucible of crucifixion. "In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:3), the "wealth that comes from a true knowledge of Christ" (Col. 2:2). When we receive Him by faith we have "the treasure in earthen vessels" (II Cor. 4:7), the "surpassing riches of His grace" (Eph. 1:7; 2:7), the "riches of the glory of His inheritance" (Eph. 1:18). Continuing to derive the fulfillment of all our needs by faith in Christ, we discover such "faith...more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire" (I Peter 1:7), for we might also experience the testing of the "gold" of Christ's life in the fires of personal adversity and suffering. His is the tested life more valuable than physical gold, which will persevere no matter how hot the fire gets.
Secondly, the Laodicean Christians and all Christians in every age are "to buy...white garments, that they might clothe themselves, and the shame of their nakedness may not be revealed" (3:18). Public nakedness was the ultimate shame and humiliation of the ancient world. Through the prophet Nahum the Lord says to Nineveh, "I will...show to the nations your nakedness, and to the kingdoms your disgrace" (Nahum 3:5). Christians are to clothe themselves in "white garments," representing the purity and holiness of the character of Christ. Later in the Revelation the bride, the church, is clothed in "fine linen, bright and clean...the righteous acts of the saints" (19:8), in preparation for the marriage of the Lamb. Religion seeks to substitute the ecclesiastical robes of hierarchy and the moral cloaks of social conformity, but the risen Lord Jesus requires that we "put on" the character of His righteousness in our behavior.
To solve the problem of spiritual blindness, Jesus advises Christians "to buy...eyesalve to anoint your eyes, that you may see" (3:18). Remember that the Laodicean medical school was renowned for its "Phrygian powder" that helped to relieve physical eye problems. After healing the man born blind Jesus said that those who "see may become blind," and "those who do not see may see" (John 9:39), because His priority was to address spiritual blindness so that people might see spiritual realities. The Psalmist requested, "Open my eyes that I may behold wonderful things from Thy Law" (Psalm 119:18), which revealed Jesus Christ. Paul prays for the Ephesians that the "eyes of their heart might be enlightened, that they might know the hope of His calling" (Eph. 1:17). Only by the presence of Jesus Christ in us do we "see" and "appraise spiritual things" (I Cor. 2:15) in order to see from God's perspective.
Having explained that spiritual riches, spiritual clothing and spiritual eyesight are found only in Himself, Jesus warns, "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline" (3:19). Concerned that all men might be restored to the fullness of God's intent, Jesus is actively engaged in the disciplinary processes that keep Christians "on track." By the correcting and reproving work of His Spirit, He seeks to preserve us in His finishing work. "Whom the Lord loves He reproves" (Prov. 3:12). "Do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord" (Heb. 12:5). "He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness" (Heb. 12:10). Religion attempts to skirt around the reproof and disciplines of the Lord. Focusing on a syrupy and sentimental understanding of a loving God who always forgives and never censures, they by-pass God's active discipline and direction in Christian lives. What kind of a loving Father would forego the "tough love" that seeks the highest good of His children? Not the God who "is love" (I John 4:8,16).
The commands of Jesus to the Laodicean Christians, and to every Christian, are "be zealous" and "repent" (3:19). The word for "zealous" in the Greek text is from the same root as the word for "hot" in verses 15 and 16. This does not mean that we are to turn on the head of emotional excitement and excess, as happens in many religious environs. Rather, as the Christian allows the life of Jesus Christ to be operative in him, there we be a fervor, a passion, an enthusiasm about functioning as God intended. In order to do so, we must first "repent" of all the false religious methods of living the Christian life. We must "change our mind" so as to recognize our own inability, and "change our action" by allowing for the receptivity of His activity in our behavior by faith.
The ready availability of Jesus Christ to provide everything necessary in the Christian life is expressed in Jesus' words, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me" (3:20). Though religionists have long misused and abused this verse as an evangelistic appeal to unbelievers, it is the appeal of Jesus for intimate communion with Christians. Christians have already received the Spirit of Christ into their spirit or else they are not Christians (Rom. 8:9), but Jesus does not "force" His way into our behavioral expression. He makes His presence known by "knocking at the door," and those who are His "hear His voice and open the door." Jesus said earlier, "My own know Me...My sheep hear My voice" (John 10:14,16). "Everyone who is of the Truth, hears My voice" (John 18:37). Christians who are receptive to what Christ wants to do in their lives, open the door to participate in spiritual fellowship with the risen Lord Jesus, allowing Him to reside, abide and settle-in to the abode of their soul. Dining with Him now, partaking with and of Him, they look forward also to the "supper of the Lamb" (Rev. 19:9) when they will "eat and drink at His table in the kingdom" (Luke 22:30).
Thus Jesus promises to those Christians who overcome the solicitations to revert to religion by faithful receptivity from the One who has "overcome the world" (John 16:33), "I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne" (3:21). Religion indicates that we "overcome" by conquering, battling or working diligently for "God's cause." Not so. We overcome by identifying with the Overcomer, the Lord Jesus Christ. In one sense we are already "seated with Him in the heavenly places" (Eph. 2:6), but there is a yet future consummation of Christ's victory when we "shall sit upon the throne, judging the tribes of Israel" (Matt. 19:28). Having endured, "we shall also reign with Him" (II Tim. 2:12). Christ overcame all temptations by the same faithful receptivity of the Father, and "sat down with His Father on His throne." Christ is "seated at the right hand of God in the heavenlies, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion" Eph. 1:20-22). "The High Priest has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens" (Heb. 8:1).
Christians must have spiritual discernment "to hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (3:22). Only as we "listen under" the tutelage of the Spirit of Christ will we respond in obedience to be and do all that Jesus Christ wants to be and do in us. Thereby we can avoid the religious perversions that were creeping into the seven churches, and the similar satanic solicitations by which we are constantly tempted to misrepresent who we are in Christ.
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