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| The remains of the marketplace in Laodicea |
“ Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My
voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he
with Me. He who overcomes, 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. He who has an
ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ---Rev. 3:20-22
We come now to the last of the Seven Churches of Revelation
with Laodicea. The Christians of
Laodicea faced much of the same type of temptations that Christians in America
have today. Laodicea was prosperous, was
a shopping mecca, and placed a huge value on sports and entertainment. It wasn’t enough for Laodicea to have one
sports arena or amphitheatre, they had two of each and massive public baths as
well. Jesus pointed to Laodicea’s
aqueduct system that didn’t work quite right, and said like their water, they
were lukewarm Christians instead of hot or cold. Like the minerals which corroded the pipes,
the Laodicean brothers and sisters had become less effective because they were
so distracted with their many opportunities.
Laodicea was also known for it’s great tolerance because it hosted
people from every walk of life and nation who came there for the treatment of
eye problems. There was a mineral
product they made called Phrygian Powder which was made into a balm for the
eyes and sold for a high price. Needless
to say, the Laodiceans had seen everything and were quite comfortable even to
the point of indifference. In Britain
today, a person possessing general indifference about philosophical and social
issues is often called a “Laodicean” in the matter. Perhaps the Lord saw his people had grown too
comfortable and tolerant of sin and was wanting them to take such things with a
greater seriousness than they were exhibiting.
Many years ago Holman Hunt painted a picture based on Jesus’ words to
the Laodicean church “behold I stand at the door and knock”. In the picture Christ stands at a door of a
house without a doorknob on the outside (meaning it can only be opened on the
inside by the owner) and waits for the occupant to answer his call. In the city of Laodicea, the Roman emperor
Domitia But like Holman Hunt’s picture, this door
could only be answered from the inside.
Jesus was crucified and died for our sins outside the city and there the
Lord waits until we truly invite him in and let him rule our hearts. The problem so many of us have is that we
don’t hear the knock on the door because our minds are overly occupied with all
the good things around us instead of setting our minds on the things
above. We need to dial those
disctractions back that we can better hear and respond to the Lord’s call upon
our lives. The Lord is not to be an
outsider or stranger to any of our lives!
n had erected a huge door that opened up to the city.
With you on the journey,
Chris
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