In her 1997 book, Misha: A Memoire of the Holocaust Years, Belgian-born Misha Defonseca described how she set out alone, at age 7, to find her Jewish parents who had been deported by the Nazis. Walking the better part of 3,000km across Europe over five years, she spent time in a Warsaw Ghetto, lived with wolves, and killed a German soldier in self-defence.
The book was a best-seller globally, translated into 18 languages and made into a French film. But in 2008, eleven years after the book’s publication, an American genealogist unearthed Defonseca’s baptismal certificate. She was was Catholic, not Jewish. Further evidence revealed that she attended school in Brussels during the time she claimed to have been trekking Europe, and that the Nazis had, in fact, executed her parents who were members of the Belgian resistance.
Defonseca confessed in a statement that “Ever since I can remember, I felt Jewish.... There are times when I find it difficult to differentiate between reality and my inner world.”
Sometimes one’s life is not as it seems to be, or as one would like others to see it. I might think I’m doing okay, but in reality, maybe I’m not doing so great. Or, as Dedonseca confessed, we go through times when we find it difficult to differentiate between reality and our inner world.
In other words, we can be—at various times & for many reasons—prone to self-deception.
The Laodicean churches had a similar problem. They looked like they had it all together. But Jesus had a different judgment. The Laodicean’s outward prosperity hid an interior that was far from healthy. John writes:
“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. 18 I 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.
About Laodicea
Laodicea was a prosperous commercial city; it was known as a medical hub that specialised in treating eye conditions. The city was also known for textiles, in particular a black wool, that was hard to come by elsewhere. They also had a notoriously poor water supply. All of these facets come into play with Jesus’ ironic rebuke that describes the church as poor, blind, and naked.
Laodicea was a fiercely self-sufficient city to the degree that they rebuilt after an earthquake in AD 60 without the help of Roman funds. In some respects, they were a bit like my home state, Western Australia which carried itself as an independent island within an island during the Covid pandemic! We banked on our prosperity to ride out the difficulty of a global pandemic.
Who is speaking and what is desired (Rev 3:14, 20–21)?
The bookends of the text (Rev 3:14, 20–21) reveal who is speaking and what the desired outcome is. At the outset, Jesus is described as “The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness (cf. Rev 1:5), and the ruler of God’s creation”. Whatever is said, there is no comeback. “The Faithful and True Witness . . . knows your works”.
What is desired is repentance and reconciliation: The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness; the First-born of Creation and New Creation; the Master of the house, stands at the door and knocks. And he desires to eat, fellowship, and be reconciled with the repentant (like a True Older Brother! More on this below). Moreover, he longs to share his reign with those who love him (there is an invitation to sit with Jesus on his throne, v. 21).
So what’s going on in Laodicea? Why this word of warning to a church that seemed to have it all together?
Lukewarm in Laodicea? (Rev 3:15–18)
Jesus knows/rejects their deeds as lukewarm (vv. 15–16):
Initially, the Laodicean deeds are described as neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm and as a consequence they are spat out (rejected). Geography in the region helps us understand the imagery here. Hot, medicinal waters could be found in the nearby city of Hierapolis, while cool, pure water could be had in Colossae. Laodicea had neither. Thus, when Jesus says the Laodiceans are neither “hot” nor “cold”, he is saying that the church is neither a place of healing for the spiritually sick or of refreshment for the spiritually weary.1
It is in this sense that the water problems of the city parallel the spiritual problems of the church.
The Deeds are Specified (v. 17):
Verse 17a, reveals that the self-assessment of the Laodiceans: “I am rich. I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.” They display a prideful independence and go-it-alone attitude, which is exemplified in the manner by which the city rebuilt itself without Romans assistance after its earthquake in AD 60.
The assessment of Jesus, however, is markedly different: “You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked” (v. 17b). They and their city are materially rich; but in God’s eyes they are poor. They and their city are well-clothed; but in God’s eyes they are naked. Their city is known for healing the blind; but in God’s eyes, they are blind to their own spiritual condition.
In other words, what makes Laodicea great in earthly terms is what puts the Laodicean church in harm’s way in a spiritual sense. They have equated their worldly wealth with their spiritual condition: “We’re rich, therefore blessed of God.” The underlying principle which still rears its head today is that worldly wealth may lead to spiritual complacency & self-sufficiency.
In the Gospels, Jesus spoke to the issue of wealth saying that: ‘Where your treasure is, there your heart is also’ (Matt 6:21). The Laodicean’s treasure is clearly portrayed as being in their wealth ‘They’re rich—they don’t need a thing’. Ironically, their worldly wealth and self-sufficiency has led them into spiritual poverty, blindness, and nakedness before God.
The Desired Response to Judgment (v. 18)
With an eye to Isaiah 55 and ironically drawing on local cultural phenomena, Jesus tells them what they really need and how to acquire it. He urges the Laodiceans “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.” But of course, you can’t ‘buy’ anything from Jesus if you’re poor, naked, blind to your need. You ‘buy’ from Jesus by acknowledging your poverty, blindness, nakedness, etc., which is to say:
The one who conquers is the one who repents of their self-sufficiency, by acknowledging their poverty, blindness, and nakedness.
The one who conquers is the one who returns to the Lord and confesses that their heart has been chasing after the wrong treasure.
This is important because God has a bigger vision for his church than their local prosperity and self-sufficiency. It’s a global vision (Isa 55:5)! In a real sense, Jesus is calling them to give up on the spirit and treasure that animates Laodicean culture in order to follow him (I.e., they must give up their wealth & self-sufficiency). Jesus is calling for a child-like spirit of dependence on him alone.
The Laodiceans and the Younger Prodigal Son
Jesus’ Parable of the Prodigal Son gives us an indication of what that looks like. The younger son’s treasure was his inheritance (the wealth of his Father), and he embodies the same prideful go-it-alone attitude. He runs off with his portion of the inheritance and squanders it, but he comes to his senses and returns.
Truth be told, he doesn’t get it all right (e.g., he tries to return as a servant, and wants to earn/work his way back into the family), but the fact that he turns means he’s ready, in some sense, to confess his poverty, his blindness, nakedness, etc. And what does the Father do in response?
The Father welcomes the son back into the family (the son now has true riches; he is a true heir again!) He’s clothed with a robe an a ring, which is to say he’s no longer naked. His status as a son and heir is confirmed. Where he was once blind, he now sees the lavish love of the Father as it is showered over him with a *feast* of celebration.
But… There is an interesting inversion in play between Jesus’s parable and the reality of the Laodiceans.
In the parable, there is no search party for the younger brother. There’s a search party for the lost coin (something lost at home; like the elder brother), and a search party for the lost sheep (lost away from home; like the younger brother), but there’s no search party for the younger brother in that third ‘lost’ parable. The implication in the parable is that this represents an indictment on Israel’s religious establishment for having neglected to go after “the lost”. In fact, the establishment resent it when the lost return.
In the parable, then, it was meant to be the elder brother going out in search of his younger brother and to do everything within his power to bring him home to the Father. Instead, we find elder brother content in letting his younger brother go. He just doesn’t care.
The contrast in Revelation is that the True Elder Brother has come to them.
The love of comfort and money led the Laodiceans astray, but Jesus has searched for & found them. The Laodiceans have not come home begging to be welcomed back into the family. By contrast Jesus, the True Older Brother, has gone out and found them; he has brought: (1) gold with him (Jesus will share his inheritance, making them sons and heirs again); (2) white clothes to dress them (Jesus will purify them); (3) salve for their eyes (Jesus will show them the Father’s love); and (4) the feast of the Father with him (so that they might celebrate).
Jesus stands at the door—knocking—longing to be invited in to share his inheritance, his purity, and his love that comes from the Father. Jesus longs to dine with his people, and for us to share in the lavish feast of the Father, and to bring us back home as rightful heirs to his throne. (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.)
Again, the one who conquers is the one who opens the door to Jesus:
in repentance of their self-sufficiency
in acknowledgment of their poverty / blindness / nakedness
in confession that their heart has been chasing after the wrong treasure.
The question each person needs to ask is “Where is my treasure?” For the Laodiceans, influenced by the culture in which they lived, it was clearly their wealth.
What’s that thing that leads you and I to self-sufficiency and away from the goodness and kindness of God, and how does one find out what it might be?
Well, to quote Jesus (again), your treasure is where your heart is (Matt 5:21). So…
How do you spend your money?
If you love Jesus he shows up in your budget.
Do you practise generosity?
How do you spend your time?
Is 3hrs doom-scrolling social media healthy for you?
Instead, would your time be better spent reading some Scripture, praying; or even enjoying a novel, a comedy, or, if you’re feeling brave, some theology?
If, at this point you’re despairing, may I remind you again, Jesus has come for you and is ready to feast with you. All you need to do is open the door by acknowledging your neediness. You don’t have to have it all together. Jesus is ready to forgive you, to walk with you, to work with you, to serve you, and to feast with you.
Just open the door.
See Mounce, The Book of Revelation (Revised ed), pp. 109–10.