The Church at Smyrna was famous for once being dead and then coming back to life. It was a bustling commercial centre of trade second only to Ephesus, but the Christians there were not rich, in fact, they lived in abject poverty, most likely due to their testimony of Jesus. Though even in your poverty, you are rich. Smyrna when translated into Hebrew means myrrh which in Greek means bitter. Myrrh was often used to embalm the dead and would produce a sweet aroma when crushed. It was one of the ingredients in the anointing oil as well as being one of the gifts given to Jesus at His birth.
This is all relevant because the church at Smyrna was a church in great suffering, mostly from two main sources. The first source was the ultra religious Jews with a political agenda, and the second was Satan himself. Many in the church were thrown into prison and even died for their faith. It is reported that Polycarp, John’s disciple and Bishop of Smryna was burnt at the stake and the Jews helped by bringing logs to the fire. It has also been reported that just like the three Hebrew boys in the furnace, he did not burn in the midst of the fire but instead used the opportunity to carry on preaching the Gospel until he was eventually pierced with a spear.
There potentially is also an allusion to the book of Daniel when Jesus says there will be ten days of testing (vs 10). Daniel and his friends underwent ten days of fasting as a test to produce a greater result and likewise, the crushing of the believers in Smyrna through persecution produced a sweet-smelling aroma and witness which guaranteed them the Crown of Life (vs 10). It could also refer to the ten Roman emperors that persecuted Christians and there are other theories as well. Ten is often used in the Bible as a number for testing so chances are that it was specific to that church but spiritually applied to the entire body of Christ, that we may personally go through testing and trials at various times in our walk with, and for the Lord.
Nevertheless, Jesus’ encouragement to the believers in the midst of suffering is this, “I AM the first and the last, who was dead and came to life.” (vs 8) The description He uses of Himself is by no accident. He is saying to the church, in a city that brags about being dead and coming back to life, no, I am the one who was dead and came back to life. Do not fear anything you may be going through for my sake, even death because I have even defeated the sting of death. Nothing they can do to you can remove my faithfulness and promises to you. Jesus even went on to encourage believers in Smyrna to be faithful even to the point of death and that they would be given the Crown of life. The crown Jesus mentions is not the crown you would receive if you were royalty, and the believers in Smyrna are royalty. According to vs1:6, they have been made Kings and Priests to God. The crown in view here is a victor’s crown or a wreath that would be placed on the head of a champion after an athletic competition. He is saying, “Run your race well, fight the good fight of faith well, even unto death because my faithfulness and victory reaches well beyond the grave and all the way through to the second death. You will have nothing to fear as I am the first and the last and all things are renewed in my existing victory.”
Here’s what we can know from these verses:
- Jesus is the one who was dead and is alive. We have joined Jesus in His resurrection life. He is the beginning of everything and He is the end of everything. All that is in between has been reconciled in the finished work of the cross. The victory of Jesus’ resurrection life guarantees us victory over the second death.
- Jesus became poor so that we might become rich. Even in the midst of the worst suffering you can imagine, Jesus reminds us that we are rich in Him. He took on our poverty so that we would take on His riches in glory (2 Cor 8:9)
- Jesus knows our works and rewards accordingly. The word used for ‘know’ is a precise knowledge from witnessing. Jesus sees everything you are doing, everything you suffer and everything you’re experiencing for Him and although suffering may come, there is a crown for your reward when you are faithful to Him
