I can hear the sound of sandals sliding over sand and grit — intent on delivering a dangerous message to Smyrna. These days, we may have it delivered silently to our email inbox. Others may hear it booming from the sound system of a large modern cathedral. Still others read the message in a quiet corner, alone, in desperate moments when life seems too hard. But the message of Smyrna is for all to understand, because it puts suffering in a context: that pain, borne with commitment and humility, has a mysterious way of leading to glory.
Messages planted earlier in the Bible blossom in Revelation for us to find. We can recognize the motif of the Suffering Servant from much earlier in Isaiah:
He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem Isaiah 53:3 NIV
Smyrna is a church living by its highest ideals, but those were despised and rejected. The church was living the knowledge that Christ’s message of love for God and for our neighbor is the supreme law, supreme over emperors and the entire pantheon of Roman gods. The church in Smyrna was to exist as a light to Gentiles, and eventually to the world. They knew the message of Jesus was a message of global salvation.
But the surrounding society wasn’t ready. Instead, they spit on them, turned them in for punishment, even kept them from shopping for food in the markets. Jesus saw it all. But He was not there to end the suffering for them. In fact, he prepared them for what was to come:
Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Revelation 2:10a NIV
The number 10. A powerful number in Jewish tradition. The number ten meant so much: Abraham was tested ten times. Job lost ten children. The number ten meant they would be put through a very significant period of testing, of loss, of sorrow. But the number ten is ultimately a message of completeness to their trials; it was a message of divine order.
Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown. Revelation 2:10b NIV
The message of the Suffering Servant, the message to Smyrna, is that life extends beyond death, that the sacrifice for the good of others ultimately brings redemption and a greater expansion of love beyond imagination. The message of Smyrna is ultimately a message of great hope, both then and now.
by Carie Grant
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