The city of Laodicea was located about 100 miles directly east of Ephesus. It was part of a tri-city area, closely associated with Colosse (to which Paul’s letter to the Colossians was written) and Hierapolis. Laodicea was famous throughout the Romans province of Asia as a center of wealth, or bustling commercial activity, and of the medical profession. It was the most prosperous of the seven cities of Revelation.

Many large, beautiful homes were built is Laodicea, the ruins of which can still be visited. Some of those expensive homes were probably owned by Christians. A textile and clothing industry flourished in Laodicea. A special breed of black sheep was raised in the area, producing highly prized, glossy, black wool. The city was also known for its eye salve, produced by the medical school of Phrygia located there. Laodicea had one main problem: it lacked a good water supply. Nearby Hierapolis had medicinal hot springs and Colosse was blessed with a source of pure, cold water. Laodicea had to bring its water by an aqueduct from hot springs five miles away. The problem was that the water arrives tepid and brackish. Jesus picked up on this issue in writing to the Laodicean church: “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were one or the other” (v. 15).

As the center of wealth, commerce, and medicine, Laodicea was kind of a first-century Bank of America, Macy’s, and Mayo Clinic rolled into one. An understanding of the social and economic setting of the church in Laodicea will help to explain some of the references we find in this letter.

The problem that Jesus notes in Laodicea was not persecution, gross sin, or false teaching. In terms of its circumstances, it seems, Laodicea was singularly blessed. For this reason, however, the people had lost their zeal for Christ. It was a spiritually apathetic church. The people gathered for worship, but they came like those today who look more frequently to their watches than to the Bible. They probably believed the right things, but those truths did not affect them deeply. When it came to Jesus, they were believers, but only lukewarmly so.

How did the Laodiceans become so lukewarm? Jesus answers that they had come to a false estimation of themselves on the basis of their wealth (v. 17). The Laodiceans looked on their favorable circumstances and considered their riches as true wealth. In fact, Jesus observes that by trusting in money and living for the things of a dying world, they were wretched, pitiable, blind, and covered with shame. The problem wasn’t their wealth but what their riches had done to them.

Notice that the Laodiceans drew their attitude from the secular culture around them. This happens frequently to Christians. In a sophisticated culture, Christians take on airs of superiority. In a patriotic setting, we become preoccupied with earthly kingdoms. Among pleasure-seekers, Christians live for the sake of the latest consumer goods. The rich arrogance of Laodicea had infected the believers’ attitudes, making them spiritually poor, blind as to heavenly realities, and disgraced by a shameful absence of good works and a faithful witness. Christians should therefore be on guard against adopting the spirit of the age and of the place where we live, instead cultivating a biblical ethos and the agenda of Jesus Christ. If we don’t, the danger is so great that Jesus said He would spit the Laodicean church out of His mouth. Undoubtedly, this indicates that many in that church were not saved. Apathetic Christianity often masks a spiritually dead unbelief.

Christ’s letter to Laodicea is one of the harsher portions of Holy Scripture, and we may therefore be surprised to see the tenderness and love that Christ shows to this church in verse 19. Here, there is hope in light of our many failings and sins: Christ’s love for His church. It’s not surprising then, that the remedy for the Laodicean malaise comes from Jesus Himself (v. 18).

The Christians were to stop expecting their spiritual needs to be met from the Laodicean marketplace and were instead to come to Christ and do business with Him. One thing they would find is that Jesus runs a completely different economy from that of the world. This is what Jesus meant in saying that we should “buy from” Him: not that His saving blessings are up for sale, but that we should come to Him for the divine blessings that will save our souls. He alone can enrich our poverty, clothe our nakedness, heal our blindness, and give life to the spiritually dead.

Jesus adds to His loving counsel a most tender appeal in verse 20, which is all the more remarkable in that it is given to a church for which He has expressed disgust. This verse is frequently seen as an evangelistic appeal, but the context shows that this is not the case. The text does not urge unbelievers to “ask Jesus into your heart”; instead, Jesus is speaking to His church that has closed its door to Him. Jesus teaches that we must hear His voice and open the door. This means that Christ calls to us today through the Word, urging His people to awaken and respond with a zealous and repentant faith.

Jesus adds a promise to His call: “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (v. 20). This is an offer of enriched personal communion with Jesus. The Greeks had three meals each day, the chief of which was the evening meal where people lingered and shared the experiences and thoughts of their day. This is the meal that Jesus mentions. He offers us a living communion in daily discipleship. Christ knocks as Lord, and Christians who do not open wide the door of their hearts will miss out on the rich blessing of communion that He offers.

Jesus is able to renew our church and restore our lives with His omnipotent, saving power. It is in this capacity that Jesus concludes His messages to the seven churches of Asia with a final offer of salvation in verse 21. The seven messages of Revelation have included stern words that are uncomfortable for us to hear, not least the rebuke to the lukewarm church of Laodicea. But we are reminded that Jesus speaks as One who knows His church intimately and loves His people. His challenge is not for us to miss out on the best in life by yielding to Him but rather to raise us up through our faith to a high communion with Him. He declares that He is going to seat us beside Him on His throne of glory and authority, to join His own victorious communion with God the Father forever.

For this reason, we must conquer in faith, drawing from Jesus’ own victory as the One who says, “I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne” (v. 21). We conquer only in His power, with great reward of spending eternity not merely in Jesus’ heaven but, He says, “with me on my throne.” This is the high and glorious destiny to which Christ calls His church and His people now, saying, as John put it, “This is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith” (1 John 5:4). Christ’s calling is for us today no less than for the ancient believers of John’s day. Jesus thus speaks to each of us with urgency: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches (v. 22).

Revelation 3:14-22 Study Questions:

Often being even-handed and moderate in difficult situations is a virtue. Why is that not the case for the church at Laodicea (v. 16)?

When an earthquake in A.D. 61 did major damage to several cities in the Lycus valley, to the south of Philadelphia, one city was able to refuse imperial help. It was a proud thing to do. Most would have jumped at the offer. But Laodicea reckoned it didn’t need outside help. Apparently the smug well-off attitude of the town as a whole had rubbed off on the Christians. How were the Laodicean Christians blinded by their riches?

In what ways are we overly influenced by the attitudes and opinions of those around us?

What does it mean to you that Jesus would come and sit down and have a meal with those who hear His voice (v. 20)?