The Church of Smyrna, Rev. 2:8-11
Rev. 2:8 “The First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life” The names[1] given in place of Christ fit the situation facing the church in which it is used. Smyrna is undergoing persecution, Rev. 2:9, and many are going to die, 2:10. This title of Jesus is to encourage them that He is the one who always existed in eternity past and eternity future, then in His human incarnation was alive, suffered death, and returned to life again. The suffering church, already holding to the ground of their faith—Christ—is encouraged to keep believing to the end, knowing that He who rose again will raise them to life as well. It’s OK to let my mortal life go, because it will continue in the next world forever.
It’s important for terms like these to start to take root now and be the basis for letting go of other cherished things while we are still alive and less stressed. If this truth does not shape our choices now, what will it be at the end of life? How fearful will we lie on our deathbed? We meditate on these names, pray and ponder how they should affect us, and let the Spirit do His mysterious work in our hearts as we surrender to the truths He reveals. Because Jesus is the First and the Last, we know that our own end doesn’t terminate everything. Jesus is on the other side to pick up the broken pieces and make them new. Losing our stuff doesn’t end anything either, for in the ages to come, we’ll enjoy treasures that will never fade.
Jesus said He knows Smyrna’s poverty, 2:9, but tells them they are rich—because they have Him, who is the sum and source of life for every living thing. They know the difference between having things and having a relationship with Him and the church body. In their persecution by unfaithful Jews, they have lost much as the people in their culture shut doors against them. But they had opened the door to the Lord and He abides with them. To them is given the crown of life, Rev. 2:10. Such is their unsearchable riches—and ours too, who know this abiding Christ.
[1] (The grammatical term for this word substitution is metonymy, in which a word or phrase takes the place of a closely related word. https://www.scribbr.com/rhetoric/metonymy/.)
