Pastor Luis Rodríguez

This past week we continued with our series in the seven letters to the seven churches in Revelations. As we dwelled in the church of Smyrna, we see the words "I know," and this word seems to be the central theme in this chapter. We were also able to see three weights that the church faced.
1. Their poverty.
2. The blasphemy of the Jews against them.
3. The promise of persecution that was coming to them.
We see their poverty, by claiming to be followers of Christ, many of the brothers in this primitive church, would have been subject to discrimination, and many would not have been able to buy or sell, many of this discrimination was born from these early believers not worshiping the gods of the trade guild in Smyrna. They were a despised minority, and because of this, no one would want to buy from them or be associated with them. In the middle of this, Jesus makes the declaration, "I know your poverty and your tribulation," but he reassures them with the words "but you are rich." Many times, we think that being rich is having all the things this world provides for us, maybe is the big house, the nice car, a big bank account, and we think by having these things we are wealthy, but we see that Jesus reminds these early brothers that they are rich because they possess something more precious than all the riches in this world, and that is Jesus. Just like these brothers, we may not have all the things we want, but we are rich because we have Jesus, the savior of our lives.
The second yoke over them is their tribulation from the false Jews of the synagogue of Satan, and these Jews were trying to expel the Christians from the temple. They used slander as a tool to bear false witness against this group of believers. Some of the accusations were that in their meetings would perform orgies, that during the lord's supper, they would eat the blood and flesh of Christ. Because of this, they were accused of cannibalism, and they called each other brother and sister. Thus they did not believe in the family because the Roman family structure was necessary. They thought these believers did not believe in the family and were selfish. These accusations were a yoke of pressure over them, and they were a despised people in Smyrna. Still, during all these accusations, Jesus reminds them, "I know your tribulation" this yoke was heavy over them, but Jesus prepared them for the yoke that was to come, that of persecution.
Finally, the promise of persecution and death, but this tribulation will only last ten days. We can only imagine what these brothers went through. The prisons of the day were not like the prisons of today, they were horrible places, and to a point, we could say that they were inhumane. There were no human rights, so we could imagine that many died in these places. Also, others were thrown to the beasts to be devoured, as the people cheered by their demise, cheering the death of the saints, that was the kind of tribulation they were facing, many could have been forgiven if they just rejected Christ, and maybe some taught of this because the tribulation was great. But the words of Jesus comfort the brothers, "Be faithful till the end and I shall give you the crown of life" the crown a symbolism because the people used them in festivals, when they won the games, they would get a crown on their heads the emperors used them, the Christians did not partake in this aspect of society. Jesus reminds them, "Be faithful until the end, and I shall give you the crown of life."
Now friends, let us ask ourselves, have we been faithful? Do we have that type of conviction to stay loyal to God even as we face tribulation? Maybe you want to turn back? Please don't do it. Stay faithful, and receive the crown of life. Perhaps we must be like Polycarp, the saint that when the moment came that he was asked to denounce Jesus, he famously said, "I have served my God for eighty-six years, how can I deny him now."
The brothers in Smyrna faced great tribulation, but Jesus reminds them that He knows, just like He knows what you are going through, He knows our hardship. But remember that if you stay faithful till the end, he shall give you the crown of life.
My prayer this week is that we can have faith, trust Jesus' words, that He is in control, and give us the courage to stay faithful till the end, and He shall provide us with the crown of life.