Daily Devotional For February 4, 2025
To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, “These things are spoken by the One who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the One who walks in the middle of the seven golden lampstands. Rev 2:1.
That Ephesus is the first church to be addressed makes sense. If one were traveling from Patmos to Asia Minor, Ephesus would be the first of the seven cities one would encounter. Ephesus was also the most prominent of the seven cities. It was more powerful than Pergamum politically and more favored than Smyrna with regard to the cult of emperor worship.
The city of Ephesus was filled with symbols of the civil religion. Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD) had allowed Ephesus to build two temples in his honor, although he himself did not care for emperor worship. Domitian (81-96 AD) proclaimed Ephesus the foremost center of the imperial cult in Roman Asia. Ephesus was also renowned for the worship of Artemis (Acts 19:23-40), the practice of magic (Acts 19:13-19), and its large Jewish community (Acts 19:8-9). All of these elements would have made the Book of Revelation relevant to the church in Ephesus.1
Shortly after the time of Revelation the church received another letter, this time from Ignatius, the bishop of Antioch in Syria. Ignatius had been taken into custody by ten Roman soldiers and was being transported through Asia Minor to Rome, where he was to die in the arena. Along the way the soldiers allowed him to meet with other Christians. One memorable encounter was the warm welcome in Smyrna from Polycarp, the leader of the local church there (he will be featured in a later devotional).
While Ignatius was in Smyrna, four representatives also came from Ephesus to encourage him. These included the bishop of Ephesus, Onesimus, presumably the former runaway slave mentioned in Paul’s letter to Philemon. Ignatius responded to their visit by sending a letter to the church at Ephesus. Later on he also sent letters to Philadelphia and Smyrna.
In his letter to the Ephesians, Ignatius thanks the church for its kindness, praises its unity and warns them to be subject to their bishop and not allow divisions in the church. Like John in the three New Testament epistles, Ignatius considered Docetism, a theory that rejected the full humanity of Jesus, as the greatest threat facing the church at that time.
Ignatius also sent a letter to the Christians in Rome, asking them not to intercede with the Emperor in his behalf. He seems to have been almost eager for martyrdom, in order that he might sooner be with Christ. He declared that if the wild beasts were not hungry he would urge them on! While his eagerness for martyrdom may strike us as odd, his love for Jesus would have been a great model for a church that was lacking in love.
Lord, I too want to be faithful to You, no matter what the cost.
1 Keener, 105-106.