Recently, I have been involved in the study of the seventh of the seven churches of the Apocalypse, namely the church of Laodicea. In Revelation 3:19 Jesus told the Laodicean church to be zealous (G2206) and repent (G3340), because, as many as Jesus loves, he rebukes (G1651) and chastens (G3811). Therefore, the church could expect rebuke and chastisement from him. The word rebuke (G1651) is translated into several English words in the New Testament. For example the same Greek word in Matthew 18:15 is translated into “tell him (his) fault (G1651).” In John 8:9 the woman’s accusers were convicted (G1651) by their own consciences, which were stirred up by Jesus’ words.
Jesus said in John 3:19-20 that men love darkness (evil) and wouldn’t come into the light (truth of God) lest their deeds be reproved (G1651). Therefore, it seems to me that in Jesus telling the Laodicean church that he would rebuke them, he intended to expose their sins in such a manner that they would be convinced of their wrongdoing. Whether through the word of God or through life’s experiences, Jesus intended to convict his people of their error, because he loved them.
Moreover, Jesus also mentioned that he chastens (G3811) those he loves (Revelation 3:19). This Greek word was used by Pilate, meaning he intended to scourge (G3811) Jesus and release him (Luke 23:16-22). In like manner the Scriptures tells us that Jesus chastises (G3811) every son he receives. Thus, he treats us as sons (Hebrews 12:6-7) and chastens us, just as our fathers have chastened (G3811) us for a few days in order to mold us according to their own desires (cf. Acts 7:12; 22:3). Nevertheless, the Lord chastens us for our profit (Hebrews 12:10), because he doesn’t want us to be judged with the world (1Corinthians 11:32). Had the Laodicean church judged themselves (i.e. reflected upon their behavior), they wouldn’t have to pass through judgment and be chastised by God (1Corinthians 11:31-32), but this was their problem—they believed they were rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing. When one doesn’t see one’s need, he makes no provision for it. Therefore, the Lord had to bring them to the point where they recognized their need of him, instead of being satisfied with what they could do with this world’s wealth.
Jesus also told the church they needed to “be zealous” (Revelation 3:19). That is, they needed to earnestly desire or pursue him. The Greek word (G2206) is used by Paul in his letter to the Galatians:
Galatians 4:17 They zealously affect (G2206) you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect (G2206) them.
Here, the Judaizers were zealously pursuing the believers at Galatia in order to win them over to Judaism or at least a type of believing in Christ expressed through the Law (Judaism). And, once they succeeded, they would separate themselves from the believers in order to teach the believers at Galatia to zealously pursue them by adhering to the Oral Law and circumcision etc. In other words, their zeal was intended to be used to make disciples in their own image, or, on the part of the believers, to mold themselves into the image of their teachers. This is what Jesus wanted the Laodicean church to do—zealously mold themselves after his image.
In Acts 7:9 Stephen mentioned how Jacob’s sons were moved with envy (G2206) toward their brother, Joseph and sold him into slavery. In other words, they zealously wanted to remove Joseph from their sight. Similarly, in Acts 17:5 the Jews at Thessalonica wanted to remove Paul and his influence upon the people there from the city. On the one hand, the word is used to zealously mold one or oneself into a certain image (Galatians 4:17), while the other is used to cast an unwanted image away (Acts 7:9; 17:5). Paul tells us to earnestly desire the best gifts of the Spirit, like ‘prophecy’ (1Corinthians 12:31; 14:1, 39), because those gifts mold both prophet and those who listen to him (or her) into the image of Jesus. So, once again it seems that Jesus desired the Laodicean church to zealously pursue him and be molded into his image, rather than casting him aside (viz. Acts 7:9; 17:5) and being molded into the image of the Judaizers who seem to have succeeded in affecting them.
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