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Revelation 2:10, “Do not fear what you are about to suffer.”
Short Thoughts:
May we receive from Christ’s hand whatever suffering He might ordain—not fearing it as the assault of an enemy—but receiving it as a mercifully appointed, wisely authored, lovingly tempered means for our deepest good.
Long Thoughts:
Perhaps the first thing to consider when we come to this short sentence is who the speaker is. Who says to the church at Smyrna “Do not fear what you are about to suffer”? It is, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ—the one who has Himself endured all conceivable suffering and lives forevermore. And as soon as we realize that it is Jesus speaking, these words take on a whole new light.
Could Jesus—the one who holds all authority in heaven and on earth—could He not prevent the coming suffering? Why does He say, “Do not fear what you are about to suffer”? Why not instead say, “do not fear, you will not suffer”? He certainly has the power to prevent it, He certainly has the authority to deny it, and yet He has not. Therefore, this suffering that is coming—this suffering that is mediated to them by the devil, who surely does not share Christ’s good intentions in it (v.10b)—is a suffering that Love Himself ordains for and offers to His beloved ones. The only conclusion we can draw is that the coming suffering is something that Jesus Christ—in His infinite love and wisdom—has deemed good (indeed, best) for the church at Smyrna.
And this, then, is why they ought not fear the suffering that is coming. It is not that the suffering will not be painful, it is not that it will not be hard, it is not that it will not damage and destroy and rob and invade and trample….no, it is real suffering. The reason they are not to fear this suffering is because it is a suffering ordained by Love for them, and it is therefore a suffering that will invincibly serve their good (Rom.8:28). And what is the good that this suffering will achieve? Well, in our text it is not escape from death….rather it is the “crown of life” received after death.
The suffering Smyrna is about to face is a suffering that will lead to death. And yet, even still they ought not fear because their Lord and God, their Master and Savior, their Elder Brother ordains it in love for them. HE is the One who died and came to life again, HE is the One who has conquered even death, HE is the One who has made death itself an open door into His arms of fellowship, and HE therefore is the One who will crown them with imperishable life on the other side of death.
Yes….the death and resurrection of our Lord has defanged fear. Post-cross, Fear is a windbag, an empty boaster, a liar. Fear says darkness is coming, Fear says hardship is ahead, Fear says sorrow and loss and pain and agony and despair or before us…..and in that, it tells the truth. And yet, in all of its muttering and whispering and freezing promises, Fear neglects to tell the Christian that none of those things will last….that none of those things are the end….that the story does not—indeed cannot—end with sorrow, that after death comes the crown of life.
Because the One who is First and Last is also the One who died and came to life again, all those who hope in Him can stare Fear in the face and say, “You lie, Fear. You lie because you are keeping back half the truth. All that you say may come, and yet it will not be the end…the end is a crown of life and the embrace of Love and a feast of joy…And in the end, Fear, in the end all these horrors that you now threaten me with, every one of them, will be turned to a glittering jewel of joy and glory in that crown of life that my Lord and God will give me on the day that you are finally shattered under the feet of the Risen Lamb.”
And, lastly, what Jesus says to the church of Smyrna, He says to every one of His people… “Do not fear what you are about to suffer…” Whatever the suffering may be….sickness, loss, dismay, hardship, abandonment…Every suffering that comes into the life of one trusting in Christ is included in this word because every suffering that comes is ordained for us by the wisdom of Love and intended to advance our final good and His final glory.
So….may we hold fast to our King…to the One who died (bearing all of our suffering) and who came to life again (turning all of our suffering into glory). And may we take from His hand whatever suffering He might ordain, not fearing it as the assault of an enemy or the victory of our adversary, but receiving it as a wisely authored, lovingly tempered, mercifully appointed means for our further joy in Christ and His further exaltation in us.
Our sorrow will turn to joy.
