The gathering of believers in Smyrna was being persecuted by Rome and was also particularly targeted by the Jewish population. This led to imprisonment and execution for many, including the church father Polycarp in 155 AD who was publicly burned at the stake at the age of 86 for worshipping Jesus exclusively. To this church, Jesus gently reminds them of his presence and encourages them with the reality of his death and resurrection. As Jesus said before his ascension, those who are in him need not fear death because they fear the one who has the power over death and hell. More than that, if we are living for the life to come and storing up all our treasures there, what risks for the gospel would we not be willing to take? If Jesus has given us all things in him, what sacrifice on this side of glory is too great for us to make?

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