Revelation 3:14Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

This order also, the seventh class, shows wealthy people, believers who possess rank, but who believe as wealthy people do. They interpret Scripture in the bedchamber, yet outside the house no one knows whether they are such. They boast, asserting that they know everything. They are marked by the self-confidence that comes from learning, but they are empty of works. Therefore He says to them that they are neither cold nor hot. That is, they are neither unbelievers nor believers, for they are all things to all men. Therefore the one who is neither cold nor hot is necessarily lukewarm, so that he provokes vomiting. "I will vomit you," He says, "out of My mouth" (Rev 3:16). Vomit is hateful and hidden from no one. So also are people of this kind when they are rejected by God.

Faithfulness signifies the truth of Christ, and more precisely Christ Himself, as the self-existent Truth. "The beginning of creation" is said in place of "the kingdom and source of all," which rules over creatures. For the beginning or principality of creation signifies the original, uncreated, and pre-originating cause.

"The beginning of the creation of God." In the same way, the Christ-fighting band of Arians would seize upon this saying, as though the creatureliness of the Son were presented through these words. But we will not give attention to their blasphemous speeches. We must see whether there is something similar elsewhere in Scripture, so that one may draw similar conclusions from similar passages. The wise Apostle spoke of the Son when he wrote to the Colossians: "He is the firstborn before all creation" (Col 1:15, 18), not "the first created." The prophet also said: "From the womb. Before the morning star, Your birth is like dew" (Ps 109:3), clearly not "Your creation." Solomon likewise declares: "Before all the hills He begets Me" (Prov 8:25).

Laodicea can mean either the beloved people of the Lord or those who were cast out with vomit. Of some it was said, "I will spew you out of My mouth." Of others it was said, "Those whom I love, I rebuke and chasten." From Greek this name is translated as "righteous people."

Saint Gregory the Theologian says that the cold man, who does not have burning faith, can often acquire such faith. But the lukewarm man, warmed by the Spirit through Baptism and later cooled through negligence, has lost the hope of salvation by degrading the faith once chosen. Indeed, lukewarm people resist the reception of the Holy Spirit of God more than others. The reason is their negligence, with which they do everything that belongs to God. They do not understand that they act wickedly. Self-love assures them that they are acting well. Everything said to draw them out of such a disastrous state offends them. It makes them see in others the blindness with which they themselves are stricken. They do not wish either to know it or to admit it.

"To the angel of the Church of the Laodiceans." Laodicea, once the chief city of Phrygia, is now the poor settlement of Eski-hissar. "Thus says the Amen." At the beginning of His address to the angel of the Church of Laodicea, Jesus Christ calls Himself true. Now, confirming that this quality belongs to Him, He calls Himself the Amen; compare 2 Cor. 1:19-20. "The beginning of God's creation," ή αρχή in place of ό αρχών. Likewise, at the beginning of Revelation Jesus Christ calls Himself the beginning and the end (Rev. 1:8). Elsewhere He is called the firstborn of every creature (Col. 1:15).

What did the Lord command to be written to the angel of the Church of Laodicea? Rev 3:14-22. Much that is accusatory. He and his Church are neither cold nor hot. Therefore the Lord threatens to vomit them out of His mouth, like lukewarm water that causes nausea. Contrary to the Laodiceans' conceited view of their moral perfections, the Lord calls them wretched beggars, blind and naked. He urges them to care for the covering of their nakedness and the healing of their blindness. He warns that He lovingly stands at the door of every repentant man's heart. He is ready to come to him with His mercies and forgiveness. To the one who conquers his pride and, in general, his moral infirmities, the Lord promises to seat him with Himself on His throne. "Thus says ...

It is true that "the beginning of God's creation" (Rev. 3:14), or its universal foundation, is the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

To the Church of Laodicea in Phrygia, whose members did not regard their Christian duties with sufficient seriousness, the Lord addresses Himself as the embodied affirmation of the truth of His words. He speaks as "the Amen, the faithful and true Witness." They seemed to think that they would suffer no punishment for this. He speaks even as the One who Himself is able to fulfill all the threats He has uttered against those who forget His commandments. Describing the condition of the Laodicean Church, the Lord compares it to lukewarm water. When someone takes it into his mouth, he involuntarily spits it out, because it produces a very unpleasant sensation. It would have been better if the Laodiceans were cold, that is, if they had remained pagans.

Why is the Savior called the beginning of creation? He is so called as Creator, for all things came to be through Him. He is especially so called as the re-creator of the fallen human race. According to His humanity He is our new progenitor. In Himself He revealed man restored. According to His pattern and by His power, all people are afterward restored. He is the Head and the beginning.