Revelation 3:21Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The throne signifies the Kingdom and the repose of the age to come. Therefore it is said here that those who overcome will be glorified and will reign together with Him.

"As I also overcame" is spoken according to His humanity, as One Who assumed flesh.

God the Word did not inherit the Kingdom as a reward for virtues, but possessed it from eternity, as the Ever-existing One.

Otherwise He could not make others participants in it.

Yet, according to the words of the Theologian, the son of Thunder, from His fullness He bestowed it upon all the saints (Jn 1:16; 1 Tim 6:17).

Therefore He told the holy apostles that they would sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel (Mt 19:28; 1 Cor 6:2).

Let him who has an ear understand the goodness and mercy of God toward fallen humanity, and the ingratitude of sinners who are unwilling to labor even a little in the work of their salvation. Here ends the first part of the Revelation of the Lord Jesus. In it, under the name of the seven churches of Asia Minor, He gives instruction to the One Orthodox Church. She abides in different times, under different circumstances, and in different states, and He Himself is her Head.

"If anyone serves Me, My Father will honor him" (Jn 12:26). To the one who overcomes the world and sin, and who follows Me in earthly life, "I will grant" in eternal life "to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne."

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: the Amen, the faithful and true Witness.

He also speaks as One Who is Himself able to fulfill every threat He has uttered against those who forget His commandments.

Describing the condition of the Laodicean Church, the Lord compares it to lukewarm water. Whoever takes it into his mouth 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. Then they might have been left in peace while their conversion was awaited.