Revelation 3:8Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

We know from what was said earlier that this city was small in size, but strong in faith. Therefore He says to it: "I know your works," that is, I praise them. So also it was said to Moses: "I know you above all." I have opened before you the door of the preaching of doctrine, which temptations cannot shut. Your consent is enough. I do not demand what is beyond your strength.

Philadelphia is not a large city, and therefore it has little strength. Yet because it preserved the faith of Christ, it will surpass its own strength and remain fearless beside those who torment the faithful. Then, as a reciprocal gift for its sincerity toward Him, the Lord promised that many Jews would come to this city and receive the faith of Christ. This is what it means to bow before its feet (Rev 3:9). It means to prefer, in the last times, to enter the Church and to be only a member of the Church. The prophet also says this with joy: "I would rather be cast down in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness" (Ps 83:11).

He explains that the Church deserved these gifts because she relies not on her own strength, but on the goodness of Christ. She recognizes that she herself has little strength and, being redeemed, glorifies not herself but the Lord.

"And I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder. He shall open, and no one shall shut. He shall shut, and no one shall open" (Is 22:22). Christ is that desired Door through which, if anyone enters, he will be saved (cf. Jn 10:9). Amid the many temptations that oppress the spirit of Christianity, and amid the reasonings of the carnal mind that seek to trouble the streams of true faith, the Philadelphians will firmly hold to the Gospel. They will not deny Christ. Therefore the Lord has opened for them doors that no one can shut. These doors lead into the untroubled haven, into the strong and impregnable city of David.

Since the Lord does not indicate a single vicious feature in the Church of Philadelphia, the Shtundists claim that they received their teaching from this very church. But Shtundism arose recently. To identify it with the teaching of the ancient Church of Philadelphia, and to claim that the latter communicated something of its own to it, is an utterly absurd fiction. Moreover, that church had a bishop, an angel, while the Shtundists reject bishops.

To the Church of Philadelphia, in the province of Lydia, which had kept faithfulness to the Lord, He appears as the complete opposite of how the synagogue of Satan presented Him to believing Christians. That synagogue was the community of unbelieving Jews. The Jews blasphemed Him, but He appears as holy, as Jehovah was called in the Old Testament. The Jews mocked Christians because, according to them, Christians honored a false Messiah. But the Lord appears as the True One, who fulfilled all the prophecies concerning the Messiah. Finally, they ascribed to themselves alone the right to the kingdom of the Messiah. Yet the Lord appears with the key of David in His hands. Therefore it depends on Him whether a man is admitted to the throne of God or not.