Behold, I will bring of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but do lie. Behold, I will make them to come and adore before thy feet. And they shall know that I have loved thee.
ιδου διδωμι εκ της συναγωγης του σατανα των λεγοντων εαυτους ιουδαιους ειναι και ουκ εισιν αλλα ψευδονται ιδου ποιησω αυτους ινα ηξωσιν και προσκυνησωσιν ενωπιον των ποδων σου και γνωσιν οτι ηγαπησα εγω ηγαπησα σε
4 Church Fathers comment on this verse
For the confession of My name, you will receive as a reward the conversion and repentance of the Jews. They will fall at your feet, begging to be brought to Me and thirsting for My illumination, having become Jews in the hidden place of the heart, not outwardly.
Patience is a spiritual virtue, by which we bear with good courage everything inflicted upon us, without malice toward those who offend us, remembering the commandment of God. The Apostle Paul commands Christians to walk worthily of God, pleasing Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory, unto all patience and longsuffering with joy (Col 1:10-11).
Jesus Christ especially praises the Philadelphians because they kept His word and did not deny His name. One of the rewards for the Church of Philadelphia will be that those who say they are Jews will come and worship before her feet, and will understand that Christ has loved her (Rev 3:9). Whether this worship at the feet of the Church consists in conversion to the true faith held by the Church, or in the cessation of the struggle against Christianity, in any case it indicates the triumph and victory of the true faith over the efforts of error and over the persecutors of the Church.
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.
In former times access to the king depended on David's steward. As such, the Lord opens before the Church of Philadelphia the doors of the Kingdom of God. He does this because the members of this Church, despite their small number, managed to defend their faith in Christ. More than this, the Lord will compel those who falsely call themselves by the honorable name of Jews to bow with respect before the Christians of Philadelphia. He will preserve these latter ones also in that great hour of trial, which will be ruinous for many. It is already near, because the coming of Christ is already near. That coming must follow after this trial. Here the Lord, of course, has in mind the coming of Antichrist. The Lord explains this salvation by saying that those who are saved faithfully kept the word of Christ's patience. In other words, they imitated Christ in the endurance of every sorrow. The Lord promises to make the victor over the temptations that came upon the Philadelphian Christians from unbelieving Judaism a pillar in the temple of His God. That is, He will give him in the heavenly Church the same important significance that a pillar has when it supports the vaults of a temple. On this victor the name of God will be written, as a sign that he belongs to God. Then the name of the new, heavenly Jerusalem will be written, as a sign that he is a lawful and full citizen of that city. Finally, the new name of Jesus Christ will be written on him, as a sign that he, like Christ, has become a king of kings.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 34 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS