March 3 – Laodicea – Rev 3:14

Vs 14 – Jesus then address the church and messenger in Laodicea. Laodicea is situated on the long spur of a hill between the narrow valleys of the small rivers Asopus and Caprus, which discharge their waters into the Lycus. The town was originally called Diospolis, “City of Zeus”, and afterwards Rhodas. Laodicea, the building of which is ascribed to Antiochus II Theos in 261-253 BC in honor of his wife Laodice, was probably founded on the site of the older town. It was approximately 17 kilometres (11 mi) west of Colossae, and 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south of Hierapolis. It was approximately 160 kilometres (99 mi) east of Ephesus and, according to Strabo. Laodicea, benefiting from its advantageous position on a trade route, became one of the most important and flourishing commercial cities of Asia Minor, in which large money transactions and an extensive trade in black wool were carried on. The area often suffered from earthquakes, especially from the great shock that occurred in the reign of Nero (60 AD) in which the town was completely destroyed. But the inhabitants declined imperial assistance to rebuild the city and restored it from their own means. The wealth of its inhabitants created among them a taste for the arts of the Greeks, as is manifest from its ruins, and that it contributed to the advancement of science and literature is attested by the names of the sceptics Antiochus and Theiodas,
The Christian community in Laodicea seems to have been closely connected with that of nearby Colossae (also in the Lycus valley, 10 miles (16 km) distant). Laodicea is mentioned four times in the New Testament’s epistle to the Colossians (Col. 2:1; 4:13,15,16). In writing to the Colossians, Paul the Apostle sends greetings to them through a Laodicean named Nymphas and the church at their house (Col 4:15). He additionally greets Archippus, who might also be from Laodicea (4:17), and he instructs the Colossians to exchange his letter with one he has written to the Laodiceans (4:16). If the Colossian epistle is genuinely by Paul, then this would indicate a Christian presence in Laodicea as early as the 50s CE. It would also indicate that Laodicea (like Colossae) was not evangelized by Paul, but possibly by his disciple Epaphras (Col 4:12-13).
Jesus is described in this verse as three things. He is the great Amen. The exclamation point of all things. He is the great end of all things. Nothing is needed than Him. Jesus is also the faithful and true witness. What He says is truth. He will be faithful to what He says. You can trust Jesus. What He says will come to pass and He can be trusted to stand behind what He says. Jesus is also ruler of all God’s creation. The Book of Hebrew states that He is the creator and sustainer of all things. All life begins is sustains and ends with Him. He rules with righteousness and love. These truths can be tested and trusted to be true.