Advent Day 25

Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Revelation 2:10)

In his award-winning autobiographical novel Everything Sad is Untrue, author Daniel Nayeri talks about the persecution his mother faced when she converted from Islam to Christianity. She once hung a cross necklace in the back of her car and was told that if she didn’t remove it, she would be killed. In response, she hung an even bigger cross which covered half of the windshield.

Christian responses to persecution vary widely. We often interpret suffering as a warning light that something has gone wrong. Yet when we look to the Gospels, Jesus was abundantly clear that suffering, cross-carrying, and persecution would be normative for believers (see John 16:33, Matt. 16:24-25). In other words, it shouldn’t surprise us.

The church in Smyrna was suffering. They faced tribulation, poverty, slander, and the direct assaults of the devil. Some would be thrown into prison to be released only through martyrdom. Fear in the face of such danger is a natural human reaction, even though it betrays a fundamental distrust of God. Yet rather than berating them for their trembling hearts, John writes to encourage them: “Do not fear what you are about to suffer…Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” The crown spoken of here is a wreath or garland bestowed upon an athlete for winning a race. Through faith (believing, not achieving), Christians receive this crown, which means that death has lost its sting. As John says in the very next verse, “The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death” (Rev. 2:11).

This crown of victory is only possible because of the crown of another, the crown of thorns worn by Jesus, the babe of Bethlehem, as he seated himself upon the wooden throne of the cross. It was precisely through suffering and persecution, not in spite of it, that he won the victory.

This manger-king would not escape a deep piercing (Isa. 53:5), nor will those closest to him (Luke 2:35). Yet, we can take heart. Instead of eliminating our present suffering, Jesus does something even better: He redeems it. It is no longer just a cause for anguish and despair but rather a divine tool used to forge us into the image of our Savior, who promises that life––not death––gets the final word.

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