The Sermons to the Seven Churches: The Church of the Persevering Persecuted – Part Two

Isaiah 60:1-5; 14-16                Colossians 4:2-6             Revelation 3:7-13           John 9:24-34

The Sermons to the Seven Churches: The Church of the Persevering Persecuted – Part Two

Christian conversion has been compared by some to enlisting in the defence force. The moment you turn and place your faith and trust in Jesus, Satan, the powers of darkness, and the world become our adversaries.

For the small church in Philadelphia, this proved to be all too true. It seems that the predominantly Jewish-background Christians were being excommunicated and expelled from the local synagogue because of their belief that Jesus was the Messiah. Losing one’s friends due to doctrinal differences is one thing, but to lose your family and everything else you ever held dear…to be boycotted in the workplace and the marketplace, and to be denounced before the authorities…was quite another. And yet, they had doggedly persisted in their faith despite severe and sustained opposition.

In verses 8–9 Jesus said to them:

“‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not but lie; behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.’”

As we have seen with all the other churches, Jesus begins by saying that he knows their works. As the sovereign Creator and sustainer of everything in existence, he knows all things. He knows our works, our thoughts, our fears, our doubts, our joys, our dreams. And while it is comforting to know that God knows everything about us, it is also sobering, and encouraging, to know that the same is true of unbelievers. God knows everything about them too, and while he may allow a certain measure of latitude, he will most certainly intervene at a time he knows is right.

So, as the one who knows all things, and as the one who holds the key of David, it is not surprising to read that he set an open door before them that no one would be able to shut. Symbolically in Scripture, the image of a door is used to portray spiritual inclusion and exclusion. As this door is open and “uncloseable”, Jesus may have been encouraging those who had been cast out and expelled from the local synagogue, like the man born blind in our Gospel reading today. And yet, although the Jewish authorities had effectively damned them by casting them out of the covenant community, the exact opposite was true. While a door to a worldly, or dare I say, Satanic institution had been shut, a greater door had been opened, a door no human authority or diabolical power would ever be able to close.

However, this metaphor of an open door may also refer to a divinely given evangelistic opportunity. In Acts 14:27, after Paul and Barnabas had returned from their first missionary journey, they “declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.”

In a close parallel to what Jesus told the church in Philadelphia, Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 16:8–9:

“But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.”

It is striking that the open door did not mean smooth sailing. In fact, in both Philadelphia and in Ephesus, it seems the opposite was true. Both had many adversaries.

This is worth lingering over. All too often in the modern Western church, believers interpret adversity as a sure sign of God’s disapproval. But that is not what Scripture teaches. All we need to do to dispel this unhealthy myth is to read the Scriptures; to read of those who “suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment,” of those who “were stoned… sawn in two… killed with the sword,” of those who “went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated…all those of whom the world was not worthy.”

Or perhaps we simply need to read the Gospels and the book of Acts again. Jesus told us that in this world we would have trouble, tribulation, persecution, but that we should not lose heart, because he has overcome the world. As believers, we stand before an open door that no one and nothing can shut.

So it seems that the open-door Jesus set before them, referred not only to their personal salvation, but also to an opportunity to share the Gospel effectively despite severe opposition. As Jesus is both the door and the one who holds the key to that door, believers are assured of the ultimate success of their obedience. The one who sends is also the one who opens. Effectively sharing your faith has little to do with technique or eloquence. You may sow, or you may water, but it is God who grants the growth.

This does not remove the responsibility to speak, nor the wisdom of learning how to speak well. But it does remove the crushing burden of outcome. We are not responsible for the reaction of the hearer. Our task is to sow and water. But it is God who prepares hearts, softens resistance, and grants life. He opens doors no one can shut and he also shuts doors no one can open.

Moving along. The First Century Church had two main human adversaries…those who claimed to be children of God and yet by their actions proved themselves to be children of the devil (John 8:44), and those who worshipped anything and everything except the one true God. 

It is interesting to note that Jesus’ words to the believers in Philadelphia, “I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you”, is almost a direct quotation from Isaiah 60:14, “The sons of those who afflicted you shall come bending low to you, and all who despised you shall bow down at your feet; they shall call you the City of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.” Remember, Jesus described himself as “the Holy One” in the opening verse of this sermon.

Now, there is a sting in these words, as in Isaiah this statement referred to the pagan nations, yet here Jesus used it to refer to the unbelieving Jews in Philadelphia. Yet, there is also a promise. A time will come when Jesus’ own people who did not receive him will turn to embrace the one whom they have for so long rejected. 

However, it was not only excommunication that the believers in Philadelphia were facing. It is possible that the words “have not denied my name” refer to the pressure placed on believers to deny Jesus and to acknowledge the pagan gods, especially the Emperor as a god. 

A letter written by Pliny the younger to Emperor Trajan, as well as the reply from the Emperor, indicates that Christians were denounced by anonymous informers and then, after examination, expected to deny their faith. As these words in Revelation 3 are found in the context of Jewish persecution it is likely that the informers were members of that synagogue.

However, in Revelation 3:10 Jesus seemed to indicate that things were not going to get better in the foreseeable future. In a promise of divine protection, Jesus said, “Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.” These words appear to indicate a more widespread persecution of the Church rather than a merely local persecution, and yet it also appears to speak of something that would have been considered a trial for all who dwell on the earth. 

Now what trial could this possibly be that would have a negative impact on, not just believers, but indeed on all those who dwell on the earth? I think most of you know by now that I am not inclined to find nuclear warheads in these sermons, so I had to ask myself what could this global trial…global in as far as the First Century readers would have understood it…what could this global trial have been?

During his early reign, from AD 54 to 59, the emperor at that time, Nero, was surprisingly popular. Under the guidance of Seneca and Burrus, Nero reduced taxes, opposed corrupt governors, promoted public games and grain supply, and avoided military recklessness. Many Romans, especially the urban poor, liked him. He was accessible, theatrical, and generous.

However, things begin to sour between the years AD 59 -61 as Nero became increasingly paranoid. Fearing opposition, he murdered his mother Agrippina in AD 59, executed or forced the suicides of senators, became increasingly obsessed with artistic performance, and neglected traditional elite expectations of imperial dignity. The senatorial class, in particular, came to hate and fear him.

But then, after AD 62, there was widespread distress, with heavy taxation to fund spectacles and to rebuild Rome, confiscations of property, arbitrary executions, growing fear among elites and administrators, and revolts particularly in Gaul and in Spain.

At this later stage, Nero was increasingly seen as dangerous, unpredictable, and self-indulgent. Many non-believers experienced his reign as a trial, though not always for religious reasons. Yet on the Christians, Nero would unleash a persecution second to none.

Cornelius Tacitus, an early 2nd century historian, wrote about the Emperor Nero in his Annals 15.44: “After the great fire of Rome in AD 64, rumours spread that the emperor had caused the fire himself. To silence this, Nero fixed the blame on the people called Christians, a group hated for their peculiar practices, and inflicted on them the most terrible tortures….First those who confessed were arrested; then, on their information, a vast multitude were convicted, not so much for setting the fire as for hatred of mankind (Remember those who did not honour the emperor were considered enemies of the Empire). The tortured were made examples: some were torn by dogs, others crucified, and still others burned so that their deaths served as lights by night. Nero offered his own gardens for these spectacles and put on games in the circus.”

It is also helpful to remember that Paul was most likely executed in AD 64.

In his biographical Lives of the Caesars, Suetonius had this to say about Nero.

“During Nero’s reign punishment was inflicted on the Christians, a class of people given to a new and mischievous religious belief. This was listed (now get this as this is a reference to his general madness) this was listed among the general abuses he sought to suppress alongside other public disorders.” Everyone suffered during this madman’s reign. 

For those living at that time, this trial would have been considered worldwide as in their minds, Rome ruled the whole known world. Given that Philadelphia was one of the last of the seven churches standing strong well into the fourteenth century AD, it may very well be that Jesus somehow protected them from this and other awful persecutions.

However, whether it is Nero’s madness that Jesus referred to here or something else, the bottom line is that he promised to protect them and to strengthen them during some form of future global suffering.

So where does this leave us?

It leaves us standing where the church in Philadelphia stood…small, unimpressive, pressured, but also faithful…and standing before a door already opened by Jesus himself. Not a door we kicked open, not a door we negotiated, not a door we deserved, but a door that was opened because our risen Lord holds the key.

The great danger for the western church today is not so much persecution as it is paralysis. We fear being mocked, we fear rejection, we fear loss of reputation, we fear being cast out of whatever our personal communities might be. And so we hesitate and we stay silent.

But Jesus has never asked us to be powerful. He has never asked us to be impressive. He asks us to be faithful.

For us, as for the church in Philadelphia, the door is already open. The only remaining question is whether we will respond to this divine opportunity, or stand safely on the threshold, explaining why now is not the right time or why I am not the right person.

Philadelphia had little power, but they had an open door. And that, it turns out, was more than enough.

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2026

The Sermons to the Seven Churches: The Church of the Persevering Persecuted (1)

Job 12:13-15                           Isaiah 22: 21-22              John 14:1-7               Revelation 3:7–13

The Sermons to the Seven Churches: The Church of the Persevering Persecuted (1)

Sir Michael Costa, the renowned Jewish Italian-born British composer and conductor, was once leading a rehearsal with a full orchestra and a large choir. During a powerful movement, the choir singing at full volume, trumpets blaring, drums rolling, and strings soaring, a piccolo player grew frustrated. The sound of the ensemble was so overwhelming that the piccolo could barely be heard. Feeling insignificant, the player stopped playing, though kept the instrument to his lips.

Almost immediately, Sir Michael halted the rehearsal and asked the piccolo player whether he would care to join the rest of the orchestra. While no one else seemed to have noticed the absence, the conductor had. Neither size nor volume was the issue. The missing piccolo disrupted the harmony of the entire piece. Its contribution was as essential as any other instrument or voice.

Similarly, the church in Philadelphia may have appeared small, weak, and ineffectual. Yet, unlike five of the other churches addressed in Revelation, it was free from heresy and free from internal division. In this it closely resembled the church in Smyrna: both received no rebuke from Jesus, both endured intense persecution, both were told that their opposition was ultimately satanic in origin, and both were promised vindication, a new name, and a victor’s wreath or crown.

Philadelphia, known as the gateway to the East, was strategically located at a junction leading to three major Roman provinces: Mysia, Lydia, and Phrygia. Of the seven cities mentioned in Revelation, it was the most recently founded.

The city was established in 189 BC by King Eumenes II of Pergamon, who named it after his brother Attalus II Philadelphus, famed for his loyalty and affection toward his brother. Philadelphia was intentionally founded as a “missionary” city…a cultural outpost designed to spread the Hellenistic language, values, and customs into the surrounding regions. Settlers from Pergamum were encouraged to relocate there for this very purpose. That original mission echoes powerfully in the message to the church: just as the city had been founded to spread Hellenism, the church was now called to spread the gospel.

When Attalus III Philometor, the last of the Attalid kings, died without an heir in 133 BC, he bequeathed his kingdom, including Philadelphia, to Rome. The Romans subsequently formed the province of Asia in 129 BC, incorporating Philadelphia into the administrative district of Sardis. The region was situated in s seismically and volcanically active zone and consequently the volcanic soil produced fertile vineyards, but it also brought instability. Earthquakes were frequent. After a devastating earthquake in AD 17, Emperor Tiberius relieved the city of taxes, earning deep civic gratitude and public honours. And so, as can be expected, an imperial cult took root in the city.

What is remarkable is that, although the church in Philadelphia was small and outwardly fragile, it was the only one of the seven churches to remain faithful and intact well into the fourteenth century AD, long after the others had faded.

Now, when Jesus addressed this church, he first described himself as “the holy one.” This is an obvious allusion to his divinity as only God is described as “the Holy One” in the Old Testament Scriptures. However, in Scripture, the state of holiness refers to being set apart by God for himself and for his divine purposes. Holiness is not something intrinsic to creation; it is derivative. God alone is holy in and of himself. He is the uncreated creator, wholly other, morally perfect, and sovereign over all things. Therefore, holiness is not merely a separation from what is common, but it is also a participation in what reflects the character of God.

It is crucial to see that the holiness of God undergirds the holiness of all that he consecrates. To that end, Scripture often uses different language to distinguish between God’s holiness and the holiness of his people. God’s holiness belongs to his very being. When the word holy is applied to God, it describes his absolute moral perfection. As such, his character becomes the standard by which all ethical purity is measured. This standard is revealed supremely in his law. For this reason, those whom God sets apart are therefore called to mirror his character through obedience to his expressed will. The implication is unavoidable: as God is holy, so those who belong to him must share in that holiness.

And so, when this title is applied to Jesus, it speaks not only of his divinity and moral purity, but also of his complete and unwavering consecration to the will of his Father. He pursued holiness in the face of relentless opposition and temptation. He did not merely teach holiness, he embodied it. As such, he is not only our example, but also our guarantor. His holiness is imputed to us through union with him.

Holiness, then, is both a gift and a calling. It is granted to believers by virtue of their union with Jesus, but it is also cultivated in believers as they are progressively conformed to his likeness through obedience to his word, empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit. A fitting prayer for us, therefore, would be that God would cause us to love what he commands, to desire what he wills, and to live as he requires.

At its core, being “set apart” means freedom. Freedom from our sinful inclination toward narcissistic self-interest, pride, and self-centred rebellion against our creator’s law and freedom for cooperative and Spirit empowered service to God and others, guided by his will rather than our own.

So, by calling himself “the holy one,” Jesus reminded the weak and persecuted church in Philadelphia not only of who he is, but also of who they were because they belonged to him. The pursuit of holiness…the quest of being conformed to the image of God, is never optional, even when we are under pressure. The temptation to “loosen up,” to blend in, or to compromise is powerful, especially when faithfulness brings social exclusion or hostility. Few people enjoy being ostracised.

But once we recognise that we bear the name of the holy one, and that holiness is not negotiable for those who belong to him, such temptations are exposed for what they truly are: attempts to fracture our fellowship with our Lord. Holiness stands in direct opposition to the values of the world, and therefore it always carries a cost. As Paul wrote, all who desire to live godly lives will be persecuted. Nevertheless, we are called to be holy because the one who has called us is holy.

Then Jesus also described himself as “the true one.” Now, the Greek word here carries the sense of both truthfulness and trustworthiness, and it is likely that John intended both meanings. Jesus is true because he is the truth. And, because he cannot deny himself, he is therefore entirely reliable and trustworthy.

In John 14:6 Jesus declared that he alone is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one comes to God except through him. The implication is unavoidable: if he is the way, all other ways ultimately mislead. If he is the truth, all competing “truth claims” are false. If he is the life, everything else leads to death. The presence of the one who is true exposes every falsehood. Therefore, for us, the most effective defence against deception is not encyclopaedic knowledge of every belief system, but rather deep, practiced familiarity with the one who is truth.

The church in Philadelphia, small and of little strength, was pressured from both sides. From the Jewish community they were tempted toward legalism. From the Gentile world they were tempted toward moral compromise and licentiousness. On one end of the spectrum, life was governed by man-made rules: and on the other, by man-made freedoms. Both are distortions of the gospel.

The only way to avoid these extremes is to fix our eyes on the one who is both holy and true. Holiness and truth are inseparable. What we believe inevitably shapes how we live.

However, perhaps the most striking title Jesus used here, was that he is the one who “holds the key of David.” In 2 Samuel 7:16 God promised David that his house, throne, and kingdom would endure forever and this promise found its fulfilment in Jesus. That Jesus was the heir of David’s line is clear throughout the Gospels. In Luke 1:31–33 the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that her son would receive the throne of his father David and reign forever, with a kingdom that would never end.

This image, of him being the holder of the key of David, speaks of Jesus’ eternal authority, dominion, and kingship. But what does it mean that he holds the key of David?

A key granting access to the king was entrusted only to someone deemed completely reliable. The holder of the key possessed the authority to admit or exclude. In the Old Testament, keys were given to stewards, the ones appointed to manage the household on behalf of the master. Isaiah 22 records the Lord’s removal of Shebna, a corrupt steward, and his replacement with Eliakim, a faithful steward. God declares: “I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.”

So, by invoking this imagery, Jesus was likely exposing the so-called synagogue of Satan as false stewards of God’s kingdom. They claimed authority yet opposed the very people whom God had welcomed. As Jesus said to the Pharisees, they shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces, neither entering themselves nor allowing others to enter.

In other words, by declaring himself the holder of the key of David, Jesus announced that he alone controls access to the heavenly throne room. He alone admits and he alone excludes. Now, this raises an important question, since in Matthew 16:19 Jesus tells Peter that he will give him the key of the kingdom. So then, who, holds the key: Jesus or the church?

I believe the answer lies in remembering that it is Jesus who builds his Church. The Church possesses authority only insofar as it acts in union with him. The Church cannot exclude those whom Christ has included, nor can it admit those whom he has not. Jesus holds the keys of death and Hades. Jesus alone is the door. And Jesus holds the key of David.

God’s sovereignty over all things is absolute. Job reminds us that what God tears down, none can rebuild, and those he imprisons, none can release. When he holds back waters, there is drought…if he lets them loose, there is flooding throughout the land. Whatever God does no-one or nothing can counter it or stop it. If this is true of earthly events, how much more of eternal realities?

Jesus is holy, true, and utterly sovereign. No Sanhedrin, no synagogue, no council, bishop, pope, Sanhedrin, or satanic power can override his authority. He alone sets before his people an open door that no one can shut.

He went to the cross to prepare a place for his people, so that where he is, they may be also. He calls his sheep by name, and they follow him because they belong to him by the Father’s gift.

The Lord Jesus Christ was set apart by the Father to accomplish the Father’s will, and he obeyed that will even unto death on a cross. Through his obedience, all for whom he died are themselves set apart for God, to walk in the good works God has prepared beforehand for us to walk in. He alone is the truth, utterly free from falsehood, and therefore completely trustworthy, even when we are tempted to doubt him. And he alone grants entrance into the New Jerusalem.

The church in Philadelphia may have appeared weak and insignificant in the eyes of the world. They were had pressed on every side by forces seeking to make them abandon the truth they confessed. Yet, as those set apart by the one who is true and absolutely sovereign, they remained faithful.

When a church is small, struggling, or marginalised, the temptation to compromise, or to give up entirely, is immense. But if we trust the one who is holy and true, the one who opens doors no one can shut, faithfulness is never wasted. So, dearest beloved brethren, we must fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. He is our supreme example of perseverance in obedience amid suffering.

We may feel insignificant. We may feel vulnerable. But never forget…even the piccolo is necessary to bring harmony to the orchestra.

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2026

All Age Service: Resolved: To Believe What God Says About Us

Resolved: To Believe What God Says About Us

Every New Year, people tend to make resolutions.

Some are big. Some are small. Some last until February. Some don’t even last a week.

We resolve to eat less, move more, worry less, scroll less, be better, do better, try harder.

And none of those are bad things.

But here’s the problem with most New Year’s resolutions: they start with what I think I should become, and they rely on how strong I think I am.

And by the time we realise how tired, distracted, or discouraged we actually are, the resolution quietly slips away.

So this year, I want to suggest something different.

Not a resolution about doing more, but a resolution about believing more.

In 2026, let us resolve to believe what God says about us and to live accordingly.

1. God’s starting point is not self-improvement, but identity

Listen to what God says about us his people.

In Deuteronomy 7, God says: “You are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you… not because you were more numerous… but because the Lord loved you.”

God doesn’t say: “Try harder so that I might choose you.”

He says: “I chose you because I love you.”

That means our lives don’t begin with performance, they begin with belonging.

Peter echoes this in his first Epistle, chapter 2:

“You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession… once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God.”

That’s not something you earn. That’s not something you learn. That’s something you are given.

So here is the first resolution:

In 2026, I will believe that I am chosen, not accidental; loved, not tolerated; called, not overlooked.

2. God chose us on purpose and for a purpose

Jesus puts it even more clearly in John 15: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit.”

That means your life is not random. Your year is not pointless. Your presence here is not an afterthought.

Before you chose Jesus, Jesus chose you.

And he didn’t choose you just to survive another year, but to bear fruit: love, faithfulness, courage, kindness, hope.

So instead of resolving: “I must be more impressive this year,” we resolve: “I will trust that God has already placed me where I am for a reason.”

3. God’s plans are good even when the road is hard

Many people know the words of Jeremiah 29:11: “I know the plans I have for you… plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

But we often forget that when those words were spoken, they were spoken to people who were displaced, discouraged, and far from home. God doesn’t promise an easy year. He promises hope and a certain future.

So in 2026, when things don’t go as planned, when prayers take longer than we hoped, when the road bends in unexpected ways, we resolve to believe that God is still at work and that he is still for me.

4. God will not leave us to do this alone

So finally, hear this promise from Hebrews 13: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” 

God will never leave us on good days. He will not leave us on bad days. He will not leave us when we succeed, nor will he leave us when we fail.

In Matthew 28:20, Jesus says: “I am always with you, even to the end of the age.”

So here is the final resolution, perhaps the most important one:

In 2026, I will stop living as though I am on my own.

God is with us in the classroom, in the office, in the hospital waiting room, at the kitchen table, and in the quiet moments no one else sees.

So as we step into a new year, let’s make a different kind of resolution.

Not: “I will try harder.”

But: “I will trust deeper.”

Not: “I must become someone else.”

But: “I will live as who God already says I am.”

I am Chosen.

I am Loved.

I am Called.

I am Held.

I am never abandoned.

And as we believe that, slowly, faithfully, imperfectly, our lives will begin to reflect it.

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2026

Partakers and Proclaimers of His Promise

Psalm 86:8-13               Ephesians 3:1-21                       Matthew 2:1-12

Partakers and Proclaimers of His Promise

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is among the oldest Christian communions in the world, with roots stretching back into the earliest centuries of the faith. Tradition and early church writers hold that the first Ethiopian believer was the court official from Acts 8 whom Philip the Evangelist baptized on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza; an event that has long been understood in Ethiopian Christian memory as the seed of the Gospel in that land. This eunuch, a high ranking official of Kandake, the Queen of the Ethiopians (or Candace), returned home rejoicing and carried the good news with him, a tradition that testifies to Ethiopia’s ancient connection with the earliest Christian witness. 

Historical records also attest that Christianity became the state religion of the Axumite Empire in the 4th century under King Ezana through the ministry of St. Frumentius, whom the Coptic patriarch consecrated as the first bishop of the Ethiopian church. 

The Ethiopian Church follows a liturgical calendar of thirteen months, like its sister Coptic tradition, and celebrates Christmas on January 7 and its Epiphany feast, called Timkat, on January 19 (or January 20 in leap years according to the Gregorian calendar). Unlike Western Epiphany celebrations that often emphasize the visitation of the Magi as the first manifestation of God to Gentiles, Timkat principally commemorates the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan as the first revelation of Jesus as divine, understood as the moment of his revelation to the world as God incarnate as well as the first explicit manifestation of the Holy Trinity. 

Timkat is one of the most sacred festivals in Ethiopian Christianity and is marked by elaborate processions, rich liturgical music, and symbolic rites. On the eve of the feast, the Tabot, a consecrated replica of the Ark of the Covenant present in every Ethiopian church, is wrapped in ornate cloth and carried in procession to a nearby body of water, where priests and congregants gather through the night in prayer and vigil. At dawn on Timkat day, the water is blessed in remembrance of Christ’s baptism, and the faithful are sprinkled with water or they immerse themselves in the water as a sign of renewal in Christ. As such the feast is seen as something you actively enter rather than simply remember.

While the Ethiopian Church’s emphasis on Epiphany as the central feast of the liturgical year may seem distinctive to those brought up in Western Christian calendars, it reflects an ancient and enduring focus on the revelation of God in Jesus and the extension of salvation beyond Israel to all peoples, a revelation that was as astonishing to the first-century church as it is still wondrous to us today. 

In our Epistle reading for today, Paul described this revelation of the divine undeserved favour of God to the Gentiles as a “mystery”…a mystery that had not been made known before but had now been revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets. This great revealed mystery decreed that the Gentiles…those once considered “not my people”…were now the very “fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”

Although the Old Testament prophets had foretold the inclusion of all nations, none would ever had imagined that this would result in the perfect spiritual union of those once so distinctly divided…in the absolute fusion of such opposite factions into a new united Israel of God comprising every tribe, tongue, and nation of the world. 

In many ways, the global Church is the reversal of Babel where those once united by a common language were divided and scattered. However, the common language of the Church that unites us, despite differences in culture, tradition, and expression, is the language of the fulfilment of the divine promise of forgiveness, deliverance, adoption, and restoration. Our inheritance of and participation in God’s promise is found in Jesus. We are united in life by his death. 

Those once dead in trespasses and sins, without a hope in the world, who “once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2), they have now been made alive and have been raised up together with Jesus and made to sit with him in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). 

Can you see the wonder of the exceeding riches of God’s grace and mercy and kindness towards us in Jesus? What unbelievable favour! What immeasurable love!

For this reason, Paul could speak of his sufferings, persecutions, beatings, deprivations, and imprisonments as blessed consequences of his ministry to those once excluded. He knew that the outcome of these things, whether life or death, were in the nail-scarred hands of the one who now ruled the entire universe in the interest of the Church. His suffering on behalf of the Gentiles paled in comparison to the mercy of God shown in and through Jesus and therefore, for him, the proclamation of the Gospel to the lost was a gracious gift…not a duty or a chore. He had been graciously granted the stewardship of God’s unmerited favour. His task in life was to reveal the unsearchable riches of Christ among the Gentiles and to “bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the Church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.”

Paul delighted in his calling as an ambassador of the kingdom of God. He joyfully carried the light of the Gospel wherever he went so that Jesus might live in the hearts of those who once did not know him…so that they, having been “rooted and grounded in love, may have (the) strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, (so) that (they) may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:17-19)

This calling as an ambassador of the kingdom of God is our calling too, dearest beloved brethren. But does the love of Jesus have the same effect on us as it did on Paul? Out of sheer wonder with the gravity of such overwhelming mercy, do we also consider it an honour to deliver to the world the message of eternal life though Jesus? 

Epiphany in its various expressions marks the rising of the light on the Gentiles. May this season mark our rising as a church from our comfortable complacency to fulfil our calling to be salt and light in our town, our province, and our nation.

If the purpose of the church is to make known “the manifold wisdom of God…to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places”, then we as his body on earth do not exist for ourselves. We are not a holy social club that exists to enjoy exclusive benefits of membership. That was the error of Old Testament Israel. Chosen to be a light to the nations, they selfishly and disobediently turned their focus inward, not outward. But Paul said that we exist to reveal the multi-faceted, many splendored wisdom of God in the reconciling of what had once seemed irreconcilable…that we exist to reveal this mind-blowing mercy not just to the world, but also to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

This is a plan that spans all ages. It is God’s ultimate design for the Church. We are the living school for the world and the heavenly hosts…we are the living school of the seen and the unseen. Those who had desired to look into the unfolding of God’s redemption (1 Peter 1:12) are now given front row seats, as it were, to watch our Lord reconcile the world to himself through us, the Church (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). 

But my point is simply this: God has entrusted to us the message of reconciliation…God has made us ambassadors for Jesus…we exist as a church so that God might make his appeal through us. But can we honestly say that this is an accurate description of who we are? While we are certainly partakers of his promise, can we truly claim to be proclaimers of his promise?

Jesus’ First Advent ushered in a gracious age no one ever expected. In Jesus all the families of the earth are blessed as they are grafted into the family of Abraham. Through faith in Jesus, barriers and boundaries are broken down and men, women, and children from different tribes, tongues, and nations are brought into the fold of God and incorporated into the one Body of Christ. We are made one by virtue of a common rebirth…and in him there is therefore no longer Jew, Gentile, slave, free, black, Asian, or Caucasian…we are all one holy universal and glorious Church.

Epiphany marks the conception of this union. A time when God’s plan for salvation through the incarnate Jesus was revealed to the world…whether seen or celebrated through the remembrance of the visitation of the Magi or the participation in the declaration of God at the River Jordan.

May we be reminded once more today of his astoundingly gracious gift to us, and, as our hearts are filled with humble gratitude, may we be encouraged to participate in God’s ongoing task to reconcile the world to himself through Jesus.

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2025