The Crowns of Smyrna

“Be faithful unto death and I will give you a crown of life” (Revelation 2:10) Those were the words of Christ to His faithful church in Smyrna. As Jesus dictated these letters to John, He chose phrases to figuratively describe the churches’ condition that some how connected with the characteristics of the city. Such might have been the case with this phrase.
Smyrna sits on the coast of the Aegean Sea, and as you looks up to the east from the Agora of the city, one could see Mt. Pagos sitting like a crowned jewel overlooking the rich metropolis of Smyrna. Jesus describes the saints in this city as rich in Him, but economically poor, which was just the opposite of the city itself.

Our visit of the ancient site included a stomp around the ancient fortress built by Alexander the Great on the top of Mt. Pagos, overlooking the harbor and city of Smyrna (see picture).

We then descended the mountain to the ancient Agora, which in Greek means market place. This was the place where people went to buy and sell everything from clothes, to food to dishwashers (okay not dishwashers, but everything else). It was a hangout for young people and old people alike. You can see me hanging out by the pillars overlooking the area of ancient shops below.

After lunch, and ice cream (an ever essential part of any distant travel) we went to a couple of museums which contained many statues and stone reliefs. There were two statues in particular that captured our attention, both of them wearing crowns. The first was a statue of a priest of the imperial cult of the city of Ephesus. The reason we were interested in this was because he was fashioned wearing a diadem. A diadem was a crown indicating authority. Jesus is described wearing many diadems in Revelation 19:12. While the sea beast, representing Rome, had 10 diadems, Jesus is pictured as wearing many. While emperor worship abounded in Rome, promoted by such cultic priests depicted by the statue, Christ warned His followers that no one had more authority than Him and He would bring down all those who opposed Him and His people. You may recall that we also sing the lyrics, “Bring forth the royal diadem and crown Him Lord of all.”

The final crown we saw today was that worn by the runner in the statue pictured. This crown was the stephanos crown, which was given to the victor of a race. This crown was usually made up of vines and flowers. I’m sure my 10^th grade students at Athens Bible School will remember Paul writing in 1 Corinthians 9 about encouraging us to strive to win the imperishable wreath – the crown of life (Rev. 2:10; James 2:12). Jesus is described as one wearing the crown of victory in Revelation 6:2, for He overcame sin and death.

I have also included a picture of a lion statue from the 6^th century B.C. The reason for this is because the lion is called – Aslan. C.S. Lewis used this name for the lion in his book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, after seeing these statues.

We then went to a church building named after Polycarp who was a student of the apostle John and who was killed in the early second century for refusing to renounce Christ as King and Savior.

Our day closed after dinner with Dr. Mark Wilson, a leading researcher of Bible locations in Turkey, speaking to us about some of his work. He is wearing the blue shirt, standing next to his wife Dindy.

That pretty much raps up the day. Tomorrow we head to Pergamum and Thyatira. For my students, feel free to post comments or questions on the blogsite. I’d love to hear from you.