Laodicea

Location

Laodicea was a wealthy Phrygian city in the Lycus valley of modern south-western Turkey, about ten miles west of Colossae. It sat at the crossroads of major Roman roads. It was famous for its banking, its black wool, and its eye-salve, and for having refused Roman disaster relief after an earthquake — 'I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing' (Revelation 3:17).

Biblical importance

Laodicea is the last of the seven churches addressed in the Revelation (Revelation 3:14-22). It is the only one to whom Christ has no praise — only the rebuke for lukewarmness. And to it he addresses the tenderest verse in the seven letters: 'Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him' (Revelation 3:20).

Important biblical events

• Colossians 4:16 (KJV) Paul asks that his letter be read in Laodicea, and that the epistle from Laodicea be read at Colossae.
• Revelation 3:14-16 (KJV) 'I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm… I will spue thee out of my mouth.'
• Revelation 3:17 (KJV) 'Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.'
• Revelation 3:18 (KJV) 'I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed… and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.'
• Revelation 3:19-20 (KJV) 'As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock.'

Related People

• Christ Jesus — who speaks as 'the Amen, the faithful and true witness' (Revelation 3:14).
• John the Beloved — the recorder of the letter.
• Paul — whose lost letter (Colossians 4:16) was also read here.
• Archippus — 'Take heed to the ministry' (Colossians 4:17).

Connected Places

• Colossae — ten miles east.
• Hierapolis — the hot springs city, six miles north; the church's water was lukewarm because it came from Hierapolis's hot springs and cooled on the way.
• Ephesus — the first of the seven churches of Revelation.

Christian tradition

• Laodicea's extensive ruins are visible today at Laodikeia Antik Kenti in Denizli, Turkey — including the theatres, the great basilica, and the aqueduct that carried the tepid water.
• Christian tradition reads the letter as the last age of the Church — a warning to households that will feel rich in Bibles, apps, and content, but 'wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.'
• The Council of Laodicea (c. AD 363) was held in the same city.

Household reflection

Laodicea teaches the household to answer the knock. Christ is not standing outside a hostile door — he is standing outside the door of his own church. He knocks quietly. The household that hears his voice and opens the door — even a very small opening — receives him at the table. Sup with him tonight.

Room connections

Where this entry meets the household in the wider house of CrossAIHub.

• Read (Library) — Read Revelation 3:14-22 as a household on any evening. Notice the tenderness after the rebuke.
• Pray (Chapel) — Pray the words of the blind man — 'Lord, that I might receive my sight' (Mark 10:51).
• Family (Kitchen Table) — Set an empty chair at the family table tonight. Let it be the guest chair for Christ.
• Sing (Choir Room) — Sing 'O Jesus, Thou Art Standing' (William Walsham How, 1867) — the door of Laodicea.
• Learn (Workshop) — Read Revelation 2–3 in one sitting; notice which of the seven letters echoes each of the household's own weeks.

Further reading

Revelation 3:14-22 in the KJV.

Colossians 4:12-17.

Revelation 2–3 — the seven letters as a whole.

Elsewhere in the Atlas

• Colossae
• Ephesus
• Patmos
• Return to the atrium — the Atlas's main room.