Nearly 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ gave a genuine compliment to one of the seven churches of Asia Minor mentioned in the book of Revelation. It is an utterly unique and personal compliment, because it related to that church's understanding of who He is. It revolved around His name. The red-letter text of Revelation 2:13 simply but powerfully notes: "And you hold fast to My name..."
Sometimes we rhetorically ask, "What's in a name?" Well, to the Church members of Pergamos and to the ascended Jesus Christ, the answer is: "Plenty!" You might say, "Everything." The onslaught of prophesied persecution (fulfilling Christ's statement in John 15:20: "If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you") was already underway in Asia Minor. Prophecy was no longer simply a matter of Spirit-led consideration but was now directly impacting them.
Antipas, one of their own, who the ascended Christ called "my faithful martyr," had rendered the supreme sacrifice. Antipas had "held fast" to more than simply a signature or the verbalizing of an individual's given title.
There is something far deeper here for us to understand when it comes to what and why Christ complimented this challenged congregation. It gives us reason to pause and discover the cause behind the name of the One for whom Antipas offered his ultimate supreme devotion. The answer behind the name may hold the key to how you will handle not only your many tomorrows, but the momentary challenges facing you today.
"Whatever you ask the Father in My name"
Approximately 60 years before John wrote, Jesus in His earthly ministry had challenged His followers. One of those followers, John, recorded that challenging promise for us: "Whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you" (John 16:23). Jesus was pointing to a means for His followers to move beyond both the daily personal challenges and the gathering storm clouds of world events leading up to the return of Jesus Christ.
As God in the flesh, when Jesus mentioned this key to spiritual success to His followers, He foresaw the rise of despicable first-century persecutors like Nero and Domitian, who strove to strangle Christianity at its infancy. Even as He uttered these words, He foresaw (and would later reveal in His revelation to John) the coming of the dragon persecuting and chasing the woman into the wilderness (Revelation 12), a Beast and a religious deceiver (Revelation 13), and a world-dominating political, economic and religious system referred to as Babylon (Revelation 17 and 18).
In the midst of these collisions with God's purpose, Christ also foresaw your desire to be a light for Him in an increasingly darkening society. No way does He want you to be left lost in a world that increasingly seems purposeless.
But, before we go further, let's clear up something that could be a hindering misperception among some, especially new believers. Jesus never intended His name to merely be the conclusion of a prayer or some form of spiritual ATM machine from which our specific needs come rolling out. But understanding the fullness of what Christ's name means is important for praying meaningful and powerful prayers.
The all-encompassing quality of a name
There was a time when a name was the full personification of all that a person encompassed. A name spoke to one's reputation based on his or her full capacity. Names were not merely spelled or written out. No, they were lived out and known by reputation! Your word was your bond, and your name sealed it.
It now begins to make scriptural sense why Paul encourages the Ephesians to know "what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come" (Ephesians 1:19-21).
Considering that Christ's name is above all names, is it any wonder that the apostle John would later write that it was our Heavenly Father's desire that "we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 3:23)? John didn't say, "Spell it, sign it or say it out loud." He said, "Believe it!"
What would such belief in a name have meant to Antipas and his fellow saints in Pergamos? What exactly did they hold to by holding fast to Christ's name? Was their understanding of this name above all names possibly parallel to that of those mentioned who would yet be in the future who "did not love their lives to the death" (Revelation 12:11)? With that said, what are you holding onto right now?
Scripture spells out the name
Let's allow the Scriptures to fill in not the letters of a name, but the attributes that all saints of God need to keep in heart when they "ask in His name."
Antipas perhaps had held to the reality found in Paul's letter to the Ephesians, which declared that Jesus is the Beloved of God (Ephesians 1:6). God's Son is at the center of all that the Father desires.
Antipas would have further strengthened his grip on the teachings of John that confirmed that Jesus was the Word of God (John 1:14). Jesus is not only the "Logos" or Word who is esteemed on par with God, but He is the effective and powerful Word who calls creation out of nothing and life out of death. Christ is not simply the informative Word of God who brings information, but the One who brings forth creation and the transformation of men's lives.
Antipas would have probably come to appreciate the aspect of Christ's prophesied name that echoes from the messianic prophecy of Isaiah. He proclaimed 700 years beforehand that one named Immanuel or "God with us" would proceed from heaven to earth so that man might touch God and, in turn, God might be touched by the existence and frailty of His creation.
Antipas might have remembered that one of the descriptions of the One for whom he would die was simply "the carpenter" or "carpenter's son" (Mark 6:3; Matthew 13:55). Perhaps such name identification would remind him that the One whose name he held onto not only created wood, but would work with wood and die on a cross of wood (Galatians 3:13).
One name leads to another
The Beloved. The Word. Immanuel. The Carpenter. Perhaps the understanding of one facet of the fullness of that name above all names would guide Antipas to reflect on another name that Jesus Himself disclosed: "I am the door" (John 10:9). Yes, He is our gateway to the Father above. He is our only entrance to this meaningful relationship as "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). The One known as the "Door" is our return path to Eden in which God Himself desired to walk and talk with His special creation. He will yet abide again in the midst of another garden prophesied in Revelation 22:1-5.
But what happens when the door is seemingly slammed in our face and life is closing in all around us? It was then that perhaps Antipas and his fellow saints in Pergamos remembered how Jesus identified Himself as "I am the resurrection and the life" and went on to state, "He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live" (John 11:25).
Piecing together a name of peace
As Antipas faced death, perhaps his heart beckoned forth one more name that would comfort him in his last moments. He recalled that the One on whose behalf he was about to die was called "Prince of Peace" by the prophet of old (Isaiah 9:6). The One to whose name he had held fast was the very same One who, by His own death on the cross, had ended once and forever the conflict between God and man.
Antipas must have realized that the peace that God grants is a divine calm that works from the inside out. It's a peace that is better than knowledge, better than any understanding man might conjure up. It is the peace of knowing that what our Heavenly Father allows right now in our lives is best, even as His goodness for us is always better than our human best (Philippians 4:6-7).
Was Antipas humanly concerned as he was led to his death? I'm sure he was, for you and I would be too. After all, death places the mind in a wondrous focus. But was he worried? I tend to doubt it. Did he somehow doubt God's love? I don't think so, because one of Christ's most oft-mentioned names is "the Lamb of God." That precious name makes plain the divine family's own planned-out self-sacrifice for us. Was God's unfathomable and undeniable love in question? No!
Did Antipas doubt God's wisdom at the time of his impending martyrdom? I have a hunch that his mind and heart were in a good place as he recalled one of Christ's titles being "the wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:24). Worry or doubt by this man of Asia Minor would have indicated his concern that somehow God is not able to plan for His own or that the Master of our lives doesn't know what is best for those who belong to Him.
At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow
Is it possible that, as Antipas faced his executioner, he doubted the power of God to intervene in his life at this seemingly most critical moment? Perhaps as he said his last prayers he reflected on what Paul had shared with the Philippians when they needed comfort the most, that "God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:9-11). This Christian brother of the first century understood that the name that he held fast to signified a spectacular existence that knew no bounds and met no borders.
As we approach the future, let's remember one simple line: "You hold fast to My name." This reminds us of a simple truth that prophecy is not about what you know, but what you are because of who you know. We should be growing each day to become more like Him.
Until that day when we will be united with Christ, Antipas and all those yet to understand the power of this One's name, let's fulfill the encouragement of Isaiah 30:21 of "this is the way, walk in it" by holding fast to that name.
