Whom do the Ephesians love: Christ or Caesar?

• Main Author: Prof Mark Wilson
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Africajournals 2020-04-01
• Series: Pharos Journal of Theology
• Subjects: philosebastos; revelation; first love; binary; emperor worship
• Online Access: https://www.pharosjot.com/uploads/7/1/6/3/7163688/article_14_vol_101__2020__stellenbosch.pdf

Jesus’ remonstration to the Ephesian church in Revelation 2:4 not to leave their first love is one of the most vivid and familiar metaphors in the Bible. This article begins with a discussion of two lexical issues in Johannine literature. John’s use of several binary metaphors in the Apocalypse, is explored. Twelve interpretations about what leaving one’s first love means are examined next. The question is then posed: Who or what is the second love of the Ephesian Christians? Inscriptions from the latter half of the first century CE show that Ephesian elites were beginning to identify themselves as φιλοσέβαστοι (philosebastoi), that is, ‘emperor-lovers’. Given John’s vivid denunciation of the imperial cult throughout Revelation, is it possible that some believers were accommodating their faith by trying to express love both to Jesus and to Caesar? Since the Nicolaitans are mentioned in the Ephesian and Pergamene letters – both centers of imperial cult worship – might emperor-loving be the negative behavior being exposed? The article closes with a discussion of John 19:12 wherein the Jewish leaders blackmail the governor Pontius Pilate. They charge that if he is a friend of Caesar, he cannot release Jesus. It is questioned whether this exchange might also have had resonance with some believers in Ephesus desiring to follow both Christ and Caesar.