The Seven Churches of Revelation: Ephesus--the Loveless Church, 2:1-7

Today, we will be looking at the first Church Jesus addresses in His message to the Seven Churches in Asia Minor. Ephesus was the first city on the circuit, the closest to Patmos, but it was also the biggest and most important. It wasn’t the capital of the region, but it was the largest city, and the Roman governor did live there. Ephesus was known for its temple of Diana/Artemis. Interestingly, this was not the Greek or Roman goddess by the same name, rather, it was an older, eastern/oriental mother-goddess. The temple (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) was completed by 550BC, pre-dating the Roman Empire.
The Church in Ephesus was also a “mother” of sorts. The churches in the other six cities had been planted from the Ephesus church.
No other church had such a pedigree of leadership. Paul, Timothy, and John all led the church at some point, and it was also home to Priscilla and Aquilla, as well as Apollos.
This church had been well taught, and we can see from Jesus’ words regarding their works, they were active and serious.
But not all was well in Ephesus. While working ever so hard, they had overlooked a vital component of Christian life, Love.
Let’s unpack this passage, and see what we can learn from the Loveless Church at Ephesus.