Day 06 - West Central Turkey: Sardis, Pergamum

Security is something everyone longs for and attempts to obtain through various means. Security is by no means a bad thing, but this morning we were asked this question “how do we seek to make ourselves secure by our own means?” Sitting in Sardis beside the largest columns still standing from all antiquity at the Temple of Artemis, we heard from Jared about Sardis’ impenetrable defenses, their lucrative fashions, and interchanging state that happened prior to the letter they received from Christ in the first century A.D. The question asked at the beginning of the day revealed that our personal answers of defenses, wealth, or idols were the same as the people of Sardis but with modern names.

As we discussed the elements of the letter, we learned of a dead church that on the outside seemed to be flourishing. However, a righteous remnant remained and was commanded to "wake up!" Traveling to our second site revealed the church of Sardis did indeed wake up, but what of those that “soiled their garments?” How are we to respond to not do the same? What mistakes did they make that led them to death? Well, their inaccurate view of themselves, their pride, led them to seek security in everything except following Jesus. They attempted “to bleach their garments with good works” leaving them in need of the reminder that Christ is what covers, not our works so that no one can boast. We continued to consider what in our lives do we do to put on the appearance of godliness that isn’t Jesus? We know God is enough so why don’t we always believe it?

After a lovely lunch break, we travelled up to the city of Pergamum, which had one of the greatest high cities (called an acropolis) in antiquity. We walked through the ruins, gleaning knowledge from Jared at many sites such as the temple to Zeus, the theatre/temple to Dionysus, the temple to Hera, and the temple to Trajan. If you couldn’t tell by now, the people of Pergamum had an affinity for worship. I want to focus on the last temple and the lesson we learned there. In 29 B.C., Pergamum became the first to offer worship to an emperor of Rome ushering in a new kind of cult all throughout the empire. This is important, because now the emperor is hailed as a god. 

With the deification of Caesar now understood we looked at a familiar passage and an event that would’ve been very well known in the Roman Empire: the Triumph. The Roman triumph was procession of a Victor through the streets, including elements wearing a purple robe and a crown. When we read the mockery of Christ from the gospel of Mark, we begin to see the parallels. The Romans saw what they did to Christ as a mockery; Mark used the scene to mock the Romans, because Mark knew the Truth. Christ is king. The security of Rome nor its peace still exist today, but the prince of peace, our defender Jesus is and always will be reigning over all creation.