The fifth book in
the New Testament, the Acts of the Apostles, tell us stories of the original
disciples. The stories of their
martyrdom and later years can be found in a variety of secular and church histories
from those time periods. Did you know
that each of the original disciples was martyred except for one? John survived
his own execution only to die of natural causes in prison.
Stephen who
replaced Judas Iscariot was stoned to death.
James the Greater was thrust with a sword under the command of King
Herod. Luke was hung in an olive tree in
Greece. Thomas who once doubted but
later believed was pierced, tortured, and burned alive in India. Phillip was tortured and crucified. He continued to preach while hanging on his
cross. Matthew was stabbed in the back
in Ethiopia. Bartholomew was flogged to
death in Armenia. James the just was
thrown off the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem. After he survived the 100 foot fall, the mob
clubbed him to death in their frustration.
Simon the Zealot was crucified. Judas Thaddaeus was beaten to death with
sticks. Matthias was stoned to death and
then beheaded. Peter was crucified
upside at his request because he did not feel worthy enough to be just like
Jesus was.
For many centuries
Foxe’s Book of Martyrs (which holds a
collection of these stories and more) was inspirational bedtime reading for
Christian families. Perhaps you and I
need to dust this old book off some shelves as well. (I have two copies.) Martyrdom for Jesus is a
reality check for those of us living in the first world of the 21st
century. Their deaths put our first
world problems into perspective. These
real life people who lived and died for Jesus redefine risk and set a different
standard for sacrifice.
Jesus threw down
the gauntlet in Luke 9 when he said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny
themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will
lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.” Clearly, when we learn what happened to the
first disciples- they took this literally.
For you and me, we can at minimum take this figuratively. Anything less than the complete surrender of
our lives to the Lordship and leadership of Jesus Christ is robbing God of
glory that God demands and deserves. And
it is also cheating you and me out of the eternal reward that God has in mind
for each of us.
In the words of
Pastor Mark, “Time to ante up. Go all
in. If Jesus is not Lord of all, then Jesus is not Lord at all.”
See you at the ‘all
in’ place,
Pastor Michelle
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