A Martyr's Life

Most of us are very familiar with the Bible, its teachings and its stories. We know the great work that men like Peter, James, John and Paul did in starting the Church. But what happened after they died? We may forget that there were men that came "after", men who were taught and schooled by the Apostles and were left to carry on after their deaths. These were great men, men who protected the truths that had been passed on to them by the Apostles and fought heresy at every turn.

I want to introduce you to one of those men. If you are not a student of church history, you may have never heard of a man named Polycarp. He lived from approximately 70 A.D. to 155 A.D. and was a direct pupil of the Apostle John. Polycarp became bishop over the church at Smyrna. He lived during a time of intense persecution of the Christians by the Roman state. To give you an idea of what went on during that time, here is an excerpt from an actual letter written by a Roman governor to the Emperor Trajan circa A.D. 112.

"In the meantime, the method I have observed towards those who have been denounced toward me as Christians is this: I interrogated them whether they were in fact Christians; if they confessed it, I repeated the question twice, adding the threat of capital punishment; if they still persevered, I ordered them to be executed. Those who denied they were, or ever had been, Christians, and who repeated after me an invocation to the gods, and offered formal worship with libation and frankincense before your statue, which I had ordered to be brought into Court for that purpose, and who finally cursed Christ - none of which acts, it is said, those who are really Christians can be forced into performing - these I thought it proper to discharge." - Pliny Secundus, A.D. 112

As you can see from the letter, Christians were given a chance to go free if they would worship the Roman Emperor and curse Christ. Note that during this time 'atheists' were those who did not believe in the Roman gods and in particular the deity of the current Roman emperor, so the Christians were considered 'atheists'. Untold multitudes refused to do this and were executed in the most heinous ways imaginable. Which brings us back to the story of Polycarp. We know his story because the church at Smyrna wrote a letter to the church at Philomelium detailing the circumstances of his death. We have this letter in its entirety and you can read it here.

http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0102.htm

He was captured by the authorities and led into the stadium. The crowds were said to be in great tumult, hearing that is was "the atheist" Polycarp. Then, the proconsul urged him and said, "Swear by Caesar, and I will set you at liberty, reproach Christ."

Polycarp responded, "Eighty-six years have I been His servant, and He has done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King who saved me?"

After further threats, Polycarp responded, "You threaten that fire which burns for a season and after a while is quenched: for you are ignorant of the fire of the future judgement and eternal punishment, which is reserved for the ungodly. But why do you delay? Come, do what you will." At that point Polycarp was burned at the stake and thrust through with the sword."

Our only surviving work of Polycarp is a letter. At one point in the letter he states:

"Let us therefore without ceasing hold fast by our hope and by the earnestness of our righteousness., which is Jesus Christ who took up our sins in His own body upon the tree, who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth, but for our sakes He endured all things, that we might live in Him. Let us therefore become imitators of His endurance; and if we should suffer for His name's sake, let us glorify Him. For He gave this example to us in His own person, and we believed this." - Polycarp, Letter to the Philippians, A.D. 110.

When I read about men like Polycarp who gave their lives for the cause of Christ, I must admit that I have mixed feelings. One side of me is glad that we don't live in an age where we must suffer the persecutions and the threats of death that the early church had to deal with. On the other hand there is a feeling that I can't quite explain. I wonder within myself "what would I do?" if I were to be confronted with that choice. Would I suffer and die for my Lord and Savior with the same bravery shown by Polycarp?

Fortunately or unfortunately, I doubt that any of us will ever have to endure that situation. We'll never be asked to deny Christ - or be torn apart by wild beasts. To deny Christ - or be burned at the stake. To deny Christ - or be crucified. I may not be asked in this life to die a physical death, but I've been commanded by Christ to surrender to another type of death. We must daily to die to self.

Jesus said it this way, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." - Luke 9:23

Paul expounded on that in his letter to the Galatians by stating, "Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." - Galatians 5:24

When I think about Polycarp, what I realized is that he had experienced death thousands of times over his eighty-six years. He had already killed the part of him that would seek his own comfort and his own gain. What was left in him was Christ. To die that physical death wasn't a great thing to him - just the final step - the final death. He had lived a martyr's life, so he was able to die a martyr's death.

For those of us that wonder "What would I do if I had face martyrdom?", let me ask this:

Are you dying daily now? Are you crucifying the flesh? Are you living a martyr's life?

If you are, then don't worry. I have the utmost confidence that if you or I were faced with that choice, we would gladly die for the Him that died for us. But if you are not dying daily, if you are not experiencing death now - how in the world could you die then?