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WITNESSES – THE BIBLICAL INTRODUCTION |
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WITNESSES – THE BIBLICAL INTRODUCTION |
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Before he ascended into heaven Jesus said to his
disciples in Acts chapter 1 v. 8 "you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes
on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the
ends of the earth". The Holy Spirit did come on them on the day of Pentecost and we
read of their witness in Jerusalem, Samaria and to Rome by the end of Acts of the
Apostles. In Acts chapter 4 they were threatened; in Acts chapter 5 they were flogged and in Acts chapter 7 one of the witnesses, Stephen, was put to death. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him (Acts chapter 8 v. 2). He was honoured but not venerated; neither was his burial place a place of pilgrimage. The witnessing went on despite the fact that Herod arrested some who belonged to the church. He had James, the brother of John put to death with the sword. When he saw that this pleased the Jews he proceeded to seize Peter also. In the sovereignty of God Peter was released and Herod’s plans in relation to him were thwarted. In the Book of Revelation we have Jesus addressing the seven churches. Only one individual is named – "Antipas, my faithful witness who was put to death in your city" (Pergamum) Revelation chapter 2 v. 13. Pergamum was the city where Satan had his throne, declared Jesus; obviously there is some correlation between Satan’s dwelling and the death of a faithful witness. It was Satan’s intention that the other witnesses would renounce their faith but this did not happen. At the same time the presence of a faithful Christian witness in the church at Pergamum did not purify it of those who held to the teaching of Balaam and of the Nicolaitans. These Christian witnesses put to death are alongside other Christian witnesses; there is no special word in the Bible for a Christian witness put to death. It was a later development – outside of Scripture – that restricted the word ‘martus’ to a Christian put to death. In john chapter 15 Jesus told his disciples to testify (martureo). This did not mean that they should seek to become ‘martyrs’ in the later meaning of that word. However, it did mean that they should all be witnesses of him, even as the Holy Spirit witnesses of Jesus (John chapter 15 v. 26). Books written specifically on "Christian Martyrs" have found it difficult to draw a line between the deaths of Christians killed by others whether through violence or road accidents etc. To me it seems better to go back to the biblical language and describe all Christians as witnesses; in that context there is no difficulty in recording these Christian witnesses put to death. |