“Well washed, well washed!” The amphitheater was chanting the final approval of their entertainment. The crowd was ecstatic and animated with delight at the sight of the mangled body lying lifeless in the middle of the arena. The devoured pile of torn flesh that lay in the middle of the arena was eaten by a leopard and then chained in a cell to be finished off by a bear. Ironically, the body that appeared to be dead was in fact alive and the pagan crowd of the amphitheater reeked of death. The lifeless body that was used for pagan entertainment was a primary enemy to the Roman society, a Christian. Though it may appear that the Christian was the defeated party, it is was in fact the Roman society that was crumbling to their own destruction and eternal death. For though the Christian’s body lay torn and ragged in the dirt of the ground, their soul was alive and in the presence of the Heavenly Father. “For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.” (1 Peter 3:17).
Martyrdom
“One pagan spectator noted, you could never make a true Christian deny Christ even under the threat of death.” (Litfin 132). Martyrdom is the act of dying in the attest to one’s faith, in this case the attesting of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of all. Second century martyrdom is found amongst three reports: “letters” which were written by churches illustrating the factual events and the number of martyrs, “passions” which are testimonies of martyrs in the few days before their prosecution as well as their death, and “acts” which reported their trials before the court officials.
The Term Martyr
Christians created the proposal of martyrdom during the era of Christian persecution. In the New Testament of its original Greek dialect, the word for martyr was marturos; meaning ‘witness’. Given that the greatest witness for a Christian was to stand for Christ even unto their death, rather than deny Christ, the term martyr eventually became used in reference to one who was a witness unto death. There are several passages that can be found in the Bible that use the word martyr, however, the term is used in multiple approaches to its implication. In Luke’s writings, ‘witness’ was the affirmation of a literal observation of Christ’s resurrection. John uses the term ‘witness’ as a Christian’s testimony that Christ is the Son of God and Savior to all men. Acts 22:20 and Revelation 2:13 relate to the death of a man, Stephen and Antipas, in which did not deny the name of Christ while witnessing and in result were put to death for their stance. In Revelation a ‘witness’ was considered to be a blood-witness, a Christian that gave up his life in regards to his confession of faith in the Lord Jesus. However, Revelation considered only those who gave up their lives in persecution for their faith in the Lord Jesus that was considered to be a ‘witness’, and those who only confessed their faith of the Lord Jesus and were spared persecution at the hands of the Romans were then considered to be ‘confessors’.
The Theology of Martyrdom
The martyrdom theology was quite ornate in its motifs. Martyrdom was considered to be a parallelism with Christ and His ministry on earth. The theology believed Christ to have been the original and genuine martyr. More captivatingly, it was believed that Christ would be present with the Martyrs during their moment of trials, sustaining them in their agony. It is recorded that when Perpetua was waiting in the gateway to return for a second encounter with her assassin, the rampant heifer, she had asked the guard when she would be offered to the heifer. Perpetua was so caught up in the Holy Spirit that she could not recall her already being mangled by the rampant creature. It was only by the sight of the gashes of missing limbs did she realize; Christ was surely with Perpetua during her dark hour of torment.
Theology Motifs
There are eight prominent points in the theology of martyrdom. The first is the Witness. Martyrs are witnesses that gave a public profession and testimony of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. A martyr’s death is considered to be a blood witness unto the Lord, proclaiming their faith and love for Him.
The second motif is the Athletes and Heroes. During the time of Christian persecution, athletic metaphors would be used in describing the contest between the Heroes of faith and the Athletes of the evil pagan forces. In other words the pagans gave Christians martyrs an admiral position in the Christian community as the Heroes of their faith.
The third and fourth motif goes hand in hand. The third, being Grace, is considered the highest form of blessedness, a Godly achievement rather than a human achievement because of God’s grace. Grace was given to those who are chosen by God to experience this blessedness. The fourth motif is the Sharing the Sufferings and Victory of Jesus Christ. This sufficient grace shown upon men is a blessing because those who are martyred in the name of Christ have the honor in sharing sufferings with Christ as we as a victory over Satan.
The fifth motif is the Eucharist. The Eucharist language was used for martyrs and their death in resemblance to the bread and wine, which related to the death of Christ. In mark 10:38, Jesus had related to His own death as “to drink the cup” of suffering, which exemplifies a Christian’s willingness to endure pain and suffering. In mark 14:36, Jesus had also prayed to “let this cup pass from me,” which also mirrors a Christian’s action of suffering even to the point of death.
The sixth motif is the Holy Spirit. Martyrs are able to endure such inhumane suffering because of the Holy Spirit that dwells within them. It is solely through Christ that martyrs are given the endurance and strength to withstand evil and be a witness good, the Lord Jesus. A great example of this is the historical martyr, Perpertua, as previously mentioned.
The seventh motif is Eschatology. During the second century it was believed that martyrs were enter into Heaven directly into the presence of Christ and were rewarded special privileges. One privilege was the responsibility in helping Christ in judging and granting forgiveness of sins to believers on earth. This developed into the Catholic practice of praying for the intercession of the saints. Many centuries following, martyrs and Christians realized the inaccuracy of this belief, and now understand that martyrs just as fellow believers, only enter the presence of God during the end times, the gift of the Spirit, and forgiveness of sins.
The eighth motif is Baptism. It is believed that through a martyr’s death their sins were forgiven in accordance to a “baptism of blood.” Jesus spoke of His sufferings as a bitter “cup” to be drunk and spoke of His sufferings to be a “baptism.” (Mark 10:38) Therefore, the martyr shared with Christ the baptism of suffering through the blood of Christ.
Conclusion
Through anguish, love, temptation, courage, humiliation, strength, and call of God, followers of Jesus may have the honor and blessing to be a martyr and have the opportunity to be a great witness of the Christian faith. It is through this love for Christ that martyrs proclaim His name as the Savior and Lord and endure an unfathomable honor to share a moment of glory in defeating the devil with their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.