You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have overcome the world (John 16:33).
If I’m being honest, this isn’t exactly one of Jesus’ promises that I find most comforting. I don’t see it on inspirational shirts or wall art in the homes of my Christian friends, and I don’t hear it quoted often by Christians when they are dissecting the latest tidbit from the news cycle.
Tim Keller wrote, “We are the first culture to be surprised by suffering.” What we actually believe reveals itself in our reaction to life’s disappointments and devastations, especially when God seems to be hidden from us in the midst of such trials.
This year I discovered the work of artist Jeffrey Hakes, whose paintings depict stories of Christian martyrs. Each story represented brought me to tears and challenged me to examine how I express my own faith. Art has the power to make stories and concepts more experiential and tangible, and these paintings are no exception.
Jeffrey Hakes, “Roll Call,” which depicts the martyrdom of Pastor Kim and 27 of his congregants who were publicly executed in North Korea in the 1950’s as an act of “suppressing superstition.” (Used by permission.)
Most Christian martyrs have lived in volatile political climates that offered them little to no freedom. Throughout history, stories of Christian martyrs have powerfully demonstrated Jesus’ ability to bring joy in the midst of unthinkable circumstances. These Christians, who were forced or willing to give up their lives for their faith, have an important message to share with us: Jesus is the single greatest treasure in this world and the next. To give Jesus up for anything, even momentary comfort or physical safety, will deprive us of ultimate joy.
A Promise of Persecution
Martyrdom is not a particularly relevant topic to many in the United States today. Open Doors, a ministry serving the persecuted church, reports that in 2023, thirteen Christians were killed daily around the world for reasons related to their faith. Researchers estimate that over the past 2,000 years, some seventy million Christians have been martyred.
Christian martyrdom is often misunderstood or reviled by contemporary scholars. The term “martyr” is regularly used to refer to a person with a psychological complex. Historic martyrdom is regularly treated as a pathology or social contagion, robbed of its spiritual power and sincerity. Martyrdom has even been given such a broad definition that it has come to define anyone who sacrifices their life for a “cause.”
Jesus never demanded sacrifice to a cause, but he did ask that our lives be fully and completely sacrificed to a person–himself–to be transformed by him into something everlasting that even death could not harm. He warned that such transformation would lead to persecution. Nowhere in his teaching does Jesus promise worldly power, influence, and comfort as a result of following him. In Matthew 16: 24-26, Jesus “told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?’” Almost all the apostles would be martyred for their faith in Jesus.
The Martyrdom of Vibia Perpetua
Early Christians were well aware of the risks they faced in following Jesus. They lived in a volatile world where the wrong political and religious affiliations often led to an untimely death. One well-known martyr of the first century was Vibia Perpetua, a well-educated twenty-two-year-old noblewoman nursing an infant son. Her account includes the story of her father, who pleaded with her to renounce Jesus to save not just her life but the life of her innocent child. Perpetua, who saw Christ as the most valuable treasure in this world and the next, chose to be baptized instead and was arrested and imprisoned shortly afterward, enduring many physical and emotional trials.
While in prison, Perpetua asked for a vision from the Holy Spirit in order to be strengthened, and she saw herself perilously ascending a ladder guarded by a snake, which she evaded successfully, reaching a beautiful garden. In reality, Perpetua and her companions were forced to face wild animals in the arena, and ultimately, she died by the sword of a young gladiator.
To the worldly eye, it would seem that Perpetua’s vision was false: the “snake” killed her long before she could reach the lavish “garden” of a prosperous and long life. God had seemingly remained silent, and she suffered a brutal death. Despite such outward appearances, Perpetua had already evaded the snake before entering the arena on the day of her martyrdom. She found joy in her circumstances and walked bravely to her unchosen death because the garden of life already belonged to her in Jesus Christ. Perpetua knew that Jesus had also died an unjust death on the cross, but he had risen from the dead so she lived what time she had left in expectant faith that she would follow him with a resurrection of her own.
Learning from Christian Martyrs
Most Christians in the United States today will not be forced to face a violent death because of their commitment to Christ. We might be tempted to think that martyrs chose or even eagerly pursued their deaths for the sake of glory; the reality is that most of them wished to live long and flourishing lives with those they loved, and circumstances did not allow them to have such a life and faith in Jesus. While the manner of their death is tragic, the story they told with their life and faith was triumphant.
When I contemplate the ordinary beauty of the lives that Christian martyrs have led, I can’t help but be convicted by how I often react to much smaller trials in my life with despair or frustration. Jesus opened his famous Sermon on the Mount with a set of provocative blessings that seem upside-down: those who are poor and persecuted are somehow blessed, and the Kingdom of God is their inheritance. Many accounts of martyrs reveal a kingdom inherited through sacrifice.
What wisdom can we glean from these stories? Christian martyrs are not just an example of how to die for Christ but how to live for him. There will be times when the Holy Spirit convicts us in the midst of our circumstances to give up certain things for the flourishing of our souls. After all, he calls for our bodies to be living sacrifices (Romans 12:1-2). Martyrs remind us that even when we feel persecuted and in despair, the Kingdom of God is at our fingertips when we choose radical acceptance of God’s sovereign power. Sacrifice takes courage, and the Holy Spirit has been given to us as a helper. All we have to do is ask, and the door will be opened to us (Matthew 7:7). I wonder at the idea that behind that door, we will all be united in one body, having sacrificed what God called us to give in order to prepare our hearts for the most precious treasure in the cosmos: Jesus Christ.
