Martyrs

“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.  They called out in a loud voice, ‘How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?’  Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.” (Revelation 6:9-11 NIV)

Over the weekend, the Islamic terrorist group, ISIS, released a video showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians in Libya.  The group was very clear they were putting the men to death because they were Christians.  Twenty-one martyrs for the faith.

The term martyr has lost its original meaning in the past decade or so. Islamic terrorists began using the term to refer to suicide bombers, those killing themselves as a means of killing others.  It is literally a bastardization of the word. A martyr, by its original definition, is one who is murdered as a result of his or her faith.  The term is used only once in the Bible, in reference to Stephen, who was stoned to death with the approval of a man named Saul (Acts 22:20) But this passage in Revelation refers to many other martyrs without using the term.  These men and women, it says, were “slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.”  They were martyred.

I cringe every time I hear the word used in reference to people who kill others in the name of their faith.  They are not martyrs, but murderers. Martyrs are those who lay down their own lives as a result of their commitment to Christ.  And they never take the lives of others.  

Since the death of Stephen, there have been countless martyrs, men and women willing to place themselves in mortal danger in order to proclaim Jesus as Lord, and who understand the truth that whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Jesus will find it. (Matthew 16:25) These 21 Egyptian believers, along with American Kayla Mueller, are just the latest.  And, according to John’s prophetic word, there will be more.

While this may be discouraging on the surface, we must look deeper and realize the Church has always found its greatest power in the suffering and death of its people, beginning with its Head.  The deaths of martyrs, beginning with the first, have always emboldened and strengthened the Church, much to the dismay of those trying to destroy it.  The cry of the believers is that of Paul: “Where, O death, is your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting?” (I Corinthians 15:55)

Today, as the Church mourns the deaths of our brothers and sister, may we take heart from their courage and conviction.  Death has no hold on us who are in Christ.  We need not fear to die for His sake.  As C.S. Lewis wrote to conclude The Chronicles of Narnia: 

“But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.” (The Last Battle)

So shall be our wonderful fate as well whenever and however we pass to the other side.

© Jim Musser 2015