Category: Martyrdom

The Glory I Had with You

In Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer in John 17, Jesus speaks of returning to a “glory I had with you before the world existed”. What would Jesus consider to be glorious? Is it a glory that we will be able to see? Is it something that will be experienced in other ways?

The first thing to note is that “glory” is probably not the same in God’s eyes as in ours. We think in terms of power, praise, pleasure, and authority. I expect that such categories would also be a part of God’s definition. But God would add love to that list.

In His prayer, Jesus asks the Father to glorify Him. This request is focused on what would happen before Jesus ascended back to Heaven. Crucifixion is not glorious. Being forsaken by God is even more inglorious. Being crucified with the purpose of fulfilling God’s Law for others because you love them and honor the Father, that is very glorious. Paying the ultimate price when you didn’t owe it out of love, that is the pinnacle of glorious.

Prior to the crucifixion James and John and their mom went on a glory-seeking mission. Having been enculturated to see glory in terms of praise and power they approached Jesus about sitting on His right and left when He entered into His glory.

20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 21 And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” 22 Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” 23 He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

Matthew 20:20-23 (ESV)

James, John and mom definitely were thinking in terms of some sort of throne arrangement. Jesus indicates that this isn’t what you are thinking. His ultimate glory would be on the cross. The thieves to the right and to the left are the ones “chosen” for roles. These are not necessarily coveted positions. None-the-less, James and John would be chosen for the glory of suffering for the Gospel and, in James’s case, martyrdom.

This brings me back to the idea of heavenly glory. Is it all just bright lights, beautiful music and praise? I expect the glory of love will remain a big part of it. Will there be a necessity for sacrificial love in Heaven or the New Earth? Maybe. It will be nothing like the cross and nothing near forsakeness. The need to care for each other, to give to each other is not just limited to a world with sin and the curse in it. We will experience God’s love for us and a love for each other in many ways.

For me, this emphasizes the importance of our current life. Because sin, the curse, and the work of Satan are such influential forces, the need for genuine, sacrificial love is so important. The need and the opportunities abound. This won’t be so in Heaven or the New Earth. Living in a world that incorporates evil is terrible and I want no more of it than I have to take; but I am willing to stay as long as I can be useful and exercise my “glory” which is the love of God working in me.

This point-of-view can also illustrate why Sheol and Gehenna are so bad. Yes, the description of fire and maggots is mortifying. But the absence of the glory of God is worse. There is a growing absence of love.

In the one story about Sheol that we have, that of the beggar Lazarus, at least the rich man has compassion on his living siblings. He cares whether they arrive in Sheol. This indicates to me that being forsaken by God has not yet set in. In Gehenna, post-Judgment Day, I don’t expect any hope or unselfishness to be found. It is completely inglorious.

The glory of God, in Jesus’ crucifixion, enables the experience of the broader glory of God in eternal life. We will observe His glory in astounding beauty and power. We will live in the midst of the light of His glory in the New Jerusalem. We will experience and express His glory in a great love for each other. We can get a head start on it now.

The Souls of the Martyrs

There are relatively few biblical passages that give us a look into Heaven.  There are even fewer that include human beings.  Revelation 6:9-11 is a short passage that does just that.  What insights does it give?

The first thing to note is that this is part of the unsealing of a scroll within the throne room of God.  The contents of the scroll are unspecified, but a good guess is that this scroll actually unveils God’s good plan for His people.  Unfortunately,  a fair degree of judgment has to fall on mankind before we get to the good stuff.  Seven seals are ultimately broken.  Most bring tragedy to the inhabitants of the Earth.  The strange exception is the fifth seal.  The fifth seal produces a vision for the author of Revelation, John.

John sees the souls of those who have been killed for being Christians.  We are all aware that we will die somehow.  When you are violently put to an untimely death because of your faith those left behind have to wonder “is this worth it”, at least a little.  The vision given is a message for the living.  The martyrs are not gone, they are living.  They are close to God, and God is caring for them.

John says that he sees their souls.  The soul is the immaterial part of our being.  “Immaterial” just means that it is not properly a part of our current universe.  Are souls “material” in Heaven?  In the last verse they are given “white robes”.  This is not apparel.  Pulling on Paul’s language in 2 Corinthians 5, I would conclude that the white robes are actually a Heavenly body.  Or in other words, a physical body in Heaven to pair with the soul.

Their location is also interesting.  They are “under the altar”.  This sounds small, as if they were mice; but the dimensions of the throne room of God are likely very large.  If this throne room is what is seen descending to the New Earth in Revelation 21, then the space under the altar could be the size of Kansas.

The martyrs seem a bit disgruntled but perhaps they are just being curious.  “How long until you judge the inhabitants of Earth and avenge our blood?”  This is not a complaint about being stuck under the altar, but rather a call for justice.  God’s justice will come but not without time for repentance, time for all nations to hear the Gospel, and time for the total number of martyrs to be completed.

The final item seems like a weird criteria.  Martyrdom seems like a bad thing.  Even the martyrs don’t seem particularly fond of it.  But God has set apart special honor for those who are willing to die for Jesus.  He knows who they will be throughout time.  None who are chosen would want to miss the opportunity of this honor.  It is well worth it.  Martyrs for Christ are being made to this day.  Who knows when this will be complete, but each person brings us closer to Judgment Day.  To be a “martyr” means that somebody kills you.  You don’t kill yourself.  The Muslim idea of martyrdom is more suicide and blasphemy than honorable.  A real martyr gives a witness.  That is what the word “martyr” means.  It is a witness that shows I believe and trust God even unto death.  Jesus gave such a witness about His love for us.

The vision is brief but instructive.  In the period between death and Judgment Day, people who belong to God are consciously alive and in Heaven.  Heaven is not their ultimate destination.  Judgment Day will usher in the New Earth. Both Heaven and the New Earth are the gift of Jesus and something to look to with anticipation.

 

 

The Special Status of Martyrs

The word “martyr” gets in the news these days in the context of suicidal Muslim terrorists.  It is ironic that such people are called “martyrs”.  The word actually means “witness”.  What does their actions and their death say about their theology?  I hear, “God is full of hate”, “I am full of hate”, and “I will do anything to advance my selfish ambitions for the afterlife.”  Not exactly a compelling witness.

Christians have long used the word “martyr” for those who lost their lives because of their faith.  They did not commit suicide or even seek death, their lives were taken from them out of hatred for God or his message.  Their witness was “The gift of eternal life is better than this life”, and “I am not afraid to die because I trust God”.  That is a very different witness.

Martyrdom for Christians is not something isolated to the first century.  While the Romans took their share, genuine disciples of Jesus have been killed through the centuries, sometimes even by nominal Christian institutions.  Today, Christians are under the greatest threat of death in Muslim and Communist countries.

A strong theme, maybe even the main theme, of the book of Revelation is that martyrdom for the sake of Christ is well worth it.  Martyrs get special mention in Revelation 6:9-11, 12:11 and 20:4.  What do these passages teach us about this special class of people?

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had be 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 number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed. (Rev. 6:9-11)

This passage is important because it rules out the idea of soul sleep or that we go immediately to Judgment Day at our death.  It also lines out one of the criterion for the timing of Judgment Day–there are a preset or pre-known number of martyrs.  You might think this a strange and morbid standard, but to be a martyr is a high honor.  Those who experience this are chosen for this.  Their location “under the altar” brings to mind where the blood of the sacrifices was poured.  Only the sacrifice of Christ has merit in saving others.  But the death of the martyrs hasn’t historically deterred faith in Christ but it has counter-intuitively advanced it.  They are a sacrifice pleasing to God in the sense that they truly trusted him, and their deaths advanced the Gospel.

The gift of a “white robe” is common for all who die in Christ.  It is probably not clothing but a reference to a heavenly body that is pure.  The desire for judgment may be a surprise.  It doesn’t feel like love for your enemy.  Such judgment is just, however.  It doesn’t preclude the possibility of repentance and forgiveness.

In Revelation 12 the martyrs are honored and their praise is sung.  In Revelation 20 it speaks specifically of souls who were beheaded.  This is probably synecdoche and actually refers to all martyrs.  Here they have the honor of reigning with Christ.  What is that?  In this context, it would seem that they are part of God’s divine council, which actually participates in making decisions executable on Earth.  This honor would make sense since their lifetimes were cut short on Earth.

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