Jesus Freaks: Martyrs (by dc talk & The Voice of the Martyrs)

Yes I Believe in God

She was 17 years old. He stood glaring at her, his weapon before her face.

"Do you believe in God?"

She paused. It was a life-or-death question. "Yes, I believe in God."

"Why?" asked her executioner. But he never gave her the chance to respond.

The teenage girl lay dead at his feet.

This scene could have happened in the Roman coliseum. It could have happened in the Middle Ages. And it could have happened in any number of countries around the world today. People are being imprisoned, tortured, and killed every day because they refuse to deny the name of Jesus.

This particular story, though, did not happen in ancient times, nor in Vietnam, Pakistan, or Romania. It happened at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, on April 20, 1999.

Do you believe in Jesus?

Why?

He knelt praying in the middle of the night in a garden where He and His friends often went. He had told His friends, "Pray that you don't fall into temptation." His prayer was, "Father, if You are willing, let this cup pass from Me. But if this must happen, I will obey Your will." And then He prayed more earnestly. His sweat became as great drops of blood falling to the ground.

Soon soldiers came to take Him. He was betrayed by a best friend into their hands. The gospel of John tells us that the guards asked for "Jesus of Nazareth." When He answered, "I am He," they were knocked to the ground by the power of His confession. Peter, another friend, tried to rescue Him by attacking one of the high priest's servants and cutting off his ear. But Jesus rebuked Peter for his action, healed the servant's ear, and submitted Himself to the soldiers. He could have easily escaped, but He chose to be obedient to His Father's will.

He was taken before the high priest, where He was questioned and beaten. Then He was sent before the local governor to be tried. The priests demanded that He be crucified because He had declared He was God. He was questioned again, but the governor could find no guilt in Him. Still, the others called for His crucifixion. The governor sent Him out to be whipped, hoping to appease the priests.

The rest of the morning He was whipped and beaten beyond recognition. A robe was placed over His bleeding back, left until the lacerations dried to the cloth, and then it was ripped from His shoulders, reopening all of the wounds. Then they draped it over Him to begin the process again. They mocked Him as king of the Jews and made a crown of one-inch thorns, forcing it onto His head until the blood covered His face.

Again He was brought before the governor. This time he didn't ask the Pharisees and Sadducees, but he put it to the people, hoping they would show mercy on this innocent man. But the crowd called back, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" The governor washed his hands of the matter and turned Jesus of Nazareth over to the Roman guards for execution.

Jesus bore the weight of His own cross upon the torn flesh of His back and shoulders as He stumbled up the hill outside of the city. He was then nailed to that cross, raised up for all to see, and left there to die. The book of Matthew tells us He could have called twelve legions of angels to free Himself, but He didn't. He knew His sacrifice would pay the price for all mankind to be set free from sin and have the right to stand with God.

He was buried in a borrowed tomb, but didn't stay there long. On the third day He was resurrected from the dead, the keys of hell and death in His hands. He had paved the way for us to be born again, to become children of God, and to live forever with Him.

Immediately following His death, His friends and disciples were greatly afraid and hid. But after His resurrection, Jesus came and visited them, comforting and encouraging them. After He ascended to heaven, on the day of Pentecost, He gave them the Holy Spirit. A new boldness rose up within them. Jerusalem saw them convert three thousand on the first day. Then they spread to the corners of the earth to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, no longer afraid. Every one of them except John was executed for proclaiming the name of Jesus. They never denied His name again.

Heroes. Brave men and women who lay down their lives for someone else.

The dying lieutenant turns to the young soldier for whom he has sacrificed his life. With his last breath he says, "Earn this." The science officer exposes himself to excessive radiation to fix the ship, killing himself, but saving the lives of everyone else on board.

The oil driller on an asteroid headed for earth tears the air hose from the younger man's spacesuit, leaving him helpless and forcing him to stay behind on the shuttle. He then triggers the atomic bomb that splits the meteor, sacrificing his own life, but saving the world.

Our culture understands heroism. But we don't understand martyrs.

Most of the martyrs in this book could have saved their own lives if they had been willing to deny Jesus Christ. We wonder, "Why didn't they just say they weren't Christians and live?" or "Couldn't they just keep silent about their faith?"

Jesus said, "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay his life down for his friends."

In ways that aren't always obvious, these martyrs-these Jesus Freaks-have heroically laid down their lives for us.

Copyright © 1999 by Bethany House Publishers. Used with permission.