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Jan
31
Co-Workers of the Truth 1/31
Posted By reynor | Filed Under Co-Workers of the Truth
Christianity and martyrdom belong together. Yes, ut the martyr os something quite different from the rebel. Christ died a martyr, not a rebel. But there was a rebel: his name was Barabbas, and what Christ had said to Pilate was exemplified in him: If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting for me” (cf. Jn 18:36). For Barabbas, friends climbed the barricades; they called for his release - for Christ there were no demonstrations, nor did he want them. What, then, is the difference between the martyr and the rebel? That will be clear if we look at the first place where a Christian calls himself a Christian: at the First Epistle of Peter 4:15-16, where Saint Peter says to the Christians: “…Let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, a criminal, or even a mischief maker. Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name.” It is clear from this text that, for the Christian, it belongs to the essence of his Christian commitment to adhere to what is right even in a state where he himself is without rights. Jesus’ words “…Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s…” (Mt 22:21) also applies here. That is why Christians prayed for the emperor even during the centuries of persecution. As early as the First Epistle to Timothy, the New Testament bears witness that, even in a time of cruel oppression, Christians were called upon to pray “for kings and all who are in high positions” (1Tim 2:2). Christians refused to worship the emperor, but, even without being requested to do so they prayed for him and for the good of the state. Already, in the second century, they claimed that it was really then, the accused and maligned, who, by their lives, saved state and society from destruction.
From Zeitfragen und christlicher Glaube, pp. 35-36
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