Wes Tappmeyer sent me the following in a recent email...
Friends,
Mull this over and chew on it. Our time here is short. Ignatius, an early church father (around 100 AD), had been captured by the Romans and condemned to die for his faith in Christ (under the Trajan edict). By this time, he was an old man. He had faithfully expounded the word of God for many years at Antioch. A Roman convoy was transporting him to Rome to be executed (likely by wild beasts for the sport of the Romans). He wrote a letter to the Church in Rome, which was planning to use its considerable influence to free Ignatius. He told them to halt their efforts.
Ignatius, desirous of an end fitting of His Christ, penned the words below to the Church in Rome. No doubt the following words of the Apostle Paul were on his mind, "But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead."
Ignatius (letter to the Roman Church):
I write to the Churches, and impress on them all, that I shall willingly die for God, unless ye hinder me. I beseech of you not to show an unseasonable good-will towards me. Suffer me to become food for the wild beasts, through whose instrumentality it will be granted me to attain to God. I am the wheat of God, and let me be ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of Christ. Rather entice the wild beasts, that they may become my tomb, and may leave nothing of my body; so that when I have fallen asleep [in death], I may be no trouble to any one. Then shall I truly be a disciple of Christ, when the world shall not see so much as my body. Entreat Christ for me, that by these instruments I may be found a sacrifice [to God]. I do not, as Peter and Paul, issue commandments unto you. They were apostles; I am but a condemned man: they were free, while I am, even until now, a servant. But when I suffer, I shall be the freed-man of Jesus, and shall rise again emancipated in Him. And now, being a prisoner, I learn not to desire anything worldly or vain.
...May I enjoy the wild beasts that are prepared for me; and I pray they may be found eager to rush upon me, which also I will entice to devour me speedily, and not deal with me as with some, whom, out of fear, they have not touched. But if they be unwilling to assail me, I will compel them to do so. Pardon me [in this]: I know what is for my benefit. Now I begin to be a disciple. And let no one, of things visible or invisible, envy me that I should attain to Jesus Christ. Let fire and the cross; let the crowds of wild beasts; let tearings, breakings, and dislocations of bones; let cutting off of members; let shatterings of the whole body; and let all the dreadful torments of the devil come upon me: only let me attain to Jesus Christ.
Shortly thereafter, Ignatius was cast to the wild beasts and eaten.
He loved not his life unto death.
"Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it bears much fruit." -- Jesus
Come, Lord Jesus!
Wes
2 comments:
I have my own thoughts about the actions of this Ignatius character.
I understand that refusing to deny Christ and being martyred as a result is an honorable act worthy of remembrance. But what if you choose martyrdom?
From my understanding Ignatius was not the only member of the early church who denied release and chose martyrdom. Some called this "The second baptism", the baptism of blood... which made the subject a more pure sacrifice before the Lord.
I can't help but admire the man's desire to "know Christ in His sufferings" in order that he could also "know Him in His resurrection power". However, I don't think a man must choose to be torn limb from limb to know Christ in His resurrection power.
In fact, I believe that Christ's resurrection power can be made more readily manifest through a living servant than a dead servant.
Jesus said that if you are persecuted in one city, flee to the next. (Matt 10:23)
Paul chose to go to Rome after being instructed to do so by the Lord (an angel literally came to him and spoke to him face to face to encourage him in this task - Acts 27:23).
gotta go, more later...
continued...
There was a greater purpose in Paul's trip to Rome than do die at the hand of his oppressors. It was to witness to the emperor and to governors and kings. He was a shining spectacle on the worlds most public platform. That was the purpose for Paul's willingness to give himself over to hands he knew would execute him later.
I don't believe that even Jesus was as excited about the passion He knew He would have to endure as was Ignatius. Of course, I don't believe it was the physical torment that bothered Him so much as having the burden of sin cast upon Himself and being separated from His Father. Jesus pleaded with the Father asking if there was any other way... there wasn't, and blood dripped from the pores of His skin as He submitted Himself to His Fathers will.
I confess that I am not as heavenly minded as I probably should be, and if I was given a choice for an early departure from this world to the next - I wouldn't take it. I'll get to heaven soon enough. I have a beautiful daughter to watch grow and mature into a young woman, a little man to raise and share life with. These are the kind of things we only get once as a gift from God Himself, and I suppose I'm not detached enough to truly embrace a personal preference for martyrdom.
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