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We have many educational institutions that are involved in training and recruiting preachers, missionaries, and ministers. Imagine if in their recruiting of the future preachers, the candidates knew that martyrdom was the expected end.
Somehow, I think we would have an even greater shortage of preachers today.
That was my thought after reading this line in Richard Bauckham’s “The Theology of the Book of Revelation.” he wrote regarding chapter 11.
“Moses and Elijah did not suffer martyrdom, but in New Testament times this was often thought to have been the fate of most of the Old Testament prophets and virtually the expected fate of any prophet.” (Kindle location 1069)
Bauckham goes on to discuss that much of the encouragement of John in Revelation is for Christians to bear witness to the truth of the Gospel message through their suffering and martyrdom. Just like Moses and Elijah confronted the pagan idolatry and political corruption of their world, so Christians should stand as the prophetic witness in today’s world.
Revelation 11 speaks of the beast as conquering the witnesses, but the witnesses gain the resurrection and hear the words, “Come up here” and they go up to heaven in a cloud as their enemies watch (v. 12). The role of the witnesses is to bring the nations to faith in Christ through their testimony of the Lamb (12:11). This is precisely how in the early centuries of the church, the martyrs won so many to the truth of Christ.
The message of Revelation is to conquer, not through military might or political power, but to conquer as Jesus conquered as a Lamb who died. John envisions each Christian being a willing martyr and witness to the truth. This is the fight against idolatry, tyranny, deceit, and greed, This is how Jesus won and it is how his army wins–through death.
Satan’s greatest tool he used was persecution and death, but the Christian’s greatest victory was martyrdom. Who held the trump card? Revelation encourages these saints to see persecution and suffering from the perspective of heaven and how their testimony looks. From the world it looks like they are weak and being slaughtered by Rome, from heaven it looks like they are faithful witnesses holding forth the blood of the Lamb and the banner of truth.
So I guess it makes good sense that we get our English word “martyr” from the Greek term “martus” used throughout Revelation translated often as “witness.”
