Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna (Feb. 23, AD 155)

Polycarp, an elderly minister and disciple of the Apostle John, was burned at the stake on this day in AD 155. The execution took place during a persecution of Christians in Smyrna in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). The church at Smyrna recorded this event and circulated the account, making Polycarp’s death the first post-New Testament Christian martyr story.

He was known as the leader of the hated Christians, so the authorities arrested him and brought him into the arena. The pagans gathered for the spectacle were screaming for blood. When offered his freedom if he would curse Christ and worship Caesar and the pagan gods Polycarp answered, “Eighty-six years I have served him, and he never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?” Thus he willingly refused release so that he might obtain a better resurrection (Hebrews 11:35).

According to tradition the fire formed a wall around him but did not burn him. The persecutors then ran him through with a spear, and the blood that came out put out the fire. This extraordinary event impressed everyone with the difference between the unbelievers and the elect.

Maybe it happened just as the witnesses recorded. But regardless of uncertain traditions surrounding such events, it is evident that this servant of Jesus Christ gave a bold testimony to his Lord, which glorified God and encouraged others at a time when courage was most needed. Christianity Today has a full article that I recommend for reading more on Polycarp and his martyrdom.

As humble followers of Christ the Apostle Paul teaches that we are all brought “into the arena” and made a spectacle unto the world (1 Corinthians 4:8-16). In living and in suffering we are a stage for displaying God’s glory. Someone might ask, “How can that be?” It does seem ironic that God can be glorified in our being physically overcome by unbelievers. Wouldn’t that be a victory for them? But Paul explains, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves” (2 Corinthians 4:7). The world sees this and takes notice. As faithful followers we are “always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body” (2 Cor. 4:10). Our steadfastness is to be attributed only to the power of Christ dwelling in us.

So how can we be steadfast in our testimony for the Lord when even our very life is threatened? By remembering that “He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus” (2 Cor. 4:14). There is a better day coming when believers receive the better resurrection. This is what Polycarp was looking forward to, and we will have hope and won’t “lose heart” if we keep in mind that “momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:16-18 NASB). A little suffering now—full glory forever!

Recommended reading:

The Spreading Flame by FF Bruce (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1954; Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2004 reprint)

In this three-books-in-one-binding Dr. Bruce vividly recounts the rise and progress of Christianity during the first seven centuries AD, including an account of Polycarp’s martyrdom and its aftermath.

In the Arena by Isobel Kuhn (Singapore: OMF Books, 1995 reprint)

Isobel Kuhn and her husband John were missionaries to China in the 1940s until the Communist takeover in 1949. In the Arena is the second part of her autobiography, which commences with the book By Searching. In this second book she relates her view of trials as “the biblical idea that the Christian is on display, like someone condemned to die in the arena. Isobel was convinced that the trials and difficulties of her life as a missionary were ‘arena experiences,’ which God used not to punish her but to reveal Himself.” (quoted from the back cover) I recommend all her books.

Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna (Feb. 23, AD 155)