Learning from Jesus the Martyr

by Curtis J. Mitch

Christians know Christ by several exalted titles: the Messiah, the Lord, the Savior, the Redeemer. But rarely, if ever, do we invoke Christ as "the Martyr." Yet Scripture describes Him in these very words. We read in the Book of Revelation, for instance, how the Spirit introduces the risen Jesus to the church of Laodicea as "the faithful and true witness" (Rev. 3:14). The key term in this verse is "witness," or in Greek, martys, from which we get the English, "martyr."(1)

Among other things, this passage tells us that the biblical vision of martyrdom is a Christological vision. Its center is Jesus Christ, the archetypal martyr, whose image and likeness shines through the heroism of every martyr in history. Taking this fact as an invitation, the challenge before us is to learn the secrets of martyrdom by walking upstream to its source—Christ Himself. Reflection on the Gospels, especially the Passion narratives, will set before us the mystery of the divine martyr, whose words and deeds instruct us for life, and even for a glorious death.

Witness to Grace
First, we learn from Christ that the mission of the martyr is a humanly impossible mission. That is, without the powerful assistance of God to galvanize the will, human nature will not be able to withstand the relentless blows of spiritual temptation that come when light collides with darkness. What temptations? The temptation to run away, avoid the pain, compromise just a little, refuse the cup of suffering.

Consider the account of Jesus agonizing in the garden of Gethsemane. The evangelists show us that Christ, as man, had the same intense aversion to suffering that we experience. He had a human nature that trembled and even sweat blood at the prospect of a slow and brutal death (cf. Lk. 22:44). So what did He do? Knowing what cruelties lay ahead, Jesus prepared for battle on His knees. He cried out to the Father with the groans and tears of a Son in dire distress (cf. Heb. 5:7). In short, He entered His Passion through the doorway of prayer.

The result of His pleas was a renewed strength to accept the mission marked out for Him. We see this in His words to the Father: "remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what thou wilt" (Mk. 14:36). These are not the words of a man who has searched and found strength within, but rather those of one steeled with power from on high. And if such is the case with Jesus, how much more must the believer, weighed down by sin, staring torture and execution in the face, drop down and beg for heaven's help. The crown of martyrdom cannot be worn without the grace of martyrdom that comes by the impassioned prayers of the saints in need (cf. Heb. 4:16).

Witness to Truth
We also learn from Christ that the martyr must have an unbending commitment to the truth. Nothing in the Gospels suggests that Jesus was in the business of compromise. He had a message from the Father and a mission to preach it. Even when His words seemed unbearably difficult—too difficult for some of His own disciples to accept—He refused to pull back from the truth or file the teeth off His teaching to make it more marketable (cf. Jn. 6:52-65).

Ultimately, this commitment to truth led Him to His death. Consider the trials of Jesus after His arrest. Standing before an angered Sanhedrin, listening to a stream of false accusations, Jesus is finally asked the incriminating question: "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" (Mk. 14:61). At this point Jesus could have turned somersaults like a politician trying to dodge the question. Or He could have watered down His response with endless qualifications—anything to squeeze out of the tight spot. Instead, Jesus responded with the unalloyed truth: "I am" (Mk. 14:62). This threw the court into a rage and triggered a charge of condemnation from the leaders of Israel.

Nor do we see Jesus weakening or backpedaling in His examination before Pilate. Here, in fact, the issue of truth stands front and center. The Roman governor, though somewhat disinterested in the case, is still mildly concerned about the Jews' accusation that Jesus claims to be a king. As the interrogation proceeds, it appears to Pilate that Jesus is more a dreamer than a genuine threat, especially when Jesus lays out His life's purpose in less-than-political terms: "For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth" (Jn. 18:37). Stunned, and probably scratching his head, the cynic in Pilate blurts out: "What is truth?" (Jn. 18:38).

For Jesus, truth is the only thing worth dying for. It is the only thing that can have an absolute claim over our lives. This, of course, is because truth is embodied in the very Person of God the Son, who is "the way, and the truth, and the life" revealed to us by the Father (Jn. 14:6). The martyr internalizes this at the deepest level. Like his Master, the martyr reverences the truth and follows the truth wherever it leads, even if it takes him down the dark alley of the Passion. Historically, this is what Christ's most committed disciples have always done. After surveying centuries of Christian martyrdom, St. Alphonsus de Liguori insists, "the martyrs were firmly attached to all the dogmas of the Christian faith."(2)

Witness to Love
Lastly, we learn from Jesus that the martyr gives his life as an offering of love. This is precisely what Jesus taught when He said: "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (Jn. 15:13). And this is precisely the teaching that Jesus lived out when He mounted the Cross.

It is vitally important that we see the love of Christ when we see His hands and feet spiked to the beams of the Cross. Some have an impoverished, even twisted, idea that Christ climbed the hill of Calvary simply to jump in front of the oncoming train of God's wrath. This, so the logic goes, was to appease our angry Father and deflect His fury away from sinners like you and me. Nothing could be more misleading. Christ was no hapless whipping boy. Bleeding and dying on the Cross, Christ was pouring out to the Father the very thing we refuse to give Him every time we sin: the perfect love of God and neighbor, the perfect love of a creature for his Creator, the perfect love of a child for his heavenly Father.

For the martyr, who follows the way of Christ crucified, the imperative of love is indispensable. He simply cannot retrace the footsteps of Christ unless he has learned the lessons of Christian love. And with Christ as his model, he will never confuse such love with a passing emotion. The genuineness of his love will be measured by sacrifice, endurance, selflessness, and extraordinary generosity. This is the highest vocation of every man and woman on earth, regardless of whether the Lord calls us beyond a living martyrdom to the glory of a dying martyrdom for Christ.

Reflection on the Passion has shown us that without grace, a commitment to Gospel truth, and a heart full of love, a truly Christian martyrdom is not possible. Many have died for a cause, but only a martyr dies in the image and likeness of Christ. This, I think, is why St. Augustine calls Jesus "the Head of martyrs."(3) Quite simply, the crown of martyrdom cannot be worn without the grace of martyrdom that comes from above. And this grace is called down by the impassioned prayers of the disciple who approaches the Father in his hour of greatest need (cf. Heb. 4:16).

Curtis Mitch is a contributing author of the Catholic for a Reason series (Emmaus Road Publishing). He writes from Steubenville, OH.

1. In literature contemporary with the New Testament, a witness was someone who gave testimony in a courtroom and was called upon to vouch for the truth. Alongside this and other meanings, the term acquired a more specialized meaning in early Christian writings, where a martys was someone faithful to Christ unto death, someone who preferred to die for His gospel rather than deny it. This uniquely Christian meaning of the word had its beginnings in the apostolic period, as seen most clearly in the Book of Revelation (Rev. 2:13; 3:14; 17:6). (return to text)

2. St. Alphonsus de Liguori, Victories of the Martyrs, ed. Rev. Eugene Grimm (New York: Redemptorist Fathers, 1954), 24. (return to text)

3. Expositions of the Psalms 63.3. For a modern translation, see The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century, Part III, Volume 17, trans. Maria Boulding, O.S.B., ed. John E. Rotelle, O.S.A. (New City Press, 2001) 247-63. (return to text)

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