He was probably 25 years old when the truth really hit him, i.e., that if he kept walking down the path he was on, he would face a pain-filled end. This path could end even in death. He probably had sensed the truth of this for at least a decade. It's said that he had started this journey in his teenage years. From the beginning, the new life had been tough. He had only seen trouble as he had sought to live out his convictions in the world. Many people had warned him. But he heard the clear message from his leader, "You must be faithful even to the point of death." And he knew that he had to decide whether he would follow this leader or not.
He was probably 25 years old when the truth really hit him, i.e., that if he kept walking down the path he was on, he would face a pain-filled end. This path could end even in death. He probably had sensed the truth of this for at least a decade. It's said that he had started this journey in his teenage years. From the beginning, the new life had been tough. He had only seen trouble as he had sought to live out his convictions in the world. Many people had warned him. But he heard the clear message from his leader, "You must be faithful even to the point of death." And he knew that he had to decide whether he would follow this leader or not.
The young man chose to follow. And he kept following. I'm referring to one of my great heroes of our faith: Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna. Throughout his life, he had seen people drawn away from their homes forcibly. He had seen his brothers killed publicly. But, Polycarp had been faithful to Jesus, eventually becoming the pastor of his home church in Smyrna.
Then, at the age of 86, the authorities came to get him. They demanded that he recant and deny Jesus. People attending his interrogation recorded his words: "Eighty-six years have I served Jesus, and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme the King who saved me?" And Polycarp was killed for his faith.
I'm sure that the people in church asked why. "Why do bad things happen to good people?" The question is probably the question most asked of pastors in our own day. Fifty or sixty years before Polycarp of Smyrna's martyrdom, Jesus sent a letter to the church people in Smyrna. Many people speculate that Polycarp was the messenger who read Jesus' letter to his people. The people there were already suffering afflictions. I'm quite certain that Jesus' words guided Polycarp to be faithful when he faced his own unjust killing.
The all seeing Jesus knew what was to come and had, in fact, faced martyrdom personally and defeated it by his resurrection (see Revelation 1:14, 17–18). I know that the topic we face in Jesus' letter to Smyrna (Revelation 2:8–11) is not a very popular one. Jesus gives us a perspective on suffering in this world that is not quite what people want to hear. In my view, it is the only one that makes sense out of our world. And, ultimately, it is the perspective that offers hope to all who will embrace the same Lord Polycarp followed.
"He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says..."
To His Glory,
Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor
