Today we read about the first apostle to be martyred. James, the brother of John, was arrested and put to death by Herod. The Scripture is quite understated about this martyrdom. James was killed with a sword, so he received an execution that was typical of a political prisoner as opposed to some sort of heinous sociopath. This action of Herod was pleasing to the Jews. They knew that James had emerged as the pre-eminent apostle, a fact we often tend to forget. If the Christian believers were simply a group of revolutionary schismatic Jews, surely putting their leader to death would stop their activity and bring the others back to the fold of orthodox Judaism. Much to the disappointment of the Jews, the Christians were not merely acting on their own opinions. This was no movement that simply wished to reject rabbinic authority. There was no desire among the Christians to abrogate the Scriptures. On the contrary, they were fully committed to a solid historic understanding of the Scriptures which resulted in their mobilization to proclaim Christ crucified for sinners, the suffering Messiah who came to redeem God's people as the Paschal lamb.
Here's the question for today. Are we committed to an historic faith? Are we convinced that as God has revealed himself in the past, so he continues to be, never changing, always seeking to reconcile the world to his perfect will? Are we willing to stand for the truth that our Lord has given us through his prophets and apostles? Are we convinced that Jesus is indeed the way, the life and the truth? Are we truly convinced that the Gospel is the power of God to salvation? James and the other apostles were convinced of this. They were so convinced of it that they were willing to die for their faith. They were so convinced of Christ's redeeming love that they were willing to suffer harm rather than to permit themselves to harm others in self-defense. They were an army of the Word, fighting against an army of the sword. Which are we today?
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