Were Jesus’ Disciples Martyred?
Would you die for a lie? Would you take a bullet to the head before you admitted that you made up a story? Probably not, because it doesn’t make logical sense to willingly die for something that isn’t true.
I remember when I used to coach basketball, I had my players run certain drills before practice. During this time, I instructed them not to touch a ball. Yet, on one occasion as my back was turned, I heard it — dribble-dribble-dribble. I turned around to see that the ball was rolling across the gym floor with several players around. I asked who did it? Nobody answered. I asked again in a louder voice. Still, no answer. So I did what any good coach does. I threatened them. I said, “unless someone tells me who touched the basketball, everyone is running laps!” Amazingly, it only took one lap before one of my players told on his teammate. He wasn’t going to suffer any longer without exposing the truth — and that was only running laps!
THE DISCIPLES WERE COWARDS
As you read about the end of Jesus’ life in the Gospels, you will read that the disciples were cowards. During Jesus’ arrest, they scurried away into the night (Mt 26:56). As the Jews interrogated Jesus, Peter went so far as to deny him three times (Mt 26:75). At the cross, the disciples were nowhere to be found. In fact, the Gospel writers tell us that even the women stayed to watch Jesus’ crucifixion (Mt 27:55-56). Presumably, the disciples were in hiding. Scholars are convinced that this is an accurate picture of the disciples because it portrays them in an embarrassing light. In other words, writers don’t generally make up information that makes them look bad; therefore, it must be an accurate portrayal.
THE DISCIPLES WERE BOLD PROCLAIMERS OF JESUS
Yet something profound took place that transformed the disciples from cowards into bold proclaimers of Jesus in only a matter of days. We read, for example, in Acts 4 that the temple guard and Sadducees came and arrested Peter and John while they were publicly proclaiming that Jesus rose from the dead. While standing before the council, they boldly assert that God raised Jesus from the dead. The council even takes notice of their newfound courage (4:13). All throughout Acts, we see them face arrest, imprisonment, and even death (12:2). And it’s not only in Acts; extra-biblical sources report that Jesus’ disciples were martyred as well.
OUTSIDE SOURCES THAT SAY JESUS’ DISCIPLES WERE MARTYRED
Clement of Rome, writing around the year A.D. 95 reports:
“Let us set the good apostles before our eyes. Peter, who because of unrighteous envy endured, not one or two, but many afflictions, and having borne witness went to the due glorious place. Because of envy and rivalries, steadfast Paul pointed to the prize… Thus he was freed from the world and went to the holy place. He became a great example of steafastness.”
While he doesn’t explicitly state it, Clement implies that both Peter and Paul were killed for their faith. He reports that they experienced afflictions, but he seems to indicate more when he says that Peter, as a result of his witness, “went to the due glorious place.” He’s most likely referring to heaven here. Similarly, Paul “was freed from the world and went to the holy place.”
Tertullian, another church father, is more explicit in his writing:
“That Paul is beheaded has been written in their own blood. And if a heretic wishes his confidence to rest upon public record, the archives of the empire will speak, as would the stones of Jerusalem. We read the lives of the Caesars: At Rome Nero was the first who stained with blood the rising faith. Then is Peter girt by another, when he is made fast to the cross. Then does Paul obtain a birth suited to Roman citizenship, when in Rome he springs to life again ennobled by martyrdom.”
Other ancient sources, such as Josephus, Ignatius, and Polycarp, corroborate these claims that Jesus’ closest followers were willing to die for their faith in Jesus.
WHAT’S THE BEST EXPLANATION?
How do we make sense of the disciples’ transformation? After all, people don’t change that drastically in such a short time unless something remarkable happened — and a resurrection fits this criteria. The disciples encountered a risen Jesus and it turned their world upside down — to the point where they were willing to die for what they saw.
COULD IT HAVE BEEN A LIE?
Skeptics of the resurrection often posit the notion that the disciples stole the body and lied to the world that Jesus rose from the dead. But isn’t that unlikely considering all they had to gain from this lie was ridicule, ostracization, imprisonments, physical tortures, and even death? If their story was a lie, it’s more likely that one of the disciples would have caved under the pressure of persecution and admitted that the entire story was a hoax. Yet, of all the anti-Christian literature we have from the first couple of centuries, there is not one mention of the disciples recanting of their beliefs in the face of persecution. If they would have confessed to a lie, you better believe the skeptics would have reported it.
The disciples’ courage to the point of death is strong evidence that Jesus really did appear to them alive after his death. Consider the Watergate scandal that rocked America during the Nixon administration. Chuck Colson, who was part of that conspiracy weighs in:
“I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because twelve men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for forty years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true. Watergate embroiled twelve of the most powerful men in the world-and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me twelve apostles could keep a lie for forty years? Absolutely impossible.”
Just like my former basketball players, and the powerful men involved in the Watergate scandal who were facing far less severe punishment than death, the disciples would have caved at some point had they made up the entire story.
WHAT ABOUT ISLAMIC EXTREMISTS?
Some of you might object and say that dying for one’s faith doesn’t mean that it’s true — look at what happened on 9/11. Isn’t the extremists’ willingness to die for Allah the same thing as the disciples’ willingness to die for the resurrection? It’s not, and here’s why. While the extremist is sincere in his actions, he’s acting on faith alone. He doesn’t know for sure that his faith might be false. On the other hand, the disciples were in a position to know for certain whether Jesus rose from the dead. They were firsthand eye-witnesses to the resurrection. Both are willing to die for what they believe to be true, but only one of them is in a position to know for sure. In other words, people won’t die for something they know is false. Liars make bad martyrs.
WHY MARTYRED?
All the historical data suggests that the disciples changed drastically after Jesus’ death — from cowards to bold proclaimers of Jesus. The best explanation for this transformation is that they saw, touched, and talked with the risen Jesus. After all, nobody would willingly die for something they knew to be false. Would you?
