The Apostles
So you think you are having a torrid time in your life. Compared to the difficulties faced by the Apostles/Disciples of Jesus, you may be living a life of luxury.
Peter was crucified upside down on an x-shaped cross. According to
church tradition it was because he told his tormentors that he felt
unworthy to die in the same way that Jesus Christ had died.
Andrew was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Patras, Greece. After
being whipped severely by seven soldiers they tied his body to the
cross with cords to prolong his agony. His followers reported that,
when he was led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these words:
"I have long desired and expected this happy hour. The cross has been
consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it." He continued to
preach to his tormentors for two days until he expired.
James The leader of the church in Jerusalem, was thrown over a
hundred feet down from the southeast pinnacle of the Temple when he
refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he
survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller's
club.
* This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the
Temptation.
Bartholomew also known as Nathaniel Was a missionary to Asia. He
witnessed for our Lord in present day Turkey. Bartholomew was
martyred for his preaching in Armenia where he was flayed to death by
a whip.
Thomas Was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary
trips to establish the church in the sub-continent.
Matthew Suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia, killed by a sword wound.
James the Great, son of Zebedee, was a fisherman by trade when Jesus
called him to a lifetime of ministry. As a strong leader of the
church, James was ultimately beheaded at Jerusalem. The Roman officer
who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his
trial. Later, the officer walked beside James to the place of
execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith to the
judge and knelt beside James to accept beheading as a Christian.
Mark Died in Alexandria, Egypt, after being dragged by horses through
the streets until he was dead.
Luke- was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to
the lost.
John Faced martyrdom when he was boiled in huge basin of boiling oil
during a wave of persecution in Rome. However, he was miraculously
delivered from death. John was then sentenced to the mines on the
prison island of Patmos. He wrote his prophetic Book of Revelation on
Patmos. The apostle John was later freed and returned to serve as
Bishop of Edessa in modern Turkey. He died as an old man, the only
apostle to die peacefully.
Matthias The apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot was
stoned and then beheaded.
Barnabas One of the group of seventy disciples, wrote the Epistle of
Barnabas. He preached throughout Italy and Cyprus. Barnabas was
stoned to death at Salonica.
Paul Was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome
in A.D. 67. Paul endured a lengthy imprisonment which allowed him to
write his many epistles to the churches he had formed throughout the
Roman Empire . These letters, which taught many of the foundational
doctrines of Christianity, form a large portion of the New Testament.
Jude, Was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in
Christ.
Perhaps this is a reminder to us that our sufferings here are indeed
minor compared to the intense persecution and cold cruelty faced by
the apostles disciples during their times for the sake of the Faith.
But he that endureth to the end shall be saved. Matthew 10:22.