Polycarp; A Rich and Acceptable Sacrifice
Polycarp knelt in his room, praying fervently for the Christian churches of the world and for the believers under his pastoral care. Earlier that evening, his fellow believers had whisked him away to this nearby farm. An angry mob had gathered during the pagan festival, and his friends did not want Polycarp to fall into the hands of his enemies. Although eleven Christians had already been martyred, the crowd's appetite for blood, death and revenge had not yet been satisfied. The Roman games were religious events as well as shows for gladiators or gymnastic contests, and as one early Christian put it, "What is a stage show without a god, a game without a sacrifice?" To a mob looking for a Christian sacrifice, Polycarp, the Bishop of Smyrna, would be the biggest prize of them all, which was why the mob was searching for him.
Asia's Most Beautiful City
The city of Smyrna was in a class by itself. It was an important trading seaport and one of the most beautiful cities in the entire Roman province of Asia (the western part of modern-day Turkey). Along its eastern border, mountains jutted upward to almost 5,000 feet, and the Gulf of Smyrna lay to the west. Greece was situated across the Aegean Sea to the west of Smyrna, which had been colonized by the Greeks several centuries before.
A Notorious Devotion
Smyrna was notorious throughout the Roman Empire for its devotion to the pagan gods. In the mountains surrounding the city, there was a magnificent temple in honor of Zeus, the king of the Greek gods. The people of Smyrna also considered the local rivers to be gods and credited them with supernatural powers of healing. Religious pluralism was alive and well in Smyrna, and elements of Oriental and Egyptian religions found their place in the city's religious system, along with the Roman gods and various cults of the day.
The Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius (A.D. 138-161) decided that a sign of allegiance was necessary to unify the vast empire Rome now controlled. Because of this, every person was required to sacrifice to the Emperor, or to his genius. His subjects could still worship their own gods as long as they demonstrated proper homage to Antoninus Pius, head of the Roman Empire.
The Christians refused. God was very clear in Scripture that He would not share the worship of his people with any false god. Because of their strict devotion to one God, Christians could never sacrifice to the Roman Emperor or the pagan gods. And from the viewpoint of the Roman government, Christian noncompliance was an act of rebellion and subversive to the unity and peace of the Empire. Moreover, local populations blamed any natural calamity, such as an earthquake or crop failure, on the refusal of Christians to properly worship the local gods. Because of its devotion to Roman and pagan gods, the city of Smyrna was even more inclined to make these accusations. In this tense atmosphere, Christians lived daily with the fear that persecution might be unleashed against them. And it was.
As the angry mob continued to hunt for Polycarp, his friends tried to convince him to move to a safer location. However, he refused to leave.
"The will of God be done," he told them.
As he finished praying, Polycarp fell into a trance where the Lord revealed to him that he would be burned alive. A short while later, Herod, the captain of the city police, and his father, Niketas, found and arrested Polycarp. Seeing he was a pious man, they pleaded with Polycarp to renounce his beliefs and avoid being killed, saying, "But what harm would it do to say, ‘Lord Caesar,' and to offer sacrifice and be saved?" They did not understand that for the Christian only Jesus Christ is Lord.
Polycarp's brave response, "I cannot do what you ask," displeased the two men. When they arrived at the stadium in Smyrna, they pushed Polycarp out of the carriage roughly. As he entered the stadium, Polycarp heard a voice from heaven encouraging him to be strong.
In the Arena
It was still winter in Smyrna, and Polycarp felt more than the chill of death as he stood in the arena. The arena was rounded at one end and square at the other and approximately two hundred yards long by forty yards wide. The stands contained marble seating where important governmental officials enjoyed a spectacular view of the sea on this cold February day. The stadium was built into the side of Mt. Pagos, a mountain that rose six hundred feet above Smyrna.
Polycarp stopped before the Roman Proconsul, Statius Quadratus. He had been appointed to a one-year term in Asia by the Roman senate. One of his duties as proconsul was to judge situations that might cause political instability in the province of Asia. He considered the athletic games and pagan festival in Smyrna, held in part to honor the Emperor, as the perfect time to hold court on such volatile matters. The venom directed against the Christians, however, was getting out of control. While Quadratus did not want to go on a hunt for Christians in Asia, he knew he could not ignore the obvious repugnance the city felt toward the Christians. He had thought that the prosecution and death of eleven Christians would satisfy the crowd. His desire now was to bring the executions to an end, and he hoped Polycarp would provide that opportunity.
Quadratus was also surprised by Polycarp's advanced age.
"Respect your age," the proconsul said to Polycarp. "Swear by the genius of Caesar and say ‘Away with the atheists.'"
Polycarp, knowing that it was the Greeks and Romans who worshipped idols instead of the one true God, ironically reversed this commonly held public sentiment and responded to the crowd, "Away with the atheists."
The proconsul found little humor in Polycarp's response and pressed him harder. "Take the oath. Revile Christ and I will let you go."
"He Has Done Me No Wrong"
Polycarp responded to the proconsul's demand with the strength of the Holy Spirit, "For eighty and six years have I been his servant, and he has done me no wrong, and how can I blaspheme my king who saved me?"
"Swear by the genius of Caesar," Quadratus persisted.
"If you vainly suppose that I will swear by the genius of Caesar and pretend that you are ignorant of who I am, listen plainly," Polycarp boldly stated, "I am a Christian!"
The proconsul threatened him, clearly growing frustrated with the unyielding old man before him.
"I have wild beasts, I will deliver you to them, unless you repent."
To this Polycarp replied, "Call for them, for repentance from better to worse is not allowed us. However, it is good to change from evil to righteousness."
Quadratus threatened Polycarp one last time.
"If you don't fear wild beasts, you can face the fire, if you still refuse to repent."
The crowd had been eerily silent throughout the exchange of words between Quadratus and Polycarp. Now Polycarp spoke this dire warning to them, "You threaten with the fire that burns for a time, and is quickly quenched, for you do not know the fire which awaits the wicked in the judgment to come and in everlasting punishment. But why are you waiting? Come, do what you will."
Convinced that he had given the Christian a fair opportunity to save his life, the proconsul sent his herald into the arena to announce, "Polycarp has confessed that he is a Christian."
At this announcement, the thousands of spectators on hand cried out with an uncontrollable fury, "This is the teacher of Asia, the father of the Christians, the destroyer of the gods, who teaches many neither to offer sacrifice nor to worship!"
The crowd called for a lion to be let loose on Polycarp. A governmental official in charge of the animals informed them that it was too late for this, since the hunting sports had ended. They then cried out with one voice that Polycarp should be burned alive. At this moment Polycarp turned to some of the faithful nearby and said calmly, "I must be burnt alive." This fulfilled the vision that the Lord gave him in prayer when the persecution first broke out.
Through the Flames
Wood was gathered to build a bonfire in the middle of the arena. Polycarp was placed on a pole that would stand in the fire. When the guards came to nail his hands to the wood he requested, "Leave me thus, for he who gives me power to endure the fire, will grant me to remain in the flames unmoved even without the security you will give by the nails." They honored this request and simply bound his hands behind his back with rope.
Before the guards set the wood ablaze, Polycarp looked up to heaven and prayed, "O Lord God Almighty, Father of your beloved and blessed child, Jesus Christ, through whom we have received full knowledge of you, the God of angels and powers, and of all creation, and of the whole family of the righteous, who live before you! I bless you, that you have granted me this day and hour, that I may share, among the number of the martyrs, in the cup of your Christ, for the resurrection to everlasting life, both of soul and body in the immortality of the Holy Spirit. And may I, today, be received among them before you, as a rich and acceptable sacrifice, as you, the God who lies not and is truth, has prepared beforehand, and shown forth, and fulfilled. For this reason I also praise you for all things. I bless you, I glorify you through the everlasting and heavenly high priest, Jesus Christ, your beloved child, through whom be glory to you with him and the Holy Spirit, both now and for the ages that are to come, amen."
After his prayer the guards lit the fire and a great blaze roared upward. To everyone's astonishment, the flames licked all around him but were unable to burn him. At this remarkable occurrence the crowd looked on simultaneously amazed and incensed, as they were being denied their due sacrifice to the gods. Finally, out of frustration, the executioner, who put maimed animals out of their misery during the festival, was called in to run Polycarp through with his sword. This he did.
However, this was not the end to the whole ghastly affair. For Niketas, father of the captain who had arrested Polycarp, spoke for some in the crowd, asking that Polycarp's body be burned to ashes, saying, "Lest they leave the crucified one (here he was referring to Jesus) and begin to worship this man." For this reason, the body of Polycarp was placed back on the fire and totally consumed.
Polycarp "was not only a famous teacher, but also a notable martyr, whose martyrdom all desire to imitate, for it followed the Gospel of Christ." In his life and death, this disciple of Christ leaves us a powerful example to follow.
Originally published June 11, 2010.
