“So he (Pilate) delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him…”.             [John‬ ‭19‬:‭16‬-‭18‬ ‭ESV‬‬]

All of us who are reading this have some understanding of how Jesus died.  He was arrested, beaten, mocked, flogged & whipped, and eventually, crucified. But what about those who followed him, to those he asked, “come follow me”.  What happened to them?  Well, brilliantly they were all martyred for their faith, every single one of them.

Andrew was crucified upside down and preached powerfully on that cross for 2 days until he died.  He was so excited that he testified before his death that he had been looking forward to this day.  Bartholomew was skinned alive near Russia in Azerbaijan, preaching the gospel. James, son of Alpheus was stoned and then clubbed to death. James the brother of John was beheaded in Jerusalem. But the Roman official who brought him to trial was so moved by his faith that when James was sentenced to death, he declared his faith in Jesus and was beheaded with James.  John the brother of James was boiled to death in oil to shut him up but didn’t die.  Simon and Thaddeus were crucified and then sawn in half together in England. Why?  Why did they willingly and joyfully accept such brutal treatment and death as they did?  Because these men saw Jesus raised from the dead.  They were eye witness of it.  The apostle John gives testimony to it in ‭‭[John‬ ‭19‬:‭35‬-‭36‬]

“He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled…”

The resurrection changed everything, these men and women saw Jesus raised from the dead.  When you witness someone brutally tortured and then hung on a cross until death, it leaves a mark on you. When that very person comes back to life in power and breaths that power on you, it changes you forever.

“Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
‭‭[John‬ ‭20‬:‭21‬-‭22‬]

All of a sudden, nothing else mattered.  They had to tell the world about the hope, salvation and truth found in Jesus alone.  And it took them to the ends  of the earth, preaching the gospel and establishing church communities, the only way to silence it was to kill it.  John Mark the author of the Gospel of Mark was drug behind a horse through the streets of Alexandria until he could preach no more.  Paul wrote the New Testament in prison until he was finally beheaded by Nero in Rome because the gospel was upending Roman culture.  Luke the author of the gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts was hung in Greece because he preached so powerfully it was transforming the whole country.

I’m not suggesting that everyone has to die a Martyrs death. Most people will live and die in peace. But what I am saying is the Kingdom of God is advancing forcefully in your generation. And violence awaits those who will not be silent or pacified by the normal tools Satan uses; distraction, worldly success, comfort, etc.

“And from the time John the Baptist began preaching until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people are attacking it.”  [Matthew‬ ‭11‬:‭12‬ ‭NLT‬‬]

But where are you at on all of this talk of death and resurrection. I think it normal to be a little confused by it all and uncertain of the realities of the resurrection.  And what does it mean for me. All the disciples in Jerusalem were in a state of disillusionment and confusion while Jesus laid dead in the tomb.  But when Mary returned to find an empty tomb, and that Jesus was not dead but risen, everything changed.

“Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.””  [John‬ ‭20‬:‭15‬]

He’s not dead, but alive!!!

“that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”  [Philippians 3:10-11]