The Disciples Path June 13

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June 13, 2013 by thedisciplespath7

Thought to ponder: I Corinthians 15:17 “And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!”

“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” Tertullian

Sisters, today we prepare to leave the Gospels, as we come to the final chapters of the Book of John. John chapter 20 is dedicated to displaying the evidence that Jesus Christ rose from the dead; a truth that I have banked my life on. So did every one of the apostles. It is humbling to remember that “great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1) who have gone before us, and on whose blood we have received our faith and the Bible written in our own language. Let us listen to them, for they still speak:

(By Michael Patton, “What Happened to the Twelve Apostles?” Credo House Ministries)

1) The Apostle James- James, the Apostle o f the Lord, was the second recorded martyr after Christ’s death (Stephen was the first). His death is recorded in Acts 12:2 where it is told that Herod Agrippa killed him with a sword.

(2) The Apostle Peter- According to Eusebius, he thought himself unworthy to be crucified as his Master, and, therefore, he asked to be crucified “head downward.”

(3) The Apostle Andrew- As Hippolytus tells us, Andrew was hanged on an olive tree at Patrae, a town in Achaia.

(4) The Apostle Thomas- Thomas sealed his testimony as he was thrust through with pine spears, tormented with red-hot plates, and burned alive.

(5) The Apostle Philip- Philip evangelized in Phrygia where hostile Jews had him tortured and then crucified.

(6) The Apostle Matthew- he professed the resurrected Christ unto his death by beheading at Nad-Davar.

(7) The Apostle Nathanael (Bartholomew)-Unwilling to recant of his proclamation of a risen Christ, he was flayed and then crucified.

(8) The Apostle James the Lesser- James, unwilling to deny what he knew to be true, was cast down from the Temple and finally beaten to death with a fuller’s club to the head.

(9) The Apostle Simon the Zealot- His rest finally came when he verified his testimony and went to be with Christ, being crucified by a governor in Syria.

(10) The Apostle Judas Thaddeus- Preaching the risen Christ to those in Mesopotamia in the midst of pagan priests, Judas was beaten to death with sticks, showing to the world that Christ was indeed Lord and God.

(11) The Apostle Matthias- Matthias, of which the least is known, is said by Eusebius to have preached in Ethiopia. He was later stoned while hanging upon a cross.

(12) The Apostle John- John is the only one of the twelve Apostles to have died a natural death. Although he did not die a martyr’s death, he did live a martyr’s life. He was exiled to the Island of Patmos under the Emperor Domitian for his proclamation of the risen Christ. It was there that he wrote the last book in the Bible, Revelation. Some traditions tell us that he was thrown into boiling oil before the Latin Gate, where he was not killed but undoubtedly scarred for the rest of his life.