Rome

An elderly man in his eighties sitting at a table eating dinner, Polycarp knew his life was in danger. A group of Christians had just been executed in the arena on account of their faith. But Polycarp refused to leave Rome. The Romans were executing any self-proclaimed Christians, and pagans were betraying those they knew to be followers of the Way. After the recent executions, the crowd in the arena had chanted for Polycarp’s death. A renowned follower of Christ and bishop of Smyrna, Polycarp hadbecome a Christian under the tutelage of John the apostle. Recently,the Roman proconsul had been looking for him for days. After arresting and torturing one of Polycarp’s servants, they finally learned wherehe was staying. The soldiers came into the house, but instead of fleeing,Polycarp calmly stated, “God’s will be done.” Polycarp asked that food be brought for the soldiers, and herequested an hour for prayer. Amazed by Polycarp’s fearlessness, especially for a man his age, the hardened Roman soldiers granted hisrequest. He prayed for two hours for all the Christians he knew and forthe universal church, and the soldiers let him. As Polycarp entered the stadium, several Christians present heard avoice from Heaven say, “Be

In contrast to most of the other apostolic figures, little confusionexists about the place of Paul’s death. He always had a passion topreach the Gospel in Rome, and he died there. Paul spent time in Rome twice, on both occasions at the expense ofthe Roman Empire. Neither his travel arrangements nor his accommodations were first class, but they suited the apostle well. Throughout Acts and his letters, Paul conveys an unmistakable sense that his time was short, and he was grateful for every moment he was given. Paul understood God’s grace, not simply as a great theological concept, but also as his own reason for living. He appreciated God’s grace because he knew he needed so much of it. His final thoughts had little to do with regrets and much to dowith the satisfaction that flows from grace-drenched living. He wroteto Timothy: “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, andthe time of my departure has come. I have fought the goodfight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Hence forth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day,

Simon, son of John, grew up in Capernaum, on the north end of theSea of Galilee. Raised along with his brother Andrew in a fishingfamily, Simon seemed headed for a career in that business. ThenJesus came walking along the shore and invited Simon to follow Him intoa life of fishing for people. Simon accepted both the invitation and a newname given by Jesus—Peter (from the Greek word petros, meaning “apiece of rock”). For three years, Peter was Jesus’s constant companion. We find it easy to imagine Simon Peter, the rock, smiling over theimmense irony of Jesus’s call on his life as Peter wrote these lines: “As youcome to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosenand precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as aspiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame’” (1 Peter 2:4-6). Peter knew firsthand the depth of that promise of never being put toshame. He knew the unspeakable joy

In the Greek myths, the character Telemachus (meaning “far-awayfighter”) was a timid and diffident child. But as an adult he defendedthe honor of those he loved and became a fighter and a hero. Unlikehis mythological counterpart, the fourth-century monk Telemachus wasanything but a fighter. Or perhaps it can be argued that his greatest fightwas his effort to eradicate fighting. An ascetic hermit from the East and unknown except for his finalact, Telemachus journeyed to Rome just in time for the victory celebrations. After years of aggressive invasions from the continent, Rome had finally defeated the Goth king Alaric in northern Italy in 403. As was common in those times, extravagant gladiatorial contests wereheld in celebration of military victories. The twenty-year-old emperorHonorius decreed that this particular celebration would be held in the50,000-capacity Coliseum, a battleground named for the colossal 130-foot statue of Nero nearby, the emperor made famous for condemningChristians into human torches. If there was one place in all of Rome thata pacifist Christian might consider avoiding, the Coliseum was it. Telemachus, a “rudely clad man of rough but imposing presence,” resolved to interrupt, indeed to stop, the bloody contest in the Coliseum. Thousands had gathered that day. Cries of

Perpetua bravely held Felicity in her arms, anticipating their deathtogether as sisters in Christ. The bull’s horns had already woundedFelicity, and the crowd wanted the coup de grace. Then, abruptlyand inexplicably, the bull stood still. The crowd hushed. This animal wasnot following the script. Now the crowd let loose with demands forblood, and gladiators rushed forward to finish the work. Felicity diedquickly. When Perpetua’s executioner hesitated, she herself helped guidehis blade into her body. The Coliseum had never before seen such a spectacle. Perpetua camefrom a wealthy family. Her father was pagan but her mother and brothers were Christians. Perpetua had a nursing baby at the time of her arrestfor confessing Christ. Her father urged her to renounce faith, for hissake and for her family. Even Roman authorities urged her to offer asimple sacrifice to Roman power. She refused. She would not renounceChrist as Lord, claiming that the name that belonged to her was thename of a Christian. Felicity was a slave—and pregnant. Since Roman law prohibitedthe execution of pregnant women, sentence was delayed. Felicity gavebirth in prison to a baby girl that would be adopted by Christians. Whenprison guards wondered how she would handle facing beasts in thearena, especially

Arrests, beatings, and intimidation had become common. A groupof believers were randomly rounded up and carted off to Herod’sdungeon. Among them happened to be one of the apostles—James. The event seemed little more than the usual inconvenient harassment that the Roman leaders felt obligated to perform at the insistence of certain Jewish leaders, who seemed obsessed with the followers of Jesus. But things took a sudden turn when James was hauled out without fanfare and summarily executed by the sword. The church in Jerusalem was stunned; their opponents were elated (Acts 12:1-2). James’s death turned out to be a political experiment on Herod’spart. He must have been sick and tired of the bickering in his courtover the Christ-followers who seemed to be spreading like an infection. They didn’t do anything wrong except provoke extreme hatredfrom others. But when the old politician saw the excited response toJames’s death among his political allies, Herod decided he couldafford to eliminate a few more of these Christians. His attempt to killPeter failed, and before he could devise a further plan, he was distracted by a crisis in another part of his kingdom. Herod died shortlythereafter when “an angel of the Lord struck him down,

Two men named Philip occupied the stage in the early church. Onewas Philip the apostle, the first person called by Jesus to followHim. The other was Philip the evangelist, one of the seven chosenby the church to help with the special needs of the growing band ofbelievers in Jerusalem. Both men had similar evangelistic hearts, and theaccounts of their lives have often been intertwined in subsequent history.Their stories are further complicated because they each appear to havefathered several daughters. Philip the apostle is mentioned several timesin the Gospel of John but only once in the book of Acts (1:13). Philip thedeacon appears in Acts and is instrumental in the conversion of theEthiopian eunuch as well as in the spiritual outbreak among the Samaritans, recorded by Luke in Acts 8. Philip the deacon later hosted theapostle Paul on his last journey to Jerusalem (Acts 21:8). They may havehad further contact during the two years that Paul was imprisoned inCaesarea before his journey under guard to Rome. Philip the apostle came from Bethsaida, a town in northern Israelclose to Capernaum and the Sea of Galilee. His non-Jewish name mayindicate the degree to which Bethsaida was influenced by the Greekculture and government language

Undoubtedly with his brother Simon’s permission, Andrew temporarily left the fishing nets behind and journeyed to hear a man called John the Baptist. John was the talk of the town and wharf. He urged people to get right with God because the long-awaited Savior was coming. Andrew saw and heard something in John that he liked. This wild man was not only a scathing critic of society’s flaws, but he also offered people hope through repentance. He had a knack for making people feel very bad before he showed them how they could be forgiven. So Andrew became a follower of John the Baptist. Eventually, he was likely joined by his friend John, the son of Zebedee, who recorded the initial steps Jesus took in choosing a group of disciples to train. At some point, at least five of the original apostles were in the area where John the Baptist was carrying out his ministry. According to the biblical account, Andrew was the first of theapostolic band to discover Jesus in his unique role as Lamb of God whotakes away the sin of the world. Andrew was standing beside John theBaptist when the fiery prophet pointed out Jesus as the