Polycarp
What exactly does a Good King expect of His followers? Of course, a bad King might have a very similar list, but they would demand obedience and kill those who did not serve loyally. A faithful citizen of a Good King would willingly surrender their will for the will of that Good King.
I bet we would make the same list of traits a Good King might expect of His followers:
Sounds like a good description of Polycarp!
Here at Backyard Conversations, we are in a series remembering some of the great servants of Jesus who, in their duties of faith, found themselves sacrificing their lives for the Kingdom. One great Kingdom Citizen that we don’t hear much about is this fellow Polycarp.
Polycarp (AD 69 – AD 155) was the bishop of Smyrna (a city founded centuries before the early church) and was a direct disciple of the Apostle John. The last of the apostles to teach in Rome, Peter and Paul were killed around AD 67 or 68. The last of their students, Clement, died 25 years later. But, in Ephesus, Asia, the apostle John lived until around AD 100, and his student, Polycarp, wasn’t killed until half a century later.
Think about that with me for a moment.
You may be thinking that the greatest threat to the early success of the first century church was the persecution of the Romans. And that certainly was a difficult test of life! But the hand-off from the first-generation eyewitness disciples to the second- and third-generation 'only heard about Him' disciples was a test of authentic faith and sound doctrinal truth. Hundreds of false teachers began to get traction in their teachings during this time and the original disciples weren’t there to say, “No! I sat at the Rabbi Jesus’ feet, and he did not teach this. This teaching is false!”
Polycarp was that critical second-generation link to the eye-witness Apostolic Fathers who lived with Jesus and learned directly from Him. It was Polycarp’s fierce loyalty and faithful holding to Jesus’ Kingdom truths that protected the early church from various heresies like Docetism, Gnosticism and Marcionism (you will have to look them up!)
Polycarp was a contemporary of Ignatius (you’ve probably heard of him), and the teacher of Irenaeus (probably not him). According to Irenaeus, Polycarp “was directly instructed by the apostles, and was brought into contact with many who had seen Christ.”
We do not have any surviving writings by Polycarp except his letter to the Philippians, but he is mentioned in other documents including “The Martyrdom of Polycarp.” Here his death is described. It forms the earliest account of Christian martyrdom outside of the New Testament.
The author of Martyrdom of Polycarp is unknown, but it has been attributed to members of the group of early Christian theologians known as the Church Fathers. The letter, sent from the church in Smyrna to another church in Asia Minor at Philomelium, is partly written from the point of view of an eye-witness, recounting the arrest of the elderly Polycarp and the Romans' attempt to execute him.
The Martyrdom of Polycarp records that Polycarp, retiring in the countryside at 86 years of age, had a prophetic vision. Waking up, he realizes he will be martyred by being burnt alive. Like Jesus, there is a betrayal to the authorities, and Polycarp comes forward so that two of his disciples might escape alive.
Emperor Antoninus ordered proconsul Statius Cordatus to bring Bishop Polycarp before him in order for him to deny Jesus Christ. All he had to do was say, “Caesar is Lord,” and offer a little bit of incense to Caesar’s statue, and he would live. Polycarp’s stalwart response:
“Eighty-six years I have served Christ, and He never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?”
So, he was taken to the stadium in Smyrna for a public execution. One tradition states that, when the Roman guards realized they had no nails or rope to affix him to the post, Polycarp assured them that no restraint was necessary—that Jesus would empower him to bear the flames. Another account says that the flames avoided his body, circling him like a halo and arching over his head. When the guards realized that Polycarp could not be burned, they stabbed him with a spear—and the blood that ran down extinguished the flames.
Good Kings have on their agenda the things of the Kingdom. As servants of that King, we too, like our King before us, are sometimes called to sacrifice and suffer for the truths of that Kingdom. My Kingdom Faith is increased by knowing of these saints who have lived so faithfully before me. My hope is someday I have the faith to say:
“Eighty-six years I have served Christ, and He never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?”
I will see you here at Backyard Conversations in a couple of weeks to look at another great servant of the King. Grace to you and thanks for connecting with us here at 100 Fold Ministries.
