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The lives of the twelve apostles remain central to early Christian history, yet historical records about their final years vary across sources.
In this documentary-style exploration, we examine early Christian writings, historical traditions, and scholarly interpretations concerning the reported deaths of the apostles. By comparing scriptural references with later historical accounts, we provide context about how these narratives developed over time and what historians consider most credible.
This presentation focuses on historical documentation and theological tradition rather than sensationalism, offering a balanced overview of how the legacy of the apostles was shaped in early Christianity.
Presented in an educational and research-based format for historical understanding.
In this documentary-style exploration, we examine early Christian writings, historical traditions, and scholarly interpretations concerning the reported deaths of the apostles. By comparing scriptural references with later historical accounts, we provide context about how these narratives developed over time and what historians consider most credible.
This presentation focuses on historical documentation and theological tradition rather than sensationalism, offering a balanced overview of how the legacy of the apostles was shaped in early Christianity.
Presented in an educational and research-based format for historical understanding.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Twelve ordinary men, fishermen, tax collectors, zealots, left their nets, their families, their entire lives to follow a voice that
00:08promised to make them fishers of souls.
00:12None imagined that promise would be sealed with their own blood.
00:15In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 10, verses 16 through 18, Christ warned,
00:21I send you out as sheep among wolves. They will hand you over to the courts and flog you. You
00:26will be brought before governors and kings because of me.
00:30It was not a metaphor, it was a prophecy, a dark promise that would be fulfilled with surgical precision in
00:37each of them.
00:38The Twelve Apostles did not die screaming curses, they died proclaiming hope.
00:44Let's take a deep breath.
00:46Because what follows is not easy to hear, but it is necessary, necessary to understand that faith is not a
00:54comfortable refuge.
00:55It is a battlefield, and on that field, some are called to give everything, absolutely everything.
01:03That's why I invite you to subscribe to the channel, click the like button, and watch this video until the
01:10end.
01:11Number 1. John, the disciple God protected from fire.
01:17There was a young man resting on Christ's chest during the Last Supper.
01:21His name was John, son of Zebedee, brother of James.
01:26Tradition called him the Beloved Disciple, not because of divine favoritism, but because his heart burned with a love that
01:34transcended human understanding.
01:36He was sensitive, profound, capable of perceiving the mysteries of the kingdom with a clarity that astonished even the other
01:45apostles.
01:46John witnessed the transfiguration on the mountain.
01:49He saw Christ's face shine like the sun, and his garments become white as light.
01:55He was in Gethsemane, where he watched his master sweat drops of blood while praying.
02:00And at the foot of the cross, when everyone fled, John remained.
02:05There, Christ entrusted him with the most precious thing he had on earth, his mother Mary.
02:12Behold your mother, he told him.
02:15And from that moment, John cared for her as if she were his own.
02:19But John's destiny would not be a quick death.
02:22It would be something more mysterious, more symbolic.
02:26After the resurrection, John became a pillar of the early church in Jerusalem.
02:31He preached powerfully in Ephesus, where multitudes converted upon hearing his testimony.
02:37And this enraged the Roman emperor Domitian, who saw Christianity as a direct threat to his self-proclaimed divine authority.
02:46Tradition tells that John was arrested and brought before the emperor.
02:50There, the executioners prepared a giant cauldron filled with boiling oil.
02:56The intention was clear.
02:58To boil the elderly apostle alive.
03:01To make him an example for all Christians who dared to defy Rome.
03:06John was stripped of his clothes and thrown into the cauldron.
03:09The flames roared.
03:11The oil bubbled.
03:12The crowd waited for the scream of agony.
03:15But it didn't come.
03:16John remained in the midst of the fire, unharmed.
03:20His skin did not burn.
03:22His flesh did not melt.
03:25He emerged from the cauldron as if he had taken a refreshing bath without a single mark on his body.
03:31The miracle was so evident, so undeniable, that even the Roman soldiers recoiled in fear.
03:38The emperor, furious and terrified at once, decreed that John be exiled to the island of Patmos, a Roman prison
03:46where the most dangerous criminals were sent to die slowly of hunger and disease.
03:51But God had other plans.
03:53In Patmos, amid solitude and suffering, John experienced something that would change Christianity forever.
04:00On the Lord's day, being in the Spirit, he heard behind him a powerful voice like a trumpet saying,
04:07Write in a book what you see.
04:08And then the revelation of the apocalypse began.
04:12Visions of heavenly thrones, of living creatures, of broken seals and poured cups, of the final battle between good and
04:21evil.
04:21John saw the future.
04:23He saw the fall of Babylon, the triumph of the Lamb, the new Jerusalem descending from heaven.
04:29And he wrote it all with trembling hands, knowing these words would be food for the persecuted, hope for the
04:36desperate, and warning for the lukewarm for millennia to come.
04:41Finally, after years of exile, John returned to Ephesus.
04:46Already elderly, weak in body but powerful in spirit, he continued teaching until his last breath.
04:54According to Polycrates of Ephesus, John died a natural death around the year 100 after Christ, at approximately 94 years
05:02of age.
05:03He was the only apostle who did not die martyred.
05:07But was his life easier?
05:09John survived all his brothers.
05:11He saw Peter crucified, James beheaded, the others scattered and destroyed throughout the world.
05:18He carried the weight of being the last living witness of Christ.
05:21And in his old age, when asked to preach, he only repeated one phrase,
05:26Little children, love one another.
05:29Because he had learned that love is the only antidote to darkness.
05:34John did not need to die as a martyr to prove his faith.
05:37His testimony was different, that of endurance, of remaining faithful to the end, even when all the others had already
05:45departed.
05:46Of writing words of hope when the world seemed to be falling apart.
05:51Reflect on this.
05:53Sometimes God does not deliver you from the fire to spare you suffering.
05:58He delivers you because he has a task that only you can fulfill.
06:02John survived the boiling oil not because he was special, but because revelation had not yet been written.
06:09Your survival is not coincidence.
06:12It is divine assignment.
06:14Number two, James, the first blood-spilled dawn in Jerusalem, brought with it a heavy silence, that kind of stillness
06:23that precedes violence.
06:24It was the year 44 after Christ, and King Herod Agrippa the fern desperately sought the favor of the Jewish
06:32leaders.
06:32He knew that the followers of the crucified Nazarene continued to grow in number and boldness.
06:39And he decided to send a message that would resonate forcefully.
06:44No one defies Rome without consequences.
06:47James, son of Zebedee, brother of John, was the chosen one.
06:52It was not chance.
06:53James was part of Christ's inner circle.
06:57He had witnessed the resurrection of Jairus' daughter when Christ took her by the hand and said,
07:02Talitha kum, little girl, arise.
07:05He was on the Mount of Transfiguration, where the heavens were torn, and Moses and Elijah appeared conversing with Jesus.
07:13And in the garden of Gethsemane, James witnessed Christ's deepest agony when the Son of God pleaded,
07:20Father, if possible, let this cup pass from me.
07:25Now that same cup of suffering was being extended to James.
07:29The Acts of the Apostles records the event with chilling brevity.
07:34Herod the king laid hands on some from the church to harm them,
07:37and he killed James, brother of John, with the sword.
07:42Acts 12.1.2
07:43Few words to describe an indescribable horror, a public execution, a raised sword, a precise blow,
07:52and the first apostolic blood soaking the stones of Jerusalem.
07:56Tradition adds details that scripture omits.
07:59They say James was dragged through the streets, beaten and spat upon by the crowd that shouted blasphemies.
08:05They say that when he was taken to the place of execution,
08:09one of the guards who escorted him was so impacted by his peace and testimony
08:13that he fell to his knees and confessed Christ right there in the middle of the public square.
08:19And they say that both, James and the converted guard, were beheaded together,
08:24their blood mingling on the earth as a joint offering to the slain lamb.
08:28Why James? Why was he the first to fall?
08:31Some would say it was political chance, others, that Herod simply chose the most visible one.
08:38But there is a deeper mystery here.
08:41James and his brother John were nicknamed by Jesus Boanerges, sons of thunder.
08:48They were passionate, impulsive, willing to call fire from heaven upon those who rejected Christ.
08:54And perhaps, just perhaps, God allowed James to be the first to die
08:59because his burning zeal needed to be transformed into consummated sacrifice.
09:05James' martyrdom marked a turning point.
09:08Until that moment, persecution had been sporadic, almost experimental.
09:12But with his death, the floodgate opened.
09:16Religious and political leaders discovered they could assassinate the apostles without consequences.
09:21And the hunt began.
09:23The early church trembled.
09:25Peter was arrested immediately afterward.
09:27The community gathered to pray desperately for his release,
09:31hoping that an angel would rescue him from prison, as indeed happened.
09:36But no one had prayed like that for James.
09:39Why did God save one and allow the other to die?
09:43It is the mystery of selective suffering that torments every sincere believer.
09:48The answer is not in merit or divine favoritism.
09:52It is in purposes that transcend our understanding.
09:55James died quickly.
09:57His testimony was brief but forceful.
10:00Peter lived longer to shepherd the nascent church.
10:03Both fulfilled their calling.
10:05Both glorified God.
10:07One with a long life of service.
10:09Another with a sudden death of sacrifice.
10:12There is also James the Less, son of Alphaeus.
10:16Less known, less mentioned, but no less faithful.
10:20Tradition says he also fell under Herod's sword, publicly beheaded alongside his namesake.
10:26Other ancient sources claim he was thrown from the pinnacle of the Jerusalem temple,
10:31that same place where Satan tempted Christ to throw himself down,
10:36and then stoned until his skull split and his spirit flew to eternity.
10:41Two James, two destinies.
10:44One same end, blood spilled for the name of Christ.
10:47One shone in public light.
10:50Another served in discreet shadow.
10:52But both heard the same voice say,
10:54Well done, good and faithful servant.
10:57Enter into the joy of your Lord.
11:00Reflect.
11:01The world measures success in years lived,
11:04riches accumulated,
11:06recognitions obtained.
11:07God measures in faithfulness to the end.
11:11James lived barely forty-some years.
11:14But those years were enough to change eternity.
11:17Your life does not need to be long.
11:20It needs to be surrendered.
11:22Close your eyes for a moment.
11:24Imagine the sword rising above your neck.
11:27What words would come from your mouth?
11:29Curse or blessing?
11:31Fear or peace?
11:32James faced that moment with the certainty that dying for Christ was the greatest gain.
11:38And that certainty is what we need today,
11:41in a world that asks us to renounce Christ in exchange for comfort.
11:46Write in the comments one word,
11:48Faithfulness.
11:49Because that was James' legacy.
11:52Not spectacular miracles.
11:54Not memorable recorded speeches.
11:56Only faithfulness to the end.
11:59And that, dear brother, is enough.
12:02Number three.
12:04Peter, the fisherman crucified upside down.
12:08Simon was his birth name.
12:10Peter was the name Christ gave him.
12:12You are Peter,
12:13and on this rock I will build my church,
12:16Jesus declared in Caesarea Philippi.
12:18But before becoming rock,
12:20Peter was shifting sand.
12:22Impulsive.
12:24Cowardly.
12:24Full of empty promises.
12:26And wavering faith.
12:28The same one who swore to die for Christ
12:31denied him three times before the rooster crowed.
12:34And he wept bitterly,
12:36believing his betrayal had disqualified him forever.
12:39But Christ does not discard the broken.
12:42He restores them.
12:44After the resurrection by the Sea of Tiberias,
12:47Jesus appeared to Peter.
12:49Simon, son of John,
12:51do you love me?
12:52He asked three times.
12:53One for each denial.
12:55And three times Peter responded,
12:58Yes, Lord.
12:59You know that I love you.
13:00Then Christ commissioned him,
13:02Feed my sheep.
13:03The fisherman of fish
13:05had officially become a shepherd of souls.
13:07Peter threw himself into the mission
13:09with redemptive zeal.
13:10He preached at Pentecost
13:12and three thousand souls
13:14were converted in a single day.
13:16He healed the lame man
13:17at the temple gate called Beautiful.
13:19He faced the Sanhedrin without fear.
13:22And eventually he traveled to Rome,
13:24the heart of the empire
13:26that crucified his master
13:28to plant there the seed of the gospel.
13:30Rome in the year 64,
13:33after Christ was a powder keg.
13:35A massive fire consumed much of the city.
13:38The flames devoured houses,
13:40temples, markets.
13:42The people cried out
13:43for someone responsible.
13:44And Emperor Nero,
13:46cunning and cruel,
13:48pointed his finger at the Christians.
13:50They set fire to Rome,
13:52he lied.
13:53And he unleashed
13:54the most brutal persecution
13:56the church had known until then.
13:59Christians were soaked in oil
14:00and burned alive as human torches
14:03to illuminate Nero's gardens
14:05during his nightly parties.
14:06Others were sewn inside animal skins
14:09and thrown to hungry dogs
14:11that tore them apart
14:12while the crowd applauded
14:13in the Colosseum.
14:15Pregnant women were cut open,
14:17children impaled,
14:18elderly crucified,
14:20Rome bathed in Christian blood,
14:23Peter was arrested.
14:25Tradition says he initially managed
14:27to escape the city.
14:28While fleeing on the Appian Way,
14:31he had a vision of Christ
14:32walking in the opposite direction.
14:34Quo vadis domine?
14:36Where are you going, Lord?
14:38Peter asked.
14:40And Christ responded,
14:41I am going to Rome
14:43to be crucified again.
14:44Peter understood.
14:46To turn his back on martyrdom
14:48was to turn his back on Christ.
14:50He returned.
14:51He was captured,
14:53imprisoned,
14:53and sentenced to crucifixion.
14:55But Peter made a strange request.
14:58I am not worthy to die like my Lord.
15:01Crucify me upside down.
15:04And so it was done.
15:06On Vatican Hill,
15:08they nailed his feet
15:09where his hands should be
15:10and his hands where his feet should be.
15:13Blood ran toward his head,
15:15his vision filled with red spots.
15:18The pain was unbearable,
15:19but while agonizing,
15:21Peter preached.
15:23He shouted Christ's name
15:25at the top of his lungs
15:26until his voice faded
15:28and his spirit departed.
15:30Centuries later,
15:31when they excavated the Vatican
15:33to build the basilica,
15:35they found bones.
15:36Bones of an elderly man,
15:38crucified,
15:40with pierced feet.
15:41Next to them,
15:42an inscription in Greek,
15:43Peter is here.
15:45The rock upon which
15:47Christ built his church
15:48literally rested
15:49under the main altar
15:50of Christendom.
15:51There is something
15:52deeply symbolic
15:53in Peter's inverted crucifixion.
15:55It was not just humility.
15:57It was revelation.
15:59Peter spent his whole life
16:00looking at things upside down.
16:02He thought he could walk on water
16:04with his own faith and sank.
16:06He thought he could defend Christ
16:08with a sword
16:08and was rebuked.
16:10He thought he would never deny him
16:12and denied him three times.
16:13He always saw the kingdom
16:15from a human,
16:17earthly, inverted perspective.
16:19But in his death,
16:20he finally saw correctly.
16:23Crucified upside down,
16:25with blood flooding his brain,
16:27perhaps for the first time
16:28in his life,
16:30Peter saw the world
16:31as God sees it.
16:33Upside down from how humans perceive it.
16:36Where the world sees defeat,
16:38God sees victory.
16:39Where the world sees death,
16:41God sees resurrection.
16:42Where the world sees failure,
16:44God sees glorification.
16:46Peter, the coward who denied Christ,
16:49became the brave one
16:50who died proclaiming him.
16:51That is grace.
16:53That is redemption.
16:54It doesn't matter how many times
16:56you've fallen.
16:57It doesn't matter how many times
16:59you've denied his name.
17:00If you return repentant,
17:02he restores you
17:03and uses you powerfully.
17:05Do you identify with Peter?
17:07Have you promised faithfulness
17:09and then fled when the test came?
17:11Have you wept bitterly
17:12over your betrayals?
17:14Then listen.
17:15Christ is by the fire
17:17asking you once more,
17:18Do you love me?
17:20He's not asking if you're perfect.
17:22He's asking if you love him.
17:24And if you answer yes,
17:26he has a commission for you.
17:28Perhaps it won't be easy.
17:29It will probably involve a cross.
17:31But it will be glorious.
17:35Number 4.
17:36Andrew and the X-shaped cross.
17:39Andrew was the first to find Christ.
17:42Before his brother Peter,
17:43before any other apostle,
17:45Andrew heard John the Baptist
17:47point to Jesus and say,
17:49Behold the Lamb of God.
17:51And without hesitation,
17:52he left everything and followed.
17:55His first act as a disciple
17:57was to seek out Peter and tell him,
17:59We have found the Messiah.
18:01Andrew was always like that,
18:03a bridge, a connector,
18:05someone who brought people to Christ.
18:07In the Gospels,
18:09every time Andrew appears,
18:10he is bringing someone to Jesus.
18:13In the multiplication of the loaves,
18:15it was Andrew who found the boy
18:17with five loaves and two fish.
18:19When the Greeks wanted to see Jesus,
18:22they went first to Philip,
18:23and Philip went to Andrew,
18:25and Andrew brought them to the Master.
18:27He was not the most eloquent.
18:29He was not the most visible leader,
18:31but he was faithful in the small things,
18:34connecting hungry hearts
18:36with the bread of life.
18:38After Pentecost,
18:40Andrew traveled far.
18:42Very far.
18:44Tradition says he preached in Scythia,
18:46in the regions that are now Ukraine and Russia.
18:49Then he went to Greece,
18:51establishing churches in Thrace,
18:53and finally in Patras,
18:54where his burning testimony
18:56provoked massive conversions.
18:58The Roman governor of the region,
19:00Aegeus,
19:01was enraged.
19:02His own wife had converted to Christianity
19:05thanks to Andrew
19:06and refused to participate in pagan rituals.
19:09Aegeus arrested Andrew.
19:11They brutally flogged him.
19:13Thirty-nine lashes tore his back
19:15until his ribs were exposed.
19:17Flesh hung in bloody strips.
19:19But Andrew did not curse.
19:21He did not beg for mercy.
19:22He only said,
19:24The more they beat me,
19:25the stronger my spirit becomes.
19:28Finally,
19:28Aegeus ordered crucifixion,
19:30but Andrew made the same request
19:32as his brother Peter.
19:34I am not worthy to die
19:35in the same way as my lord.
19:37So the executioners designed
19:39a special cross,
19:41X-shaped,
19:42which would later be known
19:43as St. Andrew's Cross.
19:45They tied him,
19:46they did not nail him,
19:47with ropes to that cross,
19:49to prolong his agony.
19:51Crucifixion by nails
19:52kills relatively quickly,
19:54a few hours,
19:55sometimes a day.
19:56But tied with ropes,
19:58Andrew could last days.
20:00And he lasted.
20:01Two full days
20:02he hung from that X-shaped cross,
20:05preaching uninterruptedly
20:06to the crowd that gathered.
20:07His voice,
20:09though weak from dehydration and pain,
20:11resonated with prophetic authority.
20:14Do not weep for me,
20:16he shouted to those
20:18who mourned him.
20:19Rejoice,
20:20for I am going to meet my lord
20:22whom I have served and loved.
20:24The cross is not my enemy,
20:26it is my friend.
20:28I have desired it for a long time.
20:31Welcome,
20:31O precious cross.
20:33The words were incomprehensible
20:35to the natural mind.
20:37How can someone welcome
20:38their instrument of torture?
20:40But Andrew had learned the secret
20:42that Paul would later write,
20:44Far be it from me
20:45to boast except in the cross
20:47of our Lord Jesus Christ.
20:49For the world,
20:50the cross is shame.
20:52For the believer,
20:53it is glory.
20:55For the world,
20:56the cross is the end.
20:58For the believer,
20:59it is a portal.
21:01On the third day,
21:03Governor Ajits,
21:04terrified by the number of people
21:06converting from hearing Andrew,
21:08ordered him taken down
21:09from the cross.
21:10But it was too late.
21:12When the soldiers tried
21:14to untie him,
21:15a bright light descended
21:16from heaven
21:17and enveloped Andrew.
21:19His spirit departed
21:20at that very moment
21:21while God's glory surrounded him.
21:24His body was rescued
21:25by believers
21:26and buried with honor.
21:28Centuries later,
21:29his remains were carried
21:30by sea to Scotland.
21:32They say the ship was wrecked
21:33near the Scottish coast,
21:35and since then,
21:36St. Andrew's cross
21:37became Scotland's national symbol,
21:39present to this day
21:40on its flag.
21:41Andrew teaches us something vital.
21:44Not all of us are called
21:45to be the visible leader.
21:47Some of us are called
21:48to be the bridge,
21:49the connector,
21:51the one who brings others to Christ
21:52without seeking credit
21:54or recognition.
21:55And that is an equally glorious task,
21:58because in the kingdom
21:59it doesn't matter
22:00if you're the voice
22:01or the echo.
22:02What matters
22:03is if you're faithful.
22:06Reflect.
22:07Who have you brought
22:08to Christ lately?
22:09Are you being a bridge
22:11or an obstacle?
22:13Andrew never wrote a gospel.
22:15He never led a council.
22:16But every person
22:18he brought to Jesus
22:19multiplied into others
22:21and others
22:22until millions heard the gospel
22:23thanks to his silent faithfulness.
22:26Your task is not to shine.
22:28It is to reflect Christ's light
22:30toward others.
22:31And if you do it faithfully,
22:33one day God will say,
22:35Well done.
22:36You entered into the joy
22:38of your Lord,
22:39and you will discover
22:40that being a bridge
22:41was better
22:42than being a monument.
22:44Number 5.
22:45Philip, Bartholomew,
22:47and the price of preaching.
22:49There were two men
22:50whose stories intertwine
22:52in blood and martyrdom,
22:53Philip and Bartholomew.
22:55Both preached
22:56in the darkest
22:56and most hostile regions
22:58of the ancient world.
22:59Both paid the ultimate price
23:01for that audacity.
23:03Philip was from Bethsaida,
23:05the same village
23:06as Peter and Andrew.
23:08When Jesus called him,
23:09Philip immediately went
23:10to find Nathaniel,
23:12also known as Bartholomew,
23:14and told him,
23:15We have found the one
23:16Moses wrote about.
23:18From that first day,
23:20Philip was the practical evangelist,
23:22the one who asked
23:23how to solve earthly problems
23:25with heavenly resources.
23:26In the multiplication of the loaves,
23:29when Jesus asked Philip,
23:30Where shall we buy bread
23:32for these people to eat?
23:34Philip did mental calculations.
23:36It would take more than
23:38half a year's wages
23:39to buy enough bread
23:40for each one to have a bite.
23:41It was logical.
23:43It was mathematically correct.
23:45And it was completely wrong,
23:47because he forgot
23:48he was talking to the one
23:49who created wheat from nothing.
23:51Jesus taught him that day
23:53that heavenly resources
23:55are not measured
23:56with earthly logic.
23:57And Philip learned,
23:59after Pentecost,
24:00he traveled to Samaria,
24:02then to Asia Minor,
24:03preaching and performing miracles.
24:06Multitudes converted.
24:07The demon-possessed
24:09were delivered.
24:09The sick were healed.
24:11But in Hierapolis,
24:13present-day Turkey,
24:14Philip faced his final hour.
24:16The pagan priests,
24:18furious at the massive conversions,
24:20arrested him.
24:21Tradition says he was flogged
24:23with metal rods
24:24until his back
24:25was nothing but ground flesh.
24:27Then he was crucified,
24:28and while agonizing on the cross,
24:31was stoned by the enraged crowd.
24:33Stones struck his face,
24:35broke his teeth,
24:36crushed his eyes.
24:38He died in the year 80 after Christ,
24:41during Emperor Domitian's persecution.
24:44Bartholomew, on the other hand,
24:46took the gospel even further,
24:47to India.
24:48There he preached
24:50with supernatural power,
24:51converting thousands.
24:53But this enraged King Astyages,
24:57a devout pagan who saw Christianity
24:59as a direct threat
25:01to his religious authority.
25:03Bartholomew was captured,
25:05and what they did to him
25:06is difficult to narrate
25:08without shuddering.
25:09Orthodox tradition relates
25:11that he was flayed alive.
25:13Imagine that for a moment,
25:15executioners tearing off your skin
25:17centimeter by centimeter
25:19from feet to head
25:20while you remain conscious.
25:22Every nerve exposed,
25:24every muscle burning,
25:26pain beyond imaginable.
25:28They say that while they flayed him,
25:31Bartholomew preached.
25:32He shouted with a broken voice,
25:34You can tear apart my body,
25:36but never my faith.
25:37And when they finally tore the skin
25:39from his face
25:40and he was unrecognizable,
25:41he still breathed.
25:43Then they crucified him upside down,
25:45and thus flayed and crucified,
25:48he surrendered his spirit.
25:49His skin was publicly displayed
25:52as a warning.
25:53But instead of terrifying Christians,
25:56it strengthened them.
25:57Because if Bartholomew could endure that
26:00without renouncing Christ,
26:01what excuse would any of them
26:03have to retreat
26:04before lesser threats?
26:05There is a famous painting
26:07by Michelangelo
26:08in the Sistine Chapel
26:10that shows Bartholomew
26:11holding his own skin
26:12in one hand
26:13and a knife in the other.
26:15It is a disturbing image,
26:18but deeply symbolic.
26:19Because Bartholomew understood
26:21that the true self
26:22is not the flesh.
26:24It is the spirit.
26:26And his spirit was so united to Christ
26:28that no knife could separate it.
26:31Philip and Bartholomew confront us
26:33with an uncomfortable question.
26:34How much are we willing to lose for Christ?
26:37Not in theory.
26:39In practice,
26:39your comfort,
26:40your reputation,
26:41your physical safety.
26:42It is easy to say,
26:44I would give my life for Jesus
26:46in the comfort of a Sunday service.
26:48It is something completely different
26:50to maintain that declaration
26:51when the ropes bind you,
26:53when stones fly toward your face,
26:56when knives begin to peel your skin.
26:58Faith that costs nothing
27:00is worth nothing.
27:01Philip and Bartholomew
27:03paid the highest price,
27:04and they did it
27:05because they knew
27:06there was something
27:07infinitely more valuable
27:08than their earthly life,
27:10eternal life with Christ
27:12and the salvation of the souls
27:14who heard their testimony.
27:17Today,
27:18in many parts of the world,
27:19Christians continue to be martyred,
27:21in Nigeria,
27:23in Pakistan,
27:24in North Korea,
27:25in China.
27:26While you read this,
27:28there are brothers and sisters
27:29facing the same dilemma
27:31as Philip and Bartholomew.
27:32Do I renounce Christ
27:34to save my life,
27:35or do I surrender my life
27:37to honor Christ?
27:38And mostly,
27:39they choose the second option,
27:41because they have discovered
27:43what Paul wrote,
27:49It's not fanaticism,
27:51it's clarity,
27:52it's seeing reality
27:54as it truly is.
27:55This life is a vapor,
27:57eternity is forever.
27:59And what you do with Christ here
28:01determines where you will
28:02spend eternity there.
28:04Are you living with that clarity?
28:06Or have you settled
28:07into a lukewarm faith
28:09that demands no sacrifice,
28:11that bothers no one,
28:12that transforms nothing?
28:14Because if so,
28:16you're not following
28:17the Christ of the Gospels.
28:18You're following
28:19a domesticated idol
28:20you invented to feel good.
28:22Philip and Bartholomew
28:24did not follow
28:24a domesticated Christ.
28:26They followed
28:27the Lion of Judah.
28:28And that lion
28:29roared through their lives,
28:31even while they were
28:32being torn apart
28:33by literal and metaphorical lions.
28:36Number 6.
28:37Matthew,
28:38Simon,
28:39and Judas Thaddeus,
28:41transformed by grace.
28:43There are three stories
28:44we must tell together,
28:46because each reveals
28:47a different facet
28:48of Christ's transforming grace.
28:50Matthew,
28:51the despised tax collector,
28:53Simon,
28:54the revolutionary zealot,
28:56and Judas Thaddeus,
28:58the forgotten one
28:58who became the patron saint
29:00of impossible causes.
29:02Matthew was a traitor.
29:03That's how his community saw him.
29:05He worked for Rome,
29:07collecting taxes
29:08from his own Jewish brothers
29:09and keeping a percentage.
29:11He was rich,
29:12hated,
29:13and spiritually empty.
29:15One day,
29:16Jesus passed by his tax booth
29:18and simply said,
29:19follow me.
29:20And Matthew left everything,
29:22the coins on the table,
29:23his accumulated wealth,
29:25his entire life.
29:26And he followed a carpenter
29:28with no possessions.
29:29The transformation was radical.
29:32Matthew,
29:32who once extorted the poor,
29:34would now write
29:35one of the most important gospels
29:37in history.
29:38His meticulous record,
29:40product of his experience
29:41as a tax collector,
29:43preserved details
29:44that the other evangelists omitted.
29:47And after Pentecost,
29:49Matthew took that gospel
29:50to Ethiopia and Persia.
29:53In Nadab,
29:54Ethiopia,
29:55Matthew was preaching
29:56in the public square
29:57when pagan priests
29:58surrounded him.
29:59There was no trial,
30:01no warnings,
30:02just a sword
30:03piercing his chest.
30:04Matthew fell,
30:06his blood mixing
30:07with the African dust.
30:08His last words were,
30:10Father,
30:11forgive them.
30:13He died as he lived
30:14after Christ,
30:15forgiving.
30:17Simon the Zealot
30:18was Matthew's
30:19political opposite.
30:20The Zealots
30:21were Jewish revolutionaries
30:22who believed
30:23in overthrowing Rome
30:24with violence.
30:25Simon probably carried
30:26a hidden dagger,
30:28waiting for the moment
30:28to attack the oppressors.
30:30And then he met Jesus,
30:32who taught him
30:32that the true enemy
30:33was not Rome,
30:34but sin.
30:35And that the true revolution
30:37would not be won
30:38with swords,
30:39but with love.
30:41Imagine the initial tension.
30:43Matthew,
30:44who worked for Rome,
30:45and Simon,
30:46who wanted to destroy Rome,
30:48sitting together
30:49in Christ's circle,
30:51sharing food,
30:53praying together.
30:54And slowly,
30:56Christ fused
30:57their divided hearts
30:58into one.
30:59That is true reconciliation,
31:01not denying differences,
31:03transcending them in Christ.
31:05Simon traveled to Persia
31:07after Pentecost.
31:09There,
31:09during Emperor Trajan's persecution,
31:11he was captured.
31:12The executioners tortured him
31:14with unimaginable methods.
31:16They used knives
31:17to flay parts of his body
31:19while he still lived.
31:20Then they sawed him in half,
31:23from head to groin.
31:24They say his screams
31:26could be heard miles away,
31:28but even as the saw
31:29cut through his body,
31:30Simon sang hymns.
31:33Judas Thaddeus,
31:34not Iscariot,
31:35is mentioned only a few times
31:37in Scripture.
31:39At the Last Supper,
31:40he asked Jesus,
31:41Lord,
31:42how is it that you will
31:44manifest yourself to us
31:45and not to the world?
31:47It was a sincere question
31:49from someone
31:50who didn't understand
31:51why Christ operated
31:52in secrecy
31:53instead of spectacle.
31:55Jesus responded,
31:57Anyone who loves me
31:58will obey my teaching.
32:00My Father will love them,
32:01and we will come to them
32:03and make our home with them.
32:05It's not public visibility.
32:06It's private intimacy.
32:09Judas learned that lesson
32:10and lived it.
32:11He preached in Mesopotamia
32:13and Persia,
32:14always in the shadows,
32:16always forgotten,
32:17but always faithful.
32:19Tradition says Judas Thaddeus
32:21was martyred along with Simon.
32:23Other accounts claim
32:24he died alone,
32:26stoned until his skull fragmented.
32:28But the most powerful thing
32:29about Judas Thaddeus
32:31is his later legacy.
32:32He became the patron saint
32:34of lost and desperate causes.
32:38Why?
32:39Because he himself
32:40seemed like a lost cause,
32:42the forgotten apostle,
32:44and yet God used him powerfully.
32:46These three men,
32:48Matthew, Simon,
32:49and Judas Thaddeus,
32:50teach us that your past
32:52doesn't matter.
32:53Matthew was an enemy collaborator,
32:56Simon was a violent extremist,
32:58Judas was unknown,
32:59and all three were transformed
33:01by Christ into giants of faith.
33:04What's your excuse?
33:06What part of your past
33:07makes you think God can't use you?
33:09Your mistakes?
33:10Your sins?
33:11Your insignificance?
33:13Because let me tell you,
33:14Christ doesn't call the equipped.
33:16He equips the called.
33:17He doesn't seek impressive resumes.
33:20He seeks surrendered hearts.
33:22Matthew left his riches.
33:23Simon left his vengeance.
33:25Judas left his comfortable anonymity.
33:28What do you need to leave behind?
33:30What is preventing you
33:31from radically following Christ?
33:33Because until you let it go,
33:35you will never know the fullness
33:37of what God has for you.
33:39And when your final hour comes,
33:41whether by sword like Matthew,
33:43by saw like Simon,
33:45or by stones like Judas,
33:47may you look back without regrets.
33:49Not because you were perfect,
33:52but because you were faithful.
33:54Not because you never fell,
33:55but because every time you fell,
33:58you got up and kept walking toward Christ.
34:02Number seven.
34:03Thomas, from skepticism to martyrdom in India.
34:08Unless I see the nail marks in his hands
34:11and put my finger where the nails were
34:13and put my hand into his side,
34:15I will not believe.
34:16These words defined Thomas for 2,000 years.
34:21Doubting Thomas.
34:22The skeptic.
34:23The one who doubted.
34:25But that definition is unfair.
34:27Thomas was not an unbeliever.
34:29He was a wounded realist.
34:31When the other disciples told him
34:33they had seen the risen Jesus,
34:35Thomas had just spent three days in agony,
34:38believing that everything was over.
34:40He had seen Christ nailed to a cross,
34:42had seen him bleed, die.
34:44And when your heart is shattered,
34:47protecting yourself from false hope
34:49is not lack of faith.
34:50It's emotional survival.
34:52But Christ did not condemn Thomas.
34:54He invited him.
34:56Put your finger here.
34:57See my hands.
34:59Reach out your hand
35:00and put it into my side.
35:02Stop doubting and believe.
35:04And Thomas,
35:05upon touching the wounds,
35:07not only believed,
35:08he proclaimed the most profound
35:10Christological declaration of all the Gospels,
35:12my Lord and my God.
35:15No other disciple called Jesus God,
35:18directly, only Thomas.
35:20The skeptic became the most precise theologian.
35:24Because when your faith is conquered by evidence,
35:27it becomes unshakable.
35:29After Pentecost,
35:31Thomas traveled farther than any other apostle,
35:34to India.
35:35He crossed deserts,
35:37mountains,
35:38seas.
35:38He established churches in Kerala,
35:40on the southwest coast.
35:42The St. Thomas Christians in India
35:44trace their lineage directly to this apostle.
35:47And his faith was sealed with blood.
35:49In Chennai,
35:51formerly Madras,
35:52Thomas was preaching near a Hindu temple
35:54when Brahmin priests confronted him.
35:56How dare you insult our gods,
35:59they shouted.
36:00Thomas responded,
36:01They are not gods.
36:02They are demons.
36:03And Christ has authority over all of them.
36:05The crowd raged.
36:07They dragged him outside the city.
36:09And there,
36:10four men took spears.
36:12Not one.
36:12Four.
36:13Because they wanted to make sure he died.
36:16The spears pierced his chest,
36:18his abdomen,
36:19his neck.
36:20Thomas fell,
36:21bleeding from multiple wounds,
36:22his life escaping quickly.
36:24But while dying,
36:25he smiled.
36:26Because finally,
36:27after years of ministry,
36:29he fully understood what Christ had said.
36:32Blessed are those who have not seen
36:34and yet have believed.
36:36Thomas had seen,
36:37had touched,
36:38but millions would come after
36:40who would believe without seeing.
36:42And that blind faith would be more powerful
36:45than any tangible evidence.
36:47The irony is beautiful.
36:48The man who needed to see to believe
36:51died for a faith that others would embrace
36:53without seeing.
36:54Thomas went from requiring proof
36:56to being the proof.
36:58His death in a foreign land,
37:01his blood spilled for Christ,
37:03became the most powerful testimony
37:04that Jesus was not an invention,
37:06but a reality worth dying for.
37:10Reflect.
37:10We all have doubts.
37:12We all go through seasons
37:14where God seems silent,
37:16where promises seem empty.
37:17And in those moments,
37:19the world tells you
37:20that proves it's not real.
37:23But Thomas teaches us the opposite.
37:25God does not reject those who doubt.
37:28He invites them to come closer,
37:30to touch the wounds,
37:31to experience the reality of his presence.
37:34Don't let your doubts push you away from Christ.
37:37Let them bring you closer.
37:39Ask.
37:39Question.
37:40Wrestle.
37:41Because a faith that has wrestled with God
37:43and remained is stronger than a faith
37:46that was never tested.
37:48Thomas doubted for eight days,
37:50then believed for the rest of his life.
37:52How long are you going to stay in doubt?
37:54When are you going to take the step of faith
37:56that transforms skepticism into conviction?
37:59Number 8.
38:01Judas Iscariot.
38:03The betrayal that fulfilled prophecy.
38:06There is a name that makes the spine tremble of every believer.
38:09Judas Iscariot.
38:11The traitor.
38:12The sellout.
38:13The cursed one.
38:14Thirty pieces of silver.
38:17A kiss in the garden.
38:19And the question that has tormented two millennia.
38:22Why?
38:23Judas was from Kerioth,
38:25the only region of Judea
38:26among the predominantly Galilean apostles.
38:29Jesus personally chose him as one of the twelve.
38:32Entrusted him with apostolic ministry.
38:35Even made him treasurer of the group.
38:37Judas witnessed miracles.
38:39Heard teachings.
38:41Walked with God incarnate for three years.
38:44And still, he chose betrayal.
38:46Scripture says Satan entered Judas.
38:49But that doesn't exonerate him.
38:51Satan cannot enter where he is not given access.
38:54And Judas had been slowly opening that door.
38:57First with greed.
38:58Stealing from the common fund.
39:00Then with disillusionment.
39:02Expecting a political messiah who would overthrow Rome.
39:05Instead of a spiritual savior who would transform hearts.
39:09At the Last Supper, Jesus told him directly,
39:13What you are about to do.
39:15Do quickly.
39:16Judas had one last chance to turn back.
39:19Jesus was giving him a way out.
39:21But Judas chose darkness.
39:23He left the upper room.
39:25And John records with chilling simplicity.
39:27And it was night.
39:29Not just chronologically.
39:31Spiritually.
39:33Judas led the soldiers to the Garden of Gethsemane.
39:36And there, with a kiss, the universal symbol of love and respect,
39:41He identified Christ for his arrest.
39:43Are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?
39:47Jesus asked.
39:48The pain in that question pierces through the centuries.
39:51But after the arrest, something changed in Judas.
39:55Remorse invaded him like a tsunami.
39:58He ran back to the priests.
39:59I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.
40:03The priests shrugged.
40:05What is that to us?
40:06They had used Judas.
40:08Now they discarded him like trash.
40:11Judas threw the 30 pieces of silver into the temple.
40:15The sound of the coins hitting the marble floor
40:18must have resonated like funeral bells.
40:21And then he left.
40:23Matthew relates that he went away and hanged himself.
40:27Acts adds that, falling headlong,
40:29he burst open in the middle and all his intestines spilled out.
40:34Commentators try to reconcile both narratives.
40:36Probably Judas hanged himself from a tree over a cliff,
40:40the rope broke, or the branch gave way,
40:43and his body fell onto sharp rocks, bursting on impact.
40:46A violent, grotesque, solitary death.
40:49No one mourned him.
40:50No one buried him with honor.
40:52The field bought with his money, the field of blood,
40:55became a cemetery for foreigners,
40:58a place of death and oblivion.
41:00Thus Judas ended.
41:02Forgotten by men, rejected by God,
41:05eternally known only for his worst act.
41:09But here is the mystery that torments every theologian.
41:12Did it have to happen this way?
41:15Jesus said,
41:17The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him.
41:20But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man.
41:24It would be better for him if he had not been born.
41:27Matthew 26, 24
41:30Prophecy demanded betrayal.
41:32But that did not force Judas to be the betrayer.
41:35God did not program him.
41:37Judas chose freely.
41:39And that freedom condemned him.
41:41The difference between Peter and Judas is chilling.
41:44Both betrayed Christ.
41:46Peter denied him three times.
41:48Judas handed him over for money.
41:50Both wept bitterly.
41:51But Peter sought restoration.
41:54Judas sought a rope.
41:55Peter trusted in Christ's mercy.
41:57Judas trusted in his own guilt.
42:00Judas' sin was not the betrayal.
42:02It was despair.
42:04It was believing his sin was greater than God's grace.
42:07If Judas had waited three days,
42:10he would have seen the risen Christ,
42:12extending his pierced arms, saying,
42:14I forgive you.
42:16But he didn't wait.
42:17And that is Judas' final tragedy.
42:20He was not condemned for betraying Christ.
42:23He was condemned for not believing Christ could forgive him.
42:27Do you identify with Judas?
42:29Have you done something so terrible that you believe God cannot forgive you?
42:34Have you sold Christ for 30 pieces of modern silver,
42:38money, pleasure, social acceptance,
42:40and now live in crushing guilt?
42:43Then hear this.
42:44You are not Judas yet.
42:45Judas died in his guilt.
42:47You are alive.
42:48And while there is breath, there is hope.
42:51Christ can forgive anything,
42:52absolutely anything,
42:54except the lack of repentance.
42:56Don't seek the rope.
42:57Seek the cross.
42:58Because on that cross,
43:00Christ died for betrayals like yours and mine,
43:02and he rose to offer you new life.
43:05Judas could have been restored.
43:08He could have been the apostle of extreme mercy.
43:11Instead, he chose to be the eternal warning.
43:14Don't be like Judas.
43:16Be like Peter.
43:17Weep over your betrayal.
43:20Then return to the feet of Christ
43:21and allow him to restore you.
43:24Number 9.
43:25The eternal legacy.
43:27Blood that still speaks.
43:29Eleven men died martyred.
43:32One died by suicide.
43:33And the world was never the same again.
43:36When you examine the deaths of the apostles,
43:39a chilling pattern emerges.
43:41No one dies for a lie they invented.
43:44People can die for a lie they believe is true.
43:47Thousands of extremists have done so.
43:49But no one dies for a lie they know is a lie.
43:53The apostles were not deceived fanatics.
43:56They were eyewitnesses.
43:58They touched the risen Christ,
44:00ate with him,
44:01spoke with him.
44:02If the resurrection was a fraud,
44:03they knew it.
44:05And when Rome offered them a simple way out,
44:07just say Jesus didn't rise and we'll let you go free.
44:12They could have done it without consequences.
44:14But they didn't.
44:16Peter could have avoided the cross by saying,
44:19we were wrong.
44:20Jesus is still dead.
44:22Instead, he demanded to be crucified upside down.
44:26James could have dodged the sword by saying,
44:29it was collective hallucination.
44:31Instead, he extended his neck.
44:34Bartholomew could have stopped the flaying by saying,
44:36we invented the story.
44:38Instead, he sang while they tore off his skin.
44:41Thomas could have avoided the spears by saying,
44:44we just wanted to create a religion.
44:47Instead, he preached until his last breath in a foreign land.
44:52Eleven men preferred to die tortured
44:54rather than deny what they witnessed.
44:56That's not fanaticism.
44:58It's evidence.
44:59Bloody evidence,
45:00but evidence nonetheless.
45:03And their blood still speaks.
45:05Tertullian, father of the early church, wrote,
45:08the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.
45:12Every martyred apostle sowed thousands of conversions.
45:16Every public execution strengthened the faith of those who observed,
45:20because the world can kill the body,
45:22but it cannot destroy a true testimony.
45:25Today, 2,000 years later,
45:27there are more than 2.4 billion Christians on the planet.
45:31We are the world's largest religion,
45:34and it all began with 12 men
45:36who chose to believe when it was easier to doubt,
45:39who chose to preach when it was safer to be silent,
45:42and who chose to die when it was more comfortable to live.
45:46Peter built the church in Rome.
45:48Andrew planted it in Greece.
45:51Thomas took it to India.
45:52Philip to Turkey.
45:54Matthew to Africa.
45:55James to Spain, according to tradition.
45:58John to Asia Minor.
46:00Each took a region of the known world
46:03and flooded it with the gospel.
46:05Not with armies.
46:07With testimonies.
46:08Not with swords.
46:10With sacrifices.
46:11And when the Roman executioners thought
46:14they had extinguished the Christian threat
46:16by assassinating the leaders,
46:18they discovered they had done the opposite.
46:20They had multiplied it exponentially.
46:22As Jesus said,
46:24Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies,
46:27it remains only a single seed.
46:30But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
46:33John 12.24
46:34The apostles fell to the ground.
46:36They died.
46:37And they produced fruit we are still harvesting.
46:40But what does this mean for you today?
46:43Because you probably won't be crucified.
46:45You probably won't be flayed alive.
46:47You probably won't face boiling oil or saws or spears.
46:51But you will face your own martyrdom.
46:54Perhaps it will be social.
46:56Being ridiculed at work for your faith.
46:59Perhaps it will be familial.
47:00Being rejected by relatives
47:02who despise your devotion to Christ.
47:05Perhaps it will be internal.
47:06The daily battle of choosing Christ
47:08over your carnal desires.
47:10And in those moments,
47:12when remaining faithful means losing something you value,
47:15you will become a small martyr.
47:18Not with literal blood,
47:19but with real sacrifice.
47:22The apostles left us a model.
47:24They didn't say,
47:26Faith is easy,
47:27just believe and everything will work out.
47:29They said,
47:30Faith costs everything,
47:32but Christ is worth more than everything you will lose.
47:35So the final question is this.
47:38Is Christ worth your life?
47:40Not theoretically,
47:41practically.
47:42Is he worth your career
47:44if honoring him means losing a promotion?
47:46Is he worth your relationships
47:48if following him means loneliness?
47:51Is he worth your comfort
47:52if serving him means sacrifice?
47:54The apostles answered with their blood,
47:57Yes.
47:58Christ is worth everything.
48:00Absolutely everything.
48:01And 2,000 years later,
48:04their testimony still resonates.
48:06Not because they were perfect,
48:08they weren't.
48:09Not because they were extraordinary,
48:11they were ordinary men.
48:12But because they were faithful to the end.
48:15That is the only measure that matters.
48:17Not how long you lived,
48:19but how you lived it.
48:21Not how much you achieved,
48:23but whom you served.
48:24Not what you accumulated,
48:26but what you sacrificed.
48:27The apostles lived short lives,
48:30died young,
48:31accumulated nothing,
48:32but changed everything.
48:34And you can do the same.
48:36You don't need to be famous.
48:38You need to be faithful.
48:39You don't need to move crowds.
48:41You need to move your heart toward Christ daily.
48:44You don't need spectacular martyrdom.
48:47You need silent obedience.
48:49Because in the end,
48:50when you stand before the throne,
48:52Christ won't ask how many miracles you performed.
48:56He will ask,
48:58Were you faithful with what I gave you?
49:00And if you can answer,
49:02Yes, Lord, with your strength I was faithful,
49:04you will hear the words the apostles heard.
49:07Well done, good and faithful servant.
49:10Enter into the joy of your Lord.
49:13This is the legacy of the twelve.
49:15Not magnificent temples or accumulated riches.
49:19Spilled blood,
49:20surrendered lives,
49:22unshakable faith.
49:23And that legacy is now yours.
49:26What will you do with it?
49:28Write one last word in the comments.
49:30Not a word of mine.
49:32A word of yours.
49:33The word that defines your commitment to Christ
49:36from this moment forward.
49:38Because this is not just a video about dead apostles.
49:41It is a call to living disciples.
49:44The apostles sowed with tears and blood.
49:47Now it's our turn to harvest with faithfulness and gratitude.
49:51Don't disappoint them.
49:53Don't disappoint Christ.
49:55And above all,
49:56don't disappoint yourself by living a mediocre life
49:59when you were called to a martyred life,
50:01whether literal or figurative,
50:03that transforms eternity.
50:05The apostles ran their race.
50:07Now run yours.
50:09The torch has been passed.
50:11Don't let it fall.
50:12May the blood of the martyrs continue to speak.
50:15May their sacrifice not be forgotten.
50:18And may their lives inspire us to live and die,
50:21if necessary,
50:23for the one who first died for us.
50:25Christ is worthy,
50:27yesterday,
50:28today,
50:28and forever.
50:30Amen.
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