What Price Did They Pay?

We all know about the horrible things that Jesus had to suffer on our behalf. Did you ever wonder what became of the early evangelists in their efforts to bring the Gospel to us? How much did you suffer today? Perhaps someone at work put you down, because you mentioned Jesus. After all, Jesus did say we would suffer for His names sake.

The original 12 Apostles -

1. Andrew, brother of Peter, was crucified on an X shaped cross and stoned, while he was on the cross

2. Nathaniel / Bartholomew, was skinned alive and then beheaded

3. James the Great, brother of John, was beheaded

4. James the Less/younger, brother of Matthew, cousin of Jesus, was stoned and then clubbed to death

5. Judas Iscariot, committed suicide after betraying Jesus

6. Judas / Thaddeus / Jude, was clubbed to death and beheaded

7. John, died of old age, he returned to Ephesus after he was held prisoner on the Isle of Patmos

8. Matthew, brother of James the younger / cousin of Jesus, was killed with an axe

9. Simon Peter, brother of Andrew, was crucified upside down

10. Philip, was crucified and stoned while being crucified, at age 87

11. Simon the Zealot, was sawn in half

12. Thomas / Didymus, was killed with a spear / lance

Other Apostles -

1. Apollos, apparently died of old age

2. Barnabas, was tortured and stoned to death

3. James the Just/ brother of Jesus, executed by stoning

4. Judas / brother of Jesus, was killed with a halberd

5. Luke, was either crucified with Andrew or died of old age

6. Mark, was killed by being dragged around the streets, with a rope around his neck, until he gave up the ghost

7. Mary Magdalene, apparently died of old age

8. Matthias, was elected by the eleven to replace Judas, he was crucified

9. Paul / Saul, was beheaded in Rome

10. Silas / Silvanus, seems to have died of old age

11. Stephen, was stoned to death

12. Timothy, was stoned to death

All of the 25 people above put themselves on the line so that we would be able to ask Jesus to come into our heart, forgive our sins, be our savior, change our life and usher us into the Kingdom of God. Why did they put up with what they went through? Jesus sacrificed Himself because He, the Father and the Holy Spirit planned that He would voluntarily pay the price of the punishment we deserved for all the things we did in your lives that were not in the will of God. All the other 24 were either eye witnesses, were taught by the apostles, or like Paul had a supernatural experience with Jesus.

Does it really make sense, as some religions teach, some people believe, and some people ignore that all this was done by the people above, and the millions since, to propagate a story that was not true? To be an atheist is to ignore any form of truth and rationality. Does it make sense, as the Muslims teach, that Jesus, when He returns will say ‘oops, I was wrong, I really am not God’s Son, I really didn’t die on the cross, Allah is lord and if you convert to Islam I won’t kill you’? Some people over the centuries knew better than the God of the Bible and invented their own religions. There have even been signs and wonders done by some of these people as they were empowered by Lucifer and his followers, in order to propagate these false religions. The only real way to tell the difference between the Lord of the Bible and falsehood is to compare them to the Word of God.

In order to write this paper I have researched through the Bible , Everyman’s Talmud , Books on the Apostles, Josephus’s Complete History of the Jews (the recognized historian of the Jews is Josephus), and the internet. It intrigues me that in Everyman’s Talmud, there are footnotes to passages in the New Testament credited as authoritative to corroborate what the Talmud is saying. In Josephus’s history, he states, without equivocation, that Jesus was the Christ. There are Jews that accept Jesus as the Messiah, yet many are still deceived into believing the contrary. The saving grace of the Israeli’s is that in the end, as well as many times in the past, a remnant will be saved. Twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes will accept Jesus as Lord just before the ‘end of the age’. The ‘End of the Age’, as we refer to it, is the same thing that the Jews call the ‘Day of The Lord’.

One would think that with all the evidence available, and the unction of the Holy Spirit, there would hardly be any who would not receive the free gift offered by the Lord for redemption. John 3:16 states: “For God loved the world so much, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Romans 10:9 says: “That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and will believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Do you know what Christians mean when they say repentance? It means to change your mind. You change your mind from not accepting the gift of Christ, to acceptance of it. Simple, right? What have you got to loose? With all the effort so many people have expended so that you could know the truth, shouldn’t you at least look into it?

Rick Rahn