The Matyr

THE MARTYR
(Acts Chapters 6-7)
 
I couldn’t sleep.
I had been tossing and turning on the bed 
for a few hours. 
His bloody face is etched in my memory; 
I just can’t shake it off.
I also see his angelic face.
Both faces seem to haunt me.
Truth be told, he did stuff I don’t understand. 
I can’t explain them. 
How did he make the deaf hear? Or the blind see? 
The one that blew my mind was seeing a 
one-legged man grow another leg! 
I saw the leg grow from a stump to a whole full leg! 
I remember thinking of my grand-uncle 
who is also wheelchair-bound. 
I wanted to go bring him to see if this guy
 could heal him. But I was too embarrassed to 
even consider it- the people were angry with him 
because what he says and does are not very much 
in sync with what we believe. 
I heard one carpenter did the same a few 
decades ago, and he was crucified. 
Now, this guy is his follower and he’s doing 
the same things! 
Rather than try understand him, 
understand his teachings and doctrines, 
we decided to get rid of him.
Just like they got rid of the carpenter.
We could not argue with the results he 
was getting. 
To be honest, we have no problems with 
these miracles.We could use some miracles 
in our lives as well. 
Our concern was the mob following him, 
believing in his Jesus. 
He is practically stealing our thunder from us! 
Very soon, these people we manipulate and 
control will leave us and we will have nobody 
to manipulate and control again. 
We will become redundant and useless…
Nothing hurts a religious man more than 
losing his clout.
Nothing hurts a religious man more than 
becoming redundant.
Nothing hurts a religious man more than 
becoming yesterday’s man.
And seeing someone else taking his shine!
But we could not just get rid of him like that. 
We needed to find a way to convict him of a 
sin that is punishable by death. 
That way, we will execute him under the law.
Yes! Good plan…
 
We had series of meetings and I was given 
the task of testifying against him. 
My job was to testify I heard him speak 
blasphemous words against Moses and against God.
 I would paint a picture of a deranged man who 
was using diabolical means to perform 
miracles and deceive the people. 
I didn’t like it, my conscience fought against it.
But I went ahead with it.
After testifying falsely against him, 
I looked at him. 
I expected to see hate and bitterness. 
Instead, his face was shiny, like an angel’s! 
Who is this guy? I just couldn’t understand it…
The High Priest asked him to defend himself. 
Are these accusations true? 
Did you indeed speak blasphemous words 
against Moses and against God?
I expected him to vehemently deny the 
accusations. 
I expected him to give his own testimony, 
to give an alibi or something, 
to prove his case and prove us to be liars. 
But instead, he told us the stories of the 
Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 
He told us the stories of Joseph and his 
brothers, how he was sold into slavery 
into Egypt. He told us how the Israelites 
were delivered from bondage by the hand 
of Moses. He told us how the Red Sea parted 
and the Israelites walked across on dry land, 
and when the Egyptians attempted same, 
they were drowned. He spoke about the 
40-year wilderness experience, how the 
Israelites built a golden calf to worship, 
how Moses was given instructions on the 
tabernacle of witness, how David wanted 
to build God a temple, but his son 
Solomon eventually did…
Then he turned on us in the court and asked, 
“You stubborn people! You always resist the 
move of the Holy Spirit, like your forefathers 
did! Which prophet did your forefathers not 
persecute? 
You guys are just the same with your forefathers!”
I sense a change in the air: this guy just lashed 
out at the priests and scribes! 
You are being accused of a serious religious 
crime and rather than defend yourself, 
you hit out at your accusers! 
Does he have a death wish?
And as the priests and scribes were shifting 
uncomfortably in their seats, he looked up 
steadfastly for a few minutes and said, 
“I see the heavens open and the Son of man 
standing on the right hand of God.”
And all hell broke loose.
The crowd rushed at him, carried him out of 
the court and out of the city. He was dropped
 in an open field and stoned to death. 
I joined the mob. 
If he wanted to die, let’s help him out!
As we stoned him, as the stones hit his body, 
breaking his bones and blood and flesh 
spewed all over, 
I heard him say, “Lord Jesus receive my spirit!”
And as he slumped, he shouted, 
“Lord, do not hold this sin against them!”
In that moment, we all stopped. 
We looked at each other. 
We just killed a man, and as he died, 
he was PRAYING for us! He was concerned 
about how God sees us!
We all dropped the stones in our hands and
 walked away. 
There was some conviction in our hearts 
that we just did something terribly wrong. 
Just a few minutes ago, we were sure we 
were doing something right. 
How much difference a few minutes make.
That was 3 days ago. I have been unable to 
sleep since then. 
Every time I lay down on my bed, I see his
 face over and over again. 
It seems it has been engraved in my head!
His face before he started talking in court.
His face as he succumbed to death.
His prayers for us at the point of death…
 
I realized there was only one thing I could 
do to free myself from this 3-day torture: 
I went on my knees and prayed. 
I prayed as I heard him pray before he died:
“Lord Jesus…”
In that moment, a rush of wind hit my room and filled me.
Next thing I knew, I was on the floor, speaking in tongues.
 
And I saw him looking at me, with a smile on his face…

-Haruna Daniels