Only a few Sundays ago, I preached on the story of Jesus picking up a little child and holding him in his arms (Mark 9:30-37)
St. Mark did not name the child. But guess what? A tradition in the church says the child is none other than Ignatius, a native of Syria. This is the boy who later became the Bishop of Antioch, Syria (now in Turkey). He died as a martyr around 110 AD in Rome. The church remembers him today (17 October by the Western Church and 20 December by the Eastern Church).
(The earliest record of this tradition is found in an account by St. Andrew of Crete (8th century), who was, no doubt, drawing on an earlier tradition than inventing one. St. Symeon Metaphrastes (10th century) and Nikephoros Kallistos (14th century) also mention that Ignatius was the child Jesus held in his arms)
The story of Jesus and the little child is found in Matthew’s Gospel (18:1-4). In Matthew’s story, Jesus does not take the child in his arms but calls up a child and places the child among the disciples. Only Mark adds the extra detail of Jesus placing the child among the disciples, then picking the child up and holding him in his arms.
It is a hint that his accounts in the Gospel are from a first-hand eyewitness to the events. (Mark has a way of describing such finer details in most of his accounts of Jesus’ ministry. Another example of eyewitness accounts of Jesus' ministry is Mark's mention that there was grass for people to sit on at the feeding of the five thousand (Mark 6:39). The first-hand eyewitness is Peter)
The church tradition does not say how old Ignatius was when Jesus held him in his arms. I would say the average age of a child who may respond to the call of an adult other than his or her parents and then be comfortable being held in the arms of the adult could be four years old at the most. That is the upper age limit for a toddler.
My sermon today is about this Syrian toddler, Ignatius, whom Jesus held in his arms to teach his disciples about the Kingdom of God.
Only a few details of Ignatius of Antioch's life are known. They are limited to his journey from Antioch to martyrdom in Rome. On his way to Rome, Ignatius wrote seven letters to the local churches in Asia Minor (today Turkey). These seven letters have survived and testify to the faith and witness of a remarkable man.
The seven letters are short and can be read in almost one sitting. This is what I did – I read all the seven letters twice last week. The letters are full of gems of our faith, and I shall share a few with you today.
Before doing that, let me tell you about Ignatius's life.
The great city of Antioch is in modern Turkey and bears the Turkish name Antakya (Kms 783 southeast of Gallipoli). Antioch was one of the first places where the Christian church flourished.
Antioch was the first Gentile church, and it was there the believers were mocked and called “Christians” for the first time (Acts 11:26). The church in Antioch was founded by apostles Peter and Paul (Acts 13:13-14). It is believed that Peter was the first bishop of that city (between AD 37 -AD 53).
Following Peter, the second bishop of the city was St. Evodius, who served until AD 69. Ignatius succeeded Evodius.
Suppose Ignatius was about four years old when he met Jesus. He might have been in his late thirties or early forties when he became the bishop of Antioch in AD 69.
Before becoming a bishop, Ignatius was a disciple of the Apostle John. As we know, Apostle John is known as Jesus's “beloved disciple.” He also wrote the Gospel of John.
At that time, John was the head of the churches of Asia Minor (most of modern Turkey), and Ignatius travelled with him to many cities.
One tradition says that Apostle John ordained him bishop of Antioch. Another says Peter ordained him. Still, another says Paul ordained him. Whatever the case, Ignatius’s close association with the apostles and even with the Lord Jesus himself made him among the first to receive the message of the Gospel.
Having met Jesus as a child, grown up in the faith, and trained by Apostle John, Ignatius was the bishop of Antioch for many decades, perhaps thirty to fifty years. However, we do not know much about what Ignatius did during those years. One fascinating note is that Ignatius introduced antiphonal chanting to the church. As you know, we recite the Psalms antiphonally.
During the ninth year of his reign, Emperor Trajan began general persecution of Christians throughout the Roman Empire, declaring that they should partake in pagan sacrifices or be killed.
Ignatius responded to Trajan’s decree to preach the Gospel even more fervently than he had already been doing. He urged pagans to become Christians and gave courage to Christians not to lose faith.
The report of Ignatius’s defiance of the imperial edict reached the emperor’s ears. One winter, while Emperor Trajan was in Antioch for a short visit, Ignatius was arrested and brought before him.
As the story says, Ignatius had initiated the arrest because he was concerned for the Christians of Antioch. He did not want Trajan to begin persecuting all the Christians in Antioch. Instead, he offered himself up so the emperor would turn his attention away from his flock.
Eyewitnesses to the trial described how St. Ignatius, like St. Paul, stood dignified, eloquent, and courageous before the greatest human power in the world at the time and faced accusations from the emperor.
Trajan offered Ignatius the opportunity to become a high priest of Zeus (the God of Sky and Thunder) if he would pay homage to Trajan’s gods. Trajan offered to make Ignatius first among the emperor’s inner circle. Trajan must have seen what a remarkable man Ignatius was that he made such an offer.
When Ignatius rejected the offer and stood by his faith, Trajan threatened him with every kind of punishment. But Ignatius says that the aim of his life was to go to Christ by a painful death since the Lord had suffered such things for him.
In the face of ridicule by Roman senators standing there with the emperor, Ignatius continues to preach the Gospel to them all. He mocks their pagan gods and tells them of the Incarnation, death, and Resurrection of the Son of God.
The emperor’s response was to order him to be put in chains and taken to Rome and torn apart by wild beasts as a public spectacle. Trajan did not want Ignatius martyred in Antioch because of the honour his flock would show him. Trajan had wanted to have him transported a long distance away so that Ignatius would die in obscurity.
The witnesses say Ignatius put on the chains with a gladdened heart, calling them his spiritual pearls. He then said a prayer on behalf of the church, commending her to God's care that she might be protected on all sides and preserved until the end. He followed the soldiers rejoicing, and so began the incredible journey to Rome, sometimes by boat and sometimes by land.
At this time, Ignatius may have been in his late sixties and probably a good bit older (These events would have occurred anytime between 98 and 117).
Some of his flock from Antioch went directly on to Rome ahead of Ignatius be there for his martyrdom,
The journey to Rome continued overland, through Macedonia, Greece and Albania, and then on a boat to Naples in Italy. On the long trip, Ignatius had several stopovers, and delegations from neighbouring Christian communities visited the living martyr and received his blessing.
During the stopovers, Ignatius wrote seven letters to the Christian communities. In his Letter to the Roman Christians, he urged them not to intervene with the local authorities to prevent his martyrdom.
Upon his arrival in Rome, Ignatius was taken to the Colosseum, the site of numerous martyrdoms of Christians during pagan Roman rule. There, in the most famous fifty-thousand-capacity arena, the great bishop of Antioch was torn apart by lions and put to death. Ignatius joyfully praised the emperor for the opportunity to be martyred.
When Emperor Trajan heard the report of how Ignatius had died, he came to revere Ignatius and all Christians. He was impressed that the Christians were moral people who refrained from shameless acts, prayed through the night and were merciful to the suffering.
Because they posed no threat to the empire, Trajan felt remorse for his treatment of the Christians and passed a law that ended the persecution of Christians by execution.
Now, let me briefly share some gems from the letters of this remarkable servant of God, Ignatius.
One of the most interesting is his attitude to his own martyrdom. He regarded his impending death as the best way of demonstrating his faithfulness as a disciple. He wanted to follow in the footsteps of his master completely.
This is why he asked the people in Rome not to intervene with the authorities to seek his pardon and release.
Ignatius believed that the purpose of martyrdom is the very aim of the Christian life: to attain God.
For Ignatius, martyrdom is a sacrifice that transforms us into acceptable to God—to become a true child of God, an enlightened, changed, perfected, resurrected person.
What does this mean for ordinary Christians? Indeed, we are not gifted with this spirit of martyrdom just now. But it is an invitation for us to come to a point in life when we are mature in the faith; we would give up everything for Christ. And then we would begin to live that way, not just saying we are Christians.
In his Letter to the Romans, Ignatius asked the Christians, “only to pray that I may have the power, both within and without, so that I may not only be called a Christian but found to be one. For if I am found to be one, I can also be called one, and then can be faithful when I disappear from the world” (3:2)
Whichever we may wish to understand martyrdom, Ignatius says that martyrdom is the normal Christian life. Whether that means facing our literal deaths joyfully or simply dying to the world so that we may live entirely for Christ, we share in Christ’s sufferings through martyrdom.
There is another fascinating thing about Ignatius, which is very appealing.
In the opening greeting of all seven letters, St Ignatius refers to himself as Bishop Ignatius. He calls himself by another name, Theophorus, which means the “God-bearer.” No one knows how he got this name, but here is a beautiful insight.
I wonder whether he gave that name to himself because he met Jesus as a young child. If so, Theophorus can also mean “borne by God” because Jesus took him into his arms.
In another sense, it is also possible that by that name, he meant that not only was he carried by God, but he carried God within himself.
What does this mean for us?
Yes, we had not been literally carried by Jesus into his arms. But isn’t that precisely what happened to us when our lives were given to him when we were baptised or Christened?
It's fascinating, ha, to think of all of us as Thephoruses. I think we are. Therefore, we are called not only to be carried by God but also to carry God within ourselves.
For St Ignatius, us bearing God within ourselves is important as children of God. It is about constant communion with Him and each other, a communion so intense and intimate that we can be said to be “bearers” of God, Christ, and holy things that we become shrines of the living God.
May the example of Ignatius – the toddler who was carried in the arms of Jesus, then nurtured in the faith and discipleship by the Lord’s Apostles and made a bishop, and finally gave up his life for the Lord – inspire us and encourage us in our Christian discipleship. Amen
Let us pray:
God of Ignatius, the fiery bishop and all that martyr throng, help us, should we be tested as they were tested, to perform as well as they. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
