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THE BIBLE AND YOU
“Antipas My Faithful Martyr”— Holding Fast to His Name Relying on Jesus’ name, the church of Pergamos, including its faithful martyr Antipas, was able to endure persecution to the end—as the way into life. by Robin Webber
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hat’s in a name? For the persecuted believers of the ancient church of Pergamos in Asia Minor, the answer is basically “everything!” Among them was Antipas, who the ascended Christ calls “My faithful martyr,” the Greek term meaning “witness,” who rendered the supreme sacrifice (Revelation 2:13). Who was Antipas? The Bible says nothing else about him. While apparently an actual person in the first century, he might also represent thousands of other Christians who suffered martyrdom. Jesus tells this church, “You hold fast to My name and did not deny My faith” (same verse, emphasis added throughout). They were holding on to something far more precious than an autographed signature or verbalizing an individual’s given name. As fellow disciples heeding the Master’s invitation of “Follow Me” (Matthew 4:19; John 21:19), let’s delve deeper into understanding why Christ commended Antipas and this challenged congregation. The answer behind the name they held to may hold the key to how you will handle not only your many tomorrows, but also the challenges facing you today. The name above every name There was a time when a name was the full personification of all that a person encompassed. A name spoke to one’s reputation based on his or her full capacity. Names were not merely a series of letters or sounds that identified a person. No, they were lived out and known by reputation! Your word was your bond, and your name sealed it. Proverbs 22:1 says, “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches.” The name also speaks to authority, Jesus having told His disciples to pray to the Father in His name (John 16:23). After His death and resurrection, Jesus received from the Father “the name which is above every name” (Philippians 2:9), being set “far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come” (Ephesians 1:21).
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Considering that Christ’s name is above all names, is it any wonder that the apostle John would later write in 1 John 3:23 that it was our Heavenly Father’s desire that “we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ”? John was not instructing us to spell it, sign it or say it out loud. He was telling us to believe it! What would such belief in a name have meant to Antipas and his fellow Christians of Pergamos? What exactly did they hold to by holding fast to Christ’s name? Let’s allow the Scriptures to fill in not the letters of a name, but the attributes that all of Jesus’ followers need to keep in heart when they “ask in His name.” The only name by which we must be saved Those early Christian martyrs held on to the reality found in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, which declared that Jesus is the Beloved of God (Ephesians 1:6). God’s Son is at the center of all that that our Heavenly Father desires. These believers were further strengthened by the teachings of John confirming that Jesus was the Word of God (John 1:1-4, 14). Jesus is not only the Word who is God along with the Father, but He is the effective and powerful uncreated Word through whom God calls creation out of nothing and life out of death. Christ is not simply the informative Word of God who brings information, but the One who brings forth the “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17) and the transformation of men’s lives. The faithful Christians of Pergamos would have probably come to appreciate the aspect of Jesus’ prophesied name echoing from the messianic prophecy of Isaiah. He proclaimed 700 years beforehand that one named Immanuel or “God With Us” would appear on the scene (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:22-23). He would come from heaven to earth so that man might touch God and, in turn, God might be touched by the existence and frailty of His creation. The Beloved. The Word. Immanuel. And perhaps another name Jesus Himself disclosed gave the early martyrs critical insight: “I am the door” (John 10:9). Yes,
