Neither Count I My Life Dear

When Paul was finishing his third mission and returning to Jerusalem he told this to the Elders of Ephesus: “Behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:22-24).  What a completed devoted servant of the Savior he had become by this point to be able to have no concern for his own life—he truly had lost his life for the gospel’s sake as Christ invited us to do.  Tradition holds that he was eventually beheaded in Rome.  His example of complete consecration of his life for the gospel is joined by the other apostles who similarly gave everything. 

                Here’s what the tradition and or the scriptures tells about the original apostles.  John of course was banished to the isle of Patmos, but we know that he never died.  James the brother of John was killed by Herod “with the sword” (Acts 12:2).  Peter is believed to have been crucified upside down by Nero in Rome.  Andrew was apparently crucified in the city of Patras in Greece.  One tradition holds that Philip was crucified upside down in Turkey.  Several traditions exist about Bartholomew’s death, all of which are brutal.  Thomas was apparently killed in India at a place called Mylapore.  Matthew is believed to have died as a martyr by the Catholic Church.  Tradition holds that the James the son of Alphaeus was crucified in Egypt.  Jude and Simon are believed to have suffered martyrdom in Beirut together.  So the bottom line is that nearly all of the original apostles, like Paul, literally gave their lives in the cause of the gospel.

                In Nephi’s vision in 1 Nephi 11 he saw the Savior’s life and the mission of the twelve apostles.  He saw how many were “gathered together to fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb” (1 Nephi 11:34).  History certainly bears that out as we see how persecuted these original apostles were as they sacrificed their lives for Jesus.  I wonder what John’s feelings were as he learned of the deaths of his fellow apostles since he knew he was not going to give his life in this same way.  He must have loved them deeply, and it’s no wonder that he would pick Christian martyrs as the defining event he would describe during the 5^th seal (i.e. 1^st millennium after Christ).  He wrote about it this way, “I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held” (Revelation 6:9).  Surely those included Paul and the other brethren of the twelve.  All of these early martyrs could have said with Paul, “neither count I my life dear unto myself.”  As we strive to consecrate our lives to the Lord, we should strive to be able to honestly say the same for ourselves.