Rubricating the Word

I really don’t think there’s anything I can add to this:

The last words from the mouths of the martyrs were “Jesus Christ.” We often read stories about early martyrs of the Church. We produce movies depicting their stories and lives, but nothing can capture it like the scene of men dying for their faith in their Savior and Redeemer. Sometimes we think of martyrs as being above human, as legendary figures who lived extraordinary lives, but these men were ordinary. They were men who lived normal lives, poor men who traveled to Libya to feed their families. Yet at the critical moment, they did not deny their Savior or run away from him. Pushed on their knees to be killed, they stood taller than their murderers. They stood tall for the whole world to watch what Christianity is all about.

(source: Martyred Copts Witnessed Their Faith, and Courage)

Perhaps I will only point out that these martyrs also stood taller than we do, which is why I cannot imagine what I could add to their witness:

The United States has even been reluctant to call this crime what it is. While many world leaders condemned this as a murder of Christians, the White House spoke of murdered Egyptians. Whether out of policy or simple ignorance, the White House has dishonored those men by refusing to acknowledge their sacrifice and their faith. The administration needs to be aware and develop a policy that places this not as an isolated incident but as part of an eradication campaign against Christianity in its birthplace.

(source: Martyred Copts Witnessed Their Faith, and Courage)

It is hard not to remember that this bloody testimony has been offered since the beginning, too:

By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he received approval as righteous, God bearing witness by accepting his gifts; he died, but through his faith he is still speaking.

(source: Hebrews 11:4 RSVCE)

I cannot possibly add anything more significant to the confession of the martyrs.  Perhaps, though, I can do a lesser thing, and hope it may be useful to you.  Let me point you to the conclusion of a difficult work by a Christian who intentionally thinks about the difficulty of confessing the truth:

and

Make of it what you will.

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