IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY COLLEGE – PARAÑAQUE

Forming the character….Reforming the will….Transforming the heart!

PAASCU LEVEL II

Basic Education Department

CHRISTIAN LIVING 8
School Year 2020 – 2021

LESSON 3.1
Jesus, the Epitome of a Prophet's Fate: Martyrdom

Faithfulness is a value that makes an individual adhere firmly and devotedly to someone or
something that brings truth or value.

I. Objectives
✓ To explain martyrdom in the life of a prophet
✓ To show the influence of Christ's death in our journey to the Kingdom
✓ To overcome suffering and pain through Jesus
✓ To discuss the significance of the Paschal mystery in our Christian faith

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you slay the prophets and stone those who are sent to you!

Luke 13:34
II. Key Understandings
o Rejection, opposition, and probably death are expected in the life of every prophet.
o Jesus expressed the authenticity of His love to the Father through self-giving.
o Christians can offer their lives to Jesus through selfless and humble service to the
community they belong.

III. Listening Reflectively

A reading from the book of the Acts of the Apostles 7:51-60

"You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always oppose the Holy
Spirit; you are just like your ancestors. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not
persecute? They put to death those who foretold the coming of the righteous one, whose
betrayers and murderers you have now become. You received the law as transmitted by
angels, but you did not observe it."
When they heard this, they were infuriated, and they ground their teeth at him. But
he, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and
Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened and
the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." But they cried out in a loud voice, covered
their ears, and rushed upon him together. They threw him out of the city, and began to stone
him. The witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they
were stoning Stephen, he called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
 Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin
against them"; and when he said this, he fell asleep.

The Word of the Lord... Thanks be to God!

Following Jesus is not easy. It means exposing the truth when society tells a lie.
Following Jesus means carrying the cross no matter what. Being committed to Jesus
means journeying with Him from "womb to tomb”. This simply means, to die for Jesus
is an authentic way to express our faith in Him.

IV. Knowing Lovingly

What is the greatest challenge in being a prophet?

The greatest challenge in being a prophet is the possibility of suffering a martyr's death.
Jesus referred to such a fate in Luke 13:33.
"Yet I must continue on my way today, impossible that a prophet should die outside of
Jerusalem."
Jesus knew that as a prophet, to suffer death is part and parcel is identity. He was
aware that Jerusalem was a dangerous place for Him because it was the center of power
where both the religious and political leaders were actually located. These leaders saw how
Jesus questioned the oppressive practices of the leaders. Hence, they plotted the death of
Jesus. Jesus was aware of the plan. Yet, He was still willing to go to Jerusalem so that what
the prophets of old foretold about Him can be fulfilled. Truly, a prophet is willing to die for
his/her commitment to love God in whatever situation he/she is in.

How can the death and suffering of Christ be viewed in relation to salvation?
The death and suffering of Christ were part of those He went through to show God's
love and save us all.
We are saved by Jesus' perfect self-giving love for His Father and for us, a love lived
out to the death. Salvation happened when Jesus decided to offer himself on the cross, a
perfect sacrifice to the Father, a perfect act of love. In John's Gospel, Jesus declares:
"The Father loves me for this: that I lay down my life to take it up again. No one takes
it from me: I lay it down freely" (John 10:17-18).
Paul quotes an early liturgical hymn: "He humbled himself, obediently accepting even
death, death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:8)
CFC 558
In our present times, some have tried to explain Christ's suffering and death merely as
the political execution of a non-conformist revolutionary by the Roman colonial powers.
Doubtless there was a political aspect to the Cross, but it surely was not its essential meaning
as interpreted in the inspired writings of the New Testament.
The Apostolic Faith, expressed in the New Testament, sees in Jesus' passion and death
not just some incidental historical event of Jews and Romans, but the saving act of God in
Jesus' free self-sacrifice. Thus, Peter preached on the first Pentecost.
"This man [Jesus] ... was delivered up by the set purpose and plan even made use of
pagans to crucify and kill him."
Jesus himself clearly understood His Passion and Death as His mission from the
Father, interpreted in the light of the Old Testament prophets.
 Jesus interpreted His coming death in line with the Old Testament prophets. “O
Jerusalem. Jerusalem, you slay the prophets and stone those who are sent to you!” (Luke
13:34; cf. 11:47, 49)
His death was "necessary" to fulfill the Scriptures: "How slow you are to believe all that
prophets have announced! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these s and
enter into his glory?" (Luke 24:25b-26)
CFC 560-562

How did Jesus see His passion and death?

Jesus saw his passion and death as redemptive, His ultimate service in the Kingdom.
“The Son of Man has not come to be served but to serve to give his life in ransom for the many."
Mark 10:45

The center of the 'Good News' focused sharply on the redemption wrought in Christ
Jesus. Through his blood, God made him the means of expiation for all who believe" (Romans
2.24-25a). "It was he who sacrificed himself for us, to redeem us from all unrighteousness
and to cleanse for himself a people of his own, eager to do what is right” (Titus 2:14).
That His passion and death are "redemptive" is shown by Christ most clearly in His
Last Supper. John introduces his account with Jesus washing His disciples' feet. "Jesus
realized that the hour had come for Him to pass from this world to the Father. He loved His
own in this world, and would show his love for them to the end" (John 13:1). And for John,
"no one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends" (John 15:13).
Matthew's account of Christ's institution of the Eucharist explicitly asserts its redemptive
value: "This is my blood, the blood of the covenant, to be poured out in behalf of many for
the forgiveness of sins" (Matthew 26:28). Christ is the New Paschal Lamb, sacrificed to redeem
the people (cf. John 19:36, 1:29, 36); (CFC 556-564).

How did Jesus' offering of His life to the Father influence the Christians?
Jesus offering of one's life influenced the Christians to be willing to face persecutions
and death in the midst of the opposition held by nonbelievers.
Like Jesus, many Christians offered their lives for the sake of their commitment to God
and His plans for the whole humanity. Jesus' offering of His life influenced so much the
Christians to work for the kingdom and not to count the cost, to labor for God's vineyard and
ask not for reward, offer the last drop of their blood because of their love for Christ. Hence,
martyrs abound the whole Church.
A person who died for his/her faith in Jesus is called a Christian martyr. They
witnessed the love of God present in their relationship, in their own experiences, and their
very lives. They were willing to offer their lives because they witnessed God's unfailing love in
their pilgrimage towards eternal life.
A Christian martyr is one who, without willing it, died for their faith in Jesus. They
were usually asked to renounce their faith, or otherwise face death. They chose death and
remained steadfast in their love for Christ. They suffered different forms of torture like being
burned alive, thrown into the lion's den, crucified, and others. The word martyr in Greek
means "witness". A true witness of Christ is ready to offer his/her life.

V. Integrating Holistically
 Being a prophet, Jesus was totally concerned of the totality of the whole person. He
was not only concerned of the spiritual aspect of an individual but of the other aspects of
human existence: physical, mental, social, economics, etc. With this, He, like the prophets
of old accused the leaders of His society that favored the wealthy, the powerful, the men, the
pure, the clean over those who are at the margins of the society like the poor, the powerless,
the women, the impure, and the unclean. He threatened Israel that one day the temple would
be destroyed by military conquest. He also encouraged His contemporaries to repent, to
change their lifestyles, and to return to Yahweh, and certainly a bright future will be rewarded
to them.
Jesus was very committed to His role as a prophet. He bravely condemned the system
that caused suffering to His fellow Jews. He convinced His people that they are people with
dignity and worth and therefore, they are worth dying for. Jesus spoke with authority,
accompanied His ministry with signs and wonders, and ended His life on the cross as a
martyr for what He believed in.
Jesus' death/martyrdom was truly an expression of His deep commitment for the
whole humanity. No wonder, the Creed puts great stress on Christ's passion and death.
Immediately following "born of the Virgin Mary," it proclaims five actions undergone by Jesus
suffered, was crucified, died, was buried, and descended to the dead (CFC 556).
By His passion and death Christ reached down into the deepest roots of human
alienation-our separation from God, from ourselves, and from one another. The love of the
crucified Christ becomes the norm, the source, the means, and the final goal of all Christian
morality. Christ tells us:

"If a man wishes to come after me, he must deny his very self, take up and follow in my
steps" (Mark 8:34).
"For this is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12).

CFC 596

Church tradition has stressed this redemptive and sacrificial character of Christs
passion and death. "Our Lord Jesus was once and for all to offer himself to God the Father
by his death on the altar of the cross, to accomplish an everlasting redemption" (Trent; ND
1546). And again, "At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted
the Eucharistic Sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the
sacrifice of the Cross throughout the ages until he should come again” (SC 47).
Thus, in her liturgy the Church prays in the 5th Easter Preface:

"Father, we praise you with greater joy than ever in this Easter Season
When Christ became our Paschal Sacrifice.
As He offered His body on the Cross,
His perfect sacrifice fulfilled all others.
As He gave Himself into your hands for our salvation.
He showed Himself to be the priest, the altar, and the lamb of sacrifice."
CFC 565–566

References
Aviles, A. F., & Frando, E. A. (2016). Signs of the Times: Jesus, God's Prophet, Priest, and Servant King. Quezon City: Rex
Book Store, Inc.