Eighty-Six Years

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” — Philippians 1:21 (KJV)

The first Christians lived under the Roman Empire, and for nearly three hundred years they faced waves of persecution. Following Jesus could cost you your home, your freedom or your life. One of the most famous people who died in those years was an old man named Polycarp.

Polycarp was the bishop, or chief pastor, of the church in Smyrna, a city in what is now Turkey. He was very old, and it is said he had known people who knew the apostle John. When officials came looking for him, he went into hiding, but he was found.

What he did next surprised everyone. Instead of fighting or running, he gave the soldiers who arrested him a meal. Then he asked for one thing: an hour to pray. They let him, and Foxe says “he prayed with such fervency, that his guards repented that they had been instrumental in taking him.” The men sent to arrest him felt ashamed.

He was taken before the Roman governor, who wanted him to save his own life by cursing Christ. The governor said: “Swear, and I will release thee;—reproach Christ.” Polycarp’s answer has been remembered for nearly two thousand years:

“Eighty and six years have I served him, and he never once wronged me; how then shall I blaspheme my King, Who hath saved me?”

Think about that sentence. He wasn’t making a speech about doctrine. He was talking about a relationship. For eighty-six years, through everything life had brought, Jesus had never let him down. How could he turn his back on him now?

Polycarp was condemned and put to death. But his words outlived the empire that killed him.

You probably won’t be asked to choose between denying Jesus and losing your life. But you will face smaller versions of Polycarp’s choice: a moment when saying you follow Jesus will cost you something, a laugh, a friendship, a bit of reputation. The best preparation for those moments is the same as Polycarp’s: to know Jesus so well, over time, that you can say from experience, “He has never once wronged me.”

Paul wrote: for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Polycarp lived that sentence for eighty-six years, and then he died it.

One thing to do this week: write down three ways Jesus has been faithful to you so far in your life. Keep the list somewhere you will see it. Next time following him feels costly, read it.