Stories of Christian Martyrs: The Apostle Bartholomew

Bartholomew came as a reluctant seeker, brought to Jesus by
Philip, who couldn’t wait to spread the word about the Messiah.
Bartholomew’s initial response to news about Jesus was a mixture of skepticism and sarcasm: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46).

As he had done the day before when meeting Simon, Jesus greeted
Bartholomew with perceptive and challenging words. Jesus immediately
let Bartholomew know that He really understood him. Imagine a person
greeting you with, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no
deceit!” (John 1:47).

Bartholomew was stunned. “How do You know me?” he blurted.
Jesus had just identified his central impulse. He didn’t feel complimented;
he felt completely known. He was curious about how Jesus did it; to
which Jesus responded with a description of Bartholomew’s location
when Philip found him. Jesus’s perception was enough to convince Bartholomew that Philip was correct. This was in fact the Promised One.
And he said so: “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of
Israel!” (John 1:49). Jesus received Bartholomew’s declaration with the
promise that he would eventually have many more reasons for recognizing the Son of God.

Bartholomew was one of the group of five apostles who began to
follow Jesus shortly after His wilderness experience. He joined Andrew,
John, Simon, and Philip in a movement away from John the Baptist
toward becoming followers of Jesus. We know him under two names:
Bartholomew and Nathanael. He is mentioned in the naming of the
Twelve (Matthew 10, Mark 3, and Luke 6) as Bartholomew, and as
Nathanael one other time as part of the group of seven disciples who
went fishing after Jesus’s resurrection and then had breakfast with Him
on shore (John 21:2). Bartholomew is not credited with any words or actions throughout the gospel accounts of Jesus’s ministry. He was simply
there—watching, listening, and following. With someone around like
Simon Peter, always eager to leap into the verbal breach, men like Bartholomew were content to observe and learn.

The apostolic career of Bartholomew is linked with that of the
apostle Judas Thaddaeus. Both are credited with the spread of Christianity into Armenia. Traditions have him traveling east, as far as regions called India, but the historical consensus locates his ministry and martyrdom in Armenia—a land to the northeast of Palestine, between the
Black and Caspian Seas.

As has been demonstrated repeatedly during the worldwide spread
of the Gospel, those who bring the message of Christ often lose their lives
as a direct result of their effectiveness. Even while living peaceably and
doing good, believers have often been cruelly persecuted. The mixed
response by the world often parallels the response Jesus received in His
own time. Some who hear the message simply decide they would have
to give up too much in order to acknowledge Christ; they decide instead
to eliminate His messengers.

We may long to equate faithfulness with safety and success, but
there’s little reason for us to do so. Some of Christ’s most effective and
faithful servants have suffered the same fate as their Master, being
despised and rejected by the very people whom they approached with
good news.

Under Bartholomew’s influence, the Gospel apparently penetrated
every facet of Armenian life except the stronghold of local pagan religious
leaders, who rightly perceived Christianity as anathema to their belief
systems and demonically energized practices. Their powers were no
match for the power of God exercised by Thaddaeus and Bartholomew.
Their idols were proven impotent. Believers from royal rank on down
began to worship Jesus and the God of the Bible. Many were baptized,
and the church grew by leaps and bounds.

Meanwhile, the pagan priests conspired with the king’s brother to
protect their power and system of beliefs. Underhanded maneuvers led to Bartholomew’s arrest and torture. He suffered flaying, a particularly
gruesome form of abuse in which a person’s skin is almost entirely
removed by the use of whips. He was then crucified in agony (some
accounts say head down) and allowed to die a martyr’s death for Christ.

One of the startling historic witnesses to the effectiveness of Bartholomew’s ministry in Armenia is the obvious link between the Holy
Land and Armenian tradition. Pilgrimages to the lands of the Bible
became popular even in the apostolic era. Many of the biblical sites in
the Holy Land are even today marked by shrines and churches constructed by Armenian believers many centuries ago.

“Blessed are those who are
persecuted for righteousness’
sake, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven.”
Matthew 5:10

This story is an excerpt from Foxe: Voices of the Martyrs. You can get your own copy free with any donation to The Voice of the Martyrs.