Imagine there is a Christian who knows that he will be martyred in a few weeks.  Imagine this is happening within the first 100 years of Christianity.  Now imagine this person has the opportunity to write seven letters and in them shows what a Christian from the early second century is thinking about and values most since he knows these will be his last words.  This would be extremely interesting, right?  Such a situation did exist, and we have seven letters from a Christian who knew he was going to be martyred within the following several weeks.  His name is Ignatius of Antioch.  He wrote around AD 110.

Who was he?

Ignatius was the bishop of Antioch in Syria around the beginning of the 2^nd Century A.D.  He had known the Apostles Peter and John.  He was condemned to die in Rome because of the testimony of Christ.  On his way to Rome, he went through Asia Minor where he made a couple of stops and wrote seven letters (six to Christian communities and one to a bishop).  He died as a martyr by being thrown to lions in Rome.

What did they show the early church valued?

1. Imitating Christ 

For Ignatius, his imitation of Christ came from his love for Christ.  In one of the most devotional pieces from all his letters, he wrote,

“Neither the ends of the earth nor the kingdoms of this age are of any use to me.  It is better for me to die for Jesus Christ than to rule over the ends of the earth.  Him I seek, who died on our behalf; him I long for, who rose again for our sake” (Romans 6.1).  He then says, “Allow me to be an imitator of the suffering of my God” (Romans 6.3).

His love for Christ is so strong that He does not only imitate Christ in what is desirable and easy like caring for others, helping the poor, but also in the difficult things which is to die for the One he loves like Christ died for us, the ones He loves.  The result is that Ignatius becomes conformed to the Image of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Often, the voice of the world becomes too loud for us and drowns out our ability to follow the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Sometimes we can be tempted to follow the ways of the world instead.  The above quote shows that if our love for Christ is strong, then the world’s voice will have no effect because we will be eager to love Christ.  In his Letter to the Ephesians, he encourages them to “not be eager to imitate them [the world]… let us be eager to be imitators of the Lord” (Ephesians 10.2-3).

Our Lord Jesus Christ came to us because He loved us.  Because He loved us, He saved us, and because He saved us, we will be in a spiritual peace and harmony for eternity.  If we imitate Christ, then we can save others as well by bringing them to Him, and they too can experience the spiritual peace and harmony we have for eternity by dwelling in the love of Christ.  This can be one of the results of our imitation of Christ.  We can radiate Him to the world.

Ignatius of Antiochie, possibly by Cesare Francanzano, 17th Century

2. Harmony in the Christian community

Harmony is a word we often find in the earliest Christian writers outside of the New Testament.  Clement of Rome focused on it and so did Ignatius of Antioch.  He talked about the harmony of the church with our Lord Jesus Christ, and because of harmony with our Lord Jesus Christ, by extension a harmony with its pastors (including the bishops and presbyters).

He even used a beautiful illustration from music (think harmony) to show how we should live together as Christians:

“It is proper for you to run together in harmony with the mind of the bishop… For your council of presbyters, which is worthy of its name and worthy of God, is attuned to the bishop as strings to a lyre.  Therefore in your unanimity and harmonious love Jesus Christ is sung.  You must join this chorus, every one of you, so that by being harmonious in unanimity and taking your pitch from God you may sing in unison with one voice through Jesus Christ to the Father” (Ephesians 4.1-2).

3. The pastoral role of the bishop and presbyters

If you read the Letters of Ignatius, you cannot miss the fact that he often speaks on the pastoral role of the bishop and how the congregations should deal with the bishop and presbyters.

In Ephesians 6.1, he writes about the bishop, “Everyone whom the Master of the house [our Lord Jesus Christ] sends to manage his own house we must welcome as we would the one who sent him.”

This was a stark reminder for bishops that they were in fact stewards of the church, not rulers.  In addition, it was a stark reminder for the rest of the community that as stewards, we must respect them and love them since our Lord Himself entrusted the care of the Christian community to them.  If we are to oppose them, hate them, and insult them, then we are really doing all that to our Lord Jesus Christ.  But if we love and respect them, then we really are showing our love for our Lord Jesus Christ.  For that reason he also says, “Let us, therefore, be careful not to oppose the bishop, in order that we may be obedient to God” (Ephesians 5.3).

Perhaps, most interesting of all in this respect, is his Letter to Polycarp, which was written to the bishop of Smyrna.  In it he spoke to him of his duty and service as a bishop,

“Do justice to your office with constant care for both physical and spiritual concerns.  Focus on unity, for there is nothing better.  Bear with all people, even as the Lord bears with you; endure all in love, just as you now do” (To Polycarp 1.2).

Ignatius saw the Christian community from both sides: that of the community and that of the leadership, and he was extremely empathetic to both, having himself been a bishop, however, he placed the larger responsibility on the bishop even going so far as to write, “Stand firm, like an anvil being struck with a hammer.  It is the mark of a great athlete to be bruised, yet still conquer” (To Polycarp 3.1).

Why should we read his letters?

1. They will help us to think about how to imitate Christ fully.

2. They will teach us how to live with each other in the Christian community from bishop to presbyter to parishioner.

3. If you are a bishop or a priest, then this is probably the best work for you (outside of the New Testament) to begin building a framework to understand your ministry. [Afterward you have built this framework, then you can read John Chrysostom’s On the Priesthood]. It will teach you how to deal with your congregations and how to be there for them.  Also remember that Ignatius was the bishop of Antioch, who was marching on his way to his death, yet he still thought about his congregation back in Syria.

4. He talked about church unity and how to foster and solidify it. This is especially true with respect to how we are to reverence the bishops and presbyters of the church. This is applicable to us even if we are the least (if we can use such a term) in the congregation.

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