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Stephen
The First Christian Martyr

The first Christian to be martyred for his faith in Jesus Christ was Stephen (Saint Stephen). His martyrdom is described in the book of Acts of the New Testament, chapters 6 and 7.

The early Church in Jerusalem grew so rapidly that the apostles needed help in church administration, notably in the daily ministration and assistance of widows. For this task they ordained seven men "full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom" (Acts 6:3). One of the seven was Stephen, "a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost" (Acts 6:5) who "did great wonders and miracles among the people" (Acts 6:8).

Some Jewish men, not being able "to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake" (Acts 6:10), stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes against Stephen, seized him and brought him before the council and the high priest in Jerusalem, where false witnesses accused him of blasphemy. Even the members of the council "saw his face as it had been the face of an angel" (Acts 6:15).

In his powerful sermon, Stephen defended the Christian faith before the council, explaining that Jesus Christ was the Messiah and fulfilled the ancient prophecies. He denounced the Jews as "betrayers and murderers" of God's Son, the Just One (Acts 7:52) and called them "stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears", who "always resist the Holy Ghost" (Acts 7:51).

The members of the council became so enraged, that they "gnashed on him with their teeth" (Acts 7:54). After telling them that he saw the heavens opened, the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, they cast him out of Jerusalem and stoned him to death (Acts 7:55-58). Stephen's last words were: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (Acts 7:59) and "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge" (Acts 7:60). Stephen was probably killed on Passover, the spring following Jesus' crucifixion.

Stephen's executioners laid their clothes at Saul's feet, a Pharisee who persecuted Christians. Through God's grace, after his famous conversion on the road to Damascus, Saul (Paul) became the greatest apostle and he was called the Apostle to the Gentiles. Stephen's death brought "a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles." (Acts 8:1)

John the Beloved
"Whom Jesus Loved"

John often refers to himself as the disciple "whom Jesus loved" (John 13:23).

He was the brother of James and the son of Zebedee (Mark 1:19-20), and possibly a cousin of Jesus (Matt. 27:56; Mark 15:40; John 19:25). John and James were fishing partners with Peter and Andrew (Luke 5:10). Jesus called John and James "Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder" (Mark 3:17). On one occasion, because a Samaritan village refused to receive Jesus, they asked Him whether He wanted them to command fire to come down from heaven and consume the village.

Jesus rebuked them: "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." (Luke 9:55-56). In another instance, they came to Jesus with their mother, who asked Him to allow her sons to sit at His right and left hand in His kingdom. Jesus told them that this is not His decision "but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father." (Matt. 20:20-28)

John, along with James and Peter, witnessed Jesus Christ's transfiguration, the raising from the dead of Jairus' daughter, and Jesus' agony in Gethsemane. On the night Jesus was arrested, John and Peter followed Him to the palace of the high priest. John was the only apostle standing at the cross of Jesus, and Jesus committed His mother into John's care (John 19:26-27).

When John and Peter heard from Mary Magdalene that the stone from Jesus' tomb had been taken away and He is not in, they ran to the sepulcher to see it for themselves.

The Book of Acts usually mentions John and Peter together. They preached, healed the sick and were cast into prison together. John was a pillar among the apostles (Gal. 2:9). He wrote the Gospel of John around AD 90 in the city of Ephesus in Asia Minor. He wrote his epistles around the same time. Emperor Domitian had started a fierce prosecution against the Christians in the whole Roman Empire. He captured John, brought him to Rome and immersed him in boiling oil.

John was not harmed by this event, so the emperor exiled him to the Island of Patmos. On this island did John receive from Jesus Christ a prophetic vision of the future and the Apocalypse, which he recorded in the Book of Revelation.

He preached the Gospel in Palestine and Asia Minor. His emblem is an eagle.

After the death of Domitian, John was freed from the Island of Patmos and lived till his death in Ephesus, where Mary was burried. John was the only apostle who died a natural death in c AD 98-100, when he was about 100 years old.