I Am a Christian!
A few days later, the prisoners were taken to the town hall to be interrogated. The governor asked, “Are you a Christian?” Perpetua simply replied, “I am a Christian.” Each of the accused believers was thus questioned and each answer was the same. Once they finished, the disgusted governor condemned them to death by “wild beasts” at the royal celebration of Geta’s birthday. The grace of Christ was resting on Perpetua because right after that she wrote: “We went down cheerfully to the dungeon!”
Even though her life ends in martyrdom, Perpetua’s story reminds me of Joseph in Genesis 39-40. Like Joseph, she was arrested and imprisoned for doing what was right in the sight of God. Once in prison, just like Joseph, Perpetua received favor from the overseers of the prison. She writes, “because of the great power of God among them,” the guards moved the condemned Christians out of the darkest part of the dungeon into a brighter section of the prison where they could receive Christian visitors. Prison guards and pagan visitors were able to stand nearby and hear the gospel message from this new holding area as well.
Felicity and the Arena
Just days before they were to be martyred, Perpetua’s slave, Felicity, was greatly distressed. Not because of the approaching martyrdom, but because she couldn’t join the others. She was eight months pregnant and, by Roman law, she could not be executed until she had delivered the baby. Felicity dreaded separation from her fellow martyrs. If they went to the arena without her, she would still face the wild beasts weeks later, but this time she would have to face death with common criminals and not with her Christian friends.
She asked the others to join her in fervent prayer: “Therefore, joining together their united cry, they poured forth their prayer to the Lord three days before the exhibition.” Within hours, Felicity went into labor and later that day delivered a baby girl who she lovingly handed over to a sister in Christ to be raised as her own. That night, the martyrs, four men along with Perpetua and Felicity, had their last meal. As the prisoners ate in the prison courtyard, they turned the meal into an agape feast, worshipping the Lord and celebrating their fellowship in Christ. Spectators who had lined up to watch the prisoners heard a final message of salvation in Christ and many walked away from the prison as believers.
The Day of Their Victory Shone Brightly
The day of their victory dawned, and they marched from the prison to the amphitheatre joyfully as though they were going to heaven, with calm faces, trembling, if at all, with joy rather than fear. Perpetua went along with shining countenance and calm step, as the beloved of God, as a wife of Christ, putting down everyone’s stare by her own intense gaze. With them also was Felicitas, glad that she had safely given birth so that now she could fight the beasts, going from one blood bath to another, from the midwife to the gladiator.
To Be Continued…
Date: 23rd March 2024
Martyr: Vibia Perpetua & Felicity
Location: Carthage (modern-day Tunisia), North Africa
Source: God’s Generals – The Martyrs
Author: Roberts Liardon
Suffering Saturday 083
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