Crucifixion of St Peter, by Luca Giordano, 1659 – 1660

1″Oh Lord By Praise”featuring Lucy Stimpson- Maynard from album” I Look Up To The Heavens” produced and recorded by John Hodgkinson

Last blog I wrote of the non- Biblical traditions that relate to where in the world Jesus’ disciples took the “Great Commission” – preaching about Him and His resurrection. I want now to look at the manner in which they died.
Risen!- The Musical features five of the disciples – John, Peter, James, Thomas and Judas- let’s see how they met their deaths.
Matthew’s Gospel and the Book of Acts tell us that Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus, committed suicide.
From Acts 12: 2 we learn that James, brother of John and son of Zebedee was put to the sword by order of King Herod Agrippa 1st (beheaded)
Most regard the last book of the Bible – The Book of Revelation as having been written by John. He was exiled to the island of Patmos because of his evangelism. The general tradition is that he lived to a very old age, but there is one account that before dying a natural death John survived being boiled in oil. The historian Tertullian writes that the Emperor of Rome, Domitan had John plunged into a vat of boiling oil, possibly in the Colosseum. John did not react as expected to the torturous heat- he was not in agony but continued preaching to the crowd, many of whom were converted when they saw John unharmed.
According to Christian tradition, Peter was crucified in Rome under Emperor Nero Augustus Caesar. It is traditionally held that he was crucified upside down at his own request, since he saw himself unworthy to be crucified in the same way as Jesus.
Thomas, again according to tradition, was martyred in India when a local King condemned him to death for angering the local priests and scholars who thought that Thomas was disrespecting India’s caste system. Thomas was brought to a nearby mountain and stabbed to death with a spear. He is believed to be buried around the suburb of Madras.
So four of the five disciples featured in Risen!- The Musical were martyred- John instead being exiled after having possibly survived being boiled in oil.
Next week I will look at what happened to the rest of the disciples and the significance their deaths have to the resurrection of Jesus.