Origen on Martyrdom

28. From this episode we can learn also what martyrdom is and the special confidence ... before God which is conferred by it. The saint has a special sense of honour and wishes to give a recompense for the benefits conferred on him by God; and so he looks around to see if he can do anything for the Lord in return for all that he has received. He finds that for a man of good intentions there is nothing to counterbalance, as it were, these benefits of God--except a martyr's death. In Psalm 115 there is written this rhetorical question: What shall I render to the Lord for all the things that He hath rendered to me? And then follows the reply to him who asks what he can render to the Lord for all he has received: I will take the chalice of salvation, and I will call upon the name of the Lord. The "chalice of salvation" is the usual term used for martyrdom, as we see from the Gospel. There the Lord answers them that wish for a higher honour in sitting on the right and on the left of Jesus in His kingdom, saying: Can you drink the chalice that I shall drink? He calls martyrdom a chalice, as is evident again from the words: Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me. Nevertheless not as I will but as Thou wilt. And again we learn that he who drinks the chalice that Jesus drank will sit, reign, and judge beside the King of Kings. Such, then, is the chalice of salvation: he who takes it will call upon the name of the Lord, and whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

29. But perhaps because of the words: Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me, someone who does not understand the meaning of Scripture thoroughly, may think that the Saviour was in a way even afraid at the time of His passion. And if Jesus was afraid, a man may argue, how can a man remain steadfast forever? Let us first ask those who make such an assumption regarding the Saviour whether He was inferior to him who said: The Lord is my light and my saviour: whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life: of whom shall I be afraid? Whilst the wicked draw near against me to cat my flesh, they that trouble me and my enemies have themselves been weakened and have fallen. If armies in camp should stand together against me, my heart shall not fear. If war should rise up against me, in this will I be confident. Most likely these words spoken by the prophet apply to no one else but the Saviour, who because of the light and salvation which have come to Him from the Father fears nobody and who because of the powerful protection given Him by God is afraid of no man. The heart of the Saviour never feared in any way when the whole camp of Satan was drawn up against Him. His heart, filled with holy knowledge, was confident in God when war rose up against Him. It is therefore impossible that the same man should say in fear: Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me; and with fortitude: If armies in camp should stand together against me, my heart shall not fear. In order that we may not overlook anything in this text, I would direct your attention to the demonstrative used with the word "chalice" in each of the three Gospels. Matthew wrote that the Lord said: Father, if it be possible, let "this" chalice pass from me; Luke: Father, if Thou wilt, remove "this" chalice from me; and Mark: Abba, Father, all things are possible to Thee: remove "this" chalice from me."' Now since every martyrdom that results in death, whatever be the cause of the death involved, is called a chalice, note whether it can be asserted that He did not ask for exemption from martyrdom as such when He said, Let "this" chalice pass from me otherwise He would have said: "Let the chalice pass from me"; but that probably He meant this kind of chalice. One should remember the possibility that the Saviour considered the different kinds, so to speak, of chalice and what is achieved through each one of them; understood in His most profound wisdom their differences; asked to be excused from martyrdom with this particular issue; asked in silence, on the other hand, for a form of martyrdom much severer, so that through this other chalice might be wrought a benefit more universal, one reaching to a greater number of men. But such was not the will of the Father, which, as compared with the will of the Son and with the judgment of the Saviour, orders and disposes all things with superior wisdom. Clearly the chalice of salvation mentioned in the Psalms is the death of martyrs. And that is why the sentence, I will take the chalice of salvation, and will call upon the name of the Lord, is followed by, Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. Death, then, comes precious for us, if we are saints of God, and if we are not unworthy to die--not the ordinary, so to speak, and fruitless death in religion, but that very special death, death for the sake of Christianity, piety, and holiness.