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POTHINUS OF LYON
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 25
Acts 21:27-40

Revelation 21:1-5

 

“…God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes;

and there shall be no more death…”

 

POTHINUS OF LYON
 
Pothinus, remembered as the first bishop of Lyon and the first bishop of Gaul, was a disciple of Polycarp of Smyrna. Born around AD 87, he accompanied his teacher to Rome in AD 158. Later, Bishop Anicetus sent him to evangelise the Gauls, where he established a flourishing church in Lyon and faithfully shepherded it for nearly twenty years.
 
Irenaeus, who later succeeded him, testified that Pothinus was his predecessor and the first to hold the office of bishop in Lyon. By AD 177, violent persecution broke out under Emperor Marcus Aurelius. At ninety years old, Pothinus was seized by a mob and brought before the magistrate. He endured brutal abuse in prison and died from his sufferings, while many of his companions were killed by wild beasts in the amphitheatre.
 
The letter from the church in Lyon, preserved by Eusebius, records the intensity of this persecution and the stedfastness of the martyrs. Pothinus’ life and death remind us of the mindset of the early believers: ready to suffer, ready to be imprisoned, ready to die: all for Jesus. They saw themselves as pilgrims passing through this world, anticipating the eternal rest prepared for them in heaven, where there will be no more tears, pain or death. His testimony challenges us today: Do we live with the same anticipation of seeing Christ face to face? The martyrs of old fixed their eyes on eternity, and their example calls us to do the same. They minded not the things of this world, but set their affections on things above. They lived in anticipation of life eternal promised to them.
 
Colossians 3:1-4: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”
 
THOUGHT: Am I excited to see Jesus face to face, longing for the eternal rest He has promised?
PRAYER: Father, please assure my heart of the eternal bliss that awaits all who are truly born again. Teach me to live as a pilgrim in this world, with eyes fixed on Christ, until the day I behold Him in glory.

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