School of Theology, 2000

On this day in 64 AD the two greatest of the apostles, the first among the twelve to be an eyewitness to the resurrection of Jesus, and the last Apostle to be such, were killed as a result of the persecution under the Emperor Nero. That is what we celebrate today.

Immediately, the Church had to begin to give thought for the problem we have come to call “Apostolic Succession,” and so must we. This will not, however, be a classic Anglo-Catholic defense of the historic Episcopate. Not Exactly.

The problem was this — Christianity and the other religions of the Book are historical faiths, not metaphysical or ethical systems. They depend on a specific narrative being remembered and proclaimed and lived. If that narrative were to be lost, it could not be rediscovered later, as might metaphysical or ethical truths. Until 64, the Church could depend for continuity in the narrative on the presence of the eyewitness Apostles. That was now threatened. What to do?

Because of the persecutions, there is this little black box around the process by which answers were found. We have a few glimpses into that box in the last documents of the NT canon, the apocryphal NT documents, I Clement, Didache, etc., but most is obscure. We do know what popped out the other end of the Black Box, though, and it included the following:

(1) A developing canon of scripture, including the NT. Paul had written his last letter, but they could be collected. Peter’s memory of the Gospel events had been, some of us still find it credible to believe, shared in prison with the young man, Mark. The Gospel would be preserved in writing.

(2) Those writings would be assembled and chosen by what we may call the Church/Sacrament complex — the people of the Newer Covenant gathered around Font and Table. A community with sacramental institutions, in other words. Already present in the developing liturgy of that font was a statement of belief which was the seed for what would come to be called the rule of faith, creeds which gave apostolic instructions for how to interpret the scriptures faithfully.

(3) From Ignatius to Irenaeus, the apostolic office became clearly embodied in the monarchial episcopate, in a succession of teaching, not of ordination. Whatever we think about earlier NT or ideal church orders, this is the one chosen by those closest to the apostolic origins as faithful. They seem to have had no doubts about it.

(4) The cult of the martyrs, stemming from the events of today, and the earlier deaths of James bar Zebededee and Stephen the Deacon. I have stood at the first tomb of peter and Paul and seen the ostricae from the first century — Peter and Paul, pray for us.

Is there any Gospel in these? To the core, I submit. First, I agree with Lutheran theologian Robert Jenson that the Gospel is quite simply, Jesus of Nazareth, killed under Pontius Pilate, is risen from the dead and hence designated Lord, Son of God, and Messiah. If Jesus is not raised, then the scriptures are just another dead history for the library, the sacraments are meaningless mere memorials, the apostolic episcopate is mere pretense and pretentiousness, and the cult of the martyrs silly. But because Christ is raised and the Spirit poured out, each makes perfect sense. Behind the Word written, in the power of the Spirit, lies the Eternal Word alive and present. The physical location of the risen body of Christ, as Jenson argues, is and remains the Church Community constituted in baptism, and on the altar as bread. The Episcopal office, however constituted, and every denomination exercises apostolic oversight somehow, is re-authorized in every age by a risen Lord. And the martyrs’ death is celebrated because in Christ it is no more the last word about them than Jesus’ was about him.

In turn, each is called to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus, and if it does not, it has become corrupt and must be reformed. The scriptures proclaim that one piece of good news from start to finish, if read by the rule of faith. The Church is constituted at the font precisely as each baptized shares in the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the Eucharist also shows his death and provides table fellowship with the risen Lord, as in today’s gospel reading. As we learn in Acts from the story of the election of Matthias to replace Judas, the chief function of the Apostolic office is to embody in the Church the unbroken eyewitness account to the Resurrection of Jesus. Bishops who can no longer do that should resign. The very celebration of the death of the martyrs proclaims the resurrection of Jesus by its sheer absurdity in any other context.

In all these ways, and, more importantly, in their continued lively interaction in history, the Apostolic Witness is preserved and proclaimed. Because Christ is raised, the Apostolic witness survived 64 AD, and we celebrate today, we do not mourn. By their blood, in the blood of Christ, the Apostles and Martyrs have become the Foundation of the Church, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. Thanks be to God.