Day 04 - Aphrodisias

Noah:

I must not fail to mention my experience in Aphrodisias. Though this is not a city that is mentioned in the Scriptures, the historical significance of this ancient Roman city unlocks important information as we aim to understand the kinds of places that the gospel and the church entered and grew in. We listened to a lecture including the text of Mark 9 while sitting in the Aphrodisias stadium that could hold around 20,000 people. It was these kinds of temples where Christians were martyred and persecuted in tragic ways. Seeing this with my eyes brought a new understanding for what Jesus really meant when he said, “Take up your cross and follow me” to first century Christians. To be a Christian was to follow Jesus, even unto death. Tears streamed as I imagined myself in the shoes of the ancient martyrs who passed in these kinds of stadiums. I was not only grateful for the Christians who were faithful unto death before me, but most grateful for the Sacrificial Lamb who led the way and made a way for the salvation of the Gentile world. The embodied understanding I gained is a great blessing personally and as I minister back home in the U.S.

Trent:

Currently, to me, the most striking and inspiring scene of traveling over the seven churches of Revelation was not an actual church in the book of Revelation, but rather the faith unto death of common Christians who had to endure the paganism of the city of Aphrodisias. Of course, the scenes of the architecture and detail are jaw dropping but they pale in comparison to the public persecution and death of our early Christian brothers and sisters for their faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To me, it is the faith in Christ of these first-century believers and beyond that is most significant part of experiencing the life of the first century Christian.

Laid off along the travelers trail of Leaodicea to Smyrna, amid the valley between two mountains, sits this city of Aphrodisias, a place of beauty. Beauty in the form of Aphrodite. Beauty of ornate designs in sculptures, statues and sarcophagus through the school of sculpture. Beauty of the mountainous setting of Mount Karincali to the south. Even considering all of these, the most beauty and significance is found in the faith of those persecuted in the city of Aphrodisias.  

Surely Hebrews 12:1-2 becomes even more vivid when discussing the public execution of Christians in Aphrodisias. To see the Scriptures say, “since we are surround by so great a cloud of witnesses…” shows the horror that may await someone for being a Christian in the first century. This is speaking of the thousands that would watch and cheer in the massive stadium for the death of any Christian who opposed their pagan practices. Surely the stadium at Aphrodisias revealed not only the beauty of the ancient world’s design but the beauty of the unyielding faith that all believers can have in Christ. It is in studying the ancient sites like Aphrodisias that I can better understand Christ calling all His children to be ready to pick up their cross and follow after Him.