The language of ancient Greece has a term called martyr. In its original context two thousand years ago, it meant “witness” or “testimony.” To be a martyr was to offer a witness of one’s most sacred values. In the ancient Mediterranean after the time of Christ, the term was used to describe early Christians who would testify to the power of God through Christ in their lives. But because early Christianity was an unpopular and minority faith, the message of Christ was not usually received with ease. Early Christians were persecuted and killed for their beliefs. It was then that martyr took on a second meaning, that of our English word “martyr”: someone who dies or sacrifices of oneself for that which one believes in.
Pastor Oby Ballinger 