This summer in Rome we stayed in a former convent in the shadow of the Coliseum and the Roman Forum. Our tour guide assured us that the Coliseum was only used on a few dozen occasions for gladiators. Christians were not sacrificed to the lions in that building, she assured us.
Paul had faced the lion and been delivered at least once from its mouth (4:17). Still he could see the end was near in this captivity in Rome. He could look back on life and say, “I have fought the good fight, finished the race and kept the faith.” Can we say that? Won’t it be great when the end of life comes to say, “I held on to my faith through it all!” Paul fully expected to receive not the laurel wreath which the athletic champions received, but the crown of righteousness. In this case, there is more than one prize. Not only Paul, but God crowns all who long for his appearing! By all accounts, Christian martyrs in the Middle East receive their crowns every day.
No. Christians were not killed in the Coliseum. Instead, our guide assured us, they were killed in the Circus Maximus. The next morning I awakened early and jogged down the sidewalk to see the place where Christians like Paul may have died under the hand of wicked emperors. There I could envision chariot race like the one I saw in the movie Ben Hur. But Paul did not drive a chariot on that last day of his life. As he faced death, Paul finished strong and held on to his faith. Someday, we will see the finish line ahead. Until then, we continue to fight and finish and keep the faith. On that glorious victorious day, the faith we have kept will keep us, and lead us before the throne to receive the righteous crown of life as our victor’s crown. What a day that will be!
