The Nagasaki Martyrs (1597)

April 2nd, 2025
by Jon Holaday

Here, we have another honor to a group of Christians killed for their faith in Jesus Christ together on a hill in Nagasaki Japan. The Jesuits arrived in Japan in 1549 led by the great missionary St. Francis Xavier. Japan was hard ground but a small church grew its roots deep and would never be without a remnant from then on. In 1597, Japans emperor Toyotomi Hideyoshi believed the Christians were destroying their national fervor. They were ordered to be crucified. Coming out of darkness and serving idols to Gods glorious light serving only Christ will impact a society! The Holy Spirit washes us from the inside out and we change! Twenty six Christians, mostly young from 12 yrs up, would pay the ultimate sacrifice for Jesus Christ that day. Paul Miki, the son of a samurai soldier, was the most gifted preachers and he preached while hanging on his cross. "you can find salvation in Jesus Christ alone. I have committed no crimes but the only reason I am put to death is because of my commitment unto Christ. I am very happy to die for such cause."
For the next 200 years, the church grew underground and finally discovered by a French priest who was permitted into Japan in the 1850's. Today, the Shrine of the Twenty Six Martyrs stands in a replica of the Nagasaki church because the original was destroyed by an atomic bomb in 1945. What power brings men, both young and old, to a place where they fear no death? The church of Christ is full of them.