In the ancient city of Rome, a young lad named Gaius was walking along the street with his buddy Marcellus talking about the strange things that were happening in the city of Rome in those days—about how those followers of that strange sect from Palestine believed that one called Jesus, who had died, had risen again and was alive. They were spreading the word of their belief among many people in Rome, and the emperor had forbidden all that believe in such things. No Roman could have any king except Caesar himself.
They talked about the guards who would go about hailing citizens on the street, saying, “Lord Caesar,” calling Caesar Lord and God.
Those who were not Christians would answer “Lord Caesar,” but those who had come to believe in Jesus Christ would only answer, “Lord Christ,” because they had no other Lord. Caesar was their king. But only Christ Jesus was their Lord.
The boys had seen how Christians were cast to the lions and were torn to pieces, others were cut in pieces by the sword, still others were tied to posts, their garments soaked in oil, and burned to death.
“Why is it,” asked Gaius, “that when there is such terrible persecution there are still those who believe in this Jesus? I think they are crazy.”
“I don’t think they are crazy,” replied Marcellus. “I think they have something that the rest don’t have.”
“What do you mean, Marcellus?” Gaius asked quickly. It seemed as if Marcellus was defending them.
“I mean, Gaius, that I am a Christian.”
“What? Don’t you know they will kill you?” It didn’t seem possible, but Marcellus was serious.
Marcellus stepped close to his friend and whispered, “Come to this spot tonight, when it is dark, and I’ll show you what I mean.”
That night, at the hour when all was dark, Gaius moved away from his house and found his way stealthily back to the place where he had left his friend that afternoon. The shadows were deep. He saw no one. “Ah,” he thought with some relief, “Marcellus has forgotten, I will go home.” At that moment, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He whirled around in panic only to find his buddy standing right behind him.
“Follow me,” the older boy whispered, leading him away from the city out toward the outskirts of town. Gaius suddenly felt a chill of horror as he realized that Marcellus was leading him out in the cold black, darkness to the place of the tombs. He wanted to turn and run, but he was afraid to be alone. He followed. They walked among the very graves. They came to the mouth of a huge cave. Marcellus took hold of Gaius’ arm and led him inside where, to his amazement, the frightened boy saw a rough, rock-hewn stairway, tunneling downward into the earth, lightened by a tiny, flickering torch concealed among jagged, shadowy rocks.
Marcellus took a light from the torch and went down the passageway into the very earth. They found a weird winding labyrinth of narrow caves underneath the surface of the earth. They were in the famous catacombs made by the pagans of that time, a place in which to bury their dead! The Romans believed that evil spirits would come to look for the dead but that they would get lost in the weird underground labyrinth. As Marcellus led him along, the younger boy wondered how he could find his way. “How do you know where you are going?”
“Look,” Marcellus answered, holding the torch close to the cave. They could see the form of a little fish scratched into the side of the rock. The fish’s head pointed in the direction in which they were going.
That fish was used as a sign, because the letters which begin the Greek words, “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior.” These five words were the creed of those early Christians.
As the boys continued through the dark passage, they came suddenly to a large cave lighted by many torches. There they saw men, women and young people and heard them singing hymns of joy. An older man told them about the love of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That night before he went back to his house, Gaius fell to his knees and called out to the Lord Jesus Christ to come into his heart and save him from sin.
Gaius walked slowly along the Appian way. He was thinking about the wonder of his new salvation, about the amazing things he had learned about prayer, asking the Lord to give him strength to live and be faithful to Him. Suddenly, he heard a horrible din. Soldiers were running, clanking in their armor. In front of them ran a man, a Christian. Gaius knew that he had seen him that night in the torch-lit cavern. As the soldiers chased, the fugitive came near to where the boy stood. Then he disappeared into a passageway between two buildings.
The running soldiers came to the spot where Gaius stood. The captain brusquely asked him, “Where is the Christian?”
The question echoed in Gaius’ heart. What should he say? The man they had been chasing was actually his brother in Christ. They were out to capture him, throw him to the lions or burn him to death, or perhaps cut him to pieces.
“Where is the Christian?” repeated the captain roughly.
What should he say? He knew what he would say. Gaius looked straight into the eyes of the captain as he answered:
“Sir, I am a Christian.”