Thursday Read: September 10 - The Great Genna Martyrdom (1622)
On September 10, 1622, in Nagasaki, Japan, 55 Christians were executed in what became known as the Great Genna Martyrdom. They were beheaded or burned alive for refusing to renounce their faith. Among them were nine foreign missionaries - five Franciscans, four Dominicans - and 46 Japanese Christians including men, women, and children. They died singing hymns and praying, facing death with courage that astonished witnesses.
This massacre wasn't isolated. Between 1614 and 1644, the Tokugawa shogunate systematically persecuted Japanese Christians, executing thousands and eventually banning Christianity entirely. Japan remained closed to Christianity for over two centuries - until Commodore Perry forced the country to open to Western trade in 1853.
Christianity first reached Japan in 1549 when Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier arrived. The gospel spread rapidly. By 1600, there were roughly 300,000 Japanese Christians - about 2% of the population. Churches were built, seminaries established, and Japanese believers proved remarkably receptive to the gospel. This growth was unprecedented in East Asia.
But political winds shifted. The shogunate feared Christianity threatened social order and political stability. Christian teaching about allegiance to God above earthly rulers seemed subversive. Foreign missionaries appeared to be advance agents of European colonialism. After Portuguese and Spanish traders used their presence to gain economic and political advantage, suspicion hardened into persecution.
In 1614, Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu issued an edict expelling all Christian missionaries and ordering Japanese Christians to apostatize or face death. Hundreds were executed. Thousands were forced into hiding, practicing faith secretly at great risk. The persecution intensified under Ieyasu's successors, who developed brutal methods to force Christians to recant.
The most infamous was fumi-e - forcing suspected Christians to step on images of Christ or Mary. Refusal meant torture and execution. Many recanted under this pressure. Some maintained faith secretly while outwardly conforming. Others chose martyrdom rather than denial. The 55 who died September 10, 1622, chose martyrdom.
Their courage echoed Jesus's warning: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28). These Japanese Christians understood that physical death was temporary but betraying Christ had eternal consequences. They chose faithfulness over survival.
The early church faced similar choices. During Roman persecutions under emperors like Nero, Domitian, and Diocletian, Christians were commanded to offer incense to the emperor's image and declare "Caesar is Lord." Refusal meant execution - crucifixion, burning alive, being thrown to wild animals in the arena. Many chose death rather than denial.
Paul wrote: "I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39). The Japanese martyrs proved this true - torture and death couldn't separate them from Christ's love.
But what about those who recanted under pressure? What about Christians who stepped on fumi-e to save their lives or protect their families? Church history judges them less harshly than you might expect. Even Peter denied Christ three times but was restored and became the church's rock. Judging others' choices under persecution is easy when you face no similar pressure.
Still, the martyrs' witness challenges comfortable Christianity. Most Western Christians face no persecution - no risk for worship, no cost for church attendance, no threat for owning Bibles. We can be Christian without sacrifice, follow Jesus without suffering, confess Christ without consequences. The Japanese martyrs would consider this luxury almost unimaginable.
Jesus said: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me" (Matthew 16:24). Cross-carrying in first-century context meant execution. Jesus wasn't using metaphor - he was saying discipleship might cost your life. The 55 who died in Nagasaki understood this literally.
What would you do if confession cost everything? If following Jesus meant losing your life, not just your comfort? If being Christian brought execution, not just awkwardness? You probably won't face literal martyrdom. But you face daily choices requiring smaller sacrifices: using money for God's kingdom instead of accumulating more, speaking truth when silence is safer, living counter-culturally when conformity is easier.
The martyrs' courage doesn't shame you - it inspires you. They prove that Christ is worth everything, that faith can survive the fiercest fires, that nothing can separate us from God's love. Their witness 402 years ago still calls Christians today to count the cost and consider Christ worth it all.
