The starting point for the Christian church is marked by Jesus being brutally scourged to the point of death and then nailed to some boards to suffocate in his own blood.

There isn’t a sin that compares with Jesus’ crucifixion, the murder of the morally perfect God. Christian persecution is about as widespread and old as the Gospel, but our suffering isn’t unique.

What’s unique about many Christian martyrs, and Jesus himself, is that they responded to their persecutors with forgiveness.

As Jesus was nailed to the cross, He prayed for the forgiveness of those who were killing him (Luke 23:34). It demonstrated the intensity of his mercy, which Christians should be striving to follow.

Jesus was never without the power to save himself from death. He chose to die, because of his love for people.

God demands payment for our selfishness, hatred and sin. But as it turns out, no human can stop sinning or make adequate retribution for his or her sins.

However, Jesus died as a sacrifice and payment for sins.

After Jesus rose from the dead, He promised complete, no-strings-attached forgiveness to those who follow him, so that when we die we might continue to enjoy a personal relationship with God.

Jesus’ teachings were radical, and most societies responded violently as they spread.

The first recorded martyr, Stephen, was dragged out of the city and stoned to death by an enraged mob. As they killed him, he shouted out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”

For about 300 years following this event, until Constantine made Christianity legal in 313 A.D., Christians would face unspeakable amounts of persecution.

Much of the persecution can be credited to the general beliefs that Christians were cannibals, as a result of misinterpretation of the sacrament of communion, and that they were incestuous because they called each other brothers and sisters.

In about 64 A.D., a fire in Rome devastated its economy. Emperor Nero, who most claim started the fire, blamed the most loathed group in society, the Christians.

Roman emperors killed Christians for sport by putting them in an arena to be publicly eaten alive by wild dogs, lions and other beasts.

One Bible teacher told me that Nero dipped the corpses of Christians in oil, hung them from poles and lit them on fire for street lamps.

With as widespread and radical as Christian beliefs are, it isn’t a surprise that the persecution hasn’t ended, even after 2,000 years.

Rather, what’s remarkable is the forgiveness Jesus teaches.

Reach columnist Celeste Gracey at opinion@dailyuw.com.