Bohemia: John Huss
July 6, 1415
"O most merciful Christ," John Huss wrote while awaiting his execution, "give us courageous spirit, so that it may be ready. And if the flesh is weak, may your grace go before it, for without you we can do nothing, and above all, without you we cannot face a cruel death. Give us a bold courage and upright faith, a firm hope, and perfect charity, that we may give our life for you in all patience and all joy. Amen." alan
Huss had called for reform in the fifteenth century church, challenging priests who sold indulgences (the right to sin without consequence) and calling for biblical standards of justice. Huss was promised royal protection to present his defense. But he now sat in a dungeon, awaiting death, and cried out to God.
On July 6, 1415, Huss was stripped and chained to a stake. As the fire was lit around him, Huss prayed, "Lord Jesus Christ, it is for the sake of the gospel and the preaching of the word that I undergo with patience and humility this terrifying, ignominious, and cruel death."
As the flames rose around him, Huss, with final breath, cried out, "Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy upon me!"
Huss' witness was crucial in . . . influencing Christians to return to biblical teachings.
(Excerpt from Extreme Devotion: The Voice of the Martyrs [Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2001], 47)
Japan: Ibaragi Kun
November 23, 1596
After they all had been tried, found guilty, and sentenced to die, twenty-six Christians were marched to the place where crudely made crosses stood. Almost three months earlier, they had been arrested in Kyoto, Japan, and charged with following Christ. One of the convicts was named Ibaragi Kun.
Seeing how young Kun was, an official took him aside and urged him to recant his faith to save his life. Looking the official in the eye, Kun said confidently, "Sir, it would be far better if you yourself became a Christian. Then you could go to heaven with me."
The officer stared, startled by the young man's faith. Finally, Ibaragi asked, "Sir, which cross is mine?"
The bewildered official pointed to the smallest of the twenty-six crosses. Young Kun ran to the cross, knelt before it, and embraced it. When the soldiers began to nail his hands and feet to the cross, he did not cry out in pain. He courageously accepted the path God had laid out for him.
The crucifixion of the twenty-six Christians on November 23, 1596, was the beginning of a period of intense persecution of Christians in Japan. Over the next seventy years, as many as one million Japanese Christians would be killed for their faith. Many would embrace their own crosses to follow the example of Ibaragi Kun, a very mature twelve-year-old boy.
(Excerpt from Extreme Devotion: The Voice of the Martyrs, 32)