Suffering and the Glory of God

In the early 1400s,  Pope John XXIII and the Catholic Church were disgusted with the message of Christ alone and the Bible alone by a Catholic priest named John Huss.  Huss’ preaching about Jesus had the potential of destroying the Catholic Church and lucrative monopoly they had on the religious market.  As such,  Huss was ordered to appear before the Church council (magisterium) in Rome to answer for his preaching about Jesus.  

Huss never appeared,  but his message of Christ alone and God’s Word alone,  without the need for the religion and legalism of the Catholic Church,  caused those who heard Huss preach to grow in knowledge of the Lord.  The more they heard about Jesus from Huss,  the less they cared for the pope and his rules,  especially since the church was divided at that time,  with three men arguing over the office of pope.  Although church officials tried to banish Huss,  he carried on his work,  spreading Christ’s message among the people and causing a great uproar over the church’s riches and abuses.  

In 1414,  a general church conference was held to deal with the aftermath of Huss’ preaching.  Assured of safe conduct by both the Emperor and one the popes,  Huss traveled to the conference,  arriving on November 3. Twenty-six days later,  he appeared before the conference to defend himself and His teachings about Christ,  but was not allowed to speak.  In violation of the promises made to him,  he was imprisoned for “safe keeping” and charged with eight articles of “heresy.”  

On July 6, 1415, he was taken to a cathedral,  dressed in his priestly garments,  then stripped of them one by one.  He refused one last chance to recant at the stake, recant his teachings about Christ,  especially that one need not go through the Catholic Church for salvation.

The hangman stripped Huss of his clothes, tied his hands behind him, then chained his neck to the stake. At that point, Huss told the hangman that he was glad to accept the chain for the Lord’s sake. Straw and wood were piled around him to his chin, and the fire was lit. He then prayed,

"Lord Jesus, it is for thee that I patiently endure this cruel death. I pray thee to have mercy on my enemies."

Huss was heard reciting the Psalms as the flames engulfed him, until the flames choked him out,  and praying

“Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, have mercy upon me.”  

When all the wood was burned,  the upper part of his body was still hanging in the chain,  so they threw it down,  made a new fire,  and burned it after cutting his head into small pieces.  When he was totally burned,  Huss’ ashes were carefully collected and thrown into a local river.  

Just as the “Church” hated Huss and killed him, we know that there will be those in our own day that will hate us because we belong to Christ and pledge allegiance to Him.  All you have to do is open your mouth and some unbelievers will hate you because they hate the truth.  They hate Christ and the message of the cross because it is foolish to them and an offense to them.  They know that Christ is Lord and that they are sinners,  but they deny it because they love their sinful worldly lifestyle and don’t want to submit to the Lord.   At times, their hatred may cause them to lash out at us or even persecute us in various ways.  

Simon Peter offers encouragement for us when we are persecuted for Christ’s sake:  

If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. …Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 1 Peter 4:14,16 (ESV)

This devotional adaptively written by Pastor Myke, based on an article on Huss from Foxe's Book of Martyrs, ©2005 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.