Alone in the open air stood the preacher telling God’s good news. Around him surged a mob of angry men, yelling, cursing and threatening violence. Soon a stone was hurled. More stones followed. As the preacher continued to tell of the love of God, a rush was made against him. One powerful man struck him to the ground, where he lay still and silent, apparently dead.
The sight of the still, pale form suddenly quieted the mob. In the silence, a voice spoke up: “I say, there will be hanging for this!”
With one terrified glance around, the man who struck the blow fled. Through alleys and byways he fled till finally, hiding behind a hedge, he waited for the night.
With the darkness he stole back to the town and into the place he called home. Slipping up the rickety stairs, he silently reached the door and entered his room.
“What’s the matter, Daddy?” a frightened child called out of the darkness. It was the voice of his only child, Jimmy, the room’s only other occupant.
“You don’t need to know,” answered his father roughly, then added, “I must hide, Jimmy; where can I go?”
Jimmy peered into the darkness, then pointed towards the bed in the corner. Threatening the child with dire consequences if he made known his whereabouts, the fugitive dragged himself under the bed.
“There’ll be hanging for this.” The words rang like an alarm bell in the ears of the almost-distracted man. Hanging meant death in its most dreadful form. But would even death by hanging be the end? Something whispered that it would not. Then came back four long-forgotten words: “After this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:2727And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Hebrews 9:27)).
The preacher whom he had struck down had just been telling them of the way to escape that judgment. If only he had listened instead of striking him dead!
Morning dawned and found him still in hiding. He dared not venture out, but he sent Jimmy to buy him some snuff.
Now a strange thing happened. On the counter in the shop where the snuff was sold lay a large old Bible, the pages of which the shopkeeper used for wrapping paper. A page was torn out of the Bible to wrap the snuff which Jimmy bought and carried home to his father. That page contained the ninth chapter of Hebrews.
Something to read was a welcome break to the man in his hiding place. Anything to break the monotony and the ever-growing suspense! With difficulty he read in the dim light until he reached verse twenty-two, where he abruptly stopped.
“Without shedding of blood is no remission.” What did that mean? Did God also say that he must die? He had forfeited his life to man, he knew, but had his sins forfeited his life to God?
Those were dreadful hours. At last he could bear the suspense no longer, and sent Jimmy once more to the shop for snuff. He hoped that it would be wrapped in another page from the Book and tell him more.
In the meantime other shoppers had come and gone. When Jimmy arrived, the shopkeeper was still tearing pages from the Bible. This time the snuff was folded in 1 John, chapter one. The guilty man carefully unfolded it and read until he came to verse seven: “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
What a message from God to his sin-burdened soul! Blood had been shed for his sin—not his blood, but the blood of God’s own Son. God must be satisfied or He would not have sent such a message.
But why did God give His only Son to die? the man asked himself in wonder. Then he remembered hearing, “God is love”—that God loves the sinner, though He hates his sin.
But how much of his sin did the blood of Jesus Christ cleanse away? The words said, “All sin.” Not, surely not, the sin of yesterday—murder? Yes, the words were, “All sin”—past, present, future, all alike. It was, “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
And in those words the man who was hiding from human justice found refuge from God’s judgment and rejoiced in the blood that was shed for him.
Soon the glad news reached him that the preacher whom they had left for dead had not been killed as they thought. He had recovered and was preaching again. His almost-murderer went to hear him and afterwards confessed all. He was joyfully welcomed and freely forgiven.
“In this was manifested
the love of God toward us,
because that God sent
His only begotten Son into
the world, that we might
live through Him.”