The blood of Christ is amazing. There is no sin so vile that the blood cannot wipe it out. This fact is strikingly illustrated by the story of the Nazi War criminals in the aftermath of Word War Two. One would think that they were beyond the reach of mercy. Some were, but others weren’t. They were put on trial for war crimes and, while in jail, a number of these former villains became believers. They are a testimony to the amazing blood of the Lamb. Here is a excerpt from their story as related by their chaplain H. F. Gerecke.
“With Von Ribbentrop, at first I found no response, but later on he commenced also to read the Bible. Keitel, Von Ribbentrop, Sauckel, Raeder, Speer, Fritsche and Von Schirach took part in the communion service. Then followed the promulgation of the sentences. Goering, Von Ribbentrop, Keitel, Kaltenbrunner, Rosenberg, Frank, Frick, Streicher, Sauckel, Jodl and Seyss-Inquart were condemned to death by hanging.
“Through a favour of the prosecution, the condemned men were allowed to see their wives once more. It was a very sad meeting. I heard Von Ribbentrop ask his wife to promise to bring up their children in the fear of the Lord. Sauckel asked his wife to vow to bring up their numerous family beneath the Cross of Jesus. Goering asked what his little daughter Edda said when she heard his sentence, and had to hear that the child hoped to meet her Daddy in heaven. This affected him, and it was the first time I saw him in tears.
“Day and night I remained with those who had committed their souls to God. I visited some of them often five times daily. Von Ribbentrop read his Bible the greater part of the day. Keitel was most moved by the portions which spoke of the redeeming power of the blood of Christ. Sauckel was very upset and said many times that he would collapse before the execution of the sentence. He prayed out loud continually, "O God be merciful to me a sinner." These three took the communion for the last time with me in their cells. God had changed their hearts, and now in the presence of death, having lost all material things and their unworthy lives, they were able to rely on the promises of God for lost sinners.
“On the evening before the execution of the sentences, I had a long interview with Goering. I put before him the necessity of preparing himself to meet God. In the course of our conversation, he ridiculed certain Bible truths, and refused to accept that Christ died for sinners. It was a conscious denial of the power of the blood. "Death is death" was the substance of his last words. As I recalled to him the hope of his little daughter to meet him in heaven, he replied, "She believes in her manner and I in mine."
“An hour later I heard many agitated voices and then I learned that Goering had taken his life. His heart was still beating when I entered his cell, but when I questioned him, there was no answer. A small empty glass tube lay on his breast, and he had gone into eternity - a frightful end!
“As the hour of the execution of the sentences approached, now that Goering was dead, Von Ribbentrop was the first to mount the gallows. Before he left his cell, he declared that he put all his confidence in the blood of the Lamb that took away the guilt of the world, and he prayed that God would have mercy on his soul. Then came the order to proceed to the execution chamber. His hands were bound. He mounted the 13 steps to the gallows, I uttered a last prayer, and he was no more. Keitel also went into eternity confiding in the pardoning grace of God. Then Sauckel went to his death, and with a last greeting to his wife and children and a last prayer, he exchanged his earthly life for an eternal one.
“Frick assured me before his death that he believed also in the cleansing blood, and that during our simple gospel services he had personally met Jesus Christ.”
The blood of Christ really is amazing. But the question is, “Have you seen the truth about the blood for yourself?” When Christ shed His blood, He freely gave up His life and died. Seeing the blood, therefore, means to believe what the Father tells us about the death of His Son. Seeing the blood means that we see Christ’s death as our death. Seeing the blood means that we are satisfied that Christ died for us, personally, as our substitute. Seeing the blood does not mean that we see visions of Christ with blood dripping from His wounded body. But when we ‘see the blood’ we see and know that He was wounded for our transgressions. In fact, when we see the blood, faith is able to say, “He was wounded for MY transgressions, He was bruised for MY iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5).
And that’s the Gospel Truth!