The two sisters stood side by side. Their bodies sickly and decimated from lack of food and sleep. They stood waiting and shivering in the morning chill. Another roll call at Ravensbruck concentration camp where Corrie and Betsy Ten Boom awaited morning medical inspection by their inhumane captors .
The Ten Booms were Dutch Christians that harbored Jews in their home during the Nazi occupation of Holland. Corrie and Betsy had reached out their hand in love to a hurting people group, the Jews. And, now the only hands reaching out to them were the brutal paws of guards pointing and ordering these two feeble bodied women with hunger-gloated stomachs to strip down naked for "inspection". Corrie and Betsy both knew there was no reason for all the clothing to be stripped. Surely it was not necessary to take every piece of cloth. They recognized this order was more about humiliation and shredding human decency than about a random medical check. The kind of men who would take subtle pleasure in seeing malnourished women with stick-figure frames naked, Betsy and Corrie would never understand. Standing there vulnerable in full view to these grinning guards was just one more dimension of humiliation exemplified in this hellish place called Ravensbruck.
Standing there in plain view of her oppressors, the thought came to Corrie. Like an epiphany, a Biblical revelation landed deep in her spirit. "They took his clothes too", she mouthed under her breath. And, then a single tear would follow. Until this moment, Corrie had never fully understood or really known the depth of humiliation that Christ endured at the cross. She reflected on the exact words of the gospel "And they stripped him of his clothes". Jesus had hung naked on the cross for the sins of the world. There was no decency or respect shown to Him. The Son of God hung naked and exposed before a stream of gawking onlookers who hurled insults at him. They took his clothes too.
In that moment Corrie, amidst the pain and horror, found hope and courage in her God. He had suffered her fate. Experienced what she experienced. Felt what she felt. And, in that Corrie found hope.
As I muse over Corrie's story from her autobiography called the "Hiding Place" (a must read), I am wondering what principles we might glean from her Ravensbruck experience. How might her story infrom our own stories in our places of suffering?
Principle #1
It seems to me that there is no possible place of suffering where we find ourselves that Christ himself has not already entered. Our God understands the degradation of being stripped bare for all the world to see. He knows suffering. He knows humiliation. He knows Ravensbruck. Yes, he knows Ravensbruck inside and out. . .and every other hellish place in the world like it. And, we can find solace in the fact that he's been where we are and understands the horror we are presently experiencing. Only in Christianity do we discover a God who has suffered our humiliation and who is able to sympathize with our weakness. Where we are, He has been. Where we are, He is. What a God!
Principle #2
Jesus has not only been where we've been, but has gone through it and come out on the other side victorious. Resurrection points us to the eventual collapse and ultimate defeat of every Ravensbruck on this planet. The resurrection of Chirst offers us hope because although Jesus was naked, he has been clothed again by the Father. Although he suffered humiliation, today He is honored. Although He died, he lives.
Ravensbruck's days are numbered. Today we might find ourselves cold, vulnerable and naked with enemies pointing fingers and defacing our character. But a day will come...and with Jesus Christ has already come...where we will be clothed by the Father. A day is coming says the Lord when justice will reign, God will appear, the worlds Ravensbrucks will disintegrate and those who have placed their hope in Him "will not be found naked" (2 Corinthians 5:3).
The Ten Booms were Dutch Christians that harbored Jews in their home during the Nazi occupation of Holland. Corrie and Betsy had reached out their hand in love to a hurting people group, the Jews. And, now the only hands reaching out to them were the brutal paws of guards pointing and ordering these two feeble bodied women with hunger-gloated stomachs to strip down naked for "inspection". Corrie and Betsy both knew there was no reason for all the clothing to be stripped. Surely it was not necessary to take every piece of cloth. They recognized this order was more about humiliation and shredding human decency than about a random medical check. The kind of men who would take subtle pleasure in seeing malnourished women with stick-figure frames naked, Betsy and Corrie would never understand. Standing there vulnerable in full view to these grinning guards was just one more dimension of humiliation exemplified in this hellish place called Ravensbruck.
Standing there in plain view of her oppressors, the thought came to Corrie. Like an epiphany, a Biblical revelation landed deep in her spirit. "They took his clothes too", she mouthed under her breath. And, then a single tear would follow. Until this moment, Corrie had never fully understood or really known the depth of humiliation that Christ endured at the cross. She reflected on the exact words of the gospel "And they stripped him of his clothes". Jesus had hung naked on the cross for the sins of the world. There was no decency or respect shown to Him. The Son of God hung naked and exposed before a stream of gawking onlookers who hurled insults at him. They took his clothes too.
In that moment Corrie, amidst the pain and horror, found hope and courage in her God. He had suffered her fate. Experienced what she experienced. Felt what she felt. And, in that Corrie found hope.
As I muse over Corrie's story from her autobiography called the "Hiding Place" (a must read), I am wondering what principles we might glean from her Ravensbruck experience. How might her story infrom our own stories in our places of suffering?
Principle #1
It seems to me that there is no possible place of suffering where we find ourselves that Christ himself has not already entered. Our God understands the degradation of being stripped bare for all the world to see. He knows suffering. He knows humiliation. He knows Ravensbruck. Yes, he knows Ravensbruck inside and out. . .and every other hellish place in the world like it. And, we can find solace in the fact that he's been where we are and understands the horror we are presently experiencing. Only in Christianity do we discover a God who has suffered our humiliation and who is able to sympathize with our weakness. Where we are, He has been. Where we are, He is. What a God!
Principle #2
Jesus has not only been where we've been, but has gone through it and come out on the other side victorious. Resurrection points us to the eventual collapse and ultimate defeat of every Ravensbruck on this planet. The resurrection of Chirst offers us hope because although Jesus was naked, he has been clothed again by the Father. Although he suffered humiliation, today He is honored. Although He died, he lives.
Ravensbruck's days are numbered. Today we might find ourselves cold, vulnerable and naked with enemies pointing fingers and defacing our character. But a day will come...and with Jesus Christ has already come...where we will be clothed by the Father. A day is coming says the Lord when justice will reign, God will appear, the worlds Ravensbrucks will disintegrate and those who have placed their hope in Him "will not be found naked" (2 Corinthians 5:3).
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