The enduring witness of Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Courage of faith in the face of death

Thursday was the 81st anniversary of the death of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was hanged by the Nazi party at Flossenbürg concentration camp in southeastern Germany, near the Czech border, on April 9, 1945.

On April 23, the 90th Infantry Division of the United States Army liberated the camp and found thousands of prisoners near death. They also found records and took prisoners, whom they interrogated. It was through this process that the world would later learn of the tragic death of Bonhoeffer just a few days before the end of the war.

A doctor who had been employed at the camp spoke many years later about the events of the morning of April 9, saying, “I saw Pastor Bonhoeffer, before taking off his prison garb, kneeling on the floor, praying fervently to his God. I was most deeply moved by the way this lovable man prayed, so devout and so certain that God heard his prayer. At the place of execution, he again said a short prayer, and then climbed the steps to the gallows, brave and composed. His death ensued after a few seconds. In the almost fifty years that I worked as a doctor, I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God.”

Several other witnesses said they heard Bonhoeffer's last words, "This is the end – for me the beginning of life."

For many believers, the last moments of Dietrich Bonhoeffer remind us of Philippians 1:21-26:

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless, to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith, that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again.

I believe Bonhoeffer had this passage in mind as he prayed that morning of April 9, 1945. The attitude displayed in the last moments of his life before being violently murdered by evil men gives all of us an example to follow.

There are many evil men in the world today, and millions of our brethren, according to the faith, are living in circumstances where they are at the mercy of these evil men. In Iran, a country that has been in the news a lot these last few weeks, it is a crime punishable by death to confess faith in Jesus Christ. Iranian believers are routinely executed by the Islamic Republic.

Most of them probably never heard of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, but it is likely that as they walk to their appointment with a gallows manned by the Basij militia or Iran's Revolutionary Guards, they have a similar attitude to the one that Bonhoeffer displayed as he walked to the noose prepared for him by his Nazi guards.

That might be one of us soon. Are you ready? Am I?

Admiral Bill Halsey, who commanded American naval forces in the Pacific in WWII, famously said, “There are no great men. There are only great challenges which ordinary men are forced by circumstances to meet.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was not a great man. He lived a rather ordinary life before facing the great challenges presented by WWII and the Holocaust.

Are we ready to rise to the challenges that are coming our way? Are we ready for the violent opposition to the Gospel which so many of our brethren in Iran and elsewhere are already facing?

If anyone doesn’t feel ready, it would be wise to follow the example of Bonhoeffer and pray earnestly, on a daily basis, that God will give him the strength and the faith to face what’s coming.

Pray as Bonhoeffer did, as if you believe that God hears you and will answer your prayers, because He will.