My father-in-law was a WWII veteran. He was drafted soon after he was married in 1942 and stationed in Germany. He often told people that on the coldest night of his life, he was on the back on a truck in Germany when he received news that his first child was born. What I don’t ever remember hearing about was that he was there when the concentration camps were liberated at the end of the war. He told my son this not long before he died and my son shared it with me.
I have to admit, I was a little conflicted over this revelation. There’s a part of me that would really loved to have talked with him about this and heard a first hand account. And how great would it have been to get him to Story Corps or something like that, where his account could have been preserved for history?
But then I think about the unimaginable atrocities he witnessed. I’m not sure there’s ever been a more glaring example of man’s inhumanity to man (and that’s saying a lot). I suppose the only way you could keep it together after seeing that was to be part of the liberation and know it was finally over. But still, if he didn’t want to talk about it, you have to respect and honor that. (There might be some lessons here for our TMI culture).
When I think about the liberation of the camps, I think that there comes a point when God sees the evil, the darkness, and the spiritual forces of wickedness and says, “That’s enough. There’s not going to be any more of that.” I suppose for some people they wonder why it’s even allowed in the first place and truthfully, I don’t have an answer. I just know that if you go through history and see the evil man has perpetrated, it never goes on endlessly. At some point it always stops.
Maybe that’s one of the ways we’re to look at the resurrection. The crucifixion was a dark moment for mankind. A man whose only crimes were doing right and loving people was paraded through the pretense of a trial and then nailed to a lonely Roman cross while his family and friends watched in horror. (The Romans understood the psychological power of a slow torturous death in full public view). When His life was over His body was placed in the tomb of a friend and watched over by the same forces that had brought about His demise.
Three days later, God said, “That’s enough!” Peter would later tell the crowd gathered in Jerusalem that “it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him,” (Acts 2:24). God saw the evil, the darkness, and the spiritual forces of wickedness and said, “There’s not going to be any more of that,” and brought His Son up from the dead. We’re moving toward a day when all sin, death, and darkness will be obliterated by Him who is light, life, and love. One day our Father will take a look around and say, “That’s enough. There’s not going to be any more of that.” May we live in a way right now that bears witness to the glory that is coming!
A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green 