Dirk Saves his Enemy

 

The Martyrs Mirror, first published in 1660 by Thieleman J. van Braght, records the account of Dutch Anabaptist Dirk Willem's capture, escape, recapture and death. Dirk was one of many fugitive Christians, called Anabaptists, arrested and imprisoned in the early years of the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century.

But Dirk Willems made good his escape from the prison tower. He tied together strips of cloth to make a rope, which he used to slide down the prison wall. But as he set out across the countryside, a guard spotted him and gave chase. In Dirk's path of escape was an ice-covered pond. He took the risk and crossed the thin ice safely. But his pursuer broke through the ice into the frigid water.

Was this God's rescue? Had God indeed delivered him from his enemies? For Dirk it was a call to help someone in need. He dared to believe Jesus's teaching to love even one's enemies. He turned back and rescued the guard-his enemy. Dirk was arrested again and placed in a more secure prison. He was later burned at the stake near his native village, Asperen, in 1569.

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See Mirror of the Martyrs by John S. Oyer and Robert S. Kreider (Good Books, 1990) pp. 36-37, and The Bloody Theater or Martyrs Mirror by Thieleman J. van Braght (Herald Press, 1977) pp. 741-742.