Nuremberg Courthouse

Hi, I’m Pastor Lutzer, and we are here in Nuremberg, Germany. Behind me is the courthouse where 21 Nazis were tried for war crimes back in 1945 to 1946. What interests us is the fact that these Nazis did not personally commit the murders, but they gave orders, and they were a part of the Nazi system.

There are two very important lessons we can learn here in Nuernberg about these trials:

First of all, the question arose, “What laws are we going to use by which they will be tried?” The Nazis argued that they didn’t break any laws because Hitler had declared the Jews to be “Untermensch,” i.e. “subhuman.” To kill a Jew was not a crime. So by whose laws are they going to be judged? British law? American law?

There was an attorney from the United States by the name of Robert Jackson. He gave a speech in which he said, in effect, that there is a law above the law. What he meant was this: there are transcendent laws which apply to all cultures everywhere at all times. And I would like to argue that those transcendent laws need to be based on a view of God, Who, in His creation, has put in place certain laws, not only laws concerning such things as gravity, but also moral laws that have been instituted by Him. The Bible says in Isaiah 59:14, “And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.” This relates directly to what we are going through in America. If you cut laws off from transcendent values, then anyone can say that this or that is just. Justice can be however you define it. For example, there’s environmental justice, which, of course, is the Green New Deal. There are such things as economic justice, which is socialism, and all kinds of other justices. Everyone does what is just in their own eyes.

The trials here at Nuremberg remind us, as one man said, “Show me your laws, and I will show you your God.” If you believe that there is no authority above the Supreme Court of the United States, then the Supreme Court is God. If you believe that there is no authority above yourself, well, you are God. But here we are to remind ourselves that there are transcendent laws beyond us, and they need to be rooted in divine law and divine authority.

There’s another lesson, and I know that this is going to be shocking. What if I were to tell you that some of these Nazis are going to be in heaven? Now, that sounds so counter-intuitive that it’s difficult for us to grasp. I mean, it’s the scandal of grace. Here’s what happened. The American government decided that they should provide a chaplain for these Nazis. The chaplain came here. He was a very conservative pastor. He administered the sacraments, as he called them. He was a Lutheran man, but believed in faith, in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, and he befriended them. And here’s the surprise: when they had meetings, he discovered that they all could quote the Lord’s Prayer. In other words, these men were brought up in the church of all things.

He decided that he would befriend them. He would share the Gospel with them. If they were unwilling to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Savior, he did not give them the bread and the wine. The chaplain believed that six, perhaps seven, savingly believed on Christ during that time. An amazing story! It’s found in a book entitled Mission at Nuremberg by Tim Townsend. I’m thinking, for example, of Ribbentrop, who was Hitler’s foreign minister. He was the first to be hung here; before he died, though, he said, “I entrust my soul to the Lord Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for my sins.” And he said to the pastor, “I will see you again.”

Now we’re here in Nuremberg, at this very famous courthouse, and as you’ve probably noticed, we’re along a very busy street. But let’s not let the busyness of life keep us from pausing long enough to ask, “What do these trials teach us?” There is much more that they teach us, but one of the lessons, in addition to all the others, is the lesson of amazing grace because God says, “I can forgive a Nazi if he repents of his sins and receives my Son, but I cannot forgive a good, decent citizen who doesn’t receive my Son.” Amazing grace!

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord!
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary’s mount, outpoured;
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilled!

Dark is the stain that we cannot hide.
What can avail to wipe it away?
Look, there is flowing a crimson tide.
Believe it, and you shall be as white as snow!

That’s the good news of the Gospel. Share it with as many people as you possibly can.