By Austin B. Tucker
Two of the most-often
told episodes in the life of Knox come from these nineteen months of cruel bondage.
Once a priest presented the slaves with a painted image of the Virgin Mary to
kiss. Knox begged to be excused saying "Trouble me not. Such an idol is accursed,
and therefore I will not touch it.” They violently forced the icon into his
hands and pushed it to his face. He tossed it overboard, saying: "Let our Lady
now save herself. She is light enough; let her learn to swim."6
The other incident
happened while they were anchored in sight of the spire of St. Andrews parish
church where he preached his first sermon. His companions thought he was near
death. A fellow slave asked him if he thought he would ever see that chapel
again. He answered: "By the grace of God, I will yet again preach there."7 Knox
gained his freedom in 1549 through the intervention of King Edward VI, the remarkable
ten-year-old "British Josiah." The reformer accepted appointment as chaplain
to the young monarch and as one of six itinerating preachers. He served five
years in the court of that "most godly king of England" until Edward died of
poison at age fifteen.8
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Knox spent about
ten years in voluntary exile preaching in Germany, Switzerland and France with
occasional trips to England and Scotland. He spoke English, French, and German
as well as his native Lowland Scots language. He was also capable of reading
his Bible in the original languages. In 1559 Knox returned to his very troubled
homeland and the next year personally led the reformation forces to a military
victory. He also deserves credit for the triumph of Calvinism in Scotland and
for what became the Presbyterian Church. After Mary Stuart came to the throne
in 1560, Knox was arrested, tried for treason, and acquitted. He spent his last
years in Edinburgh and St. Andrews and died at home in old age.
F. W. Boreham’s
sermonic essay on “John Knox’s Text” tells us how he died. As the end neared,
Knox said to his wife, “Go, read where I cast my first anchor!” She needed
no more explicit directions to find and read John 17, including especially those
words of verse 3 “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only
true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” Shortly after that, his servant,
Richard Bannatyne, asked if his master might give them some signal as the end
approached that he still had the hope of glory described in that chapter. Knox
agreed. Soon afterward, the dying man heard the servant’s question. “He raised
a clay-cold finger, and pointed to the sky."9
The Preaching of
John Knox
Study of Knox,
the reformer, has largely eclipsed study of Knox, the preacher. One reason surely
is that almost none of his sermons in manuscript have come down to us. Perhaps
only one or two true sermons, a few other addresses and summary reports of sermons
are available. Richard Kyle’s recent study is one with a very helpful chapter
on Knox as a preacher.