The condemned prisoner was unable to sleep. The first reason he could not sleep was because it was his last night on earth, and he did not want to waste his final hours in needless slumber. The next sunrise would be his last.

The second reason the prisoner could not sleep was because his cell in the Roman Palazzo dell’ Inquisizone was filled with muddy water that came up to his hips! The Tiber River had been flooded for the last twelve hours, and he had no place to lie down, even if he had wanted to. So, the condemned man stood in the water and waited for the light of his last dawn, listening to the many church bells of the city of Rome.

The bells tolled deeply and solemnly, ringing out over the city of seven hills. During the long night, one bell reminded the prisoner John Craig of his native home far, far away. The sound brought back a rush of memories. He remembered his wee home in a Scottish glen near Aberdeen, along with thoughts of his father and mother, his brothers and sisters. He reflected upon his joyful boyhood days, playing amidst the bluebells and heather that adorned his native hills. He remembered his days at the University at St. Andrews and his days as a tutor to a noble family. He recalled the day that he had devoted his life to the service of the Church—the day that he yielded his life to the Dominican Order. He recollected his first journey to the Holy City of Rome, his interview with Cardinal Reginald Pole, and his appointment to the monastery at Bologna.

Craig especially mused about that fateful day when he had been perusing the well-stocked library at the Dominican monastery in Bologna. His eyes had fallen upon a forbidden book, written by a Frenchman, titled The Institutes of the Christian Religion. With much trepidation, he had opened the pages of this book and had begun to read. That book changed his life. He found in its pages the simple truth of the Gospel, the errors of the papacy, the emptiness of the Catholic Mass, and the complete sufficiency of the Savior’s finished work.

Soon, John Craig had embraced the doctrines of the Reformation. He had begun to speak, first in private and then in public, in favor of the new reform. Some of his brother monks at Bologna had listened, but others had reported him to the Inquisition. Craig had been quickly tried, defrocked, and sentenced to be burned to death at the stake.

Craig’s condemnation had brought him to Rome, to the Palazzo dell’ Inquisizone. As he stood, reminiscing on his past, Craig heard a new and growing intensity in the peals of the church bells. No longer were they merely sounding the hours. Some great occasion, some notable event, had occurred!

He waded through the water to get to the window and look out. The lurid glare of fiery flames reflected on the floodwaters of the Tiber, giving the scene an eerie glow. In the distance, he could hear shouts.

Unbeknownst to the imprisoned Reformer, the sitting pope Paul IV had died the evening before. Now the people of Rome were in an uproar. Paul IV had been a very unpopular pope. The people of Rome were in the streets giving vent to their joy. They seized the marble statue of Pope Paul IV from its place in the Piazza del Campidoglio! Performing a mock trial, the people then dragged it through the streets and decapitated the statue before casting it into the Tiber.

The imprisoned Reformer heard the shouts getting nearer and nearer, not knowing what all the noise and clamor was about. As part of the celebration, the people stormed and sacked the Palazzo dell’ Inquisizone. The people of Rome thus released the Reformer on the very day that he would have died a martyr’s death at the stake. The goodness of God, demonstrated in a surprising way by the death of a pope and a riot in the streets, had set the imprisoned Craig free!

Thus, freed unexpectedly, he slipped out of the tumultuous city before the fickle crowds could be subdued by the forces of order. Craig headed toward the Alps, hoping to make it to Protestant territory before he was overtaken by the Inquisition.

The first dramatic event of his flight occurred in the outskirts of Rome. An Italian soldier searching for the escaped prisoners found a group of them resting for the night in an old, abandoned building. John Craig was among them. In the providence of God, this particular soldier had once been in need and had come to the imprisoned Reformer for help. Remembering Craig’s kindness toward him, the soldier intentionally ignored the refugees for the sake of the one who had befriended him.

Then, a few weeks later, on a lonely mountain road in the Italian Alps, an even more remarkable event took place. As John Craig was resting by a pond, wondering how he was to continue his journey without provisions, he was approached by a large, black dog. The dog determinedly approached the Reformer. Craig noticed that the dog carried a bag in its mouth. The canine deposited the bag into the Reformer’s hand and then walked on, its mission accomplished. As Craig’s trembling hands opened the bag, he found that it was a purse filled with gold!

John Craig never saw the dog again. The Jesuits who later heard the incredible story of their enemy’s deliverance claimed that, since the beast was black, the dog must have been the devil in canine form! The Protestants all united in ascribing the deliverance to the Lord, Who proclaims that “every beast of the forest is mine.” The Lord Who opened the mouth of the donkey, Who summoned the ravens to feed Elijah near the brook Cherith, Who rode the unbroken colt into Jerusalem, is the same Lord Who, in a display of His consistent goodness, sent the dog to the assistance of His servant.

The Lord of men—and of dogs too!—had more work for Craig to perform. The Reformer safely crossed the Alps, using the gold to defray expenses along the way. He went to Germany and eventually made his way back to his native Scotland.

Craig reached Scotland in 1561, just as his native land was openly embracing the Reformed faith. The returning exile was joyfully welcomed by John Knox, who made him his colleague in Edinburg. John Craig was appointed minister at Holyrood Palace, and he assisted Knox in opposing the popery of Mary Queen of Scots.

Craig also served as the assistant to Knox at the Kirk of St. Giles, standing shoulder to shoulder with him for a decade. John Howie, the author of The Scots Worthies, said of John Craig that he was “a bold opposer of every encroachment made upon the crown and dignity of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

On one occasion, the Earl of Arran, a great enemy of the Reformation, mocked Craig, calling him a “false friar.” John Craig replied calmly, “Mock the servants of God as thou wilt, God will not be mocked, but shall make thee find it in earnest, when thou shall be cast down from the high horse of thy pride, and humbled.” A few short years after this bold prediction, the Earl of Arran was thrown from his horse in battle! His corpse was eaten by dogs and swine before it could be buried. God thus vindicated His faithful servant John Craig.

For the remainder of his long and active life, John Craig preached truth, rebuked error, taught children, rendered the psalms of David into meter for the Scottish psalter, and wrote a very popular catechism. He married a Godly woman named Marion Small, and the Lord blessed them with three children.

The most enduring service ever rendered by Craig was performed in 1580, when he authored a short declaration of the Reformed faith for the young prince James. It was called “The King’s Confession.” King James lived to repudiate and despise it, but this short, bold document became the core of one of the most important documents in Scottish history, the “National Covenant,” and was expanded and embraced by the following generation in 1638.

John Craig died sometime around the age of 88. He rejoiced to see the triumph of the Gospel in his native land. To his dying day, he never forgot how the Lord had dramatically displayed His goodness in delivering him from his enemies and bringing him home to Scotland again, using even a black dog to accomplish His purposes!

Sources and Further Reference:

Howie, John. The Scots Worthies. Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1996.