The fifth and sixth names almost indicate the reward and the good that those who are in the kingdom of Christ will have. I would have liked to have translated it "Eternal Father" and would also have been fine; but it is now customary that God the Father and not Christ is understood by it; and the same God the Father is therefore called Eternal Father, that he is eternal for his person and for his being and lives forever. But this King shall therefore be called Eternal Father, that he is eternal to us and for us, as I have said that these
six names are all attributed to him for our sake and for the sake of his office, not for the sake of his person. Therefore Christ should be called Eternal Father in his kingdom, that he always and forever keeps and proves himself fatherly towards us, and childlike begets and nourishes us; therefore I would not know how to translate it better than to say, Always Father, as he always and forever keeps himself fatherly towards us. Although this is necessary, if he is to be fatherly to us always and forever, he must also live forever for himself. For a father in the flesh, though he hold himself fatherly toward his children, yet he cannot do so long; he must die, and leave his children behind him, and command others; therefore he cannot be called an ever-father, nor can he be called a father of a moment; for he is certain of nothing more than a moment of the time of his life.
(66) But this king never dies, nor leaves his children behind, but keeps them all for himself, and they must live with him forever. The fact that he is called Father shows how he not only begets his own, but also nurtures, clothes, teaches, chastises, provides for and prepares an inheritance for them. If they sin, he punishes them fatherly, but does not throw them away; just as a father in the flesh raises, punishes, cares for, loves, and keeps his child, and does not throw it away if it is unclean, grimy, or otherwise weak. So Christ does much more with His own, and that forever: beginning here in faith, and there in revelation. And summa, this name means that of which St. Paul says to the Romans Cap. 5:3, 4, 5: "We glory in tribulations, because we know that tribulation brings patience; but patience brings experience; and experience brings hope; but hope does not put to shame." For as Christians are well trained by the foregoing names in suffering, in consolation, in victory and in strife against sin, they gain from all this a certain hope in God, that they may be children and never be forsaken. Such hope is now the work and fruit of this name, that through so many exercises they gain a childlike heart toward God, and God will give them
so inwardly sweet and lovely that there remains no fear, but only glory and defiance in God. Because these things are accomplished by Christ in His kingdom, He is called the Ever-Father.
67 The 48th Psalm, v. 15, also sings of such fatherly rule in the kingdom of Christ. and speaks thus: "This God is our God forever, he leads us like the youth", that is: as youth is brought out in the home, where parents bring out their children themselves, there it is fatherly and motherly; And this endures forever and ever, that he may be called father forever and mother forever, and we sons forever, daughters forever; and that he may not deal with us as he did with Moses' people, who were a servile people, not in filial love, but in servile fear, with chastisements, punishments and choking, They did nothing out of a voluntary spirit or a good heart, but everything out of necessity and compulsion, so that their lord might well be called always executioner or always master of the stocks; For there is neither fatherly nor childlike rule or nature, but vain executionerly and peelish rule, since the executioner is father; as they say: He who will not hear father and mother must hear the executioner.
68 And especially is this name comforting in the last trouble, when we are to die, that we may not despair, but know whither we go; for the lodging is well appointed, and go out of these! Life into the hands of the Father, yes, into the bosom of the Father. For we must not fear to fall into the hangman's or the devil's snare; Christ is there as an everlasting Father, waiting to receive us. Who then will be afraid of his dear Father, who waits for us so kindly? There is a certain leap to be made from this life to that. Oh how blessed we would be if we believed this, as it is certainly true. Therefore the rhyme and saying among Christians is not true, when one says: I live, and do not know how long; I die, and do not know when; I go, and do not know where? I am surprised that I am so happy. Let all unbelievers say these things.
But a Christian knows well where he is going, namely, into the bosom of a father. But a Christian knows well where he is going, namely, into the bosom of his Father. He also knows how long he will live and when he will die, because he is already dead and has died to the world, and does not consider life to be anything. Therefore it is a wonder where he is not happy, and it is such a wonder that the wicked can be happy. But as the joy of the wicked is never right in the heart, so the mourning of a Christian is never right in the heart.
Sarsalom, Prince of Peace.
69. not as the world gives peace; otherwise the first names would be nothing, since he is called Wonderful, Counsel, and Power: but in the sight of God in conscience, which peace increases, and is so much stronger, as the suffering is greater and more. For peace comes from feeling like children and knowing the eternal Father, so that we may be sure and certain of His grace and have a more comforting access than to our dear Father. And how finely the six names follow one another. First, how Christ governs us in suffering, for ourselves and against ourselves, the first three names show; then how he governs us against others, to contend with strength, the fourth name shows; but the last two show how he governs us against himself. In the first there is toil, in the second toil, but in the third there is rest, peace and joy; for he who suffers has toil, he who fights has toil, but he who rests has peace. This is the right Solomon and peace kingdom, which makes us rich not with temporal good or peace, but with spiritual and eternal peace even in the midst of strife. For these six names with their work go together at the same time in one Christian, and none remains from the other.
70 And is not called badly kingdom of peace, as Solomon, but "prince of peace", Sarsalom, that peace is in his power, as a prince and lord, who is so mighty of peace in his kingdom, that he gives it to all his own, so that no one can break it nor take it away; but keeps the very finest safest guard against devil, death, sin.
and all the gates of hell, so that sin will not frighten us in the sight of God, so that His judgment and wrath will not strike us, so that the devil and death will not take hold of us: this is called a true ruler of peace or prince of peace. Worldly rulers also keep peace, but they often lack it, for they cannot be at all ends and ward off all hours or moments. Therefore they might be called kingdoms of peace, but they cannot be princes of peace even in the outward government before men, I will be silent in the spiritual government before God; for they are not so master and mighty of peace, it is sometimes broken and taken away, though the government is most severe. But our Lord is at all ends, and watches every moment, and can mightily keep the peace, as the 121st Psalm v. 4. says: "Behold, he sleepeth not, nor slumbereth, that keepeth Israel." And summa, Christ's kingdom is all peace; for God does them all good and no harm; so they do not harm one another, but all good. Thus the enemies can do no harm; for the Christians suffer gladly. Christ, the Prince of Peace, keeps this peace powerfully all around and through.
(71) There we have the six names of our king, which picture his kingdom, how it is a strange kingdom, and nothing must be worldly and visible, but spiritual and invisible. From this it follows that these names together prove that this king must be true God and man, and must also rise from the dead; just as almost all the Scriptures that speak of Christ's kingdom include the fact that he is God and man, and that he must die and rise from the dead. For because he is born a child, he must be a natural man in this bodily life like all other men, walking temporally and externally, eating, drinking, speaking, doing, suffering, dying etc. For it must be true that he says, "A child is born to us." But that which is born is mortal and must die. Again, because he shall reign so strangely, and have altogether a spiritual, invisible kingdom, that he shall bear it upon his shoulder, and in dying, and in afflictions, and in all things that are contrary to reason, and to the flesh, he shall be the kingdom of God.
He cannot be in the temporal, bodily life when he reigns, but must have a spiritual, invisible being; therefore he must rise again from death, and change this mortal life, in which he is born, into an immortal one, in which he is to be king and reign. Thus the two things, that he be born, and yet be king invisibly for ever, compel him to die, and yet to live for ever.
(72) Furthermore, because his power is to be an eternal Father, to be the eternal Lord of peace, and in addition, in the midst of death, to keep, help and counsel sin, hell and devils, and to overcome the adversaries, he must have divine power in himself, for no one is Lord of peace or powerful without God alone. No one can help in death but God alone; no one can overcome devils and all things but God alone; nor can there be peace unless all these things are overcome. Since these are all divine works and deeds that are attributed to this king in these sayings and names, the faith that believes the prophecy of Isaiah to be true compels that this king is true and the right natural God; and yet he must be a true man, because the saying stands there and says, "A child is born to us." This is Jesus Christ our Lord, the Son of God by nature and the Son of Mary according to the flesh. Blessed are all who believe it, for the Scriptures do not lie or deceive us. Continue in the prophecy:
That his dominion may be great, and that there may be no end of peace, upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom.
(73) Here Isaiah himself interprets the names, that they do not refer to the person, but to the office. For if thou askest, Wherefore then shall he be so called, and have such names? he answers and saith, For this cause, that his dominion may be great. Say not, For this cause, that he might sit on high for himself in glory; for there he must not have a name to preach of; he hath it without a name, without preaching, and without us. But he does not have us without such names and preaching;
For he must fetch us by the word and bring us into his kingdom, therefore he must lead such names and works in us and with us. But his kingdom is made great by the fact that Christians increase and grow daily from the beginning of the gospel to the end of the world; for this kingdom also is of a kind and nature that it always increases and grows, since the gospel neither celebrates nor rests, but runs in one course and spreads out into all the world until the last day comes. No kingdom or dominion of this kind has ever come into the earth, always increasing; they all decrease and come to nothing in the end, so that this one kingdom may have the name of always increasing and growing or becoming great.
74 And yet it is marvelous, and contrary to all reason: for against this kingdom are all the kingdoms, and against all the earth, as the other psalm saith, that it seemeth as if it were a perishing and a diminished kingdom; because the outward appearance thereof is nothing else, but death and suffering of all men; that reason must say that the manner thereof is in decline and perishing: but it is found in the end. Jerusalem was a mighty city, which together with the whole Judaism set itself against the Christians with great earnestness and violence; there were few of the Christians and many of the Jews, so that their kingdom might have been called an increasing kingdom; but how did it go? For more than thirty years there was not one stone upon another at Jerusalem, and Judaism was nothing; the Jews were scattered abroad: then the Christians were not left alone, but multiplied among all the Gentiles. Rome was the greatest kingdom, and was also against the poor little kingdom of Christ; but it was not long after, that Rome and her kingdom lay in ashes, and the Christians were spread abroad. That is, his kingdom is to be miraculously multiplied by the miraculous works of the six names: therefore it must all be understood and experienced in faith, just as it is all spoken and prophesied in the Spirit.
76 Therefore there shall be no end of peace, because the kingdom standeth: but it standeth for ever, as it is said. No kingdom has ever had such peace, and so it is.
not a physical peace, but a spiritual one, as I have heard. And though the increase or multiplication of the kingdom shall cease at the last day, when the number of the elect shall be fulfilled, yet peace shall not cease, but shall endure for ever without end; that is, there shall be everlasting joy and gladness in this kingdom, which begins here in faith and endures until there. For from this word it is forcibly concluded that the last day and resurrection of the dead must come. We see that all the holy prophets have died, Isaiah himself also, and the Christians all die; and yet it is said of them all that this child is born to them, the Son is given to them, he shall be their King, and they shall be in his kingdom and have peace forever and ever. Now he is not the king of the dead, but of the living; so the dead also may not need eternal peace: so it follows that they must all live, that is, rise from death, and live ready for him, as Christ says in Matthew Cap. 22, 32: "God is not God of the dead, but of the living"; for they all live to Him.
(76) Thus all the sayings of the Scriptures concerning the kingdom of Christ, when they are rightly considered, conclude that not only must Christ rise from the dead and be both man and God, but that all men must also rise from the dead; for since he is to be king forever, he must be powerful of death and of sins, which compels him to be God, because these things belong to God alone. But because he is to be a born man, it is compulsory that he must die and yet rise again, so that he may be king for eternity; for a dead man cannot be king. But if the saints are to have peace in his kingdom without end, they must also rise from the dead, because Christ cannot be King of the dead, and yet they all die. Therefore the damned must also rise from the dead, so that they may receive their reward and be put under his feet as his enemies, Ps. 110:1, so that he may be judge and Lord over the living and the dead.
77 This is also confirmed by the following text, which says: "Let this peace be without end on the throne of David and on his throne.
n kingdom. Now it is well known that David's throne and kingdom were not among the angels, but on earth over men, that is, over the people of Israel and surrounding Gentiles; so this king's people must also belong to the same David's throne. But David was not king for ever, nor might he have an everlasting kingdom; therefore this text enjoins that the same kingdom which David had bodily and temporally should endure and remain under this king spiritually and forever. Now that they have died and are still dying who belong to David's kingdom, they must certainly rise again from the dead, so that they may live forever under this king and possess his eternal peace.
Behold, the Scriptures prove so secretly and so powerfully, 1 Corinthians 16, that all men must rise from the dead, and Christ first, as King for and over all; that St. Paul says, 2 Timothy 2:8, "Let him remember that Christ died and rose again according to the Scriptures," as if to say, "It is such an incredible and strange thing that where the Scriptures are not followed, reason cannot tolerate it, nor would any man believe it.
79 But here someone might say, "Where are we Gentiles who did not belong to David's kingdom? Shall we also not enter Christ's kingdom and only the Jews be saved? Answer: In his prophecy, Isaiah keeps the custom of all other Scriptures and promises the Jews Christ alone and his kingdom. For Christ was promised to the Jews alone, as Abraham's seed, but he was not made to the Jews alone; as St. Paul says to the Romans Cap. 15, 8: "I say that Christ was the servant of the circumcision, to confirm the promise and the truth of God; but that the Gentiles praise God for mercy." Now according to the promise Christ is only of the Jews, but according to the enjoyment he is of the whole world. There had to be a special people among all peoples to whom he was promised, because he could not be born of all peoples and seeds; but he had to be given not only to the same people, but to all the world. Therefore
There are other sayings that indicate how Christ should also be given to the Gentiles, even though he is not promised to them; Isaiah does not speak of this here, but said above when he said: "You make little of the joys, because you make so much of the people. But here he speaks of the promised king, yes, he promises the king to the people of Israel, as the throne and kingdom of David.
That He may judge and strengthen with judgment and righteousness from henceforth even unto eternity.
80 This king shall not die and leave heirs behind him, as David did; but he himself shall remain a king forever and ever, and shall also hold the kingdom forever. This testifies to the resurrection of the dead and eternal life. But he should do this, not with weapons nor with horses, as worldly kings do, but with judgment and righteousness, and from now on, when he is in prison, he shall rise and last forever. What judgment and righteousness mean is often said, as in the Psalterlein and other oterns more.
81 And the summary is brief: Christ shall first order, arrange and establish his kingdom, that it may stand and walk in good judgment, that the people therein may avoid sin and all unrighteousness, and be rid of it, that is, the "judgment" which stultifies and punishes all. injustice. On the other hand, that he may keep it, strengthen it, refresh it,
where it is poor that the people who are inside are pious and righteous, holy and blameless, that is the "righteousness". Of course, he must do all this with his Holy Spirit, who makes new men. For since all men are sinners and vain false liars, they are not at all fit for his kingdom, in which there are to be only the righteous, the pious and the holy. And this is also what he means when he says that he, the king, should "create" that his kingdom has vain righteousness and piety and that the people are pious and holy, so that they themselves do not become pious and righteous in his kingdom by their works, but he himself corrects and strengthens them by his work and spirit. This happens when they believe in him and let him work with his word and spirit.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
82. Why not thus: Such will the grace and mercy of God do? Is it grace and not zeal? Answer: It is said this way, that God sees the false teachers and false prophets who refuse to make the people righteous with laws and works, so that faith and God's promise are destroyed with all of Christ. God is therefore displeased by this, so that he has to bring his word and Christ's kingdom out of a zeal, so that the faith and his promise will be preserved and the people will not be shamefully deceived, amen.