of the holy apostle and evangelist.
John 21:19-24.
The Lord said to Peter, "Follow me. And Peter turned, and saw the disciple following, whom JEsu loved, who also lay at his breast at supper, and said, Lord, who is he that betrayeth thee? And when Peter saw him, he saith unto JESUS, Lord, what is this? JESUS saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is it to thee? Follow me. And there went forth a saying among the brethren: This disciple does not die. And Jesus said not unto him, He dieth not: but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? This is the disciple that testifieth of these things, and hath written these things; and we know that his testimony is true.
This gospel is easy, and you now understand it well, praise God, because you have heard enough these days about what the gospel holds. But let us also say a little about this gospel, so that we may see an example of the previous teaching, and feel how it agrees everywhere.
2 In the first place, in this gospel we are given a clear teaching, which we should take to heart, because Christ says to John, "Follow me," and does not want him to see where John is staying, so that he may keep him on the right and straight path and follow him. Now you have heard this often, that every man should wait for the state in which he is. It is a faithful sermon, but no one wants to grasp it. Then the world has preached again and again, they have said much about the virginity of Mary, and have set up examples of the saints and much worship, and have preached that it is good works and delicious things; And especially this thing has been so highly exalted among the people, as if it were the most delicious work, if one held virginity, which they have so highly exalted, that almost no sermon has been, one has said about it, and so many examples of the saints have been drawn up, that one can almost not name them all.
(3) In the same way they have dealt with other works; every one has undertaken the work of a saint, so that one can
He put Christ out of his sight and went after men, thinking it was nothing that he said to Petro: "Follow me. Therefore it was not the least pity that the saints were set forth as examples. One should not preach to the people that they should follow the saints and follow in the same footsteps, for they have walked in [various unequal *] outward ways and works. Neither should any man provoke any man to virginity; neither should any man follow after him, when he might well do it, or do it better. How then? So do as Christ says. He says to Peter, "Peter, follow me," as if he were saying, "Watch me, what I say to you. Christ has actually made a road for him to stay in, so that he may do what God has commanded him to do and wait for his calling.
(4) So shall every man do unto him. A married man, who was not created by his own choice, but by God to be a man, when he came to him and said, "This is not a good estate, it is laborious, full of misery and distress," opened his eyes and looked at the estate of the virgins, and thought: This is a holy estate, there is neither trouble nor fear, you want to accept the same estate: then he fetches and falls on it, accepts the same estate, and thinks he has done well.
*) (c d)
It is almost helpful to preach the lives and works of the saints. He should feed his wife and child, teach them and bring them up in a chaste Christian life: then he follows the others. Then it is time to say, "You fool, do you not know what God has commanded you? follow him and do it diligently. You have heard this many times, and I have preached it many times; but take care that you do not grow weary of it, that you do not feel disgusted with it, as the Jews did with the bread of heaven, Numbers 11:6. It is always the same, but it cannot be preached sufficiently: it would be good if it were said daily and dealt with daily, for much is at stake and much is offended by it.
(5) As it is with the man, so it is with the woman. Her office is to be the husband's helpmate, Genesis 2:18, to raise children and keep house; this is what she was called to do and what she was created for by God. If she were to go away and fall into another state, that is, if she were to remain a virgin and leave this profession, I say that if the woman could become so pure and much purer than all the angels in heaven, she would still be of no use, for all this would be nothing better than her works. In that she suckles the children and waits for them, she does worse than another woman who does not wait for her work, even if you do the greatest works. If you do not, God will say to you, "You have done nothing that I commanded you. Unless he would have you specially exempted from this work of begetting children, he will tell you, and you will feel it well, Matt. 19:12; otherwise, by the common bank, it is decreed that you shall beget children and be your husband's helpmate; let that be well pleasing to you. Therefore see to it that every man abide in his estate, and do not reject the same; they are all worthy works, if they proceed by faith. This is the first thing Christ teaches us in this gospel.
(6) The other part, that this word is particularly applied to Peter, is an example to us. He was commanded to follow the Lord. Where should he follow him?
gen? Where the Lord goes. Christ had told him hard before, when he said to him, "Peter, do you love me?" He said three times, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Then said Christ unto him, Feed my lambs, shepherd my sheep. And again he said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and lead thee whither thou wouldest not go. But this he said," saith the evangelist, "to signify with what death he would praise God," Joh. 21, 15-19. Now these words are soon followed by his saying unto him, "Follow me." There the Lord also expresses the piece why he should die; for Christ himself had to die: therefore we must all follow him, must all go by it, must all tread this path, into death; but we do not all follow him.
(7) Now this is the following, that we may be like-minded above the Lord Christ, that we may so pass through and die, as he hath taken death upon himself. When God comes and says, "You must die," then you should be ready, without any argument, and say, "Yes, Lord, here I am; do with me as you will. But this will be hard, because someone else will lead you, since you do not like to go. That is why he said here that we all have to go, unless someone is specially exempted, as Christ says here of John to Petro, when he asked, "Lord, what is this? Then said the Lord, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is it to thee?" though he does not say openly that he shall not die. It will get sour in our nostrils, but that should help and comfort us that Christ Himself was terrified of it, Hebr. 5, 2; as He well proved at the Mount of Olives, when He sweated bloody sweat over it, and heartily begged with all earnestness, if it were possible, God the Father would take such suffering and dying from Him, Luc. 22, 42. It also got sour to Petro, but He gave it to Petro; as He also wants to give it to us out of grace, even if it gets hard for us. We should not be so weak, but such weakness is a gift.
For he knows how we are, he has also tried us; therefore he is able to see through our fingers, even though we do not like to be led into it, and it hurts and turns sour. But that we may stretch forth our hands, and be obedient, as he was obedient to his Holy Father; but this no man can do, unless he have a piece of faith. That is enough about this part; we will also say something about the secret interpretation; for St. John has a special delight before other evangelists, that he likes to deal with spiritual secret interpretations.
Secret interpretation.
Augustine interpreted it in this way, that the two disciples mean two lives, a real and contemplative life. Many people have written a lot about this and there is a large mass of books. The clergy, especially those in the monasteries, boast that they lead a contemplative life and know as much about a contemplative life as a goose does about the Psalter. Therefore let this go, our Lord God has not commanded you to sit and strive upward to heaven, as they make believe that this is a contemplative life, but that one should live according to the rote life of faith, love and the cross.
(9) Therefore, let us interpret it differently, that the contemplative life belongs to faith, the real life to love, that every man may be taught of it, not that it may be drawn into a corner. God does not deal with His teaching in such a way that it is so narrow that it applies only to some people and not to all. For if it should not concern everyone, he knows how to draw some out, as when he says about virginity. Therefore, if one does not preach about the contemplative and real life, one should not accept it. For as every man is guilty of believing, so he is also guilty of having the contemplative life; and as every man is guilty of loving, so he is also guilty of leading the real life.
*) Instead of "lush" have c d "about you". D. Red.
(10) Now what the contemplative life is, John shows; the other, what is real, is seen in Petro. Faith is such a thing that it justifies everywhere. This is the true contemplative life, to which the eyes, tongues, hands, feet, and everything that is external in heaven and earth cannot reach; therefore this happens without any works, it is not my work, but God's; nothing belongs to it, but the word, which makes faith in the heart, as Paul says Rom. 10, 17, that faith comes from preaching, and this is a contemplative being. But such a contemplative life is not idle; it contemplates everything that is in heaven and on earth. The Gospel says: "This is the disciple whom the Lord Jesus loved, who also lay on his breast at supper, saying, Lord, who is he that betrayeth thee? In all these words the right kind of faith is shown.
11) First, that the disciple has no name, does not call himself, only says: "whom Jesus loved", means that faith makes no name. All other lives have names, but this state is completely nameless, no title can be given to it. If I ask what a Christian is, I cannot say he is otherwise or so; I cannot say he wears a cap or is legitimate, is man or woman, servant or master, Jew or Greek; there is none of these things that I can see or hear; I cannot assign to him an outward thing, which all have a name of works; all ranks have their title and name, but this one has no name. This is the first thing, how faith is of a kind that it is separated from all works, that no work can help it, but one must believe and be justified without work alone.
12) Secondly, it is the disciple whom the Lord loved. Did he not love the others also? Answer: This is the disciple who is a figure of faith. Christ loveth no man not, but he that hath faith: he loveth no man by works, but by the word only: he that believeth by faith loveth him.
13. on the third, it is the one that in the evening
had lain on the Lord's breast. Why does he say in the evening? The morning is that life after the resurrection; therefore the life before the last day is at the end of the world, sint the time when the gospel went forth. Therefore St. Paul says in 1 Cor. 10, 11 that we are the ones on whom the end of the world has come. In the evening are the believers, whom Christ reigns through faith in the heart.
Item 14: It is not on the lap, not in the arm, not on the neck, but on the breast of Christ; this is probably the best part of faith. It is the righteous way of faith, how it is formed and how it feels. The fact that John is lying on Christ's breast is certainly a great confidence that he is well provided for and with him, that he does not fear that he will strike him on the head. So he who has true faith misses and relies on all the treasure that Christ has, that through faith he may gain all the good things that he has, that he may be at ease with him, that he may not provoke him to anger.
(15) The epistle that was read today is based on this, where the wise man says: "Whoever holds on to righteousness will take hold of it, and it will meet him as an honest mother," Sirach 15:1, 2. Righteousness is faith; whoever holds on to it will gain a blessed confidence in God, as a child has in an honest mother. If a woman is honest, she loves her child very much; the child seeks no greater love than for its mother: so it is between God and the soul. And says further in the epistle: "As a virgin woman, she will receive him", that is, as a young bride who has not been a legitimate wife before. This is a great love and a great faith: no love is greater than the love of a bride; as you can see that she leaves her father and mother before she leaves her bridegroom. There is such a bride, he says, who has not had a husband before: as she has a heart for the bridegroom, as they have a favor for each other and there is vain love, such a heart also wins faith toward God. This is actually that this disciple lies on the breast of the Lord.
(16) Thus the evangelist shows that it is a great and precious thing, and a fine thing, for the conscience to have such confidence in God. It rests on Christ's breast, there it cannot perish; if it already stumbles, he can well provide for it and help it to get up again; for there he restores its confidence as often as it is necessary, because it rests on the breast; that is, a Christian life is a quite tranquil life and being, knows everything and has all God's wisdom. Thus St. Paul often praises faith and the Christian life when he says of rich great wisdom and knowledge. And therefore faith is called wisdom and understanding, that it judges all things and knows all things, as St. Paul says in 1 Cor. 2:15: "The spiritual," that is, he who has faith in Christ, "judges all things, and is judged by no one." Where faith is, it can pass judgment on all external things, it knows what God has in mind, what the devil has in mind and what he has in mind, as St. Paul says again 2 Cor. 2, 11.
17 This is not to be understood that he knows what God thinks he will do tomorrow, or what he wants to do with this or that; but rather that he knows and acts according to what serves salvation and what is pleasing to him. Thus St. Paul says in 1 Cor. 2:10: "The spirit searches all things, even the depths of the Godhead"; item, v. 16: "We have the mind and understanding of Christ"; whatever mind he has, we also have. This is to be understood, as said, that we may know and inquire into those things which are for our blessedness. This mind and understanding is faith, that without all works he must be saved by the word alone; according to it he can judge all things, what is right or wrong; so he also knows all the thoughts and plots of the devil, where they are directed, namely, that he wants to dampen and destroy faith and God's word, and what is necessary for salvation, he knows all that. This alone is the knowledge that I know God's will, what is pleasing to Him; then I can say whether it is right or not. That is why John is on Christ's breast: all understanding and wisdom flow from Christ, so that he also has all wisdom.
This is quite a contemplative life: they are not flying thoughts, but a certain realization.
18 What is this, that he asked who he was that should betray Christ? This means that false doctrine and false works are not known to anyone except by faith, and yet not until he investigates them and pays attention to them. For Christ proclaimed that false doctrine would so break in and be so great that even the elect, if it were possible, would be deceived into error, Matt. 24:24, as many holy fathers were. One must be careful to ask about this, otherwise false doctrine will not be easily recognized. For this reason the apostles diligently admonished that one should be careful about this, Rom. 16, 17, 18; for false doctrine does not remain outside as soon as right doctrine comes in. The disciple who diligently inquires about it is told that others cannot condemn or judge false doctrine, for it seems too much, even that it comes in under the name of right doctrine. Apost. 20, 28. Matth. 7, 15. 2 Petr. 2, 1.
019 And what is it that Christ gives to Judaizers a morsel of bread, which he dips in the dish? That is, these same traitors also have God's word; [for they eat the very bread that the others eat *]. But it is dunked, it is adulterated, and it is painted a color that God did not make. It is indeed a sound and pure morsel: but they eat it dipped, and take away its proper taste, and give it another; as when they say, Christ saith Matt. 16:18, "Thou art Peter, and upon the rock I will build my church or congregation"; Peter is called the pope, and upon the pope Christ built the church. Item, when they say: "Obedience is better than sacrifice", 1 Sam. 15, 22.; obedience means to be obedient to the abbot, prior, or guardian; and other sayings more, which they point to their deeds and human finds.
20. with the sign Christ has indicated the faith; who are the false teachers,
*) (c d)
and how no one speaks of them except those who believe. Therefore he is also called Judas. It is a glorious name and the best name among all disciples, is as much as a confessor who confesses God, who praises and thanks God. These are the false shining saints and false teachers, especially those who betray Christ, who daily deal with God's service and word, are true Judas, have the most beautiful appearance, the most beautiful name, they may not be called anything else than spiritual people and who deal with God, have also excluded themselves from the others for this reason, so that they are considered as if they were God's right and chosen people.
21 It is also written that Judas is called Iscarioth, that is, wages. For there are such fellows who do not lead a righteous faith, but build on works, and want to storm heaven with God, they are all of the kind that they are belly servants and wage servants, as St. Paul says Phil. 3, 19. For all their worship is directed and instituted to fill the belly; when that is over and they have no more, they serve no more. But the Glanbe does not do this, saying, "I will not have money or wages for this; I will do it for nothing. So the false teachers and saints of works have a fine name, but with a fine right addition.
22 From this it is clear that we have all been mistaken, that we have trusted and insisted so much on the works; for who would have gone into a monastery if he had known that it was fool's work? Now we know, praise God, by faith, that it was all a sham and a false thing. For when faith comes, the betrayer is revealed. This is called a contemplative life, and this is due to all believers, not only to the clergy in the monasteries.
23) After this (which is the other part) there must also be a real life, that is, love: works belong to this, and we should all have them. Peter is a figure of this. You understand this easily and have heard so much about it that it is no longer necessary to tell you. This is nothing else than serving your neighbor, like the
Faith recognizes that God has served him. Whoever then sees his neighbor in need, let him see that he serves and helps him; this then is a true life. Behold, such spiritual or secret interpretations have
John commonly in his gospel. Let this be said of this gospel; let us call upon the Lord for his mercy, that we may one day also do in deed as we hear it preached daily, amen.