or, as they say, on the Three Wise Men's Day.
Matth. 2, 1-12.
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in the land of Judaea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, the wise men came from the east to Jerusalem, saying: Where is the newborn King of the Jews? We have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him. When Herod the king heard this, he was afraid, and all Jerusalem with him; and he called together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, and inquired of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem, in the land of Judaea. For thus it is written by the prophet: And thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah art by no means the least of the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come to me the duke that shall be lord over my people Israel. Then Herod called the wise men secretly, and learned diligently of them when the star appeared, and directed them to Bethlehem, saying, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye find him, tell me again, that I also may come and worship him. When they had heard the king, they went. And, behold, the star which they had seen in the east went before them, until it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they were greatly rejoiced, and went into the house, and found the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him, and opened their treasures, and gave him gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. And God commanded them in a dream that they should not turn again to Herod. And they went again by another way into their own land.
1 This is a rich gospel, it would be fair to handle it with diligence, I do not know where to attack it. Matthew describes this history only to show how the birth of Christ was not secret, so that the Jews have no excuse. For this reason he also introduces several sayings from the prophets Isaiah and Micah, so that he wants to make them certain that Messiah has been born, they must not wait for another. Not only their writings, but also foreigners who came seeking the King of the Jews, bear witness to this. Which is said to the Jews to a small honor, that they, his own people, overslept this birth of their king, and strangers should ask about it and know better about his birth than they. Well, it goes thus and not otherwise. We want to defect the gospel recently.
002 Now the wise men, which are called the three kings, were of the country that is called rich Arabia; which is a land that aboundeth in gold, and hath frankincense and sweet myrrh only; which lieth toward the east of Jerusalem. But these wise men are
They were not kings, but learned men, perhaps priests; although at the same time king and priest were one thing. The evangelist calls them magos, who may be called naturalists. For magia is actually the art of knowing the nature of creatures. For example, if you know that lime has a nature, when you pour water on it, it starts to burn and is extinguished by the oil that would otherwise start the fire; item, that a deer has a nature that it pulls snakes out of the hole with its breath, kills them and eats them; Likewise, when a weasel wags its tail in front of the snake's hole, it lures the snake out, and when it crawls out, the weasel knocks the snake's teeth into its throat so that it does not hit the poison, and strangles it.
Now, those who are able to do secret arts are magi; from this also comes that they often do strange things out of nature in front of those who do not know it, so that one thinks that it is done with the black or devilish art. Such people should be called
philosophos, who should know the nature of creatures; but now the peasants know more about it than our natural masters. In the Orient this art was great, they made a lot of use of it, it is also often mentioned in the Holy Scriptures; Solomon and some others were well versed in it, it is also often mentioned in the Scriptures, when it leads to the likeness of natural things. After that, they came and wanted to do other things that are not in nature; from them, black artists and magicians came, who also wanted to be wise and prudent, and lacked, are like monkeys, what they see, they also want to do.
4th Now these same magi saw a star in the east country, as the evangelist saith. The same star moved them to arise and follow it, for it indicated that a king had been born in the land of Judah. Here some asked, "How did this happen? What did the wise men say that the star indicated that a new king had been born? Here I will not make much wonder. This is true, that the Arabians came from the family of Abraham; for so we read, that Abraham witnessed of Keturah some sons, which he let go into the east countries, Gen. 25, 6. Which forces me, that it is credible, that they were from the family of Abraham; because the same whole country came from Ishmael and his brothers. Now it is certain that Abraham taught all his children what he was able to do, as he was promised a seed from God, Genesis 22:18; he also taught them about faith, how to do good works, how to worship God properly, and how to live a righteous life. This is clear enough, for God Himself says to Abraham: "How can I hide from Abraham what I am doing, since he will become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him? For I know that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the ways of the Lord, and to do that which is right and upright, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he promised him," Gen. 18:17, 18, 19. Because God has said so, Abra
He will have instructed not only Isaac, but also the other brothers, so that they will have learned and come to their senses, even though they have not all come to faith, as is now the case.
(5) These wise men were also such people that they took it from Abraham and his children, although false faith and works were always involved. Therefore they will also have had it that there would be born a new king of the Jewish people. When they saw the star in the land of the Jews, they thought, "He must have been born there. From this you can see that these wise men were not far away, it will not have been more than four days' journey. For how could they have been sure that the star should have stood over Jerusalem, if it had been such a far way, as one usually says of it? Therefore, let it be interpreted that they were at the border, close to Egypt, where it meets the Jewish land. Otherwise they could not have seen the star so far, especially because it was not as high as the other stars. For the evangelist says that it went over Bethlehem, and stood over the house where the child was: that it might show not the city only over which it stood, but also the house. For this purpose it went from midnight to noon, whereas the other stars go from morning to evening. Therefore it did not stand like the others, nor did the star have such a course as the others, for it was created by God especially for its own sake. This is what I am saying, so that we may also encounter the talkers who blunder in this way, and make articles of faith where there is none. For there is no need to believe that it was such a long way, and yet they got there in a few days, as they say in thirteen days.
(6) And so you can also set down what the stargazers say, who want to prove from this that they say that every man is born under his own star, and becomes such a man as the same star's influence is, and so he should be
or so go: that is vainly invented and foolish thing. If then they say: If Christ had a star at his birth, should not every man have his own star? then answer, "You fool, the star did not stand like the others, but much lower; or what power do the stars have over Christ? If the stars indicate something to us, they should also have indicated Christ, and God should not have given him a special star. So we want to lead this against them: If the star did not meet Christ's birth, it cannot meet our birth either. The stars are not set to govern my birth or yours, but to shine and be a sign that one knows when it is night or day, Genesis 1:16, and to give heat, not who is born in this or that star, so that he becomes this or that. We Christians are lords over heaven and earth, therefore also over the stars.
007 Now when these wise men were come to Jerusalem, and asked where the newborn king of the Jews was, the evangelist saith, that Herod the king was afraid at this question, and all Jerusalem with him. Why were Herod and the Jews frightened? Long ago, thirty years ago, the Jews had broken and martyred Herod before they would receive him as Lord, because he was not of their blood but a stranger, and the Romans had made him king over the Jews. The Jews had a decree from Moses that they should not have a ruler or king unless he was of their blood and brothers, Deut. 17:15; and because of this the Jews opposed Herod. Then there was a great lamentation and distress. Herod had on his side the emperor of Rome, and he slew many of them, and overpowered them, and compelled them so hard that they had to have him. This was a sign, as Jacob's prophecy says, that the time was fulfilled when Christ would come, Gen 49:10. Therefore he was afraid and thought: I have now brought the regiment under me, and have sat there for thirty years, and I have not changed the regiment.
If they now want to start a new game and raise up a new king, and strangers come and publicly ask in the city about the newborn king, then it will first of all become evil. So also the whole city Jerusalem was afraid, because they thought: Now it will not become good, but a lamentation will arise in the land: Herod will not suffer it, but will rise up against us, and invade this place, and kill us, that he may keep us under his rule.
008 Herod therefore devised a wise counsel, saying, The Jews will hide it from me, and will not consent: therefore will I first search the city, and after that the time, where and when the king shall be born: therefore, though they hide it, yet will I strike him, and slay so many young children, that he also shall perish. Therefore he called the scribes to him and asked where Christ was to be born. For he thought that it must be the Christ, since the people had waited so long for him. He also undoubtedly understood the Scriptures. Then the scribes answered him, perhaps out of fear that it was written in the prophet Micah 5:1 that he would be born in Bethlehem. See what the Jews do here. They give him away, leave him lying and sitting still, do not run to him, when they should have run to him to the end of the world, and let these come from foreign countries, so that they might find him, and they despise him out of fear of the tyrant Herodis.
9th Now when Herod had found out from the scribes where Christ the King of the Jews was to be born, he called the wise men to him secretly, and asked them diligently when they had seen the star, and would have it so with them that the Jews might not know it; for he was afraid that if it were revealed to them they would hide him from him; and he exhorted the wise men that they should not tell it, but keep it secretly with them. Now that he had decided what he would do to him, so that he would not be able to tell the truth, he said to the wise men.
*) (c d)
he tells the wise men to go and find out about it, so he says to them, "If you find it, you will find it," and says to them: When you have found the child and have done your work, come to me again, and I will come and worship him. But he did this only out of cunning and trickery, for he feared that otherwise they would not come to him again.
(10) And here you see that these magi or wise men were not kings of Arabia; for Herod was a wise and courteous man, so that even the Romans loved him: therefore, without doubt, he would have held them more gloriously if they had been such great lords, and had not so plainly called them to Bethlehem, and told him again. What did the wise men do? "When they had heard the king," says the evangelist, "they departed, believing the word which they had heard from the prophet, and went toward Bethlehem.
(11) Now here the doctrine of the gospel is right, and this is the best thing to be grasped, so that the evangelist may show the right kind and nature of faith, how it is of a kind to hold fast to that which is not seen, Heb. 11:1, standing fast only on the word which he hath, and putting all other things out of his sight. For behold how it is with them: God would not let them come to Christ, unless they had his word; therefore he sent them away from their country to Jerusalem, where God's word was proclaimed, and let them hear the word from the first, where they should find Christ. But before they can be sure of this, they must first come into fear and distress. For this reason, when they come to Jerusalem, he makes them fail and destroys their thoughts, because they thought: There we will find him in Jerusalem, the capital, as a king is born and kept in his best capital. Then God made their plans come to nothing, and they did not find the child, and the star they had seen had disappeared; so no one in the city knew that a new king had been born.
12) The good people still have a carnal delusion about him, thinking that he should be in such a state.
The people of the world will not be born in such splendor and glory as the worldly royal children, which thoughts God could well suffer. But he does not leave them in such delusion, but lets the Scriptures tell them and teach them that they would not find him there, as they think, in a great capital, but in a bad little place, and directs them from the royal city to Bethlehem.
(13) This has certainly been a great shock and a great cross to the old Adam, when they had seen a great star before, which was also supposed to approach the Roman emperor *) and traveled such a long way, and now they do not find it anywhere, since they thought they would find it first. They still let themselves be led by the bad word and cling to it, although their faith had to suffer such a great offence in this. Then, of course, reason will have said: Behold, we fools have made such a distant journey and do not find what we sought, the star must have deceived us; moreover, here in the royal capital no one knows anything about it, everything is quiet; and we are told to go to Bethlehem, not knowing whether it will be successful or not.
14 But so faith does, that it puts out of sight all that it sees or feels, and clings to the word alone. The wise men have all thoughts, and what they saw they must put away, and go where they see nothing; yet they cleave to the word, and believe that the prophet saith, He shall be born in Bethlehem. They were also sad and unhappy about it, and were a bit upset that they had gone there, and were quite confident that they would arrive there right, and yet they found nothing; as the evangelist also gives to understand, when he says: "When they saw the star, they were greatly rejoiced. As if to say: Before, when the star disappeared, they were sad and distressed; but now the star returns, they become joyful, and think that everything is still right, we are not deceived. So we must also do, that we alone at the word
*) which even the Roman emperor was not supposed to realize (c d). D. Red.
**) large (c d). D. Red.
We have said more about this elsewhere.
15 Then Matthew tells what happened when they came to Bethlehem, saying, "They went into the house where the star was overhead, and found the infant with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshiped him, and opened their treasures, and presented to him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.
16 Here it comes that we must speak of worship. Do not think that they were so intelligent that they took Christ for God; for the divinity is secretly stated in the Old Testament. In the same way, Christ's divinity was known to few people at the time when he was here on earth in the flesh; it was first glorified and publicly proclaimed to the world by the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost; as Paul says to the Romans, Cap. 1, 2, 3, 4. says: "God promised the gospel through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, of His Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and powerfully manifested a Son of God, according to the Spirit who sanctifies, when He rose from the dead." The Spirit of God is given after Christ's ascension, from then on he sanctifies Christians and glorifies Christ in all the world that he is the Son of God, with all power in words, miracles and signs. Therefore, I say, it should not be considered that these wise men worshipped Christ as a God. It was enough at that time that they took him for the Christ who was to come from Abraham and who was promised to them by God.
(17) Concerning the right way of worshipping God, I said earlier that one should worship in spirit and in truth, John 4:23, not here or there, so that it is not bound to an outward place, gesture or word. But the gospel does not speak of such worship here, but in the way that the Scriptures use "worship".
means to fall down, kneel down and show honor. The Hebrew language is a rich language, so that it often has ten words where we have only one, especially to speak of that which belongs to worship; therefore, I would have us Germanize for the word "worship," to offer honor or to bow down; therefore, we must transfigure it properly.
18. to ask and to pray are in words. "Asking" is when one presents something to our Lord God; as, in the Psalms and in the Lord's Prayer, there is a prayer and request at first, when I say: Our Father, who art in heaven, that is called prayer, but is not yet called asking.
(19) For this is "praying," to hear the spiritual words which are in prayer, as those: Our Father, which are words of the spirit and of faith. But "supplication" means that one desires something from God and presents the need; as there are the following seven petitions in the Lord's Prayer: Hallowed be your name, come your kingdom, your will be done etc. But "supplication" means when I urge or urge the request, so that I indicate something for which I ask; as when I say to someone: I ask you for God's sake; as Paul often does and especially to the Romans Cap. 12, 1. The difference is clear in Scripture; therefore I wanted you to grasp it also.
(20) But how such prayer ought to be made at all times, and what pertaineth to righteous prayer, I have written much of it in another place; but specially ye ought to know that such a prayer of yours is not long, as the priests pray, casting out two, three, or four tides upon one lump. This is not praying well, but if you want to pray righteously, do it often and many times, do not make a lot of chatter, bring your distress before God with bad, simple words, and bring it home to Him; He knows better than you do where you are lacking and where your distress is pressing you. Therefore Christ says in Matthew 6:5-8: "When thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites, which love to stand and pray in the synagogues, and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward there. But if you ask, go into
shut the door and pray to your Father in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you in public. And when ye pray, ye shall not babble much, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard if they speak much. Therefore you shall not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him."
(21) Therefore, if thou wilt ask and present thy need unto our Lord God, thou shalt go to a corner, and say thus, Dear Lord, by thy most beloved Son Jehovah Christ I beseech thee, that thou wouldest give me this or that; and soon do it again. For thus my mind may abide one with another in one devotion, that I stand not thinking elsewhere, but on the need that is before me. But if I begin to recite so many psalms or rosaries one after another, soon the soul or spirit is elsewhere and leads my devotion away.
22 Now all this that you have heard is not yet "worshipping," for worshipping does not include a word, but worshipping is something that happens both outwardly and inwardly. Outwardly it is the work of the whole body, when I bend or bow down before God and recognize him for a Lord; as one bends or kneels before a prince and recognizes him for a Lord; therefore David says in the 99th Psalm v. 5: "Exalt the Lord our God, bow down to his footstool, for he is holy." Thus the Jews did before the ark of the Lord and before the tabernacle, bending down and bowing down, as Moses writes in the other book, Cap. 33, 10, and they also prayed there; for all things can be done together: only that you understand the difference, that this worship is done with the body. But this outward worship is hypocrisy, if it is not of the spirit and faith.
The other worship is inward and spiritual; that is, worshiping properly when one worships with the spirit and truth, as Christ says John 4:23, that is, when you cry out before God with all your heart and say, "You are my God and gracious Lord. This is worshipping in the truth, that a person
and bows down before him and says: You are my God and merciful Father, you must help me and make me righteous. Faith does the inward bending, but it does not do the outward bending, for it knows that God looks at the heart and the faith, not at the outward bending, 1 Sam. 16:7, Jer. 5:3; therefore both can happen together, and then body and soul go right; but without the inward bending, the outward worship is nothing.
24 In ancient times God bound worship to an outward place; as we read in Daniel, when he would pray, that he would turn his face toward Jerusalem and the temple, Dan. 6, 10. But now Christ speaks in John Cap. 4, 21. 23. that henceforth one will worship neither at Jerusalem nor on this mountain, but in spirit and in truth. For since the gospel has broken out into all the world, one should worship wherever the word of God is preached and wherever there is faith. For where the gospel is preached, and the faith and heart are in it, it is well worth your while to stoop down and give it all honor, for God Himself is in it. But if the heart does not believe in it and does not take it for God's word, but sits there and listens, not thinking what it is and where it is going, then it is nothing that you bend down to it with your body; for the heart does not deal with it at all, after which God alone looks. Therefore, when the Scripture says of the Jews, Exodus 32:9, that they are stiff-necked and have iron backs, Isaiah 48:4, that they cannot bow down or stoop before God, it is really speaking of unbelief.
25 So also here, when the evangelist says that the magi or wise men worshipped the Lord, he understands that they showed him honor and bowed down before him. But this was done from the inside of the heart, otherwise it would have been nothing. Therefore it is clear that worship in Scripture means nothing else than humbling ourselves and bowing down, so that we recognize him as Lord before whom we do it.
26 When we read how Nathan the prophet and Bathsheba, King Solomon's mother, bowed down before Solomon, 1 Kings 1:16. Then
Now you can see how those who have devised so many kinds of worship have made a distinction, and are called latriam, duliam and hyperduliam; the first one is called latriam.
The first one belongs to God alone, the second one to Mary, the virgins, the third one to the Holy Cross and other saints. These are human thoughts, without the foundation of the Scriptures. Therefore notice here only: when the gospel says that the wise men worship the child, it means that they have not only bowed with the body, but also in the spirit, and have recognized him for a Lord; for they have not only shown him honor outwardly, and confessed by deed that he was a king, but their heart has also been there; which has not taken him for a bad child, but for Messiah, for whom they, as Abraham's seed, have waited. For as the body boweth and the knee bendeth, so the heart boweth down inwardly before God. So you see clearly that the little word "to worship" means nothing else than to bow, to offer respect and to bend down; therefore it would be better to use the German "Ehrerbieten" (to offer respect), "Bücken" (to bend down) or "Neigen" (to bow down).
27 Now continue in the gospel, how it came to pass, that they offered their gift, saying, That God commanded them in their sleep, that they should not return to Herod: which they did, and returned by another way unto their own country. We will now leave undecided what the sacrifices were that they brought, for you will find enough of them in the postilion: but we will see the other things that the gospel teaches us and indicates herewith.
Why does the Lord not let them come to Herod, but tells them in their sleep that they should not return to him; otherwise he could have protected the child from all violence, so that Herod would not have done anything to him? Christ acts at times as a master, at times as a servant; at times he lets himself be seen that he is God, as when he let the star precede the wise men here; again he flees Herod here, as if he was afraid of him. There he gives an example that one should not tempt God. He does not want to do a miraculous work here, but keeps himself according to the common way, so that he goes away. So we should not tempt God either.
tempt, but trust; but he who believes does not tempt God.
Now there are two temptations, one on the right and the other on the left. You do well if you believe and trust, since you have God's word; but if you do not believe, since you have God's word, you tempt God. So that you have a clear example: God has given you grain and corn in the field, which you shall plant and let sour. If then thou goest and saith, I will not work, I will trust in God, he will feed me well, that is tempting God; it is a faith without the word, which is no good. As we read of a foolish saint in the wilderness, that two brethren were walking at one time, and they were very hungry; and they came to a place where there were wicked men, and when they should have eaten, the one would not take meat of them, because they were wicked men, and died of hunger. This one did not have a right trust in God, yes, he went to the devil about it. Therefore, whoever leads into a being where he can make use of creatures that were created for this purpose, so that he may have need of them, and leaves it standing, is tempting God; just as those do who run into a monastery and want to keep virginity there, which they cannot do by nature, even though they could stay outside and become married. For since nature does not exist that you should keep chastity, and you can be married, you must not think that God wants to work a miracle with you. He created man and woman; leave it at that and do not make it better. And that is to try God on the right side.
(30) The other temptation is when you keep the word of God and do not believe it, as the Jews did in the wilderness: they did not believe when they had the word of God, nor would they believe, but would always suggest a way for him to do it. It did not help that he said, "I will provide for you," but as he did, they wanted it to be otherwise. That is God tempted on the left side. Therefore be thou wise: where thou hast the word of God, commit thyself firmly thereto, and depart not therefrom. So, the Jews, who have the Word of God
Even though no grain grew in the desert and they had nothing to eat, they should have believed that God would feed them and give them enough, because they had a certain promise and word from God that He would not let them. Therefore, if you stay on God's word, you can believe, and you cannot tempt God. Therefore, you have to keep it all together.
and link them together, so that the word is not without faith, nor faith without the word. And that is recently enough of it; but there is much more in the Gospel, which we should do, but it is too much for us now, even so we do not have the time; whoever wants more, should read the posts, there we have done it a little more extensively. Now we want to call upon God for mercy.