Second Sermon.
Dear friends, I will divide this sermon into two parts. First, I will tell the story of today's feast. Secondly, I will interpret the song of Simeoni, which is called the "Nunc dimittis".
2 First of all, let us look at the history, and you will see how the holy evangelist Lucas describes and indicates with great diligence and seriousness how Mary came into the temple with her son Jesus, was cleansed, and what belonged to the cleansing, according to the law of Moses, and speaks thus:
When the days of their purification came according to the law of Moses, they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord: "Every male that first breaks its mother shall be called holy to God, and shall offer the sacrifice according to the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.
That is, they have expected the days of purification, which are called with us the six-week days, which a woman lies in after her birth. The commandment is written in the 12th chapter of the third book of Moses, v. 2-5, where God commands the Jews through Moses (for us Christians and the Gentiles are not concerned with this and other laws of Moses): If a woman gives birth and bears a child, the woman must be unclean for forty days. So she was set aside, separated from other people, like the lepers with whom one had no fellowship. But if she gave birth to a girl, she had to stay at home for eighty days, or as many days, and was shunned, considered unclean and unpleasant by everyone.
This was a difficult commandment, and it would not be good for us if it were kept as strictly with us as with them. With us it is low, the women are now allowed to lie inside, go out if they want to, and they are not shunned as hard as they are.
For it was a damnable thing with them and made the Jews very unpleasant, no one was allowed to eat, drink or sleep with the women, not to sit or lie with them, and everything they touched was unclean, the bed, chair, table, clothes, bowl, drinking utensils, food and drink. Summa Summarum, what they touched had to be defiled and rejected. If she gave birth to a baby, it was six weeks; if she gave birth to a girl, it was twelve weeks. Such commandments were many with them, and very grievous, that the six weeks with us are but a shadow against their six weeks. Now the first commandment is, that she should sit in the six weeks, and be accounted a leprous and unprofitable woman.
5 The other law. When the forty days were over, the woman had to go to the priest and present herself and give an offering, namely, if she was a firstborn child, as it says in the other book of Moses, Cap. 34, 19, where God says: "Everything that breaks its mother at the first is mine, whatsoever is male, even in cattle that break their mother" is the Lord's, sanctified to God. If it was an animal, goat, horse, ox or sheep, it belonged to the priest, or if it wanted to keep it, it had to be redeemed or bought from the priest. But if it was a man, and he could not spare it, but must have it for an heir, he could not give it to the priest; but he must bring it to the priest, and shew it, and redeem it from him, and give for it one shekel of silver, that is, a place of gold, and other things, as it is written in the law. So the Jews were bound by the law to give the firstborn child to the priest, and afterward to redeem it from him; and the addition was, that all that was firstborn of the house was the priest's.
6 So the people were plagued by the law, and God laid such a law on this people that he would keep them in line, force them, coerce them, frighten them and make them active. For they were a coarse, foolish, rough and savage people; no one could rule them, subdue them and keep them in check, unless God Himself laid such a law upon them.
Yoke and burden on their backs, afflicted them with such laws that they did not become proud. For it is all too true that there is no more proud, defiant and hopeful people under the sun than the Jews have been; therefore God has also afflicted them and armored them, and thus led them in a bridle.
(7) Now in the law through and through it is written concerning women who conceived children of men, that if the child has a father in the flesh, and is born after the flesh, it is under the law to be unclean with the mother for a time. So Christ does not belong under the law, nor is it any business of Mariam's; for the text stands bare and clear: "a woman when she is besamed." There Mary is undressed by the word "besamet", because she has never been besamet; she has not known a man, as she herself confesses to the angel in Luca, but she has remained a virgin, as Isaiah Cap. 7, 14. says, and has, contrary to the common custom of other women, conceived from heaven by the Holy Spirit, without any male seed.
(8) So the law is only for women who become mothers according to the flesh, but this woman became a mother according to the Spirit. So Moses with all his law has no right over this virgin and over her child. Therefore it is wrong for them to keep it, and to be imprisoned under it, when they go over it.
(9) Lucas has not described it so diligently without a reason; it applies to us, he wants to teach us how our heart should become confident in it. St. Paul also beautifully describes this to the Galatians Cap. 4, 4. 5. and says: "When the time was fulfilled, God sent his Son, born of a woman, who was put under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive the adoption. Paul here speaks of the law as of a tyrant, a bully, or an executioner, as of a hostile, unpleasant thing: not for the law's sake in itself, for the law is good and holy: but for the sake of its office, which it drives in our hearts. Therefore, when Paul thus speaks of the law, it is to be understood according to its ministry, which it impels, and not according to its essence.
Now, what does the law do? It does, it is a cause of sins. Yes, it is a force, says Paul 1 Cor. 15, 56. Rom. 4, 15, of sin, it causes trouble: it does not make pious (understand, in the heart), as the papists talk and the worldly wise pretend. By heart it resists the fist, but nothing comes of it but hypocrisy before God; but in the heart it causes such sorrow that it not only does not make a man pious, but much more angry than before; for it stirs up sin and reproves it, makes the conscience restless; for by this the conscience recognizes sin, Rom. 3, 20. 3:20. Now this is the office of a cane-master, who puts the thief in the dungeon, drags him over, tortures him, beats him on the wagon or ladder until he confesses the sin. Then the executioner comes and brings the thief out; if the sin is confessed, the punishment follows.
It is the same with the law. When sin occurs and is revealed in the heart, from that moment on the wrath of God is on our necks, the judgment stands there, the conscience trembles, man is in sin, in death and in the wrath of God; for his heart tells him: God cannot suffer sin; then the law is present, blows it up in his face and says: If you do this, God will cast you into hell. Then the conscience lies down, feels that it cannot do the law, and must therefore despair. This is what Paul says in Rom. 3, 20: "By the law sin is known," that is, by the law my conscience grows and makes me angry against the law and against God who gave the law, so that sin becomes exceedingly sinful by the commandment, as Paul says in Rom. 7, 13, that is: I mean and believe that I have an angry God; for if I did not recognize sin through the law, I would not have sorrow in my heart, I would not worry, I would be a good fellow, I would not ask anything about God. But if sin is recognized, and I know through the law how I am with God, then I am always in fear, worry and anxiety, yes, let me, as Moses says 3 Mos. 26, 36, a rustling leaf frighten, fear a thunderclap, must always worry about God.
come after me with a club and hit me in the head.
(12) All this arises from the fact that the law thus imprisons me, stings me and plagues me; and because it thus terrifies and shows the wrath of God, I cannot favor the law, but am heartily hostile to it; for it brings me into all misery, thrusts me into hell, sets death before my eyes. Well, this I have by nature, that I am afraid and flee from death, punishment, hell and the judgment of God. Nature cannot smile at death, which comes from the wrath of God and follows sin; therefore is vain enmity and dislike of thy law. And if the law is good and holy, I also have enmity in my heart against what is good and holy.
(13) This lamentation of the law was among the Jews, to whom especially was given the written law, which we and all the Gentiles have by nature. These laws here, of which the gospel speaks, of purification, of sacrifice, and of all the rest, as it is written in Moses, have never been kept in the heart of any Jew: they have done the works by heart according to the larvae, but their heart has been far from it. If one should have asked the women, who were thus set apart from men after their birth, considered unclean, whether they would gladly and willingly do it, whether they would have desire and love for it? if they should have answered rightly from the bottom of their heart, then they would have spoken without doubt: Dear Moses, I let you have a good year with your law, shall I sit there for your sake like a hospital, like a leper? How do I come to this? What I touch is poison, I am despised by everyone, I am kept like unclean cattle and may not go to the people. Where do you come from with such a law? I wish you were on the gallows with your law.
(14) So also, when they should present the child and make a sacrifice for it, it was also done with unwillingness and unwillingness, they were angry that they should give out something, and said with a doubt, "Shall I put it down the throats of the priests and spare it myself? As they were reluctant to do all the commandments, their hearts would not agree, they were reluctant and refused.
The law did not give such grace that they could do it with pleasure and will.
(15) As they have done, so do we: we keep the law by rote, we make a good show of it, we attack it with our fists; but the heart shrinks from it, does it unwillingly, has no desire to do it by nature, unless the Holy Spirit enlightens the heart with His grace. Therefore, even if we keep the law with works, it is not done purely and honestly from the heart, because it is done for our own benefit or advantage, or for fear of punishment.
16 Therefore, if God has given the law in this way, and knows that no one keeps it, he has also appointed marshals, drivers and hitchhikers (for this is how the Scriptures call the authorities by a simile), like the donkey-drivers, who must always be held by the scruff of the neck and driven with the rod, for otherwise they will not go away. Thus the authorities must drive, beat, choke, execute, burn, behead and break the heads of the mob, Mr. Omnes, so that they are feared and the people are thus kept in check. For God does not want the law to be reproached to the people alone, but also to be driven, handled and forced into action with the fist. For if it were held up to the people alone and not enforced, nothing would come of it; for the heart cannot cling to the law, it is contrary to it. For if no punishment followed, there would be nothing in the world but murder, adultery, thievery, robbery, manslaughter, and if all vices were rampant, no one would be safe from another; but if the authorities are there and punish the sin, such gross knots, the mob must stop, must not lead out so insolently. So it is necessary that the drivers of the law stand over the people, and force and drive the rough, naughty Lord Omnes, as one drives and forces the pigs and wild animals.
(17) If therefore we must do the law, and do it not willingly, we become enemies to the law; for it hinders our will. But God has done it all for this reason, that it might make us weary, and that we might learn
If we recognize our ability, what we are able to do, and thus go into ourselves and speak: I poor man, I must keep the law, and I do not like to do it, I have no desire to do it. Then I lose the reward and all the gratitude that I would have if I kept the law rightly and with pleasure. Summa Summarum, all who are under the law do it unwillingly; so we are troubled by it, have to keep it and cannot keep it, have no reward for it.
18 Now this is how I said that Paul makes the law into a master of the rod, which makes us sinners and disgraces before God. This plague passes over all people where it stirs up the law and the conscience becomes aware of sin. But Christ came into the world to keep the law for us, and he was eager to do so, and he kept it gladly, voluntarily, from the heart, without constraint, and had no need of it. But with us it is a contradiction: I must keep the law, need it, and yet have no desire nor will to do so. Christ needs nothing at all and does it with pleasure. The law has no right to him at all; for he has more in his person righteousness, godliness, pleasure and love than the law can and may always require. Therefore the law has no power, yes, not at all against Christ, he goes high above the law, he is a lord of the law; for he was born innocent, of a virgin. So the law cannot speak to him: Do this, leave that. He should say: Well, my dear, I do and leave, and have done and left what is to be done and what is to be left, I am not allowed to demand anything of you. Now hold it together: I may of the law, and do it not; Christ may not, and does it, is free from it, and willingly crawls under it, and keeps all that is written in Moses, from the first letter to the end of all the laws, not that he needs them, and is compelled to them, but voluntarily accepts them.
19 Thus it is with the law of the Jews concerning purification. As soon as the child is born, Moses is present and commands the child: "In this way and in this way, you shall
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To act with you, to keep it, to leave it, puts the child from the beginning into the dungeon of the law. But Christ was born under the law, not that he was under the law or owed anything to it, but that he freely and willingly put himself under it. This then is our comfort, which we are to take from the gospel, that we know that Christ was under the law. Why? Why did he need it? Not because of his person, but as St. Paul writes to the Galatians Cap. 4, 5, "that he might put to death those who were under the law." He was not under the law; but he goes under it and throws himself into it as into a dungeon and prison, he sat down at Moses' feet and became his disciple. Moses may well say: If I am to be much of a disciple, I will not remain a master. Since Christ does not need to be under the law, he does one thing and gives it to us, saying, "I owe nothing to the law, but you owe to the law; I will see what the law can do, I will take your place, and fulfill the law that so afflicts and tortures you. So he goes down and fulfills what Moses commanded.
(20) This is as if a cane-master had put the son of his lord the king in prison, and the cane-master did not know that he had his lord's son in prison, but had taken him for another, as if he were another bad man. What would the king say to this if he realized it? He would say, "What have you done? Who gave you the right against my son? You may have had the right and authority over thieves and husks, but you have committed a very gross offense against my son. This lord now has two rights against the cane master: first, that he is his lord; second, that he has offended against his son. Now if the cane-master still had a captured thief, and his lord were angry with him for having captured his son, and for having staked him, and for not wanting to let the shame of the cane-master go unsmelled, he would say: Thou hast lost thy right: over the thief whom thou hast caught thou hast been justified; but the thief shall be loosed, and shall have thy right.
and so I will give him that my son has suffered injustice from you. What would the prisoner do? He would undoubtedly be glad and fall down at the Lord's feet, saying with joy: Thank you, my dear Lord! So the thief would have become a master of the cane-master, and the cane-master would have to be ashamed before the master, not for the sake of the thief, but for the sake of the young master whom he had so innocently staked.
21 So also here. Christ, a son of the eternal Father, is under the law, but we are thieves and husks, for we do not keep the law. That is why Moses stabs and plugs us, that is, the law takes us captive, that is, the law that God opens in our hearts; for Moses' law does not concern Christians and Gentiles. Now Christ comes and creeps secretly under the law, so that the law does not become aware of it. Then the law thinks that it has a bad man, like another man, who is begotten of a man in sins, who is guilty of death (for as St. Paul says Phil. 2, 7., Hebr. 4, 15.: He has taken on the form of a servant and sinner): then the law and death goes over the child of God, stabs and plagues him, punishes him, deals with him as with another man. What happens then? With your death Christ proves that he is the Lord. Then the law and death flee from Christ to the devil; then Christ comes and says to us: "You were under the law and could not keep it, you were in death and in the wrath of God; I have done you in, I have deceived the law. It thought that I, like another sinner, should die, so it has committed its will against me; now I give you the right against the law, sin and death. If we believed this, we would fall at Christ's feet and give thanks to him with great joy.
(22) Dear God, if we could gain defiance against death and sin, and say: Do you not know what you have done to my Lord? You have wronged him, you have taken him innocently captive; this is now mine, he has given it to me. What then have ye against me? Death would be
and sin would disappear if we could say this with a believing heart, defying and mocking them: I am guilty of death; for my heart keepeth not the law. If then I am guilty of hell fire on account of myself, do with me as you will, boil me or roast me: but behold Christ, eat him if you can. This is the right defiance against death and sin. If then sins oppress thee, hold Christ against the law. If it frightens you with death, because you have not done enough for the law; then turn your eyes immediately from yourself to Christ, who has been under the law and has fulfilled it, and say: "My dear fellow, if you frighten me, frighten also him who has overcome you, who has made you weak, who has given me your right, in spite of him, do something to him. Then the law must depart, and death flee, and can no more terrify; for I have the right that Christ has: death I have slain, sin I have overcome, the devil I have trodden under foot; not by me, but by the young Lord and King; I enjoy not my Lord's, but mine.
23 This is the reason that Lucas describes the mother and the son with great diligence, so that he may show how they were innocent under the law and that it was done for our good. Whoever thus conceives, let him thank God; for he can send himself to death. So it is true that Jacobus Cap. 2, 13. says: Misericordia exaltat judicium, that is: "Grace has defiance against judgment. Now when grace is gone, judgment defies us. Now this is grace, that the Son of God has been under the law, and has given it to me, which he has made sick, gives me defiance against the law, sin and death. So the law stands against me, saying: You are in sins, you are worthy of death and hell; such judgment it passes on me. Well, it is true, I cannot deny it; how then shall I escape it? Then I must draw out my defiance, and hold it up to the law, and say, It is true, I am a sinner, worthy of hell; but how like thou this, Thou hast trespassed against my Lord, thou hast martyred Christ innocently, and cast him into death?
fen. Where is now your defiance? He has been among you, and this he has given me; he has turned the verdict: you have condemned me, so he has condemned you; and so the tables are turned. You want to condemn me; so I have the right from Christ to condemn you. Whoever could grasp this with faith *) in his heart would be a Christian and could stand in death. For we must have defiance, when our heart wriggles and is afraid of the wrath of God, that we may put a stop to the law, sins and death, and say: Defiance, behold the young Lord.
(24) Therefore, whoever could grasp Christ would be able to get through. It is soon preached, but not soon learned; he wants to belong to it who can make such a heart. Therefore it is fool's work and lost with our lousy works. We do not become pious with works; the works will not raise such defiance for a long time. If a hundred thousand carthorses, all the hair shirts, ropes, caps and plates, all the virginity lay in one heap, they would not stand before death with their holiness, they would be driven away like the dust of the wind and melt like butter in the sun, because they could not save me from the fear of death. They praise their works as they wish: when they come to death, they must despair; for no man stands before God's judgment, as the prophet David says: "Lord, do not enter into judgment with your servant, for before you no living man will be justified," Psalm 143:2.
025 Therefore all works are cast into the stocks: for the young Lord alone obtaineth the prize and defiance against all that is against us. The law hath burned its fingers against him, and trespassed against him, and lost his right: the defiance hath he given me, that I should keep his innocency against the law, and so bite me with the law, and not with my works and my own holiness,
but with the gift of my Lord; who is far too strong for the law, can trample it underfoot. It cannot make a sinner out of him, because he is a master of the law.
26 This is the first part, how Christ gave himself under the law for our sake with his mother Mary, and yet we owed nothing to the law. The other part is from the song of Simeoni, from the Nunc dimittis, which will now be an example of this teaching, which we also want to see. Follows in the text:
And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was devout and godly, and waited for the consolation of Israel.
27 That is, he awaited the Savior, who gave himself under the law for our sakes; for with our works it was lost. Therefore the slain and terrified consciences had to be raised up by the consolation that was promised to them. Further:
And the Holy Spirit was in him, and an answer was given him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death, because he had first seen the Christ of the Lord.
28 You know what "Christ" is, that is, the Anointed One. In the Old Testament, two persons, the priests and kings, were anointed with balsam; as we also use to anoint the emperors and the priests. The Jewish language calls him Messiam, the Greek, Christum, Latin, Unctum, but according to our German language, Gesalbet. Now, the pious and God-fearing Simeon was to see the anointed one before his death, that is, the right king and priest, [which long before was heartily desired by the prophets and promised to this pious God-fearing Simeon to see before his death. *] But how does he come to this? Follows in the text:
And came to the temple from stimulation of the Spirit.
29 He went into the temple, that he might see, according to the answer of the Spirit, him whom he was promised to see before his death.
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And when the parents brought the child JEsum into the temple, to do for him according to the law.
30. the innocent king and priest lies under the law, the Lord becomes a servant, becomes the servant of us all; would God that we also look upon this king with faith, as did Saint Simeon.
Then he took him in his arms and praised God.
(31) This gray man took the child to him, and was glad, and his heart was young with great joy; yea, he was so full of joy that no man can write or speak it. When he looked at the little child, his heart was like this: "Here I have a little child, six weeks old, unknown to the world; but he is the right savior, he is the right treasure, which I have long desired. Neither prince, nor emperor, nor king would have looked upon him; but his heart, which knew him well, was so glad that it would not have been a wonder if he had died of joy; for his desire was so abundantly filled that he not only came to see him, but also took him in his arms. Therefore he speaks out of joy:
Lord, now you let your servant go in peace, as you said.
32 As if he wanted to say: [Now let me be led away, I will gladly die, now death shall be pleasant to me; for that which was promised me has been fulfilled. But why do you want to die so gladly, dear pious Simeon?
For my eyes have seen your Savior.
This is the treasure that makes me glad and makes death sweet to me. That is, as I have now said, if we see him who was under the law, and know him as the one who helps us, it is not possible that we should not be joyful and fearless before death and before all calamity. Just look at what the good old man has in his heart: he has
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should die now and says he wants to go in peace. It is a great, comforting and fine word, to die happily and in peace; where does he get such a sweet death? From the child. Who has ever seen such a death? Look at those who rely on works, if they are to die, whether they also go with peace? There you see how their heart puffs, bids and beats, they fade away completely, the reason and all powers sink; death is too strong and too powerful. If all the emperors, kings and princes were standing there with their stallions, their rifles, their armor, and if the terror of death came, they would stand like sticks before death. Behold, how it happened when the peasants arose: there was not yet death, there was only a fear of the loss of goods; how there was a despondency and stiffening of all princes! Help God! Help God! how will it be when death comes, because it caused such trembling and shaking that neither spear nor armor would be wielded, and everyone became despondent.
(34) But the pious Simeon boasts that he will go in peace, as if there were no death; yes, he calls it no death, he does not want to give him the honor, says, "Now you let your servant go in peace," does not say, "Now let me die. He calls it a driving and a letting go, a sweet and clean sleep. Where does he get the art that he does not fear death, at which the whole world is terrified, at which all animals also bark, tear and rage, but he considers it a sweet sleep? The law, sin and death must be removed from the heart, so that we may be without fear. He was not afraid of the law, therefore the terror of death was not there. For where the law is, there is a conscience of sins: but where the law is gone, there is righteousness; and Moses is gone, and so utterly put out of sight, that they know not his grave, where he is buried. Deuteronomy 34:6 When Moses is gone, sin is also gone, and so becomes a sweet sleep from death.
35 But where did Simeon get this? He speaks
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not: You let me go in peace, because I fasted, did miraculous signs, founded churches, became a monk, put on a gray cap and the like; if it were the works, it should be written here; but he remembers no works, does not say: I have done this, but says: "For my eyes have seen the Savior. He does not remember that he did it with his fist, but that he saw with his eyes; it is the face and not the fist that applies here. There are two pieces, seeing, and, the Savior. This belongs to a peaceful death, that we see Christ. If we see him, we can die happily, but if we do not see him, he is there in vain. In the temple, many saw him, but not properly; Mary, Joseph, Simeon, and Hannah the prophetess saw him properly. The others in general, who do not look at him like Mary and Simeon, have not seen Christ or the Savior. Caiphas, Annas, Pilate and Herod looked at him, but they did not see that he was the Savior. What is lacking, then, that they do not see him? Eyes of the heart: they must be pure to see the young Lord, who went into the stocks for us, suffered unjustly for us, and redeemed us, not because of our merit, but because of his mercy and love. So whoever sees him can defy him and say: I know nothing of the law, sin and death, and so firmly insist.
(36) But the right face is not in the flesh; for thus many have seen him: faith must do it in the heart. It is possible that they saw him in the flesh, but they did not believe that it was the Savior; so they thought, "Should the infant be this one, barely six weeks old, not yet able to lift up his head? The real Saviour will come with horses, with great high stallions, with pomps and great power etc. But the good Simeon looked at him differently; a word was put into his heart and said, "This is the one; he had a different light, a different face. He did not get it from hearsay; there was earnestness in his heart. So we must not only hear about Christ, but also about him through the
We must believe in the Holy Spirit in our hearts, and our hearts must be enlightened by the Holy Spirit, if we are to recognize Christ, like Simeon, as the true Savior; for by nature it is hardened, too hard and too dark to recognize such a salvation and to see such a light. Nor is it enough that Mary, Joseph, Simeon and Hannah have seen him; I must also see him, must also know him, must also know that he is the true Messiah.
(37) What then is salvation, who is the Savior? He is the one whom the good, pious Simeon carries in his arms, who shall redeem the world, take away sin, strangle death, make alive, and perform such miracles as the prophets have proclaimed. And the child shall now come to day and be preached before all nations, as Simeon continues to speak to God:
Which you have prepared before all peoples.
(38) The child shall be spread abroad among all nations, and shall be sung of, and told, and all the world shall know of him. Then the good man boasts that the gospel shall go into all the world, and it shall be proclaimed that he alone is the Lord over sin, death, hell, the devil and all calamities, and that no one shall touch anything except the child whom God has prepared before the face of all nations; and by preparing him he shall be as follows:
The light to enlighten the pagans.
(39) That is, that he may be a light to the Gentiles, that by him the unbelieving may be enlightened, as John saith, Cap. 1:9, that they may know him. And they that know him not before by the law of Moses, as the Jews, that they may come in by the light, and see clearly that it is he. This is a clear and dry text against good works and all our merit. Only seeing and knowing in the heart is necessary; the rote work helps and serves nothing at all. Therefore we should understand and learn that this light is Christ, and that nothing else serves for it, except seeing in the heart, which is to believe rightly in Christ. He goes on to say:
And to the prize of your people Israel.
40. he was promised to the Jews, they were the first to have him, he was born and raised among them, coming from their flesh and blood, and so through them he came to the Gentiles; for the apostles were the first to believe him, to accept his word, and to preach it to the whole world, both to the Jews and to the Gentiles. They are the cornerstones and the pillars; therefore Simeon here calls Christ their prize and glory. Now this, as I have said, is an example of the teaching of the law and of Christ, how we fulfill the law through Christ, and what good the law does. Let us now leave it at that and call upon God for mercy.
On the day of St. Matthew the Apostle.
Matth. 11, 25-30.
At that time Jesus answered and said: I praise you, Father and Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to babes. Yes, Father, for it has been well pleasing in your sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father. And no one knows the Son but the Father; and no one knows the Father but the Son, and to whom the Son wills to reveal it. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
First, we will discuss the Gospel a little; then we will continue with the history of today's feast, how Matthias was called and chosen for the apostleship, as Lucas describes it in the Histories of the Apostles Cap. 1, 15-26.
(2) This gospel is one of the true gospels; the other gospels, in which the miracles of Christ are described, are not so comforting as those in which Christ's preaching is included, since he so kindly teaches us and draws us to himself. I am not so sure of the graces I see in the miracles shown to others as when I have bright clear words before me. It is also more comforting to me to hear such friendly exhortations and enticements than to hear preaching about miracles, even though they also strengthen my faith and are examples that as he has helped these, so he will also help me. Now this gospel is nothing else but a knowledge of God the Father and of Christ his Son, and shows beside it from where this knowledge comes; and the power of this gospel stands in these two words: Wise and unlearned.
003 But that we say not, when we hear these things: This is not our business, it is said to others; as the Jews did to the prophets, who pointed it all out to the Gentiles: so the foregoing words make it clear to whom or from whom these words of Christ are spoken. For first he says of those who despised the gospel and would not accept it, who nevertheless should have accepted it most of all, who also wanted to be regarded as if they were the only ones who handled God's word and belonged to God's people. Of them he says: "To whom shall I compare this generation? It is like the little children who sit in the marketplace and call out to their companions, saying: We whistled to you, and you would not dance; we mourned to you, and you would not weep," Matt. 11:16, 17. Which the Lord draws to himself and to John the Baptist, as if to say, "We preached the gospel to you; John with earnestness and sharpness, and I with kindness and gentleness; but you despised it and did not listen.
You will see that it will not go well with you. It is also true that the way you do it to the people, sweet or sour, friendly or unkind, does not do them justice.
4 These the Lord here calls "wise" and "understanding," from whom the gospel is hid. And is not called here the wise, who are righteous and truly wise in divine things;' for it is a great grace to be called wise, or prudent, or understanding. True wisdom is nothing other than the knowledge of God, when I know what to think of God and know His divine good pleasure. Understanding, however, means that I can judge of all things in the world what is right or wrong, as St. Paul often puts them together, especially to the Ephesians Cap. 1, 8. 9. and Colossians Cap. 1, 9. Christ does not speak of such wisdom here, but of worldly wisdom, [which falls into God's word and work, *] which makes pompous people and does not want to admit the righteous divine wisdom. We are all such fellows by nature, who rebel against God's wisdom.
(5) For worldly wisdom you call good that which brings pleasure, honor and advantage; but that which is contrary to this, as grief, shame and harm, you call evil; for human nature cannot but seek its own: what pleases it and seems good, it considers best, but what is contrary to it, it considers worst, no matter how good it may be. Therefore, I say, the Lord is speaking here of the wise and prudent, who rebel against God's wisdom with their wisdom. For worldly wisdom is so clever that it not only wants to govern temporal, worldly things, but also the things that are God's; it is always pondering and thinking up something new, even in spiritual and divine things. Thus she has invented caps and plates out of her wisdom, and almost everything that is done in the whole papacy; each one has devised his own work, one has devised this, the other that, and when one has ceased, or has
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If we do not want to please them, they will soon have raised another one; as we have unfortunately seen and still see today, and there will be no end to this thing. Which all comes from the fact that we do not want to let God's word and the truth be right, but only think of something new all the time.
For it is certain that if we establish a new worship service without God's word and against it, we will be blinded and always fall from one error into another, which is the greatest plague and punishment. Therefore Paul says in 2 Thess. 2, 11. 12. thus: "Therefore God will send them strong error, that they may believe the lie, that all may be judged who do not believe the truth, but delight in unrighteousness." Yes, in the end they come to know nothing of God, as the 14th Psalm v. 1. says: "Fools say in their heart, 'There is no God.'" For it is impossible that a natural man, who is blood and flesh, and is not instructed by the Spirit of God, should judge and understand the things that belong to God; as Paul 1 Cor. 2:14 says: "The natural man hears nothing of the Spirit of God, it is foolishness to him, and cannot know it; for it must be spiritually judged."
If anyone wants to read more about this, see the first chapter of St. Paul to the Romans, where he will find what blindness does, and what punishment follows if we let go of God's word and follow our little feet and thoughts; all of which we see in our clergy, monks, nuns and priests, and unfortunately, all too truly experience, God grant that they may one day recognize themselves and give God His glory. St. Paul says there, v. 23, of the Gentiles that they have changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image, like corruptible men, and birds, and four-footed and creeping animals. So do our papists, yes, even more foolish and foolish; they make for themselves a god with caps and plates, with hewn ropes,
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with meat-eating and fish-eating. Therefore God has also given them lust and uncleanness in their hearts, like the pagans, so shamefully that it is almost impossible to speak of it. For if such things were so with the heathen, who had many wives and harlots, how should they be lacking with the clergy, who forbid wives? Summa, it does not go differently, where the devil is and where God's word does not rule, one can certainly be sure of that. Indeed, it is so certain that the children on the guest know how to sing and say about it.
8. Now this is not only to be understood of the clergy, but it also happens among the common man when he does not accept the word of God; as we see that the citizens deal with false goods, the merchants with fraud, and there are so many deceits and deceptions among them, so much usury and fraud that it is almost impossible to count them all; Nevertheless, they always go and say mass, put up little lights, and think that God can be reconciled with them; they only strive to keep their good rumor unchanged and undefiled in the world, as it may be with God. Of these wise and understanding men, the Lord Christ says here in the Gospel, who hear the Gospel, see also the miraculous signs, but it does not help them, because it does not come into their hearts; and thus he says:
I praise you, Father and Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and have revealed them to babes; yes, Father, for they have been pleasing in your sight.
(9) Christ here calls "infants" mad, simpleton people, and does not speak of real infants, nor of the mad people before the world: it may well be a great doctor, whom he here calls infant; it may also be a farmer, whom he here calls wise and understanding. In the 8th Psalm, v. 3, David also calls them minors and children, since he says: "Out of the mouths of young children and infants, you have brought a power for the sake of your enemies. These must be truly underage children
By them God has prepared a power against His enemies, who shall praise and glorify His glory over all the earth.
(10) Thus the Lord calls these people ignorant, who think nothing of what they do, do not ascribe anything to their wisdom, and do not respect themselves at all, but consider God alone to be wise and prudent. Therefore they keep quiet and submit themselves completely to God and let themselves be taught by Him alone. The others, however, are too wise and do not want to learn anything from God; indeed, they are willing to master God's teachings and work. You may see the first and other chapters of the first epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians.
Therefore Christ says in Luke 16:8: "The children of this world are wiser than the children of light in their generation. But the foolish children of the light are more valid in the sight of God than the wise children of the world. The Lord says here in the Gospel about the unwise. So the wise must be unwise and the foolish must be wise; for nothing else is said: Father, you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, but you have revealed them to the unwise; for the wise and understanding do not know, but the unwise and foolish know. How do they not know? You have hidden it from them. But how do they know? You have revealed it to them.
(12) Now what he means by the word "such" must be understood from what he said before, namely, that he preached the gospel of the kingdom of God in many cities of the land of Judah, as in Chorozaim, Bethsaida, and in his city Capernaum, and they did not accept it because of their great wisdom, which prevented them from accepting the foolish, foolish preaching of the gospel.
The Gospel is a good, happy message that teaches me how to know God; through which knowledge I obtain forgiveness of sins and eternal life. As Christ in John Cap. 17, 3. says to His Father: "This is eternal life, that they should know you,
*) Instead of "wisdom", d has "power". D. Red.
that thou alone art true God, and whom thou hast sent, Jesus Christ. So he also says here in this gospel: "No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and to whom the Son wants to reveal it. There he speaks of the knowledge of both the Father and the Son. To whom it is revealed, he knows it, and he has eternal life. Now the Father hid these things from the wise and understanding, that they should not know either the Father or the Son; and revealed them to babes, that they should know both the Father and the Son, and so have eternal life.
14 If this is true, as it certainly is, where is free will? When you see such a shameful thing done to the body, as it says to the Romans in the first chapter, go and boast of your free will; I also think it is a fine free will to live in such a vain, inhuman being, which is unknown even among the unreasonable animals. One may well boast of free will, one can well see what it accomplishes. Well, it cannot be otherwise than when we are abandoned by God. When we are abandoned by God, the devil is soon in us with his rule; in his kingdom, nothing else happens but vice and shame, and yet it can be covered so masterfully with such a beautiful glow and shine that it is considered the most holy, yes, an angelic life. What are human powers capable of here, because some think they want to achieve much, even acquire heaven with it, if they only want to.
(15) But here you hear Christ say, The Father reveals it; item: It thus pleases the Father; so that he truly cancels all human merits. No satisfactions help, no works apply here, it is done by the will and pleasure of the Father. He does not look at the person as he is before the world, he neither disdains nor rejects the sinner, he brings as much sin as he always wants. So Christ also says to his disciples in Luca Cap. 12, 32: "Fear not, little host, for it is your Father's will.
ters good pleasure to give you the kingdom." The hypocrites and saints of works cannot stand such things, yes, it makes them furious, mad and foolish that the foolish and simple, the tax collectors and public sinners, should precede them in the kingdom of God, Matth. 21, 31, and they should be excluded with their holiness and pretty, beautiful, glittering works; it might well make one even more annoyed and foolish. Well, how should one do to him? It is God's good pleasure: to whom He reveals, he has it; to whom He hides, it is hidden; nothing else comes of it.
16 And notice especially that Christ says: "Yes, Father, it has been well pleasing before you"; before you, yes, before the world was created, as St. Paul Eph. 1, 4-6. God chose us through Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love, and ordained us to filial piety toward Himself through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the glory of His grace, by which He has made us acceptable in the Beloved. Here all merit is taken away; therefore do not think that you want to earn anything here, or that you want to make a great claim on your works, on your wisdom, or on your merits. Here all glory is taken away, so that "whoever wants to boast, let him boast of the Lord," as Paul says in 1 Cor. 1:31. Compare Jer. 9, 24. Now continue in the gospel:
All things have been given to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and to whom the Son wills to reveal it.
(17) Here you see the security that is in the kingdom of Christ, through whom we have knowledge and light. Now if Christ has all things under his hands, and is as mighty in all things as the Father himself, then no one can snatch anything out of his hands; as he himself says in John 10:28, 29: "I give eternal life to my sheep, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. The Father who gave them to me is greater than all; and no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.
tear. I and the Father are one." Therefore, if any Christian has accepted the gospel, he may well rejoice that he is under this Christ, and let not his sin deceive him. If he has accepted the gospel: Christ, under whom he is, will well continue it. The devil will still challenge him with this and that vice, with adultery, fornication, theft, death, envy, hatred, anger, and all the sins that are called; but there is no need, he has a strong, powerful king who will defend him. It will be hard for you, it will be sour for you; that is why you may ask. Others may pray for you, that you may have a strong courage and a bold heart to resist the devil; but it is certain that you will not be abandoned, Christ will save you, there is no need, only do not fall from his kingdom.
18 So you see here in this gospel that Christ is both God and man: man, in that he gives praise and thanks to God; God, in that all things have been given to him by the Father; which should be very comforting to us in all kinds of temptations.
(19) But when he says, "No one knows the Son but the Father, and no one knows the Father but the Son, and to whom the Son wills to reveal it," everything is spoken against free will; he will know God and Christ when and how he pleases. Here it is clear from where the knowledge of God and Christ comes. The Father, he says, knows the Son, and the Son knows the Father. How then do we know? Through this or that preacher? No, they are only means to it; but to whom the Son wills to reveal it. The other day he said that the Father reveals it; now he says that the Son does it: yes, both the Father and the Son reveal it, and as the Father reveals it, so does the Son; as Christ also says in John 14:26: "The Holy Spirit will teach you all things." Therefore, as the Father teaches, so teaches the Son, and so teaches the Holy Spirit. Where God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit do not teach, it remains untaught. Now follow further in the Gospel:
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me: for I am gentle, and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
(20) Thus far we have heard how God deals with the wise and understanding, namely, how He blinds them and hides the gospel from them; likewise, how He deals with the ignorant and foolish, namely, how He gives them a right understanding and reveals the gospel to them. If anyone should say: If this happens, I must be in great danger in my conscience before I hear and know that the gospel also belongs to me. I am a sinner, and perhaps the gospel does not belong to me, I am unworthy of it; therefore Christ says to comfort such stupid, frightened, afflicted consciences: "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you." We are called to this consolation, to the Gospel, and do not think here of your worthiness, for he says, "all you who labor and are burdened," that is, with the law, with sin, with fear and sorrow, and with whatsoever else may trouble a conscience. For this reason he does not give it a special name; he does not say, with this or that trouble, but says simply, "you who labor and are burdened. He also does not want to exclude anyone, for he says: "all"; which is an excellent, powerful comforting saying in the face of adversity, be it for an adversity as it may. Therefore, whoever feels his sin and recognizes his inability to fulfill the law of God, may come here, come boldly and comfortingly, and he will surely be helped. I will refresh you," he says, "as those who are oppressed and burdened with hard work and toil; only see to it that you believe this friendly enticement and promise.
021 So Christ also cried out in the temple at a feast in Jerusalem, saying, Whosoever thirsteth, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, of whom
Rivers of living water will flow from the body. And this is what he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him would receive," John 7:37-39. This is what happens: He preaches the gospel to us; I believe this sermon; as soon as I believe this sermon and fall into it, the Holy Spirit is there; when the Holy Spirit is there, my sins are forgiven. But then you feel that the Holy Spirit is there when you believe, and you are sure that your sins are forgiven. Truly, this is what it means to "refresh" those who are troubled in conscience, when they feel that their sins are forgiven and that they have become heirs of the kingdom of heaven. He does not only refresh us in the anguish and temptation of sin, but in all other troubles he wants to be with us, in famine, war, hard times, and whatever other tribulations may be present, he will not leave us; just as God did not leave the dear patriarch Joseph, even in a foreign country, but was always with him, whether he was well or not. Now, it is a heavy burden when one is oppressed by sins; no one is delivered from them, for whom the Son of God, Christ Jesus, redeems through the Holy Spirit, whom He has delivered to us from the Father, He makes our hearts glad and joyful for everything that God wants from us.
022 But what is this, that he saith, Take my yoke upon you? Does it mean "to refresh" when I take one burden off a man's neck and put another on top of it? This is what we have often said, that the gospel terrifies from the first, and is contrary to the flesh; for it says that all our things are nothing, our holiness and godliness count for nothing, all that is in us is condemned, we are children of wrath and iniquity; now this is heavy and an intolerable burden to the flesh, therefore it calls a burden or yoke.
(23) Lest any man be afraid of this man, and think that he is great, and high, and mighty, and that he cannot bear poor sinners and lowly men, or that he deals unkindly with them, he saith, "Learn of me; for I am gentle, and lowly in heart." That Augustine here says that we should
To learn meekness and humility from Christ, [to follow the same, *] is well said; but it does not rhyme well with this. Here Christ wants to tempt us sweetly to his teaching, for he has said about the knowledge of the Father. As if he wanted to say: The flesh and the stupid nature looks at me as if I were cruel, serious and strict; but I am not, I am gentle and humble of heart. I do not frighten people like Moses. I do not preach: do this, do that, but I preach forgiveness of sin; I preach that one should only take, not that one should give something. I am not like the Pharisees, who thought much of themselves, but I am quite kind and humble of heart, and ready to accept sinners; and though they fall into sin again, I do not cast them away from me, if only they come to me and seek comfort and help from me. I do not cast a spell on people like the Pharisees, who also cast a spell on people for the sake of their opinions and little human feelings, who would rather that all God's commandments were transgressed than that one of their statutes and ordinances was not kept. As we have seen in the papacy, it was a much greater sin to eat meat on Friday, or to marry a priest, than twenty adulteries or even ten murders. But here you hear that God also drops his law, so that he only attracts sinners to himself.
24 And especially here Christ says that he is gentle, as if he wanted to speak: I know how to deal with sinners, I have experienced it myself, what there is a stupid frightened conscience (as the epistle to the Hebrews Cap. 4, 15. says that he is tempted everywhere according to the likeness, without sin); therefore no one is frightened before me, I will deal with him in a kind and gentle way, I will not startle him nor frighten him, he only comes to me joyfully, with me he shall find rest for his soul. His soul, he says, as if he wanted to speak: There may be outward affliction and persecution in the body, and adversity may befall you; but
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You should bear all this easily and calmly; as he also says to his disciples in John 16:33: "In me you have peace, but in the world you are afraid. Therefore, even though everything outwardly seems against us, as if it would oppress and devour us, there is no need; for inwardly in our conscience we have good peace. And this is the first and next fruit of faith, peace in the conscience; as St. Paul says to the Romans, Cap. 5:1: "Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." If our conscience is free and at peace with God, nothing can move us or harm us, no matter how evil it may be.
025 But lest any man think thus, saying, It is not meet that I should take one burden from off a man's neck, and put another upon it, as it is said above; so he saith, My yoke is easy, and my burden is light; as if to say, Be not afraid of my yoke: the yoke of the law, whereunto ye walked before, was heavy unto you: but my yoke is not so heavy, it is an easy and gentle yoke, ye can bear it well. Now the wise also say that Christ's yoke is heavier than the yoke of the law, and refer to the fifth chapter of Matthew; but there Christ interprets the law as it is to be understood, and does not give law, but says that murder comes from an evil heart, and adultery flows from an unclean heart. So he only interprets the law of Moses and gives no law there.
26 Therefore the yoke of Christ is easy, and his burden is light; because he taketh away not only the ceremonies and ordinances of men, but also all the law, malediction, sin, death, and all things that may befall us because of the law: all these things Christ taketh away from me, and giveth me the Spirit, whereby I do gladly, willingly, and gladly all things whatsoever I ought to do. And therefore he is called gentle, sweet, and light, to help us bear, and when it becomes too heavy for us, he puts himself under the burden with us. The world may look at it as if it were heavy and inescapable, but it is
not; for one has a good companion to help him carry, as the saying goes, "It is good to sing with a good companion. Two of them can easily carry a load, although one of them does not carry it well. This is from
Enough of the gospel; now let us see the history of today's feast, how Matthias was chosen for the apostleship. Lucas describes it in the histories of the apostles Cap. 1. and speaks v. 15-26. thus: