Dr. Martin Luther's Church Postil.

On the first Sunday of Advent.

Matth. 21, 1-9.

Now when they were come near Jerusalem to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, and said unto them: Go into the place which is before you, and soon ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her; loose her, and bring her unto me. And if any man say any thing unto you, say, The Lord hath need of her; and he will soon let her go unto you. Now all these things came to pass, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee meekly, riding upon an ass, and upon a colt of the palatable ass. The disciples went and did as Jesus had commanded them, and brought the ass and the colt, and laid their garments thereon, and set him thereon. But many of the people spread the garments on the road; the others cut branches from the trees and scattered them on the road. And the people that went before and followed cried out, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest.

(1) In the Foreword above I said that there are two things to be seen and noticed in the Gospels. First, the works of Christ, given to us as a gift and good, on which faith should hang and be exercised; second, these same works presented as an example and model, which we should follow and become like: so that all the gospels teach first faith, and then works. Therefore let us divide the gospel into three parts. First, faith; second, good works; third, learning the spiritual meaning in this history of Christ.

I. Of faith.

2 This gospel especially provokes and demands faith, because it models Christ in a gracious future, whom no one else can receive or accept, unless he believes that he is the man and comes to the opinion as this gospel presents him. It is vain

Grace, mercy, and goodness, all that is shown here in Christ; and whosoever believeth these things in him, and receiveth him, blessed is he. See, he does not ride on a stallion, which is a warlike animal; he does not come in terrible splendor and violence; but sits on an ass, which is an indisputable animal, ready only for burden and work, to help man; that he may show how he comes, not to frighten man, nor to drive him, nor to oppress him, but to help him, to bear his burden and to take it upon himself. And although it has always been the custom of the country to ride on donkeys and to use horses for warfare, as the Scriptures report many times, everything must be done so that this king's riding may be recognized as gentle and kind.

3. secondly, he begins to ride and come to the mountain of oil, to prove that he comes only from and with pure mercy. For oil in the Scripture means God's mercy, which soothes and strengthens the soul,

as the oil soothes and helps the body naturally. *)

Thirdly, there is no armor, no war cry, but singing, praising, rejoicing and giving God.

5 Fourthly, Christ, as Lucas Cap. 19, 41. writes, weeps over the city of Jerusalem that it does not recognize such grace, nor does it take it; so sorry is he for their harm, let alone that he should deal with them severely and terribly.

(6) Fifth, most of all, the kindness and litter proves that he introduces the saying of the prophet, Isa. 62:11, Zech. 9:9, and even kindly entices to faith to accept Christ; for the sake of which saying this gospel history happened and was written, as the evangelist himself confesses. Therefore, let us consider this saying as the main part of the gospel, for in it Christ is explained to us what we are to think and believe about him, what we are to expect from him, what we are to look for in him, and how we are to use him.

7 First, he says: "Tell the daughter of Zion. This is said to the preachers, and they are thereby commanded a new sermon to preach, namely, nothing else than what the following words give, that is, a right blessed knowledge of Christ. Whoever preaches anything other than this is a wolf and a deceiver. And this is one of the sayings in which the gospel is promised, of which Paul says Rom. 1:3: For the gospel is a preaching of Christ; as it is here prefigured, that one should believe.

8 Now I have often spoken of two kinds of faith. The first, if you believe that Christ is such a man as he is described and preached here and in the whole gospel, but you do not believe that he is such a man to you, doubting whether you have and will have such a man from him, and you do not believe that he is such a man to you.

*On the other hand, this is also shown by the pomp and show of the disciples with Christ, who bring him the donkey and the colt, and put the clothes under him and put him on them, and the people who spread the clothes on the road and scatter branches from the trees; that there is neither fear nor terror, but only friendly confidence toward him, as they are very well able to deal with him, and he also accepts this kindly from them and is quite pleased with it.

Yes, he is such a man to others as St. Peter, St. Paul, and the pious saints; who knows if he will be the same to me, and if I should provide and rely on the same to him as the same saints.

(9) Behold, this faith is nothing, neither does it receive nor taste Christ, nor can it feel any air or love from him or toward him. It is a faith from Christ and not to or in Christ, which the devils also have along with all evil men. For who does not believe that Christ is a gracious King to the saints? This unholy and vain faith is now taught by the damned synagogues of the devils, the high schools, Paris and her sister, together with the monasteries and all the papists, who say that the same faith is enough to make Christians. This is actually nothing else taught, but denying the Christian faith, making pagans and Turks out of Christians, as St. Peter 2 Petr. 2, 1. proclaimed of them, saying: "There will be false teachers among you, who will deny the Lord who bought them."

10. to the other he says: "to the daughter of Zion". There the other, righteous faith is touched. For if he commands the following words to be spoken of Christ, there must also be someone who hears them, receives them, and clings to them with firm faith. He does not say, "Say to the daughter of Zion, as if someone else should believe of her that she has Christ; but say to her yourselves, let her believe it of herself and hold it without any doubt that it will be done to her according to these words. This is the faith that alone is called Christian faith, when you believe without any wavering that Christ is not only such a man to St. Peter and the saints, but also to yourself, yes, to yourself more than to anyone else. Your salvation does not lie in believing that Christ is a Christ to the pious, but that he is a Christ to you and yours.

(11) This faith makes Christ pleasing to thee, and sweet to the heart; and love and good works follow without fail. But if they do not follow, then faith is certainly not there; for where faith is, there

the Holy Spirit must be with us, working love and goodness in us.

The apostate and denying Christians, the pope, bishop, priests, monks and high schools condemn this faith and say that it is presumption to want to be like the saints. In this way they fulfill the prophecy of St. Peter, 2 Pet. 2, 2, when he says of the above-mentioned false teachers: "By these the way of truth will be blasphemed. Therefore, when they hear faith praised, they think that love and good works are forbidden; they are so blind that they do not know what faith, love and good works are. But if you want to be a Christian, you must let these words be said to you, to you, to you, and cling to them, believing without any doubt that it may be done to you as they are; you must not consider it presumption that you are like the saints in this, but a most necessary humility and renunciation, not of God's grace, but of yourself. God wants such presumption on His offered grace, at the loss of eternal blessedness. If you do not want to be like the saints and also become holy, where will you stay? That would be presumption, if you wanted to become holy and blessed by yourself and your works; as they teach now, the apostate papists, call presumption that is faith, and faith that is presumption; the wretched, perverse people.

013 But that thou shouldest glory in Christ, and by his coming be holy in faith; this is the right glory and praise of God, that thou shouldest confess, love, and praise his grace and work in thee, and reject, condemn, and despair of thyself with thy works; this is called a Christian. For we say: I believe a holy Christian church, which is a congregation of saints. If thou wilt be a part of the holy Christian church and congregation of saints, thou must ever also be holy as it is; but not by thee, nor of thee, but of Christ alone, of whom also all others are holy.

Fourteenth, he says, "Perceive," or, "Behold. With which word he immediately wakes us up from sleep and unbelief, as if he wanted to pretend something great, strange, remarkable, which we have long desired and with which we have been waiting for a long time.

to receive them with joy. And is such awakening also necessary, for the reason that everything that concerns faith despises reason and nature and is quite uneven to it; as that this should be the king of Jerusalem, who rides along so poor and lowly, that he only rides on a strange donkey, how would nature and reason recognize that? How rhymes the riding in to a great king? But faith is such that it neither judges nor follows what it sees and feels, but what it hears. It is attached to the word alone, and not to the face or the gesture. Therefore all have not received Christ as a king, except those who have followed the word of the prophet, have believed in Christ, and have measured and received his kingdom not with the eyes, but with the spirit; who also are the true daughter of Zion. For it is not possible that he who will follow the sight and the feeling, and not hasten on the mere word, should not be vexed in Christ.

(15) And this image allows us to perceive and retain the first one, in which the nature of faith is presented to us. For at the same time, as here the sight and counter-sight of faith is nothing at all and contrary to all reason and nature: so in all articles and cases of faith the same void, contrary sight is the same; nor would it be faith if it seemed and appeared, as faith seems and the words are. And for this very reason it is faith, that it does not appear nor appear, as faith and the words are. If Christ had ridden in splendidly like a worldly king, the appearance and the words would have been even and according to reason and nature, and it would have been felt in the eyes as the words are; but with this there would have remained no faith. Thus it is that he who believes in Christ must know and keep riches under poverty, honor under dishonor, joy under sorrow, life under death, through the faith that hangs on God's words and waits for them.

16 Fourth, "your king. Here he distinguishes this king from all other kings. It is thy king, saith he, which is promised unto thee, of whom thou art thine own, which hath made thee and thy family.

but in spirit, and not according to bodily rule. [This is he whom thou hast desired from the beginning, and for whom thy dear fathers have sighed and cried with hearty desire, who shall deliver thee and set thee free from all that hath hitherto weighed thee down, oppressed thee, and imprisoned thee. *] O this is a comforting word to a believing heart; for apart from Christ, man is subject to many raging tyrants, who are not kings, but his murderers, under whom he suffers great distress and anguish, such as the devil, the flesh, the world, sin, and also the law and death with hell; from all of which the wretched conscience is oppressed, has a heavy prison, and leads a sourly anxious life. For where there are sins, there is no good conscience; where there is no good conscience, there is a vain uncertain nature and an incessant fear of death and hell, before which there may be no joy nor pleasure in the heart, but, as Deut. 26:36 says, such a heart is frightened even by a rustling leaf.

(17) But if any heart receives this King with a strong faith, he is secure, fearing neither sin, nor death, nor hell, nor all calamities; for he knows well and doubts not that this King of his is Lord over life and death, over sin and grace, over hell and heaven, and that all things are in his hands. For this cause he became our King, and came unto us, that he might deliver us from all such grievous tyrannies, and that he himself might reign over us alone. Therefore whosoever is under this King, and believeth in him with a steadfast faith, neither sin, nor death, nor hell, nor devils, nor men, nor all creatures, shall hurt him: but as his King liveth without sin, and is blessed, so must he also be kept by him without death, without sin, alive and blessed for ever.

Behold, such great things have in them these little words, "Perceive thy king." Such exuberant great goods the poor donkey rider and careless king brings. All these things are not seen by reason, nor understood by nature, but only by the

*) (f g)

Faith. Therefore he is called "your king"; yours, yours, who is ruled and driven by sins, devil, death and hell, flesh and world, that you may be ruled and led under him sweetly in grace, in spirit, in life, in heaven, in God. *) Which also shall be unto thee, if thou shalt but believe that he is such a king, and hath such a government, and cometh and is preached: for if thou shalt not believe this of him, thou shalt not obtain it by any other work. As thou thinkest of him, so hast thou him; what thou thinkest of him, that thou findest in him; and as thou believest, so be it unto thee. He remains who he is, immovable, a king of life, of grace, of blessedness, whether believed or not.

19 Fifth: He "comes". No doubt you do not come to him and fetch him, he is too high and too far for you; with your food, toil and labor you cannot reach him, lest you boast as if you had brought him to you by your merit and worthiness. No, dear man, all merit and worthiness lie down here; and there is nothing but unmerit and unworthiness on your side, and grace and mercy on his side. The poor and the rich come together here, as David says in the Psalter.

(20) And hereby are condemned all the shameful, unchristian teachings of free will, which come from the pope, high schools and monasteries. For all their teaching is that we should begin and lay the first stone. We should seek God by the power of our free will, come to Him, run after Him and acquire His grace. Beware, beware of this poison, it is vain doctrines of the devil, by which all the world is deceived. Before you call upon or seek God, God must have come first and found you; as Paul says Rom. 10:14, 15: "How can they call upon God if they do not believe first? But how can they believe, if they do not hear first? But how can they hear, if they do not preach first? But how can they preach,

*) So with this word he demands faith that you certainly had it for him to give you a etc.

If they are not sent first?" etc. God must lay the first stone and begin in you to seek and ask for it. It is already there when you begin and seek; but if it is not there, you will certainly begin nothing but vain sin, and so much greater, as you undertake greater and holier works, and become a hardened gleaner.

21. But do you ask: How then must one begin to become godly, or, what must one do, that God may begin in us? Answer: Well, don't you hear that there is no doing, no beginning in you to become godly? as little as there is increasing and completing in you; God alone is beginning, promoting and completing. Everything you begin is sin and remains sin, however beautiful it may be; you can do nothing but sin, do as you will. Therefore, the teaching of all schools and monasteries is seduction, because they begin to teach, pray, do good works, endow, give, sing, become spiritual, and thus seek God's grace.

22 Then you say, "If I were to sin because of necessity, where I work and live without God of my own free will, and if I did not want to avoid sin, I would do whatever I wanted? Answer: Of course it is so, that you must remain in sins, do what you will, and sin where you alone work of your own free will; for if you yourself would not sin of your own free will, or do what would not be sin, what would you need Christ for? He would be a fool to shed his blood for your sin, if you were so free and powerful for yourself that you would do something that was not sin. From this you see how the high schools and monasteries, with all their teaching of free will and good works, do no more than obscure the truth of God, so that we do not know what Christ is, what we are, and what is done for us; they lead the whole world with them into the abyss of hell, so that it would be time for us to root out all the monasteries and foundations from the earth.

Therefore learn here from the Gospel how it is when God begins to make us godly, and which is the beginning of becoming godly. There is no other beginning than for your King to come to you and begin in you.

on. This is how it goes: the gospel must be the first thing, it must be preached and heard; in it you hear and learn how your thing is nothing in the sight of God, and all that you do or begin is sin, but your King must be in you first and reign. Behold then thy salvation begins, and thou castest down thy work, and despisest in thyself, because thou hearest and seest that all thy doings are sin and nothing, as the gospel saith unto thee; and lift up and receive thy King by faith, and cleave unto him, and call upon his mercy, and comfort thyself in his goodness alone. But that thou hearest and receivest these things is not of thine own power, but of God's grace, which maketh the gospel fruitful in thee, that thou shouldest believe him, how that thou and thine own thing is nothing: for thou seest how few there are of them that receive it, that Christ also weepeth for this cause over Jerusalem, and now our papists not only receive not, but also condemn such doctrine; for they will not suffer all their things to be sin and nothing, they will lay the first stone, rage and rage against the gospel.

(24) Furthermore, that the gospel should be preached and your king come is not in your power or merit; God must send it by pure grace. Therefore there is no greater wrath of God than where he does not send the gospel; there must be all sin, error and darkness, do what you will: again, no greater grace than where he sends his gospel; for there must follow fruit and grace, though not all, even few, receive it. Thus, the most terrible wrath of God is the Pabst's regiment, that they may call St. Peter's children of malediction; for they teach no gospel, but vain doctrines of men from their own doings and works, as we, alas, see and hear in all monasteries, convents and schools.

025 Behold, this is called, "Thy King cometh." You do not seek him, he seeks you; you do not find him, he finds you; for the preachers come from him, not from you; their preaching comes from him, not from you; your faith comes from him, not from you; and everything that faith works in you comes from him, not from

that thou mayest well see that where he cometh not thou abidest without; and where there is no gospel, there is no God, but only sin and destruction, whatsoever the free will may do, suffer, make, live, as it pleaseth and willeth. Therefore, do not ask where to begin to become godly; there is no beginning, because where this king comes and is preached.

26. sixth, "He comes to you." To you, to you, what is this? Is it not enough that he is your king? If he is yours, what can he say: "He comes to you"? But everything is set by the prophet to portray Christ in the most beautiful way and to entice us to faith. It is not enough that Christ redeems us from the tyranny and dominion of sin, death and hell, and becomes our King; but He also gives Himself to us for our own, that all that He is and has may be ours; of which St. Paul Rom. 8:32 says, "He spared not His own Son, but gave Him for us all; how shall He not then have given all things to us with Him?"

27 So the daughter of Zion has twofold goods from Christ: the first is faith and the spirit in the heart, by which she is cleansed and freed from sins. The other is Christ Himself, since she can boast about the given goods from Christ, as if everything that Christ Himself is and has was also her own, so that she can rely on Christ as her inheritance; of which St. Paul says Rom. 8:34: "Christ is our mediator in the sight of God." If he is our mediator, he takes care of us, and in turn we take care of him as ours. And 1 Cor. 1, 30.: "Christ is made unto us of God a righteousness, wisdom, sanctification, and redemption." Of the twofold goods says Isaiah Cap. 40, 1. 2. "Be of good cheer, be of good cheer, O my people, saith your God; speak Jerusalem into her heart, and gather her together; her sins are forgiven her, her wickedness is ended; she hath received of the hand of God twofold goods." Behold, this means here: "He cometh unto thee," unto thee well, unto thine own; in that he is thy King, thou receivest grace from him into thine heart, that he may save thee from sin and death, and so become thy King, and thou his subject. But in that he cometh unto thee, he becometh thine own, that thou mayest also be mighty over his own goods, as

a bride who becomes mighty over her bridegroom's goods, over the ornaments he hangs on her. Oh, this is a sweet and comforting speech. Who can despair or fear death or hell if he believes these words and takes Christ for his own?

28) The seventh: "meek. This word is especially to be remembered and comforts the sinful conscience; for sin naturally makes a fearful, volatile conscience, which is terrified of God and hides itself, as Adam did in paradise, and cannot suffer the future of God; since it knows and naturally feels that God is hostile to sin and punishes it horribly; therefore it flees and is frightened wherever it hears God mentioned, worrying that he will strike it with a club as soon as he hears it. So that such delusion and fear do not chase us, he promises us here comfortingly that this king will come "meekly"; as if he should say: Do not flee and do not fear, he does not come now as he came to Adam, Cain, to the flood, to Babylon, to Sodom and Gomorrah; nor as he came to the people of Israel on Mount Sinai: He cometh not in wrath, neither will he reckon with thee, nor require iniquity; all wrath is put away, there is vainness and goodness, he will go with thee once, that thine heart may delight, and love, and have all confidence in him; that thou mayest henceforth so much and much more cleave unto him, and seek refuge, than thou wast afeard of him, and fledst before. Behold, he is yet all meekness toward thee, he is quite another man, as if he were sorry that he had ever once terrified thee and made thee fugitive with his punishment and wrath; wherefore he will now again make thee bold and confident, and bring thee kindly unto him. Behold, that is, I mean, to speak comfortingly into the heart of a poor sinful conscience, that is, to preach rightly of Christ and to proclaim the gospel. How is it possible that such a speech should not make a heart glad, and dispel all fear of sin, death and hell, and raise up a free, secure, good conscience, which henceforth will gladly do and leave all and more that is desired of it?

29. but the evangelist has changed the words of the prophet a little; for the prophet thus reads Zech. 9, 9: "Rejoice greatly.

O daughter of Zion, and rejoice, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King cometh unto thee, to be a justifier and a Saviour; he is poor, and rideth upon an ass, and upon a colt, the son of asses." This exhortation to joy and rejoicing to the daughter of Zion and the daughter of Jerusalem the evangelist recently brings in the words: "Tell the daughter of Zion"; item, he leaves out the two words: "justifier" and "savior". When the prophet says: "He is poor", the evangelist says that he is "meek". Item, the prophet says: "on the colt, the son of the asses", names many asses, plurali numero (in the plural); the evangelist says: "on the colt, the son of the laborer", that is, such an ass, which is needed daily for burden and labor. How are we going to make them one?

(30) First of all, it is to be known that the evangelists do not care to put on all the words of the prophets; it is enough for them that they have the same opinion and show the fulfillment, so that they may point us to the Scriptures, so that we ourselves may continue to read what they have written, and see how nothing is written that is not all abundantly fulfilled. It is also natural that he who has the work and the fulfillment does not pay so much attention to the words as to the fulfillment. So we shall see hereafter many times how the evangelist introduces the prophets, changing them a little; but it is all done without any interruption of understanding and opinion, as has been said.

(31) Now that the prophet exhorts the daughter of Zion and the daughter of Jerusalem to joy and rejoicing, he superfluously states that this king is the most consoling and lovely future for all sinful consciences. Which also means that

*conscience, that he might take away the terror and fear thereof, that they might not flee from him, and say, as if he would be their stern judge, and drive them with the law, as Moses did; wherefore also, being terrified, they might have no joyful nor comforting confidence in God; as, of course, the knowledge and feeling of sin bring with them from the law: but that he would soon awaken them with the first word in the strongest possible way, so that they would be provided with all grace and good things to him and wait for them from him. Why else would he exhort them to rejoice, and not only rejoice, but rejoice and be very glad? Which he says by divine command and for the sake of God to all who are in distress, fear and anxiety.

he comes from the mountain of oil, as if it should be noticed that this grace would be called a mountain of grace before the rest, which is not a droplet or a handful as before, but a grace heaped and showered as a mountain.

32 He also calls the people twice, so that the evangelist speaks only once: "Daughter of Zion. For there is one people, the daughter of Zion and the daughter of Jerusalem, that is, the people of the same city who believe and receive Christ. For as has been said, the evangelist only wants to show the Scriptures in the shortest possible way, and command us to read them ourselves, where we will find it further: but not the less that the evangelist does not provoke to joy, as the prophet does, and speaks badly, one should tell the daughter of Zion, he does so, that he expresses how the joy and the rejoicing should go, that not someone waits for a bodily, but a spiritual joy, which one only creates by saying and hearing with the faith of the heart. For there was nothing joyful about Christ's poor riding in according to bodily appearance, therefore one must preach and believe his spiritual riding in, that is, his meekness, which makes one joyful and glad.

But that the prophet gives Christ three titles, "poor," "justified," and "Savior," while the evangelist gives only one, "meek," is for the sake of brevity, that he may show rather than interpret. It seems to me as if the Holy Spirit had the apostles and evangelists break the sayings of Scripture so briefly that he would keep us to the plain Scripture, and not give an example to the future interpreters who make many words apart from Scripture and thus secretly draw us away from the plain Scripture to the doctrine of men; as if he were to say, "If I spread the Scripture wide and draw it in its entirety, every man will do likewise according to the example;

This shows that it is God's will and whole opinion, and hereby commands that such should draw against their natural fear and terror a joyful confidence in Him. And this is the true natural sum of the Gospel, which the prophet begins to proclaim here; just as Christ always speaks in this way in the Gospel, and the apostles everywhere exhort to joy in Christ, as we will often hear hereafter. That the evangelist does not provoke etc. (f g)

So that it would happen that people would read more in other books than in the Scriptures, and there would be no end to the writing of books, and they would always be led from one book to another, until at last they would even come out of the Scriptures, as has happened; therefore he wants to entice us with such a crime of the sayings only to the original book, since they are understood further and completely inside, and it is not necessary to make a separate book for each one and to leave this first one.

34 So we also see that the opinion of all the apostles and evangelists in the whole New Testament is that they chase us and drive us into the Old Testament, which they also call the holy Scriptures alone. For the New Testament is supposed to be only living words in the flesh and not Scripture; for which reason Christ also wrote nothing, **) as we shall hear on the day of Epiphany.

(35) But in the Hebrew language, the two words, "poor" and "meek," are not nearly dissimilar, and mean such a poor man, not one who is afflicted with money and goods, but one who is miserable and lowly in heart, in whom there is certainly no anger or haughtiness, but only compassion and compassion. And if we want to have the full meaning of this word, we may best take it from the Gospel of Luke, where he describes how Christ wept and lamented over Jerusalem in this riding in. Now as you see that Christ is holding on, interpret the word "poor" or "meek". But how does he hold himself? His heart is full of sorrow and compassion for Jerusalem; there is so little anger or greed that he weeps even before the rest of the company over the destruction of his enemies. No one would have been so wicked as he at that time would have done or wished harm; his sorrow makes him so gentle and soft,

*) my writing would be sought more in other books than in my book, and there would be no end of writing books, and my book would be thrown under the bench, as it has happened; therefore, that I keep them all in my book, I will forbid the proverbs, so that they attract only to etc. (a-e)

**) but commanded his gospel to be preached and practiced orally, which before was hid in the scriptures, as etc. (f g)

That he may remember no wrath, no puffed-up temper, no wrath nor vengeance, but offer up all compassion and good will. See, this is what the prophet calls "poor" and the evangelist "meek. Blessed is he who thus knows and believes Christ, for he cannot ever be afraid of him, but must have a free, comforting confidence and access to him. Nor does he lack it, for as he believes, so he finds; these words do not lie or deceive.

The word "justifies" is not to be understood here of righteousness, so that God judges, as one calls the strict righteousness of God. For if Christ came to us with this, who would remain before it? who could receive it? if even the saints did not like it, this joy, pleasure and love would be turned into the greatest fear and terror; but it is to be called grace, so that he may justify us. I also wish that the little word justus, justitia, in Scripture, had never been brought into the German usage,*) that it might be called righteous, justice; for it actually means pious and godliness. And that we say in German: He is a pious man, that is what the Scripture says: He is justus, justified or righteous. But the strict justice of God the Scripture calls seriousness, judgment or rightness. Therefore the prophet is to be understood here thus: "Your king comes to you**) pious"; that is, he comes to make you pious by himself and his grace; knowing well that you are not pious. Your piety should not be your doing, but his grace and gift, and so you should be justified or pious by him. In this way St. Paul says Rom. 3, 26: "He alone is righteous and justified. This means in German: Christ alone is righteous before God and he alone makes us righteous. Item Rom. 1, 17: "The righteousness of God is revealed in the Gospel"; that is in German: The piety of God, namely, His grace and mercy, by which He makes us pious before Himself.

*) brought, by strict judicial justice; for (k 8).

**) thee righteous or pious (f g).

is preached in the gospel; as you also see in this saying of the prophet, that Christ is preached to us for godliness, that he comes to us pious and righteous, and through him we are to become pious and righteous in the faith.

37. Note this bit diligently, that where you find the word "God's righteousness" in Scripture, that you do not understand it to mean the self-existent inward righteousness of God, as the papists and many holy fathers have erred, otherwise you will be frightened by it; But know that according to the custom of Scripture it is called the outpoured grace and mercy of God through Christ in us, by which we are counted righteous and just before him; and therefore it is called God's righteousness or godliness, that not we, but God works it in us with grace; just as also God's work, God's wisdom, God's strength, God's word, God's mouth, which he works and speaks in us. All this is clearly proven by St. Paul, Rom. 1, 16: "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God" (hear, which works in us and strengthens us) "for the salvation of all who believe in it," for God's righteousness is revealed in it, as it is written: "The righteous lives by his faith." Here you see that he speaks of the righteousness of faith, and he calls it the righteousness of God, proclaimed in the Gospel; for the Gospel teaches nothing else but: He that believeth hath grace, and is justified in the sight of God, and is saved. So you should understand Psalm 31:2: "Save me by your righteousness," that is, by your grace, which makes me righteous and just, and the like. Also, that there is such understanding here in the little word "righteous," the other little word, "Savior or Beatificator," compels; for if Christ came with his strict righteousness, he would not make anyone blessed, but would condemn all, since they are all sinners and unrighteous. But now he comes, not only to make pious and righteous, but also to make blessed all who receive him, that he alone may be the righteous and the Savior, out of a vain unmerited linen,*) and

*) Litter and kindness, all etc. (a)

Righteousness graciously offered to all sinners.

38) But that the evangelist calls the donkey a worker or burden bearer, he has expressed what kind of donkey it was, since the prophet says about it; as if he should say: The prophecy is fulfilled in this donkey, which was palpable there. It was not a special donkey, which would be educated on it, as according to custom of the country the riding donkeys are educated; so completely and completely badly the fulfillment happened. And that the prophet speaks: "of the donkeys", as if this had been a filling of many donkeys, is the opinion, it had been a filling, as the donkeys have, that it was not a filling of the horses.

II. of good works.

(39) That is enough of the first part, faith. Now we come to the other, to good works; that we receive Christ not only as a gift through faith, but also as an example through love toward our neighbor, whom we should serve and do good to, as Christ does to us. Faith brings and gives you Christ for your own with all his goods. Love gives you to your neighbor with all your goods. And in the two there is a Christian life, pure and complete; then follows suffering and persecution for the sake of such faith and love; from this then grows hope in patience.

040 Now thou mayest ask, What then are the good works which thou shalt do unto thy neighbor? The answer is that they have no name; but just as the good works Christ does for you have no name, so the good works you do for your neighbor should and may have no name.

041 How then shall they be known? Answer: For this reason they have no name, lest a difference arise and be divided, that thou do some and do not some; but thou shouldest yield thyself wholly to him with all that thou art able; even as Christ did not pray or fast for thee alone. Praying and fasting is not the work he has done for you; but to surrender yourself to him.

You have given yourself completely to him, with prayer, fasting, all works and suffering, so that there is nothing in him that is not yours and done for you. So it is not your good work to give alms or to pray, but to give yourself completely to your neighbor and to serve him wherever he needs you and wherever you are able, be it with alms, prayer, work, fasting, counseling, comforting, teaching, admonishing, punishing, excusing, clothing, feeding, and finally also suffering and dying for him. Tell me, where are such works in Christianity now?

If God would give me a voice like a thunderclap, so that I could resound in all the world and tear the word "good works" out of the hearts, mouths, ears and books of all people, or at least give them a proper understanding. All the world sings, says, writes and thinks about good works; all sermons are about good works; all monasteries, all convents, all the world preaches good works; and everyone wants to deal with good works: and yet good works happen nowhere, indeed, no one knows anything about it. Oh, that all such preaching stands in the world were in the fire and powder! How they deceive the people with good works! They call good works, which God has not commanded, as there are: Pilgrimage, fasting in honor of the saints, building and decorating churches, masses, vigils, praying rosaries, much chattering and plerring in church, becoming monks, nuns, priests, needing special food, clothes and places, and who can tell them all, the abominable abominations and seductions? that is, the pope's regiment and holiness.

43 If then thou hast ears to hear, and a heart to know, hear and learn for God's sake what good works are and are called. A good work is called good because it is useful, and does good, and helps those to whom it is done; otherwise why should it be called good? For there is a difference between good works and great, long, many, beautiful works. Throwing a large stone a long way is a great work, but to whom is it useful and good? That thou mayest leap, run, and thrust, is a fine, beautiful work: but to whom is it profitable and good? What good is it that you wear a beautiful skirt, that you build a beautiful house?

44 And that I may come upon our thing: Who is helped that you smear silver and gold on the walls, stone and wood in the churches? Who would be better off if all the villages had ten bells as big as those in Erfurt? Who would benefit if all the houses were like monasteries and convents, as beautiful as Solomon's temple? Who would benefit if you were to fast St. Catherine, St. Martin, this and that saint? Who cares whether you are completely or half shaven, whether you wear gray or black robes? What good is it if all people say mass every hour? What good is it if in a church like in Meissen people sing day and night without stopping? Who is better off, although there are more silver, pictures and jewels in all churches than in Halle and Wittenberg? All of this is vain foolishness and deception, man's lies invented and called good works, pretending to serve God with them and pray for the people and their sin, just as if God would be helped with our goods, or His saints would be allowed our works: stick and stone are not so rough and foolish as we are. A tree bears fruit not for itself, but for the good of men and animals; these are its good works.

45 Therefore hear how Christ interprets good works, Matt. 7:12: "Whatever you want people to do to you, you do to them, that is the law and the prophets. Do you hear here what is the content of the whole law and all the prophets? Thou shalt not do good to God and his saints, for they are not allowed to do it; much less to wood and stone, for whom it is neither useful nor necessary: but to the people, to the people, to the people. Do you not hear? To the people you shall do all that you would have done to yourself.

(46) Without doubt, I would not have you build me a church or a tower, or cast bells; I would not have you make me an organ with fourteen stops and ten flutes. With this I can neither eat nor drink; neither provide for my child nor my wife, neither keep house nor field; you may feed my eyes with it and tickle my ears, but what do I give my children in the meantime? where is my need? Oh great, great, great! And bishops and

Princes, who should resist it, are the most distinguished in such foolish work, and one blind man leads the other. I am reminded of such people, like the young girls who play with dolls and children who ride on sticks; they are truly children, and players of sticks and riders of sticks.

(47) Remember, then, that you must do no good toward God and His saints, but only seek, ask and receive good things from Him through faith. Christ has done and accomplished everything for you, paid for sin, earned grace, life and salvation; be content with him. Only think that you bring him more and more into yourself and strengthen such faith. Therefore, all the good you can do, and your whole life, direct it to be good. But then it is good if it is useful to others and not to yourself, for you have no need of it, since Christ has done for you and given all that you may seek or desire for yourself here or there, whether it be forgiveness of sins, merit of salvation, or whatever it may be called. If thou findest a work in thee, which thou doest to God, or to his saints, or to thyself, and not to thy neighbor alone, know that the work is not good.

(48) Thus shall a man do to his wife and child, the wife to the husband, the children to the parents, the servants to the masters, the masters to the servants, the authorities to the subjects, the subjects to the authorities, and each to the other, even to the enemies, for love and service, to live, to speak, to do, to hear, to suffer, and to die, that there may always be one another's hand, mouth, eye, foot, yea, heart, and courage. These are called right Christian, natural good works, which may and should be done without ceasing at all times, in all places, against all persons. Therefore you see that the works of the papists in organs, singing, dressing, ringing, burning incense, sprinkling, walking, fasting, etc. are indeed beautiful, great, many, long, broad and thick works: but there is no good and useful or helpful work among them; so that one may well say of them the saying: It is already evil.

(49) But here beware of their pointed subtleties, saying, Yea, whether such works be not bodily good or profitable to the neighbor.

they are spiritually beneficial to his souls, so that God may be served and reconciled with them, and his grace obtained. Here it is time for me to say: You lie as far as your mouth is; God is not served by works, but by faith, faith must do everything that is to happen between us and God. This faith can be more in the garbage collector than in all the papists, and it can acquire more than all the priests and monks with their organs and jiggery-pokery, even if they had more organs than there are pipes in them now. He who has faith can ask for others, he who does not have faith can ask for nothing. That is why it is a real devil's lie that one considers such external pomps spiritually useful and good. A miller's maid, if she believes, does more good, achieves more, and would also rely more on it, if she only took the sack from the donkey, than all priests and monks, if they sang themselves to death day and night and tortured themselves to death. You great, coarse fools, do you want to help the people with your faithless life and hand out spiritual goods: but on earth is not a miserable, meager, spiritless people, because you are? You should not be called spiritual, but spiritless.

Behold, such good works Christ teaches here in his example. Tell me, what is he doing here, so that he may be useful to himself and do good? The prophet gives it all to the daughter of Zion, saying, "He comes to you"; and that he comes justified, Savior, meekly, it is all for you, that he may justify you and make you blessed. No one had asked him for it, nor called him; free of himself, out of pure love he comes, that he may only do good, be useful and helpful. Now his work is not of one kind, but of all kinds, that is, as much as belongs to it, that he may justify them and make them blessed. Justification and salvation entail so much that he delivers them from sins, death and hell. And he does this not only to his friends, but also to his enemies, yes, to all his enemies, so heartily that he weeps over them, who will not let him do such a good work, nor receive him. Therefore, he puts all he has and all he is into it, so that he may blot out their sin, overcome death and hell, and justify and save them.

He does not keep anything for himself, he is content that he has God first and is blessed; therefore he only serves us, according to the will of his Father, who wanted such things done by him.

051 Therefore see if he keep not the law: "As ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." Is it not true that every man in his heart would have another to answer for his sins, to take them upon himself and blot them out so that his conscience would no longer be troubled by them, to save him from death and deliver him from hell? What does anyone desire more than to be free from death and hell? Who would not like to be without sin and have a good happy conscience towards God? Do we not see how all people strive for this with prayer, fasting, pilgrimage, consecration, monasticism and priesthood? Who pushes them? namely sin, death and hell, from which they would like to be safe. And if there were a doctor at the end of the world who could help, all countries would become desolate, and everyone would run to the doctor, risking property, life and limb on the journey. And if Christ himself, like us, were surrounded by death, sin and hell, he would also want someone to help him out, take his sin away from him and give him a good conscience. Therefore, because he would have others do the same to him, he goes and does the same to others, as the law says, and enters into our sin, goes to death, and overcomes for us both sin, death and hell; so that from now on all who believe in him and call on his name may be righteous and blessed, without sin and death, having a good, happy, safe, fearless, blessed conscience forever, as he says John 8:51. 8, 51: "He that keepeth my word shall never taste death"; and Joh. 11, 25: "I am the life and the resurrection: he that believeth in me shall never die; and though he die, yet shall he live."

(52) Behold, this is the great joy for which the prophet exhorts, saying, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; rejoice, O daughter of Jerusalem"; this is the vindication and salvation for which this Savior and King is coming;

These are his good works done for us, so that he fulfills the law. Therefore, the death of the believers in Christ is not a death, but a sleep; for they do not see or taste death, as Christ says here, Psalm 4:9: "I will lie down in peace and sleep, for thou hast put me in good assurance." Therefore also death is called a sleep in the Scriptures.

The papists and their disciples, however, who want to escape from death, sin, and hell by works and satisfaction, must remain in it forever; for they are subject to do from themselves what Christ alone did and could do, from whom they should also expect it by faith; therefore it is also the perverse, senseless people who do the works for Christ and his saints, which they should do for their neighbor. Again, what they should expect from Christ by faith, they want to find in themselves, and have come so far at last that they turn to stone and wood, to bells and smoke, which they should turn to their neighbor; so they always go, do much good to God and his saints, fast for them and establish horas (hours of prayer): but meanwhile let their neighbor remain as he remains, thinking only, had we helped ourselves before. Afterwards the pope comes and sells them his junk and letter and leads them up from their mouths to heaven: not to God's heaven, but to the pope's heaven, that is, to the abyss of hell. Behold, this is the fruit of unbelief and ignorance of Christ; the reward we have, that we have left the gospel under the bench, and have brought up doctrines of men. I say again, I would that all the preachers' chairs in the world were in the fire with monasteries, foundations, churches, cloisters, and chapels, and were all vain ashes and powder, for the sake of the abominable seduction of poor souls.

54 Behold, now thou knowest what good works are; think now, and keep thyself according to them. As for your sin, death and hell, beware that you do nothing, for you can do nothing there, your good works are nothing there, you must let someone else work there; it is Christ's duty to do such works himself and actually, you must let him have this say,

That he may be the King of Zion who is coming, that he alone may be the justifying Savior; in him and in him you must destroy sin and death through faith. Therefore, whoever teaches you to do works to blot out your sin, beware.

(55) If some sayings of Scripture are cited against this, as when Daniel says Cap. 4:24, "Thou shalt redeem thy sin with alms," and St. Peter, 1 Ep. 4:8, "Love covereth the multitude of sins," and the like: so be wise. For such sayings do not mean that works may destroy sin or do enough, for that would be to take away from Christ this saying and all his advocacy, and to deny all his works: but that such works are a sure sign of faith, which in Christ overcomes all sin and death. For it is not possible that he who believes in Christ for his justified Savior should not love and do good. But if he does not do good, or does not love, it is certain that faith is not there. Therefore a man knows from his fruits what kind of tree he is, and by love and works he becomes sure what Christ is in him, and he believes in him. As St. Peter also says in 2 Ep. 1, 10: "Dear brothers, be diligent to make your calling and election sure by good works," that is, if you practice good works freshly, you will be sure and cannot doubt that God has called and chosen you.

(56) Therefore faith blots out sin much differently than love: faith alone blots it out by its own doing; but love or good works proves and proves that faith has done this and is there; so that even St. Paul 1 Cor. 13:2 may say, "If I had all faith, that I might also remove mountains; but if I have not love, then I am nothing. Why? Without doubt, that faith also is not there, where love is not there; for they abide not one from another. Therefore, see to it that you are not deceived and led from faith to works.

(57) Good works must be done, not relying on them, but on the work of Christ; not touching sin, death, and hell with our works, but pointing them away from us to the justifying Savior,

to the king of Zion who rides on the donkey, who knows how to deal with sin, death and hell; this is the slayer of sins, the strangler of death and the devourer of hell; let the man deal with such things, and put your works on your neighbor, so that you may have a sure sign of faith in the Savior and slayer of sins. So love and good works also blot out your sin from you, that you may feel it, as faith blots out from God, that you may not feel it.

From the history and clandestine interpretation.

58. *) In the story of this gospel, the main thing to look at is the opinion and reason why the evangelist introduces the saying of the prophet, in which so long before and so clearly with fine, glorious and yet wonderful words the bodily public future or entry of the Lord Christ to his people Zion or Jerusalem is described, as the text says; For with these words the prophet intended to indicate and show to this people and to all the world who the Messiah would be, and how, or in what form he would come and show himself; and he gives a visible sign of it by saying: "Behold, your King is coming to you, poor and riding on an ass" etc., so that we may be sure of the matter, not lacking the promised Messiah or Christ, nor waiting for another. And herewith comes before to dispel the erroneous delusion of the Jews, who thought: Because such great glorious things were written and said about Christ and his kingdom, he would also show himself with great public, worldly splendor and glory as a king against their enemies, especially the Roman Empire, under whose power they had to be imprisoned, and would depose the same rulers and powers, and in their place set them up as lords and princes; and thus only hoped and waited for a worldly kingdom and deliverance from bodily imprisonment in the promised Christ. As they still stand on such a dream today, and therefore do not want to believe in our Christ, because they do not believe in such a dream.

*) Sec. 58 to 61 addition of (f g).

They did not see nor attain bodily salvation and worldly dominion. In such delusion they were led and strengthened by their false preachers, scribes and priests, who thus perverted the Scripture of Christ and interpreted it according to their carnal sense to bodily, worldly things, as if they would have liked to be great worldly lords before others.

59. but the dear prophets have clearly prophesied against this and faithfully warned that they should not think of such a worldly kingdom or physical redemption, but look back and pay attention to the promises of the spiritual kingdom and redemption from the sorrowful fall of the human race, which happened in paradise. 2, 17: "In the hour that thou eatest of the forbidden tree, thou shalt surely die"; against which also the first promise of Christ is given, that the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the serpent etc., Genesis 3:15, that is, to deliver from the devil's power and prison, wherein he mightily holds the whole human race under sin and eternal death, and in exchange to bring them to everlasting divine righteousness and eternal life; wherefore he is also called by this prophet a "Righteous and Savior." This is a different redemption than all bodily freedom, power and glory, which end is death, under which all must remain forever. They should have seen this and rejoiced in it, as the dear prophets sighed and cried out for it with great heartfelt longing, and this prophet therefore exhorts so highly to joy and rejoicing. But they and their shameful preachers make only bodily things out of such sorrow and misery, as if it were a joke about sin and death, or the devil's power; and esteem no harm higher than that they lost their bodily freedom, and had to be subject and interest-bearing to the emperor.

60 Therefore the evangelist also cites this saying of the prophet, to punish such blindness and false delusion of all those who seek bodily and temporal things in Christ and the gospel, and to rebuke them with the prophet's testimony; as he shows in clear words what kind of a man Christ is.

King and what they should have from him, in that he calls him the "Righteous and Savior", and yet puts this noticeable sign next to it of his future, so that they should know and accept him: "He comes to you poor, sitting on a young donkey", as if he wanted to say gladly: A poor, miserable and sheer beggarly rider, on a foreign borrowed donkey, which was kept beside the old palpable donkey to no splendor, but only to carry; so that he might tear them away from the gazing and waiting of a glorious and splendid entry, as a worldly king; And for this very reason he gives such a sign that they should not doubt Christ, nor be annoyed by such a poor figure, but that they should put all splendor and splendid being out of their eyes, and that their hearts and eyes alone should be directed and fixed on this poor donkey rider, who for this very reason comes along so poor and miserable and expresses himself so purely and completely in all royal form, that they should not look for anything corporeal and temporal in him, but for the eternal, which is shown by the word "righteous" and "Savior".

(61) By this saying, first of all, the Jews' dream and delusion of a worldly kingdom of the Messiah and bodily redemption has been clearly and powerfully put down, and all cause and means of excuse taken from them beforehand, if they would not accept Christ, and all hope or waiting for another cut off; because he so clearly and plainly proclaimed and admonished them that he should thus come, and he has thus fulfilled all things. And so we Christians have for ourselves against the Jews a firm reason and certain document or proof from their own Scriptures that this Messiah, who has thus come to them, is the true Christ according to the prophet's prophecy and that no other will ever come, and that they must miss out on salvation, both temporally and eternally, by hoping in vain for another.

62 This is from the Historia. Now let us also deal with the third part, the Mysteria or spiritual meaning. Here it is to be known that all the bodily walking and walking of Christ means his spiritual walking,

So that his bodily walking signifies the gospel and faith. For at the same time as he walked with his bodily feet from city to city, so he went into all the world by preaching. Therefore this gospel shows in detail what the gospel is, how it is to be preached, what it does and works in the world; [and this history is also a beautiful picture or painting of how it happens in the kingdom of Christ through the ministry of preaching; *] we will see this from piece to piece.

When they were near Jerusalem, they came to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives.

63 All the apostles say that Christ became man at the end of the world and that the gospel should be the last sermon, 1 John 2:18: "Dear children, it is now the last hour, and as you have heard, the Antichrist is coming. "Now there are many antichrists now, therefore we know that the last hour is here," etc. He calls here the Widerchrist, which is now called the Endchrist in German; but Antichristus in Greek means a Widerchrist, who teaches and does contrary to the right Christ; therefore I have rendered it Widerchrist, as it should be rendered; for Endchrist is not right. Item, 1 Cor. 10, 11: "These things are written to punish us, upon which is coming the end of the world." Therefore, just as the prophets came before the first coming of Christ to mankind, so the apostles, the last messengers of God, were sent before the last coming and the last day, to proclaim it diligently, as they do. This is what Christ means here, since he did not send his disciples to fetch the donkeys until he was near Jerusalem, so that he would almost enter. Thus the gospel was brought into all the world by the apostles hard before the last day, when Christ shall enter into the eternal Jerusalem with his own.

64. the little word "Bethphage", which in German, as some say, means "Mundhaus", is correct; for Paul Rom. 1, 2. says: "The gospel was first given in the holy place.

*) f g)

But it was not preached orally and publicly until Christ came and sent out the apostles. Therefore the church is a house of mouth, not a house of pen; for since Christ's coming the gospel has been preached orally, which before was hidden in writing in the books. This is also the nature of the New Testament and Gospel, that it should be preached and proclaimed orally with a living voice; even though Christ Himself did not write anything, nor did He command it to be written, but to be preached orally. So the apostles were not sent until Christ came to the house of the mouth, that is, until it was time to preach orally, and the gospel was brought out of the dead writing and pen into the living voice and mouth. From that time on the church is called Bethpage, because it has and hears the living voice of the gospel.

65 [And the sending forth shows that the kingdom of Christ stands in the public and oral ministry of preaching, which shall not stand still nor abide in One place, as it was hitherto hidden only among the Jewish people in the Scriptures, and promised in the future by the prophets, but shall go openly, freely, and unhindered into all the world.*].

The mountain of oil signifies the great grace and mercy of God, from which the apostles were sent and the gospel was brought; [for oil in Scripture signifies the grace and mercy of God, by which the soul and conscience are comforted and healed, just as oil soothes or relieves and heals the wounds and injuries of the body.] For from what has been said above we see what an unspeakable grace it is that we know and have Christ, the justifying Savior and King. Therefore he does not begin to send on the flat field, nor on a dry, desolate mountain, but on the mountain of oil; to show to all the world out of what mercy he sends such great grace; [which is not a droplet or a handful, as in former times, but would be called a mountain above all other greatness; †] that also the prophet Psalm 36:7 calls such grace "God's mountains," and says: "Your righteousness is as the

*) (f g) **) (f g) †) (f g)

God's mountains," that is, great, heaped up, much, and overflowing; as that can well be understood by whoever considers what this is, that Christ bears and overcomes our sin, death, and hell for us, and does everything for us that is necessary for our salvation; leaves us to do nothing for it, except that we should exercise and try ourselves against our neighbor, whether we have such faith in him or not. So we have that the Mount of Olives signifies how the gospel is not preached there, nor sent, for when the time of grace came; from that time forth great grace goes into the world through the apostles.

Jesus sent two of his disciples, and said to them: Go to the village that is against you.

67) By the two disciples are signified all the apostles and preachers who are sent into the world; and that therefore the evangelical preaching may consist of two witnesses, as St. Paul says Rom. 3, 21: "Now is the righteousness of God made manifest, and is testified by the law and the prophets. So we see how the apostles also always introduce the law and the prophets, who prophesied about Christ; so that it would be kept what Moses says in Deut. 17:6, and Christ in Matt. 18:16: "Every speech should be in two or three mouths."

68) But that he says, "Go into the place that is before you or against you, and keep his name silent," means that the apostles are sent, not to one people alone, as the Jews were before, set apart by God from all the Gentiles, and called by the name of God alone, and God's word or promise of the future Christ was with them alone. But now, when Christ comes, he sends out his preachers into the whole world, commanding them to go straight ahead and preach about him everywhere to all the Gentiles, and whoever comes before them; to punish, teach and admonish without distinction, whoever he may be, however great, learned, wise and holy. But the fact that he calls the great city Jerusalem a village and does not mention its name is because the name "Jerusalem" has a sacred meaning, namely, the kingdom of heaven and salvation is the spiritual Jerusalem where Christ rides in. But

the apostles are sent into the world among their enemies who have no name.

69 And the Lord comforts and strengthens the apostles and all the preachers by calling the great city a speck, saying, "It is against you"; as if to say, as he says, Matt. 10:16, "Behold, I send you as sheep into the midst of wolves." I send you into the world, which is against you, and seemeth to be a great thing: for there are kings, and princes, and scholars, and kingdoms, and many things: and all that is great and somewhat in the world is against you. And as he saith Matt. 10:22, "Ye must be hateful to all men for my name's sake." But fear not, go ye, it is scarcely a village; be not moved with all great renown, preach only freshly against [and shun no man.*] For it is not possible that he should preach the gospel truth who fears the great men, and esteemeth not small all that the world esteemeth great. It is decided here that this village is against the apostles; therefore they should not be surprised if the great, the high, the rich, the wise, the holy classes do not accept their word; it must be so, the village must be against them. Again, the apostles must also despise them and come to them; for the Lord does not want to have a flatterer for a preacher, because he does not say, Go about the village, or beside it. No, not around or beside, go in, fresh to them, and tell them what they do not like to hear, which they would like to see you do.

O how few are found now, who thus go into the village that is against them. We gladly go into the cities that are before us. The Lord might well have said here, Go into the city that is before you; and this would have been well and customarily spoken: but he would have signified this mystery of preaching; therefore he saith, Uncommonly, Go into the village that is against you; that is, preach unto them that shall persecute you, and kill you. You should earn such thanks, and not seek to please them, for this is what hypocrites do, not evangelists.

*) (f g)

And soon you will find an ass tied, and a colt with her; untie her, and bring her to me.

71 This is also said for the comfort of the preachers, that they should not be anxious who will believe them and receive them; for it is decreed, Isa. 55:11, "My word that goeth forth out of my mouth shall not return unto me unanswered." And Paul says Col. 1, 6: "The gospel bringeth forth fruit in the world." Therefore it is not otherwise possible, where the gospel is preached, there are some who grasp it and believe. This is the purpose of this mystery, that the apostles should so soon find the ass and the colt with her, if only they would go. As if to say, Go ahead, that is, preach; do not worry about who they are that will hear; let me take care of it. The world will be against you, let not that be contested; yet ye shall find them that hear you, and follow you: ye know them not yet, but I know them before: preach ye, and let me rule.

(72) Behold, he comforts them that they shall not cease from preaching against the world, however hard they resist, it shall not fail to bear fruit. But now there are also people who think that because it is not possible to convert the world, one should keep silent, lest a riot arise; it is in vain, pope, bishop, priests and monks do not accept it, and do not change their ways; what is the use of preaching and storming against them? This is just as much as if the apostles had said to Christ, "You command us to go into the place that is against us; if it is against us, what good is it for us to go in? But the Lord refutes this finely, saying, "Go ahead, preach; what is the use of it being against you? yet you will find what I want you to find. So shall we do also now; though the great men storm against the gospel, and no improvement is to be hoped in them, yet one must preach; they shall well be found that shall hear it, and amend themselves.

73 But why does he send for two donkeys?

or not both two young ones, or two old ones? surely he would have had enough to ride on one? Answer: As in the two apostles are the preachers, so in the two asses are their disciples and hearers. The preachers are to be Christ's disciples and sent by Him, that is, they are not to preach anything but Christ's doctrine; nor are they to go and preach, but are called to do so; as the apostles kept both these things. But the disciples are an old ass and a young ass.

Here it is to be known that man in the Scriptures is divided into two parts, into an inward and an outward man. [Outwardly he is called according to his outward, visible, bodily life and conduct; but inwardly, according to his heart and conscience.] The outward man can be forced with laws, punishment, chastisement, disgrace; again with favor, money, honor and reward entice him to do good and leave off evil. But no one can force or entice the inner man to do what he should do voluntarily out of pure desire and for free; only God's grace must change the heart and make it voluntary. Therefore, the Scripture concludes Romans 3:4: "All men are liars," because no man does good and does not do evil of his own free will, but each one seeks his own and does nothing for the love of virtue. For if there were not heaven or hell, or neither shame nor honor, no one would do good. If it were as great an honor and prize to break marriage as it is to keep it, you should see how adultery would be done with much greater joy than marriage is now kept; so also all other sins would be done with greater will than virtue is done. Therefore all good life without grace is vain glitter and sham; for it works only in the outward man, without desire and free will of the inward man.

75 Behold, these are the two asses: the old ass is the outward man; who is bound with laws and fear of death, hell, shame, or with curls of heaven, life, honor, as is the ass.

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is bound to walk in an outward show of good works, and is especially a pious mischievous man; but he does it unwillingly and with an unhappy heart, is hostile to the law, and has a heavy conscience about it. Therefore the evangelist also calls this ass subjugalem, a burdened ass, which works under the burden and becomes sore to it. For it is a miserable, wretched life, forced by fear of hell, death and shame. Hell, death and shame are his yoke and burden, heavy beyond measure; because of which he has an afflicted conscience and is both secretly hostile to the law and to God. Such people were especially the Jews who waited for Christ; they are still all who practice with works and their own strength to fulfill God's commandments and to acquire heaven. They are bound by conscience to the law, they have to do it, but they would much rather let it stand. They are sackbearers, lazy asses, and burden-bearing mischief-makers.

The young ass, of which Lucas and Marcus write that no man has ever ridden on it, is the inner man, the heart, the spirit, the will, which can never be subject to the law, even though it is bound by conscience and feels the law. But he has no desire nor love for it until Christ comes and rides on it. Therefore, just as this body has never been under anyone, so the heart of man is never subject to good, but as Moses says, Genesis 6:5 and 8:21, is always inclined to evil from his youth.

(77) Now that Christ is called to loose them, it is because he is called to preach the gospel in his name, preaching grace and remission of all sins, and how he fulfilled the law for us; and the heart is loosed from the bondage of his conscience, and grace comes upon him, making his heart and inward man free and glad, willing and rejoicing to do and to forbear all things. And so a man is loosed, not from the law, that he should do nothing; but from the unpleasant heavy conscience, which he had from the law, and so was an enemy to the law, which threatened him with death and hell; and has now a good conscience under Christ, is

He is not afraid of death and hell, he does freely and gladly what he did before unwillingly. Behold, the gospel thus loosens the heart from all evil, from sins, from death, from hell and from an evil conscience, through faith in Christ.

(78) That he also commands them to bring them to him is against the pope, who draws souls from Christ to himself. But the apostles bring them to Christ, that is, they preach and teach nothing but Christ, not their own doctrine or commandment of men. For the gospel only teaches to come to Christ and to know Christ rightly; thus a hard blow is truly given to the spiritless prelates in their regiment, so that they bring the souls to themselves and under themselves, of which St. Paul Apost. 20, 29. 30. says: "I know that after my departure there will come among you grievous wolves, which will not spare the flock; and out of you also will arise perverse babblers, that they may draw the disciples to themselves" etc. But the gospel converts men to Christ, and to no one else. Therefore he also sends forth the gospel, and sends preachers, that by it he may draw us all to himself, that we may know him, as he says John 12:32: "When I am exalted, I will draw them all to myself."

And if any man shall say any thing unto you, say, The Lord hath need of you; and as soon as he shall let you have them.

St. Paul Gal. 4:2 compares the law to guardians and schoolmasters, under whom the young heir is brought up in fear and compulsion. For the law constrains us to abstain from outward evil works for fear of death and hell, though the heart is not made good thereby. Now these are here, as Lucas writes, the masters of this ass and of the stuffing, who said to the apostles: What do you do to loosen the stuffing? For where the gospel speaks of loosing consciences from their own works, it is as if it forbids good works and keeping the law; therefore this is the common speech of all teachers of the law, or, as the gospel calls them, scribes and scribes, that they say, Let all our works be nothing, and the works according to the law be nothing.

Law accomplished, be evil; well then, let us never do good. You forbid good works and reject God's law; O you heretics, you loosen the fillings and want to make evil people free. They go on about this, refusing that the flesh and consciences should not be loosed, nor brought to Christ; pretending that good works should be done, and that people should be kept bound by laws.

80 This text shows how the apostles should behave toward them, that they should say, "Their Lord has need of them"; that is, they should teach them among the works of the law and the works of grace, saying, "We do not forbid good works, but we free consciences from false good works; not that they should live freely to do evil, but that they should come under Christ to their right Lord and do righteous good works there; for this he also has need of them, and will have them also. St. Paul discusses this finely in Romans 6, where he teaches how we are free from the law and its works through grace, but not so that we should do evil, but rather righteous good works.

(81) It is all because the scribes and lawyers do not know what good works are; therefore they do not want to give up filling, and do the same with ungracious human good works. But where good teaching of good works is given, they let it be done, if they are otherwise reasonable and right teachers of the law, which are meant here. For the mad tyrants who rage with human laws have nothing in this gospel. It speaks only of the law of God and of the very best teachers of the law. For without grace even the law of God is a bond, and makes captive consciences and gleamers, who cannot be helped until other works are preached, which are not ours but Christ's, and he works in us with grace; then as soon as all the works and doctrine of the law are ceased, the filling is soon loosed.

Now all these things came to pass, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell the daughter of Zion etc.

The saying is sufficiently interpreted above, but the evangelist introduces it for this reason,

that we may see how Christ did not come for our merit, but for the sake of divine truth; for he was promised so long before we were, to whom he comes. Therefore, just as God promised the gospel out of pure grace, He also fulfilled it to prove its truth, that He keeps what He promises; so that we may be tempted to trust in His promise, for He will fulfill it. And this is also one of the Scriptures, in which the gospel is promised, of which St. Paul says Rom. 1:2: "God promised the gospel beforehand, through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, of his Son Jesus Christ" etc. Now we have heard how in this saying the gospel, Christ and faith are indicated in the most subtle and comforting way.

And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, and brought the ass and the colt, and laid their garments thereon, and laid hold on him.

(83) These are the preachers who, through the gospel, have loosed consciences from the law and its works, have brought them to works of grace, and have made saints of goodness from the gospel, so that Christ rides on them from now on.

But here the question is whether Jesus rode on both donkeys? For Matthew says that the disciples put him on both donkeys; but Marcus, Lucas, John say only of the colt. Some think that he first sat on the donkey, but because it was still horny, untamed, he then sat on the donkey. These are fables and dreams. We are to believe that he rode only on the colt and not on the donkey, since she had them both fetched, for the sake of the spiritual meaning, indicated above. But that Matthew says he sat on them, as if he rode on both, is said according to the scriptural quality called synecdoche; when one thing is ascribed to the church and to the whole multitude, yet it concerns only some of them; as when Matthew writes that the thieves blasphemed Christ on the cross, yet, as Lucas writes, only one did it. Thus speaks

Also Christ Matth. 23, 37: "The city of Jerusalem stoned the prophets", when only some of the city did it. And they say, The Turk smote the Christians, when he smote but a few. So Christ rode on the asses, when he rode only on the colt; because both asses were like a whole congregation: and whatsoever befell some therein, that is said to be done to the congregation.

Now look at the spiritual riding: Christ rides on the colt, the ass follows behind, that is, when Christ dwells in our inner man through faith, we walk under him in his regiment. But the outward man, the ass, goes alone; there Christ does not ride on, but still follows behind. That is, as St. Paul says, the outward man is not willing, does not yet bear Christ, yes, he fights against the inward one; as he says Gal. 5:17: "The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit lusts against the flesh. These two are contrary to one another, so that ye cannot do what ye would." But because the flesh bears Christ, and the Spirit is willing in grace, the ass, the flesh, must afterwards be led by the bridle; for the Spirit crucifies and chastises the flesh, that it must be subject.

This is the reason why Christ rides on the colt and not on the donkey, and yet he wants to have both for his riding in, because body and soul must be saved. Although here on earth the body is unwilling, incapable of grace and of Christ's riding on it, yet it must suffer the spirit, since Christ rides on it, which draws it and carries it along in the power of grace, received through Christ. So you see, that the fill, where Christ rides on, where before no one rode on, is the willing spirit, which before no one could make willing and tame, nor prepare, but Christ alone had to do it with grace; but the ass, the sack-bearer, the burden-bearer, the old Adam, is the flesh, which goes unattached to Christ; but for this must bear the cross and remain a burden-bearer.

But what is it that the apostles put their garments on the filling without a command? Here, however, not all disciples, also

not all the garments, as it says, but perhaps only one disciple's cloak; and yet for the sake of spiritual interpretation it is written as if it were all the garments of all the disciples, or of each of the two. It is true that it was a bad saddle and ornament, but it is rich in meaning. I consider that these are the good examples of the apostles, so that the Christian church is covered and adorned [and Christ is praised and honored; namely, their preaching and confession, suffering and dying for the sake of the gospel, as Christ says of Petro that he would praise him with his death, Joh. 21, 19.*]. For above in the epistle Paul says Rom. 13, 12: "Let us put on the armor of light." By which clothing he undoubtedly wants to show that good works are garments in which we walk respectably and well adorned before men. Now the apostles' examples are the highest and closest to all the saints, which instruct us best and teach Christ most clearly; therefore they must not lie in the way like the others, but on the ass, so that Christ sits on it and the ass walks under it. For we must follow the apostles' example in the New Testament. **)

88. listen how St. Paul puts his garment on the filling 1 Cor. 11, 1.: "Be my followers, as I am Christ's follower"; and Hebr. 13, 7.: "Remember your intercessors (teachers), who have told you the word of God, which end see, and follow their faith". There are also no saints who are pure in faith except the apostles. All other saints after the apostles have something added from the teachings or works of men; therefore Christ also sits on their garments to show that they are true Christian and faithful examples before others.

It must be something that they put him on it. Couldn't he sit on it himself? How does he now pose so tenderly? I said above that the apostles did not want to preach to themselves, nor to sit themselves on the fills.

**We should also follow this example of the apostles and praise Christ with our confession and life, and adorn and decorate the teaching of the gospel, as Titus 2:10 says.

ride. St. Paul says 2 Cor. 1:24, "We will not be lords over your faith," [and 2 Cor. 4:5, "We preach not ourselves, but JEsum Christ, that he is the Lord, but we your servants." *] Item 1 Pet. 5, 3. "Ye shall not lord it over them, as if it were your inheritance." They have preached the faith to us purely, and have arranged and used their example only for this purpose, that Christ should reign in us, and that faith should remain pure; that we should not receive their word and work as if they were their things, but that we should learn Christ both in their words and works. But how is it now? One follows Franciscus, the other Dominic, the third this saint, the fourth that saint, and in none is Christ alone and pure faith sought; for such an example should be the apostle's own.

But many people spread their clothes on the road; others cut branches from the trees and scattered them on the road.

The garments are examples of the patriarchs and prophets and stories from the Old Testament; for as we will hear, the people who went before means the saints before Christ's birth, through whom the preaching in the New Testament and the way of faith is gloriously adorned and praised. So Paul does, when he introduces Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, item, Peter Sarah and Hebr. 11, 17. ff. many patriarchs as an example, and thereby proves the faith and the believing good works masterfully. But the branches mean the sayings of the prophets, as this is also one in this gospel, which are not histories or examples, but divine promises. The books of the prophets are the trees; those who preach such sayings to the people cut off branches and scatter them in the way of the Christian faith. John, Cap. 12, writes that there were palm branches; some add, because it happened on the Mount of Olives, that there were also olive branches; and it is not unbelievable, although the Gospels do not report it.

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**But this is so far all reversed by the pope and his sects. But much people etc. (f g)

(91) From all this we see how a Christian evangelical sermon, which teaches the true faith and the right way, should be prepared. It should have Christ's word first, which he commands the apostles, saying, "Go and redeem, and bring; and after that do the apostles' stories and examples, as agreeing with Christ's word and works, which are the apostles' garments. After this, out of the Old Testament, there are also examples and sayings, which are the garments of the people and the branches. So that out of both testaments sayings and examples are collected from the people. Christ says Matth. 13, 52: "A learned scribe in the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who recites from his treasure both new and old. This means the two lips of the mouth, the two points on the bishop's hat and two ribbons behind it, and many more figures. But now the none is before the eyes, the devil throws brimstone and pitch in the way through the papists, rides himself on the donkey and has driven Christ out.

92) The spreading of the garments on the way is that we should, as now said, according to the example of the apostles, also honor, adorn and adorn Christ with our confession and all our life; so that we strip ourselves of all glory of wisdom, holiness, and submit to Christ alone with pure confession; item, turn everything we have, honor, property, power, body and life to the honor and promotion of the gospel, and for the sake of it, where it is necessary, put everything in danger. In the same way, kings and lords, and all that is great, mighty, and rich, should serve Christ with their goods, honor, and power to promote the gospel, and for its sake put everything at risk. Thus the holy patriarchs, prophets, and pious kings of the Old Testament did with their example; but now all this is reversed, especially with the papal multitude, who have usurped all honor and power against Christ, and thus suppressed the gospel.

93) And the cutting of branches from the trees and scattering them on the way also signifies the ministry of preaching and the testimony of the Scriptures and the prophets concerning Christ (as the saying

of the prophet Zechariah, introduced here, is also one); with this the preaching of Christ is to be confirmed and adorned, and the whole preaching ministry is to be directed so that Christ may be known and confessed through it. *)

But the fact that palm branches and olive branches are mentioned in this way is not without reason. [For it is thus testified what the confession is, and what is to be preached and believed about Christ.] The palm tree is of the kind that when a beam is made of it, it does not give way to a load, but rises up against it. These are the sayings of divine truth; the more you press them, the higher they rise, if you otherwise firmly believe in them, and there is an insurmountable strength in the words, that they may well be called palm branches; as St. Paul Rom. 1, 16.The gospel is a power of God for the salvation of the faithful"; "the gates of the shells cannot be overcome", as Christ says Matth. 16, 18. Death, sin, hell and all evil must give way to it, or only rise up, if it is opposed to it.

They are called olive branches because they are sayings of grace, in which God has promised us His mercy; therefore they make the soul gentle, soft and joyful, as the bodily oil does to the body. The gracious word and sweet gospel is signified in Genesis 8:11, when the dove brought an olive branch with green leaves into the ark at evening, that is, the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of the apostle, brought the gospel into the church at the end of the world.

That is why palm branches were presented to lords and kings when they were victorious and triumphant. So also the carrying of olive branches was a sign of submission, especially of those who desired and asked for mercy and peace; as it was common among the ancients. Thus they showed with this ostentation against Christ that they accepted him as their Lord and King, given by God (as they testify with their shouting and congratulations), as a victorious and invincible Savior, and confessed themselves subject to him, and sought mercy from him. So this

Christ is to be preached and made known in all the world, that he is the victorious, unconquerable King against sin, death, the devil and the power of all the world to those who are oppressed and afflicted by them, and such a Lord, in whom they shall find and seek all grace and mercy, as their faithful priest and mediator against God. So also the word of the Gospel of this King is a word of grace and mercy, which brings us peace and reconciliation from God; in addition, an unconquerable power and strength, as Paul Rom. 1, 16. calls the Gospel "a power of God for salvation to the faithful"; and "the gates of hells are not able to overcome it", as Christ says Matth. 16, 18. *]

And the people that went before and followed cried out, saying, Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest!

97 St. Paul, Heb. 13:8, says: "Christ yesterday, today and forever. All who will be saved from the beginning of the world until the end are and must be Christians and be saved through the Christian faith. Therefore St. Paul says 1 Cor. 10, 3. 4.: "Our fathers ate the same food and drank the same drink"; and Joh. 8, 56. Christ: "Abraham, your father, saw my day and rejoiced."

So the multitudes that go before mean all Christians and saints before the birth of Christ, but those that follow mean all saints after the birth of Christ. They all believe and cling to one Christ. Those have waited for him in the future; these have received him in times past. Therefore they all sing a little song, praising and praising God in Christ. For we may give nothing else to God but praise and thanksgiving, since we have received everything else from Him, be it grace, words, works, gospel, faith, and all things. This is also the proper Christian worship: praise and thanksgiving; as Ps. 50:15 says: "Call upon me, and I will hear thee; and I will help thee, and thou shalt honor me" etc.

* ) (f g)

99. But what is this: "Hosanna to the son of David"? They took the word "Hosanna" from Psalm 118:25, 26, where it says: "O God, Hosanna! O God, give happiness, give glory to him who comes in the name of the Lord." They drew this verse to Christ and it is a wish, just as one wishes happiness and salvation to a new Lord in German. So the people here also meant that Christ should become king in the flesh; therefore they wish him happiness and salvation. For Hosanna means in German: Oh, give salvation; or: Dear, help; or: Dear, make salvation; or however else you want to express such a wish. Now they add: "to the son of David", and so it reads: Oh God, give salvation to the son of David! Ach GOtt, geben Glück, gebenedeiet sei etc. We speak all this in German thus: Ach du lieber GOtt, gib Glück und Heil diesem Sohn David zu seinem neuen Königreich. Let him enter in God's name, that it may be given and prosper etc.

100 But that they meant his kingdom is clearly proven by Marcus Cap. 11, 10, who writes that they said: "Give us peace for the kingdom of David, our father, which is coming. But that Osanna is now read in all churches is wrong, it should be called Hosanna. Then they made a feminine name out of it, and those who should call it Susanna, call it Osanna. Susanna is a female name, means as much as rose. Finally, the mad bishops, who have made a monkey play out of baptism, baptize bells and altar stones with great nonsense, and call the bells Osanna. But let the blind leaders go. We are to learn here that we also sing Hosanna and Hazelihana to the Son of David with these multitudes; that is, that we wish happiness and salvation to the kingdom of Christ, to holy Christendom, that God would put away the doctrines of men, and let Christ alone be our King, who alone reigns through his Gospel and lets us be his fill. God help us, amen.