John 20:10-31.
Now in the evening of the same Sabbath, when the disciples were gathered together, and the doors were shut, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and saith unto them: Peace be unto you! And when he had said this, he shewed them his hands, and his side. Then the disciples were glad to see the Lord. Then said Jesus unto them again: Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, so I send you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said unto them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. But Thomas, one of the twins, who is called a twin, was not with them when Jesus came. Then said the other disciples unto him, We have seen the Lord. And he said unto them: Unless I see in his hands the marks of the nails, and put my fingers into the marks of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it. And again his disciples were there eight days, and Thomas with them. When Jesus came, and the doors were shut, he entered into the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he unto Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and put it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing. Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord, and my God. saith Jesus unto him, Because thou hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast believed. Blessed are they that see not, and yet believe. Also many other signs did Jesus before his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life in his name.
(1) In this gospel the fruit of faith is praised, and its nature and kind are signified. The fruits of faith are, among others, peace and joy, as St. Paul writes to the Galatians in Cap. 5:22, listing all the fruits one after another and saying, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and chastity. So the two pieces are also indicated here. First, Christ stands among the disciples, who sit in fear and trembling, and whose hearts are not at all satisfied, must wait all the hour of death; to them he comes and comforts them, saying, "Peace be with you!" This is one fruit. The other fruit follows from the sweet word, that they were glad to see the Lord. Then he gives faith power and authority over all things in heaven and earth.
and lifts him up, truly, saying, "As the Father has sent me, so I send you"; and further, "Receive the Holy Spirit, to whom sins are remitted, they are remitted; and to whom sins are retained, they are retained." Now, let us see one thing after another.
2. faith, as we have often said, must be so formed that every man may receive the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, of which we have now said enough, that it is not enough to believe only that he is risen from the dead; for from this follows neither peace nor joy, neither power nor might. Therefore you must believe that he rose from the dead for your sake, for your good, and not for his own glory, but that he might help you and all who believe in him, and that through his resurrection sin, death and hell were overcome.
3 This is the figure of Christ coming in through the closed door and standing in the midst of the disciples. For the standing is nothing else than that he stands in our heart, there he is in the midst of the disciples.
So that he is ours, as he stands there, and they have him with them; and when therefore he stands in the midst of our heart, we hear as soon as a sweet voice, saying to the conscience, Be content, there is no need, thy sins are forgiven thee, and taken away, and no more shall hurt thee.
(4) And the same step that the Lord takes here he took through the closed door, and passed through wood and stones, and yet leaving all things whole, and breaking nothing, still comes in to them. This shows the way in which the Lord comes into our hearts and stands in us: it is through the ministry of preaching. Therefore, because God has commanded His word to be preached, let no man despise the mortal man to whom He has put it in his mouth, lest we get the idea that anyone is waiting for a special sermon from heaven, that God is speaking to him orally. Therefore, to whom He wants to give faith, He needs the means to do it through human preaching and through an outward bodily word. That is to say, when he enters the heart through the word, he passes through the closed door, and nothing breaks or disrupts. For when God's word comes, it does not disrupt the conscience, nor does it dislocate the mind of the heart and outward senses; as the false teachers, who break all doors and windows, break in like thieves, leaving nothing whole and unbroken, and make all life, conscience, mind, and sense wrong, false, and disfigured. Christ does not do that. Now this is the power of the word of God. So we have two pieces: Preaching and faith. That he comes to us is preaching, but that he stands in our hearts is faith. For it is not enough that he should stand before our eyes and ears; but he must stand in the midst of us in the heart [offering and giving us peace *].
(5) Now the fruit of faith is peace; not only that which is outward, but that of which Paul speaks to the Philippians, saying Cap. 4, 7. that it is a
*) (b)
Peace above all reason, sense and understanding rst. And where peace is, it shall not and cannot be judged according to reason. Let us see this further in the Gospel.
First of all, the disciples are sitting there locked up in great fear of the Jews, they are not allowed to come out, they have death before their eyes. They are at peace on the outside, and no one does them any harm; but inside their hearts are in turmoil, and they have neither peace nor rest. In their fear and anxiety the Lord comes and quiets the heart and makes them glad, that the fear may be taken away, not by taking away the danger, but that the heart may never fear. For by this the wickedness of the Jews is not taken away, nor is it changed; for they rage and rage even as before, and outwardly all things remain as they are. But they are changed inwardly, and come into such defiance and joy, that they say, We have seen the Lord. So he quiets their hearts, and they become confident and bold; therefore they no longer ask how the Jews rage.
(7) This is true peace, which satisfies and quiets the heart, not at the time when there is no calamity, but in the midst of calamity, when outwardly there is vain strife. And this is the difference between worldly and spiritual peace. Worldly peace consists in the removal of the outward evil that causes strife. For when the enemies are before a city, there is strife; but when the enemies are gone, there is peace again. So is poverty and sickness: because it oppresses thee, thou art not at peace: but when it is removed, and thou art rid of the calamity, there is again peace and quietness from without. But he who suffers such things is not changed, remains just as despondent when it is there or not there; only that he feels it and is afraid when it is there.
(8) But Christian or spiritual peace turns it around, so that outside misfortune remains, as enemies, sickness, poverty, sin, devils and death are there, do not let up and lie around; yet inside there is peace, strength and comfort in the heart, so that the heart does not ask for any misfortune, yes, is more courageous and joyful when it is there.
because if it is not there. That is why it is called peace, which surpasses and transcends reason and all the senses. For reason cannot comprehend any peace but worldly or external peace, for it cannot send itself into it or understand that peace is when the evil is there, does not know how to satisfy and comfort the person; therefore it thinks that when the evil is gone, peace is also gone. But when the spirit comes, it leaves outward adversity, but strengthens the person, and turns stupidity into an undaunted heart, fidgeting into boldness, a restless one into a peacefully quiet conscience, so that such a person is bold, courageous and joyful in things in which otherwise all the world is frightened.
(9) Whence comes this to him? From faith in Christ; for if I believe in the Lord from the right ground of my heart, that my heart may truly say: My Lord Christ, by his resurrection, has overcome my distress, sin, death, and all evil, and so will be with me and be with me, that nothing may fail me in body or soul, that I may have all things enough, and that no evil may harm me: if I believe this, it is not possible for me to be despondent and stupid, however much sin or death oppresses me. For faith is always there, saying, If sins oppress thee, or death terrify thee, cast thine eyes upon Christ, who died for thy sake, and rose again, and overcame all calamities; what then shall hurt thee? What will you be afraid of? So also, if any other calamity lies at thy throat, but sickness or poverty, cast thine eyes from it, and shut up thy reason, and cast thyself upon Christ, and cleave unto him, and thou shalt be strengthened and comforted. So great is no evil that may befall thee, that may hurt thee and make thee despondent, if thou look upon Christ and believe in him; therefore it is impossible that this fruit should remain without, where faith is, lest peace also follow.
10) Now from peace follows the other fruit, as it is written here in the Gospel, when Christ came to the disciples and said, "Peace be with you," and showed them hands and
Then they were glad that they saw the Lord. Yes, they certainly had to rejoice, for it was the greatest joy that a man's heart can feel, that they saw Christ. Hitherto we have been made to see our hands, that is, taught to trust in our work; no joy *) followed. But from this we become glad that we see Christ. And this happens through faith; for so St. Paul says to the Romans Cap. 5, 1. 2.: "Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and boast of the hope of the glory to come, which God shall give."
(11) Thus we have the fruit by which it is known what true Christians are. For he that hath not peace in this, where the world hath vile strife; and rejoiceth in that, where the world is full of sorrow and mourning, is not yet a Christian, neither believeth he. This is sung everywhere at this time in the song of the resurrection of the Lord, but no one understands it; the one who made it must have had a good mind. He does not leave it at that, that the Lord is risen, when he says: Christ is risen from the torture all, as if it were enough with that; but gives it to us home, and adds: We shall all rejoice in this. But how can we rejoice in it, if we have nothing of it, and it is not ours? Therefore if I rejoice in it, it must be mine, that I may take it as my own, that it may profit me. And in the end it concludes: Christ will be our comfort; that we can have no other comfort nor should we have any other than Christ, that he himself and only will be that we cling to him in all adversity; for he has overcome it all for our benefit, and through his resurrection he comforts all frightened consciences and sorrowful hearts. This is what we have in the gospel of faith and its fruits.
12) Now follows on from the ministry of preaching. The power of faith now stretches
*) Instead of "joy", d has "peace". D. Editor.
into love; for it is not enough for me to have the Lord so that he is mine, and I have all comfort, peace, and joy in him: but I must also do henceforth as he has done; for so it follows in the text:
As my Father has sent me, so I send you.
(13) This is the first and highest work of love that a Christian should do when he has become a believer, that he also bring other people to faith as he has come to it. And here you see that Christ casts out and sets up every Christian in the ministry of the outward word, for he himself came with this ministry and outward word. Let us grasp this; for we must be burdened, and so the Lord will say: You have had enough of me, peace and joy, and all that you ought to have; for your own person you need no more; therefore now create and behold the image, as I have done, so do you. My Father sent me into the world only for your sake, that I might help you, and not for my benefit. This I have done, I died for you, and have given you all that I am and have: therefore think ye, and do likewise, that ye henceforth serve and help every man only; otherwise ye would have nothing to do on earth. For by faith ye have all things enough. Therefore I send you into the world as my Father sent me, that is, that every Christian should instruct and teach his neighbor, so that he also may come to Christ. Now this authority is not given to the pope and bishops alone, but all Christians are commanded to publicly confess their faith and also to bring others to faith.
14 Secondly, when thou hast done the highest work, and hast taught other men the right way of truth, think thou to continue, and to minister unto all. Then follows the example of life and good works, not that you can earn and acquire anything by them, since you have prepared everything beforehand that is necessary for your salvation. Christ then gives a command and blows on the disciples, saying:
Receive the Holy Spirit; to whom ye remit sin, to them it is remitted; and to whom ye retain it, to them it is retained.
(15) This is a great and mighty power, which no one can sufficiently praise, given to a mortal man, flesh and blood, over sin, death, hell, and all things. The pope also boasts in spiritual law that Christ has given him authority over all things temporal and celestial; which would be right, if they understood it rightly. For they draw on bodily rule: this Christ does not want, but gives spiritual power and rule, and wants to say this much: If you say a word about a sinner, it shall be said in heaven, and be as much valid as if God himself spoke it in heaven; for he is in your mouth; therefore it is also as much as if he said it himself. Now is it ever true, when Christ saith a word, because he is a Lord over sin and hell, and saith unto thee, Let thy sins be put away; and they must be put away, and nothing can avail against them. Again, when he says, Thy sins be not forgiven thee, they remain unforgiven; that neither thou, nor angel, nor saint, nor any creature, though thou torment thyself to death, can forgive sin.
(16) The same authority is with every Christian, because Christ has made us partakers of all his power and authority; and he reigns not in the flesh, but in the spirit, and his Christians also in the spirit. For he saith not, The city, the country, the bishopric, or the kingdom, thou shalt have and reign, as the pope doeth; but so saith he, Such power shall ye have, that ye may remit and retain sin. Therefore this power concerns the conscience, so that I can pronounce a judgment in virtue of the word of God, since the conscience adheres to it, that against it and over it no creature can, neither sin, nor the world, nor the devil; that is a right power. But with this, I am not given authority to rule over the body, land and people outwardly according to worldly rule, but a much higher and nobler authority, which is nowhere to be compared to that.
(17) Therefore we should give thanks to God that we now know the great power and Lordship of God.
The glory that is given to us through Christ in the evil word, which St. Paul also extols and exalts to the Ephesians, Cap. 1, 3, saying, "Blessed be God and the Father of Jesus Christ, who has given us all spiritual blessings in the heavenly realm through Christ. 2, 5-10: "God has made us alive together with Christ, and raised us up together with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly being, through Jesus Christ; so that in the times to come He might show the abundant riches of His grace with His kindness *) upon us through Jesus Christ. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For ye are his workmanship, created through JESUS Christ unto good works, for which God hath prepared us beforehand, that we should walk therein."
(18) Behold, how great an abundant consolation we have, that the same power which God exercises in Christ, He also awakens in us, and gives us the same power. As he has placed him in a heavenly being, above all authority, power and might, and all that may be called, so he has also placed us in the same power, so that those who believe have all authority over heaven and earth. This we have in the word which he left behind him; and so powerfully, that it is as much to speak it, as if he himself should walk upon the earth, and speak it in the majesty and glory wherein he now is. And this is the power that we have from his resurrection and ascension, where he gives us power to make dead and alive, to give to the devil and to take from him.
(19) But in this one must be careful not to do as the pope does. For they have been led to believe that they have such power over how and what they speak, that it must be so, because they speak it. No, you do not have the power, but only the divine majesty. So they say: If the
*) Instead of "with his kindness" etc. has b "by his kindness over us in Christ JEsu". D. Red.
The first pope speaks a word and says: "Your sins are forgiven; they are gone, if you do not repent or believe. By this they mean that it is in their power to give and take away heaven, to open or close it, to put it into heaven or to throw it into hell; this will not happen for a long time yet. For from this it would follow that our salvation is in the works, powers and authority of men. Therefore, since this is contrary to all Scripture, it cannot be the case that when you close or open, it must be closed and opened.
020 Therefore it must be rightly understood, when Christ saith, Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained, that the power of him that speaketh is not put in, but of them that believe. Now the authority of him who speaks and him who believes are as far apart as heaven and earth. God has given us the word and authority to speak, but it does not follow that it must be done this way. Just as Christ also preached the word, and preached it, and yet not all who heard it believed, and it did not happen everywhere as he spoke the words, even though it was God's word. Therefore Christ says, "You have authority to speak the word and preach the gospel, saying, 'If anyone believes, his sins are forgiven; but if anyone does not believe, they are not forgiven. But ye have not authority to make faith. For it is far from one another to plant and to prosper; as Paul says to the Corinthians, "I planted, Apollo watered, but God prospered," 1 Cor. 3:6. Therefore we are not given power to rule as lords, but to be servants and ministers, preaching the word, by which we provoke men to faith. Therefore, if you believe the words, you gain this authority; but if you do not believe, nothing I say and preach helps, even though it is God's word, and you do not do me dishonor and dishonor, but God Himself.
21 Therefore unbelief is nothing but blasphemy, which gives the lie to God. For if I say: Your sins are forgiven you...
in God's name, and you do not believe it, you are doing as much as if you say, "Who knows if it is true and if He is serious? Therefore it would be better for you to be far from the word if you do not believe. For
God does not regard it less when a man preaches His word than if he had done it himself. This is the authority that every Christian has, given by God, of which we have spoken much and often, so let it now be enough.