Fourth Sermon.
1 Further, John the Evangelist writes that Thomas was not present when the Lord first appeared to all the disciples on Easter evening. Now, the fact that the Lord came just when Thomas was not present for the first time did not happen without a reason, because he could have found Thomas together with the other apostles at that time. But it happened to us both for teaching and comfort, so that the resurrection of the Lord might have all the more and stronger testimony and evidence. Now, on the day of Easter he appeared to all the apostles; the eighth day later, as today, he appears to them again, and also to Thomas, for whose sake alone this appearance and revelation, which is more beautiful and more glorious than that of eight days ago, took place.
(2) We see here for the first time what a poor thing it is for a human heart when it begins to grow weak, so that it cannot be restored. Both the other apostles and Thomas, while they were with the Lord, had not only heard that he had taught the people with great painting, but had also seen how he had confirmed his teaching with great miraculous signs, which he had done on the blind, the lame, the lepers, and the deaf, etc. whom he had healed; but also that he had raised three dead men, especially Lazarum, who had already lain four days in the grave. And among all, as it seems, St. Thomas was the most bold and furious, that he also says Joh. 11, 16. when Christ wanted to go again into Judea to the deceased Lazarus: "Let us go with him, that we may die with him." Such fine people are the apostles of Christ, and especially St. Thomas, who seems to have had a manly heart before the others, and only recently saw Christ raise Lazarus, who had already been in the grave for four days, from the dead.
and ate and drank with him: nor can they believe that the Lord himself is risen from the dead and is alive.
3 So we see in the apostles how we are nothing when he removes his hand and we are left to ourselves. The women, Magdalene and the others, and now the apostles themselves, had proclaimed that they had seen the Lord risen. St. Thomas still puts on his head, and will not believe it, nor be satisfied if he sees him at once, unless he sees in his hands the marks of the nails, and puts his fingers into the marks of the nails, and his hand into his side. And so the dear apostle himself will be lost and condemned by not believing. For there can be no forgiveness of sins nor blessedness, if one does not believe this article of Christ's resurrection, because therein lies all the power of faith and eternal life; as St. Paul says in 1 Cor. 15:14, 17, 18: "If Christ be not risen, our preaching is vain; if so be your faith also, ye are yet in your sins; if so be that they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are lost" etc. St. Thomas also wants to go there, does not want to be blessed but lost, because he does not want to believe that Christ has risen. And would also be corrupted and damned in such unbelief, if Christ had not helped him out of it through this revelation.
4 The Holy Spirit shows and teaches us in this example that without faith we are badly blinded and even hardened. As it is seen in the Scriptures everywhere, that a human heart is the hardest thing, above all steel and diamond. And again, though it grows dull, despondent, and soft, yet no water nor oil is so soft as the heart of man.
(5) You will find many examples and histories of this in Scripture. Pharaoh, before whom
Moses did so many terrible signs and wonders that he could not say anything against it, yes, he had to grasp that God's finger was, and therefore also confessed that he had sinned against God and His people. etc.: Still, the longer the more his heart was hardened and hardened, until the Lord threw him into the middle of the sea together with all his power. So also the Jews: the more Christ proved to both of them by word and deed that he was the one promised to their fathers, that he should bless them and all the world: the more fiercely and bitterly they were enraged against him, and there was no measure nor end to their hatred, blasphemy and persecution, until they condemned their Lord and God to the most terrible death as a blasphemer and rebel and crucified him between two malefactors. There was no help for it, although Pilate, the judge himself, found him innocent against them, the creatures presented themselves differently than usual, and thus testified that their Lord and Creator was hanging there on the cross etc.; item, the thief freely confessed publicly, even if he hung there and died, he would still be a king who had an eternal heavenly kingdom; and the pagan centurion publicly shouted: "Truly, this was God's son" etc., Matth. 27, 54. All this, I say, did not help to convert them.
(6) Thus the godless, damned world is always in the habit of doing: the more God shows it mercy and kindness, the more ungrateful and angry it becomes. Now we should all thank God from the bottom of our hearts that he has revealed his holy word to us so purely and clearly before the last day, from which we can recognize what unspeakable goods he has given us in Christ, namely, that through him we have been redeemed from sin and death, and are now to be righteous and blessed. etc. How does the world relate to this? As it is wont to do, it does not know enough to profane, blaspheme and condemn such a word of grace and life, and to persecute and strangle those who confess it wherever it can. And even though it hears that God will punish such sin with hellish fire and eternal damnation, it does not care so much about it, goes along safely and stubbornly, as if it were nothing at all, and has its mockery; as can be seen now with the pope and his bunch. And yet there is such a terrible, horrible wrath, before which all the
creatures. Therefore, it is certainly true that no stone, steel, diamond, indeed, no thing on earth is so hard as the heart of an impenitent man.
007 Again, if a heart be despondent and afraid, it is softer than water and oil, that it is afraid, as the scripture saith, of a rustling tree leaf. And if such a one is alone in a chamber and hears a little crashing of the bars or beams, he thinks that thunder and lightning will strike him, and comes into such fear and trembling (as I have seen many of them) that no one can comfort him or raise him up, and then all the sermons and words of comfort are too little to calm him. Thus man's heart is out of measure, either too hard as a rock, so that it asks nothing of God or the devil; or again, too despondent, fleeting and desperate.
8. So here the apostles are so frightened and terrified by the trouble that they see their Lord so miserably mocked, scoffed at, scourged, stabbed and finally crucified in the most miserable way that they no longer have a heart in their bodies, Who, because they had Christ with them, were so bold and courageous that James and John took upon themselves to command that fire should fall from heaven and consume the Samaritans who would not receive Christ; and Luc. 9:54 gloriously boasted that even the devils were subject to them in the name of Jesus; and Thomas exhorted the others, saying, "Let us go with him, that we may die with him"; and Peter was especially quick to throw a sword into the midst of the multitude before the others, because they wanted to attack and capture Christ. But now they lie closed in great fear and terror and will not let anyone come to them. Therefore they are terrified of the Lord when he comes to them and greets them, and yet they think (which is a sign that they are completely frightened and despondent) that they see a ghost or a spirit. So soon they have forgotten all the miracles, signs and words they had seen and heard from him, that the Lord had enough to do for the forty days after his resurrection, before he departs from them.
with appearances and revelations in various ways, now to the women, now to the apostles, both in particular and all together, eating and drinking with them: all so that they may be sure that he has risen. It is still difficult for them to accept it.
(9) For forty days he had been speaking to them from the Scriptures about the kingdom of God, which was to begin and be such a kingdom, in which repentance and forgiveness of sins were to be proclaimed in his name among all nations; and when he was to be taken up by them in a cloud, they asked him, saying, "Lord, will you now restore the kingdom to Israel? There you see how exceedingly difficult it is for stupid, despondent hearts to be confident and upright, and then to be properly instructed, so that they know what kind of king Christ is and what he has accomplished through his death and resurrection.
(10) Thus both the hardening and stupidity of the human heart are unspeakable. Apart from the danger, it is hard and hardened beyond measure, so that it respects neither God's wrath nor His threat. When it has long heard that God will punish sin with eternal death and damnation, it still continues, drowning in hopefulness, avarice etc. Again, when it begins to fear, it also becomes so despondent that it cannot be brought together again. It is a great pity that we are such hopeless people. If there is no need, we live safely in sin without any fear or timidity, we stare like a dead corpse; what is said to us is just as much as if it were said against a rock. On the other hand, we feel our sin, we are afraid of death, God's wrath and judgment: we are frozen again with great fear and sadness, so that no one can raise us up again; yes, we are also frightened by that which is supposed to comfort us; as the disciples were frightened by Christ, who came to them for this very reason, so that they might be comforted and rejoice; nevertheless, he does not soon set them right, has to mend them for the forty days, as I said, takes and needs all kinds of consolation and medicine, and can
Nevertheless, he will hardly be able to help them up again until he gives them the right strong drink, namely, the Holy Spirit, from which they will be drunk and truly comforted, so that they will no longer be dumb and frightened as before.
Finally, the power of Christ's resurrection is shown to us in St. Thomas. We have just heard how he is so firm and stiff-necked in unbelief that although the other disciples all testify how they have seen the Lord risen, he still does not want to believe it. It seems that he was a fine, brave man, who had well considered the matter, that he would not soon believe the others. For he had seen that the Lord had been crucified only three days before, and that the nails had both gone through his hands and feet, and that the spear had pierced his side. He had imagined this so firmly that he thought it was nothing what others said to him that he had risen from the dead. Therefore he immediately says defiantly: "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my hands into his side, I will not believe it"; thus he makes a strong hyperbole that he does not want to believe the eyes alone, but also feels and gropes with his hands. As if he wanted to say, "Let no one persuade me to believe it, but I will stand so firmly on the no that I will not believe it either, even though I see it, as you say that you have seen him. But if I am to believe it, he must come so close to me that, if it were possible, I would touch his soul and reach into his eyes.
12 That is ever very hard and stiffly stuck in unbelief. And is wonder what he means by that, that he immediately pretends an inconsistency, to put his hand and fingers into the holes of the wounds. For he should have been so wise that he would have considered that if Christ were alive again, had overcome death, and had been rid of all the wounds of the scourging and the crown of thorns, he would have healed and healed the five wounds.
13 Now this is done for our example and consolation, that the high apostles also must fail and stumble, in that we see Christ in His kingdom against His
He has shown himself capable of tolerating even those who are as hard and stubborn as St. Thomas here, and does not want to condemn and reject them for this reason, if they would only like to remain his disciples and not blaspheme him wilfully and become his enemies; and thus teaches us that we should not be angry or despondent with such people, but that we should follow his example and deal with them carefully, serving their weakness with our strength, until they are raised up again and become strong.
14 But it serves more, as I began to say, that the resurrection of the Lord is not only certainly demonstrated and witnessed by this unbelieving and stiff-necked Thoma, who remains in such unbelief until the eighth day and lies almost frozen, but also that the power of the same is recognized and comes to our use; as can be seen in this Thoma, who is thereby brought from unbelief to faith, and from doubt to certain knowledge and glorious beautiful confession.
15 The evangelist says that this happened only on the eighth day after his resurrection, when Thomas, against all the testimony of the others, was strengthened in his unbelief and had died, and no one hoped that Christ would show himself to him in a special way. Then he comes and shows him the same scars and wounds as freshly as he had shown them to the others eight days ago, and tells him to present his fingers and hand and to put them into the nail marks and side. Grants him so far that he not only sees as the others do, but also grasps and feels, as he had said, "Unless I see in his hands," etc., and says to him, "Be not faithless, but believing."
(16) You see that Christ does not leave it at the story, but is concerned that Thomas should only believe and also become a resurrector from his stubborn unbelief and sin. As it then also follows powerfully that St. Thomas soon begins and says to Christ: "My Lord and my God! There is already another man, not the old Thomas Didymus (which in German means twin, not a doubter, as one interprets from this text).
He was so frozen and dead in unbelief that he did not want to believe either, so he put his fingers into his wounds; but suddenly he starts to make such a glorious confession and preaching about Christ, the like of which the apostle had not preached at that time, namely, that the person who rose from the dead is true God and man. For it is an excellent word that he says, "My Lord and my God!" He is not drunk, nor does he speak out of any reproach or jest; so neither does he mean a false god: therefore he certainly does not lie. Nor is he punished by Christ in this, but his faith is confirmed, and must be truth and earnest.
17 Now this is the power of Christ's resurrection, that St. Thomas, who was so deeply and stubbornly in unbelief, is so suddenly changed. Thomas, who was so deeply and stubbornly in unbelief before all others, is so suddenly changed, becomes a different man, who now freely confesses that he not only believes that Christ has risen; but is so enlightened by the power of Christ's resurrection that he now also certainly believes and confesses that he, his Lord, is true God and man, through whom, just as he has now risen from unbelief, the chief source of all sin, he will also rise from death on the last day and live with him forever in unspeakable glory and blessedness. But not only he, but also all who believe this; as Christ himself says to him: "Thoma, because you have seen, you believe. Blessed are they that see not, and yet believe."
18 Finally, when he puts his fingers into the wounds, I will not dispute whether Christ also retained the wounds and nail marks after the resurrection, but so far that they do not look hideous as usual, but beautiful and comforting. And whether they should still have been fresh, open and red, as the painters paint, I leave to others to discuss. Otherwise, it is very important that the common man has a memory and an image that reminds and reminds him of the suffering and the wounds of Christ. And it may well be that he has retained the same signs or marks, which will perhaps shine much more beautifully and gloriously at the last day.
than his whole body, and he will show them before all the world, as the Scripture says: "They will see him whom they have bruised," Zech. 12:10. But this I command every man to consider.
19 Now this is the principal thing which we are to learn and retain from this gospel, that we believe that the resurrection of Christ is ours, and that it worketh in us, that we both may rise again from sin and death; as St. Paul doth everywhere abundantly and comfortingly speak of it, and Christ himself here, saying, "Blessed are they which see not, and yet believe." And St. John, at the close of this Gospel, teaches and exhorts concerning the use and benefit of the resurrection, saying, "These things 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."
20. This is also a mighty clear saying, which glorifies faith, and gives the testimony that through it we certainly have eternal life; and that such faith is not a mere dead thought of the history of this Jesus, but who concludes and is certain that he is the Christ, that is, the promised King and Savior, the Son of God, through whom we are all redeemed from sin and eternal death; Therefore he also died and rose again; and that for his sake alone we might obtain eternal life, that is, in his name, not in Moses', or ours, or any other name, that is, not for the law's sake, nor for our worthiness and deeds, but for his merit alone, as Peter says in Acts 4:12. 4, 12. also says: "There is no other name given to men, whereby we must be saved" etc.