John 14:23-31.
Jesus answered and said unto him, He that loveth me shall keep my word; and my Father shall love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. But he that loveth me not keepeth not my words. And the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me. These things have I spoken unto you, because I have been with you. But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom my Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. I leave you peace; I give you my peace. I do not give you as the world gives. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You have heard that I said to you, I am going away, and I will come to you again. If you loved me, you would rejoice that I said I was going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I am. And now I have told you before it comes to pass, that, when it shall come to pass, ye may believe. Henceforth I will not speak much unto you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath no part in me. But that the world may know that I love the Father, and that I do even as the Father hath commanded me: arise, and let us depart.
Before we attack the gospel, we must first speak a little about this feast, and see the history or story that is celebrated on this day. So St. Lucas writes in the Histories of the Apostles Cap. 2, 1-41: "When the day of Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all with one accord. And there came a swift sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they sat. And their tongues were seen to be cut as though they were fiery. And he sat upon every one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to preach with other tongues, after that the Spirit had given them utterance.
(2) Now there were Jews dwelling at Jerusalem, men who feared God, of all the people under heaven. Now when this voice was heard, the multitude came
*) This sermon is found in a b c and in three single prints from 1522 and 1523. Cf. Erl. A. 12, 269.
D. Red.
And they were amazed: for every man heard that they spake with his own language. And they were all amazed, and said one to another, Behold, are not all these that speak of Galilee? how then hear we every man his language, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and those who dwell in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappadocia, Ponto, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphilia, Egypt, and the ends of Libya, and Cyrene, and foreigners from Rome; Jews and Judeans, Cretans and Arabs; we hear them speaking with our tongues the great deeds of God. They were all disgusted, and went astray, and said one to another: What will this be? And the rest had their mocking, saying, They are full of sweet wine. Then Peter stood up with the hurls, and lifted up his voice, and spake unto them:
(3) Ye Jews, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, let it be known unto you, and let my words come into your ears. For these are not drunken, as
You know that it is the third hour of the day, but this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel (chap. 3).And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God: I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your elders shall dream dreams; and upon my servants and upon my handmaids I will pour out of my Spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy; And I will give wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath, blood, and fire, and ranching vapor: the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and manifest day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass: Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
4. "Ye men of Israel, hear my words: JESUS of Nazareth, the man of God, proved among you by deeds and wonders and signs, which God wrought by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know; whom, after he was yielded up by the deliberate counsel and providence of God, ye took by the hands of the unrighteous, and hanged him, and took him away; whom God raised up, and dissolved the pains of death, when it was impossible that he should be kept by him. For David says of him (Ps. 16:8 ff.), "I have set the Lord always before my face, for he is at my right hand, that I should not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoiceth: for my flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption. Thou hast made known unto me the ways of life: thou wilt fill me with joy before thy face.
(5) Men, brethren, let me speak freely to you of David the arch-father. He died and was buried, and his grave is with us to this day. Now when he was a prophet, and knew that God had promised him by an oath that the fruit of his loins should sit upon his throne, he saw beforehand and spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not in the grave.
of hell, and his flesh hath not seen corruption; this JEsum hath God raised up, of which we are all witnesses.
6th Now that he is exalted by the right hand of God, and hath received the promise of the Holy Ghost from the Father, he hath poured out these things, which ye see and hear. For David is not gone up to heaven: but he saith, The Lord hath said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, till I have laid thine enemies at thy feet. Now therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made this Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
007 And when they heard it, their hearts were troubled, and they said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles: Men, brethren, what shall we do? Peter said to them: Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For this is promised to you and your children, and to all who are far off, whom God our Lord will call. With many other words he also testified and exhorted, saying, "Let yourselves be helped out of this unrighteous bondage. And they that gladly received his word were baptized, and were added that day unto three thousand souls.
8. *) This is the history. This holiday, which is called the Day of Pentecost, has its origin: When God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, He kept the Paschal feast that night and commanded them to celebrate it annually at that time, as a memorial of the departure from Egypt. And from that same day they journeyed in the wilderness fifty days, until they came to Mount Sina, where the law of God was given to them through Moses. Therefore they kept the feast which we call Pentecost. For the little word "Pentecost" comes from the Greek pentecostes, which means the fiftieth day, hence the Saxons also say "Pingsten." Therefore Lucas says here: "When these fifty days after the paschal feast were over, and they had fulfilled the history that God had given the law to the people
*) ยงยง 8-24 is found Erl. A. 12, 269-276. ed.
on Mount Sina, the Holy Spirit came and gave them another law. So we celebrate the feast, not for the sake of the old history, but for the sake of the new history, namely, because of the sending of the Holy Spirit. Therefore we must give a little instruction here and show the difference between our Pentecost and the Pentecost of the Jews.
First, the Jews kept the feast because the law was given to them in writing, but we should celebrate it because God's law is given to us spiritually. To transfigure this belongs to St. Paul before, who also sets the difference and says of two kinds of preaching, in the other epistle to the Corinthians Cap. 3 and 4. 3 and 4. And as the preaching is of two kinds, so also is the people of two kinds.
(10) First of all, the written law is what God commanded and put into writing, and is therefore called "written" because it does not go any further and does not enter into the heart, nor do the works follow after it, for it is only vain hypocrisy, and is only forced outwardly. That is why the people also remain everything in writing. And because it is only written in letters, it was all dead, and it was also dead, and it ruled a dead people; for the heart was dead, because it did not like God's commandment. For if every man were left free to do as he pleased, and not to fear any punishment, none would be found who did not prefer to be overridden by the law.
(11) For surely nature feels that it would rather do what it desires, and yet it must do otherwise. For it thinks thus: Behold, God will punish me and cast me into hell if I do not keep his commandment. When my nature feels that it is unwilling and unwilling to do anything against its will, man becomes hostile to God for the sake of punishment, because he feels that he is a sinner and that he is not right with God, and that he does not like Him, and would rather that there were no God. Such resentment against God is in the heart, no matter how beautifully nature wants to adorn itself from the outside. That is why we see how the law, while it is still in force
is in writing and in the letter, no one makes pious nor comes into the heart. Of which we have preached and written much.
The other law is spiritual, which is not written with pen or ink, nor does it speak with the mouth, as Moses did with stone tablets, but as we see here in this story, the Holy Spirit falls from heaven and fills them all with one another, so that they gain cleft and fiery tongues and preach freely, unlike before, so that all the people are astonished and amazed. Then the Holy Spirit comes and pours into the heart and makes a different person, who now loves God and gladly does what He wants; which is nothing other than the Holy Spirit Himself, or the work that He Himself does in the heart. Then he writes fiery flames into the heart and brings it to life, so that it bursts forth with fiery tongues and an active hand, and becomes a new man, who feels that he has grasped an even deeper understanding, mind and spirit than before. So now everything is alive; alive mind, light, courage and heart, which burns and has desire for everything that pleases God. This is the real difference between the written and spiritual laws of God, and there you can see what the work of the Holy Spirit is.
(13) Therefore it is an art to preach rightly of the Holy Spirit. So far, then, it has been preached of him that he alone makes and establishes what the concilia decide and what the pope commands in spiritual law, when all this is only an outward thing, commands from outward things and governs outwardly. That is why it is just counter-sensical and vice versa. For they make a written dead law out of the work of the Holy Spirit, which ought to be a spiritual and living law, and so make of it a Moses and a man. This makes it impossible to know what the Holy Spirit is, what he is given for, and what his office is. Therefore let us learn and understand what he is, that we may know his office.
14 So you hear here: He comes down and fills the disciples who were sitting there before with mourning and fear, and makes their tongues fiery and divided, inflaming them so that they become bold, and preach freely in clusters, and
not to be afraid of anything. Then you see clearly that his office is not to write books or make laws, but only to abolish them freely, and that he is such a God who only writes in the heart, makes it burn, and creates a new spirit, so that man becomes joyful before God and gains love for him, and then serves people with a joyful heart. Thus the ministry of the Holy Spirit is rightly preached. But he that calleth it otherwise, believeth not. When he therefore cometh, thou seest that he abolisheth the letter, and wilt make men free from sins and from the law, that they may never be guilty of them; and that he ruleth inwardly in the heart. But they blame him for driving the people like Moses and making new laws first of all.
15. But with what does he do it, and what is the handle that he needs for it, so that he changes the heart and makes it new? He does it by proclaiming and preaching about the Lord Jesus Christ, as Christ Himself says in John 15:26: "When the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me. Now we have often heard that this is the gospel that God sends into the world and tells everyone that no one can become righteous through the law, but that he only becomes worse; for this reason he sent down his dear Son to die and shed his blood, so that people could not destroy their sin by their own strength and works and become free of it.
(16) But there is something more to the preaching of these things. (For though I hear it, I do not yet believe it.) Therefore God gives the Holy Spirit to it, who presses such preaching into the heart, so that it sticks and lives in it. For it is ever certainly true, that Christ hath finished all things, hath taken away sin, and hath overcome all things, that through him we should be lords over all things. The treasure lies in a heap, but it has not been distributed or laid up. Therefore, if we are to have it, the Holy Spirit must come and put it into our hearts so that we may believe and speak: I, too, am the one who should have this treasure. When we feel this,
that God has thus helped us and given us such treasure, then it is right and can never be lacking, man's heart must become airy toward God, and lift itself up and speak: Dear Father, if this is your will, that you show me such great love and faithfulness, which cannot be measured enough, then I will also love you with all my heart and be happy, and gladly do what pleases you. Then the heart never looks at God with displeasing eyes, does not think that he will throw him into hell, as before the Holy Spirit came, when it felt no kindness, no love, nor faithfulness, but nothing but wrath and displeasure from God. But because the Holy Spirit presses this into his heart, that God is so kind and gracious to him, it seems to him that God can no longer be angry, and he becomes so joyful and fearless that he does and suffers everything that needs to be done and suffered for the sake of God.
(17) Know thou therefore the Holy Ghost, that thou mayest know what he is given unto, and what is his office, to put on the treasure of Christ, and all things that he hath, which is given unto us, and preached in the gospel, to put it into thine heart, that it may be thine own. Now if he does this, and you feel this in your heart, it follows that you must say: If this is the opinion that my works are of no avail, but the Holy Spirit must do it, what will I do with works and law? So all man's works and law fall away, even Moses' law (for such a man is above all law). For the Holy Spirit teaches him better than all books, that he understands the Scriptures better than anyone can tell him, and does everything of himself that God wants him to do, so that the law may not demand anything of him.
(18) For this reason no other books are to be used, except to prove that they are written as the Holy Spirit teaches. For we must not keep faith alone, but let it break forth, which we must have the Scriptures to establish and prove. Therefore see to it that you do not take the Holy Spirit for a lawgiver, but for the one who establishes the law.
and make man so free that no letter remains there, or remains only for the sake of preaching.
(19) But let it be understood and understood, that all this is not so, as if such a man, having the Holy Ghost, were as soon as perfect, that he felt nothing of the law, and of sin, and was pure in all things. For we do not preach about the Holy Spirit and His ministry as if He had already accomplished it, but as if He had only begun it and is now always going forward, that He is doing it more and more and does not stop. Therefore you will not find such a man without sin and without sorrow, full of righteousness and full of joy, and so perfect that he does not care about anything and serves everyone freely. For the Scriptures do tell what the Holy Spirit does, namely, that his office is to save from sins and afflictions; but for this reason it is not yet fully established.
20 Therefore a Christian man must at some time feel his sin in his heart, and be afraid of death, so that all things which otherwise afflict another sinner may come upon him. The unbelievers are so stuck in their sins that they do not feel it; but these, the believers, do feel it, but they have a helper, the Holy Spirit, who comforts and strengthens them. But if he had finished and put an end to it, they would not feel it.
(21) Therefore I say that one must be prudent here, and see to it that one does not press too defiantly and joyfully on the Holy Spirit, lest anyone be too sure and think that he is perfect in all things. For a devout Christian man is nevertheless also flesh and blood, like other people, without smiting himself with sin and evil desire, and feels what he does not like to feel, Rom. 7:15 ff.; but the others do not accept it at all and do not smit themselves with it at all.
(22) It is not because a man feels evil desires, so far as to fight against them. Therefore, such a person must not judge his feelings as if they were lost, but must work with the rest of the sin he feels for the rest of his life, and let the Holy Spirit work and work without ceasing.
sighing that he may be delivered from sin, as such sighing never ceases in believers, and goes deeper than can be uttered, as St. Paul says to the Romans 8:26. But it has a precious listener, namely, the Holy Spirit Himself, who well feels the longing and also comforts such consciences.
(23) So it must always be mixed, that both the Holy Spirit and our sin and imperfection may be felt. For so it must be with us, as with a sick man who is under the doctor's hands, yet he shall be made better. Therefore let no man think, This man hath the Holy Ghost, therefore shall he be strong, and do excellent works, and have no infirmity. Not yet then! The gospel is not a sermon for everyone. It is exceedingly sweet preaching; but if a rough and dry heart fall upon it, it profiteth nothing, but men grow bold and reckless of it, and think they may not contend with the flesh; for they feel not their sin and unhappiness. Therefore the Holy Spirit is given to no one, except to those who are in distress and anguish, where the gospel produces benefit and fruit. For this gift is so high and noble that God does not throw it to the dogs. And when they fall to hear it preached, they eat it up, and know not what they eat. It must be such hearts that feel and see their evil desire and cannot come out. For the Holy Spirit must come and help, and let no one think that it will be otherwise.
(24) This is also what we have here in this history. The dear disciples were sitting there, still in fear and terror and were not yet comforted, nor was there any courage, they were still in unbelief, so that they immediately despaired, and Christ had a lot of trouble and work with them, so that he raised them up again. And if there was no other affliction, but that they feared heaven would fall upon them, the Lord himself could not comfort them enough until he said to them, "The Holy Spirit shall come to you from heaven, and he shall comfort me in the Lord.
press upon your heart, that ye may know me, and afterward also by me the Father; and your heart shall be glad. Therefore it happened in this way. When the Holy Spirit came, they were comforted and strengthened and filled with joy.
Thus we have the story of the Holy Spirit. Now, what we have acted in it, let us also see in the gospel. So Christ speaks:
He who loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him.
26 This text gives rise to a question: Why does Christ speak as if we must begin to love, when it is certain that it is contrary, that God must begin to love us? I have also resolved this question before, thus: that some sayings read as if we begin it, the others that God begins it. Now God must lay the first stone, he begins first and takes me by grace that I stand in his favor; but that is why I do not feel it as soon as, although his work is already there. As we have also seen, when the Holy Spirit came, he came in such a way as to make such a great roar, and to frighten the disciples that they did not know where to stay.
27 But when he comes, he is very near; and there he kindles the heart to feel love, and it begins to love. This is what Christ means. Therefore he does not speak of the work that we do, but of that which we feel afterwards, and of the love that follows from the feeling. So this is the opinion: "Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him," that is, when I have made a man feel my love, he will begin to love me again etc. That is why it is said about feeling love, not about starting to love. Now he who loves me will keep my word, that is, he will feel that he loves me, and will do everything that pleases me; he will then see how I and my Father will come to him and dwell with him. And says further:
But he who does not love me does not keep my words.
028 Then we see that it is determined that they which have not the Holy Ghost keep not one letter of the law. Therefore I say, when all preachers stand up and preach the law, and want to make people godly with it, what do they do? They do nothing. For in short, there must first be love in the heart, otherwise nothing comes of keeping the law. Now therefore teach beforehand, how to overcome love, and after that one can do the law. The Holy Spirit was given, as we said, to abolish the law. Therefore Christians are not to be governed by laws. But the others, who are not Christians, must be forced with them, and they must be thrown under the executioner and ruled with the sword, so that they may be prevented from doing evil with their hands, even though they do not become better in heart. Now Christ does not want his word to be kept with the hand like the laws of men, but from the heart, with desire and love. But who gives this desire and love? The Holy Spirit gives them and no one else. Now follows further:
These things have I spoken unto you, because I have been with you: but the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, whom my Father shall send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, which I have spoken.
29 If his name is to remain, he must have nothing to do with his ministry in any place but where there is no comfort, and where there is need and desire for comfort. Therefore he cannot comfort the hard of mind and the bold of heart, for they have tasted neither trouble nor despair, and have never come to any distress; therefore he can accomplish nothing, but only with the afflicted, the disconsolate, the despondent.
But what shall he do? He shall teach and remind all things. This is what our scholars have been saying, that not everything is written in the Scriptures that one should believe, do, and refrain from doing; but that the Holy Spirit should teach many things that Christ did not teach; which is contrary to the Holy Spirit, and quite contrary to reason. For Christ thus saith, He shall teach you, and bring to your remembrance, all things that I have told you.
That is, he will finely transfigure for you what I am telling you now, better than I can teach you with words, so that you will no longer need words. But that ye know it now beforehand, and have a sign, that, when it shall come to pass, ye may believe it the better. Thus they say, He will not say that which Christ says. How then shall we suffer the pope and bishops to approach and say that the Holy Spirit teaches what they set? Because we see here that Christ will put his word on the Holy Spirit, who is also here to bear witness of Christ, and to make alive in our hearts what he has taught, so that we may understand and believe. Therefore, if anyone teaches you anything other than about Christ, do not believe that it is this Spirit. Now the Lord continues:
Peace I leave you, my peace I give you, not I give you as the world gives.
(31) Now we see the ministry of the Holy Ghost, that it is given only to them that are in affliction and misery: for this is the meaning of the words which he saith, Ye must not think that I give you such peace as the world giveth. The world takes this for peace, when the evil is torn off and separated from the person; as when one is poor, he thinks he has great discord with poverty, and seeks how he may put away poverty, and thinks that when it is gone, the person has peace and is rich. If a person is about to die and death lies on him, he thinks, "If I could remove death, I would have peace and remain alive.
(32) But Christ does not give such peace, but leaves the evil lying quietly to oppress the man, and does not take it away; but needs another art, and makes the person different, and snatches the person from the evil, not the evil from the person. This is how it works: When you are in suffering, he turns you away from it and gives you such courage that you think you are sitting in a rose garden. So in the midst of dying there is life, and in the midst of strife peace and joy; and therefore such peace, as St. Paul says to the Philippians Cap. 4, 7, which is above all senses. For this
No man can grasp with his reason, nor can he conceive with his senses; therefore Christ alone does it, who thus says to you: "Only enter into the midst of death and die, and the Holy Spirit shall come to you and make you so brave and joyful that you will not feel death, even that it will taste good to you. This is because the Holy Spirit teaches you to know the great goodness and grace of Christ, so that he makes those who believe in him lords, as he is, over sin, death and all things. Therefore, a Christian man must be skillful so that he can be happy in happiness and unhappiness, whether sweet or sour. But one is more than the other, for we are not all perfect; indeed, no one will be so perfect that he will no longer feel a wriggle.
33 Therefore I speak of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, what he should do, and always let him go in pregnancy when he has begun, so that you now begin to despise death. But you must continue, and stay in it, and keep on working, so that you fear less and less. Therefore, even if you still feel death, do not despair and do not think: I hear that the Holy Spirit makes the heart joyful, that it does not feel death, and yet I feel that I am afraid of it: therefore I see well that it is not with me, [and what more such thoughts might occur to me. They must all be rejected and despised.] For the ministry of the Holy Spirit is not that it is already established, but that it works more and more from day to day, and continues as long as we live; so that sorrow is always mixed with peace. For if there were no sorrow, he could not comfort us. What follows at the end of the gospel are words of comfort, namely, when he says:
Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
(34) These words also all signify what the Holy Spirit is to do. For then you see who they are with whom the Holy Spirit has to do, namely, those who are full of sorrow and suffering. For
*) (b)
If the disciples had not been terrified and afraid before, Christ would not have comforted them so often, even though it had not yet been done. For he saith only, I tell you now and in words, that ye be not afraid: but it is not yet profitable, neither do ye yet rejoice. But I tell you, when the Holy Spirit comes and comforts you, that you may rejoice, that then you may see and know. Therefore he concludes and says:
You have heard that I said to you: I go away, and come again unto you. If you loved me, you would rejoice that I said: I go unto the Father: for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it comes to pass, that, when it shall come to pass, ye may believe.
(35) I am a man, saith he, and shall die now: but I come again unto you, even by the Holy Ghost. Therefore, if you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father. To love Christ is to love the man who reigns in the holy cross and speaks only of suffering. No one can do this until the Holy Spirit comes, who alone can do this.
Love in the heart. Therefore he will say, When the Holy Ghost shall come, ye shall rejoice that I am come to the Father. Now ye taste it not; therefore ye cannot love: but when I come to the Father, then shall ye love me, because I am gone up, and can now help you, and give you the Holy Ghost. Then my suffering and death will be a comfort to you, when you will see that I live again and come to you, and help you, and make you partakers of all the goods that I have. Therefore, we Christians must become lords over all that God has created, and we can look to Christ and say: My Lord Christ, who stands for me, is Lord over all things, what will He do to me? For the Father is so great that he has made him Lord over all creatures, that all things must be at his feet.
Thirty-six: So you see how this gospel always refers to the ministry of the Holy Spirit, so that it may be seen that he was actually given to comfort us and make us love Christ. Therefore see here, that thou be not deceived, nor taught otherwise by the Holy Ghost, than as thou hast heard.