Luc. 14:16-24.
And he said unto him, There was a man that made a great supper, and invited many. And sent forth his servant at the hour of supper, to say unto them that were bidden: Come, for everything is ready. And they all began to excuse themselves one by one. The first said unto him, I have bought a field, and must go out and see it: I pray thee, excuse me. And the other said: I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to see them; I pray thee, excuse me. And the third said: I have taken a wife; therefore I cannot come. And the servant came and told his master again. And the master of the house was wroth, and said unto his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, and the crippled, and the lame, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, that is done which thou hast commanded; but there is yet room. And the Lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and by the fences, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. But I tell you that none of the men who are invited will taste my supper.
(1) Here in this gospel, as in all the Scriptures, we are to take hold of the right simple mind, as you have often heard before, to the best of our ability, and base our heart and conscience on it. For he that will contend with the devil must not waver and shake, but must be sure of the things, and be armed with clear certain Scripture; otherwise, when the devil gets him by uncertain understanding upon his fork, he tosses him to and fro, as the wind tosses a dry leaf.
2 Therefore we must have a certain understanding here in this gospel, that we may stand. And is not to be understood of the holy sacrament or bread of the altar, as our papists have drawn it out with their hair on the holy day of Corpus Christi, with many other sayings of Scripture, which do not rhyme at all with a letter, or even a little; but this is the opinion and summa of this gospel, that the gospel is preached and proclaimed in all the world, but few people receive it. And for this reason it is called a supper, that the gospel should be the last word and doctrine that closes the world.
*This sermon can be found in a b c and in a single print from 1523. Cf. A. 13, 19.
D. Red.
Therefore this supper is nothing else but a rich and delicious meal, which God has prepared for us through Christ in the gospel, which presents us with great goods and rich treasures.
4 But this summons was made as the text says: "The Lord sent out his servant to summon people to this delicious supper, that is, the apostles were all sent out with one word into all the world, to summon and call to this supper with one voice and with one gospel or message. So if St. Peter had come and preached in the place where St. Paul also preached before, it would have been One Sermon, one preaching like the other, so that the hearers also might have said, Behold, he preacheth alike, as we have heard of him before; they agree alike, and are One Thing. To indicate unity, the evangelist says, "And sent forth his servant," and does not say, his servants, as of many servants. But this was the message that the servant was to deliver and advertise to the invited guests:
Come, for all is prepared.
5 For Christ had died, had strangled sin and death in his death, had risen from the dead, the Holy Spirit had been given, and in short, everything was
The things that belonged to this supper were prepared for us. Everything was prepared so that it would cost us nothing, for the Father through Christ made it all worthwhile, so that we might enjoy, grow fat, and become rich without any merit or effort on our part.
6th Then he sends his servant out first to the Jews to invite them to this supper, who had the promise and promise of God; for the law and all the prophets were made to prepare the people for God; just as the angel Gabriel of John the Baptist said to his father Zacharias, "He will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to God their Lord. And shall go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers unto the children, and the unbelievers unto the prudence of the righteous, to prepare for the Lord a ready people," Luc. 1:15-17. But what did the guests say to the servant's message? The text speaks:
And they all started apologizing one after another.
7 This is what the Lord says in Matthew 10:37, 38: "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not up his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me." Now behold, how few there are of them that are so skillful with such serenity. For he that will come to this supper must put all to the gospel, body and estate, wife and child, friend and foe; yea, he must forsake all that separates him from the gospel, be it ever so good, right, holy, as it may.
(8) Neither think that these men who apologize here have dealt in gross sins or unrighteous things and deeds. No, they have had a right good thing. For it is not unrighteous to buy and to trade, to feed oneself honestly, or to take a wife and to marry; but for this reason they may not come into this house, because they do not want to leave these things, but with their hearts.
cling to it. Now it must be abandoned when the gospel demands it.
(9) Then you say: I would gladly follow the gospel and adhere to it, and also gladly do everything else: but shall I leave my goods, my house and my household, my wife and child, that is difficult; has God commanded me to work and to feed my wife and child? Behold, therefore also the Summa Summarum, the Gospel is a word of the cross and vexation, so that everyone is glad to be vexed by it. Yes, God has commanded you this, and has also commanded you to set Him above all creatures and to love Him, and to hold Him higher than all that you can know; as the most noble and greatest commandment, Deut. 6:5, Matt. 22:37, reads: "You shall love God your Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. Therefore you must let go of everything before you let yourself be separated from his love or word.
(10) Though he loses nothing who forsakes anything for the sake of the gospel. If you lose your temporal life for his sake, he will give you another and better life, an eternal life, as Christ says in Matthew 10:39: "He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it. If you have to leave your wife and child, remember that God cares for them and will give them a much better father than you are; and it will certainly happen if you only believe it. For thou hast ever such a great promise and abundant promise and admonition, that he will not forsake his word; but will keep it, if we but freshly trust and yield to it. So he said in Matthew 19:29: "Every man that shall give up houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life." Here is his word and promise, what more shall we have, or what greater thing may be desired of us? Well, what is lacking? Only our faith. Therefore, no one comes to this supper, unless he brings with him a righteous faith, which God has overruled.
elevates and loves all creatures. But what does the Lord do to this, who invited the guests and thus excused himself? The text speaks:
Then the master of the house was angry, and said to his servant, "Go out soon into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in the poor and the crippled and the lame and the blind.
011 To go into the streets and highways is nothing else, but that the Jews made themselves unworthy of the gospel, and turned away from it; and the disciples taught themselves to the Gentiles. For the disciples were commanded of Christ before his resurrection, that they should not turn to the Gentiles, neither preach in the cities of the Samaritans; but should turn to the sheep of the house of Israel only, and feed them: as they did. But when the Jews afterwards, after the resurrection of Christ JEsu, had heard this word, and would not receive it, the disciples spake unto them, as it is written in the Acts of the Apostles, Cap. 13:46, 47.It was necessary that the word of God should first be spoken to you, but now that you have rejected it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we turn to the Gentiles, for the Lord has commanded us"; Is 49:6: "I have set you as a light for the Gentiles, that you may be a salvation to the ends of the earth. But what is this that he says to the servant, "Go out into the highways and by the fences, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled"?
This is to be understood by the despondent stupid consciences, which also belong to this supper, they are driven into it. But it is not an outward, but an inward and spiritual driving, and it happens by the way: When the law is preached, and sin is exposed or glorified, so that man comes to know himself, that the compelling and driving in means freshly driving sin into the conscience, so that man may know how he is nothing, all his works sinful and damnable, and thus quickly a desponding conscience and a
The silly, frightened heart is overcome, so that all confidence and help eludes him, and he has nowhere to turn for comfort, and so finally falls into despair.
(13) When this is done, which is called compellere, thou shalt not fail him with intrare, but shalt help him out of this despair. This happens when you comfort him with the gospel and tell him how he can be freed from sin, saying, "Believe in Christ, that he has freed you from sin, and you will be freed from sin. This is called here: compelle intrare, and is not to be understood from the outward doing, as they interpret it, that one drives the wicked and evil ones by force to this supper; for it does not do it, nor is it the opinion of the Gospel. Therefore, let it be fresh in the conscience, and let it be inward and spiritual. And the Lord says to the servant and to the others:
But I tell you that none of the men who are invited will taste my supper.
14 This is the conclusion and summa of this gospel, that those who are most sure and want to taste the Lord's Supper do not taste it. You have heard the cause. Therefore, recently, the guests who are invited and do not come are those who think they will obtain the Lord's Supper by works, they try hard and are sure of things, they want to taste the Lord's Supper. But the Lord concludes strongly, saying, "Not one of these men shall taste my supper. Why then, dear Lord, have they done no evil, nor have they dealt falsely? This is the cause, that they have failed in the faith, and have not freely confessed it to all, and have not preferred this rich and delicious supper to all creatures. For because it is delicious, people who think it is so demand it, and put something on it, no matter what. Behold, this is the mind of this gospel lately overflowing. Whoever wants to spread it further, let him do so.