Luc. 6:36-42.
Therefore, be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A full, pressed, shaken, and superfluous measure shall be put into your bosom: for even with the measure that ye measure with shall ye be measured again. And he said to them a like thing: May a blind man lead a blind man? will they not both fall into the pit? The disciple is not above his master; if the disciple is like his master, he is perfect. But how can you see a mote in your brother's eye, and not see the beam in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, "Hold still, brothers, I will pull the mote out of your eye, and you yourself do not see the beam in your eye? You hypocrite, first take the beam out of your eye, and then see to it that you take the mote out of your brother's eye.
This gospel describes to us the works of love, which one should show toward his neighbor in temporal goods and need of the body. The Lord indicates this almost in a few words in the gospel, because he said the other day that we should love our enemies and do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us, pray for those who offend us, if they strike us on one cheek, we should offer the other, and if they take our skirts, we should also let go of our coats. He sums this up here in a short resolution and says Summa Summarum: "Be merciful, as your Father is also merciful." There you see the good works described here in a heap, which we are to practice towards each other, as the heavenly Father has practiced them towards us and still practices them without ceasing.
You have often heard that we do not need works against God, but against our neighbor. You cannot make God stronger or richer with works, but you can make man stronger and richer with them; that is where they are needed, and not to God. You have often heard this and now you have it in your ears; would to God that it would also come into the hands and into the works!
(3) Therefore, you see here how it is a wrong thing to do works against God that one should do against one's neighbor, and to put one's faith in men and saints that one should put in God alone. Turn it around, and it is right, thus: faith must be due to God alone, which receives divine works, which God alone works, and these works of God we receive through faith alone. According to this, we should take care of our neighbor and order all our works so that they serve our neighbor. Before God we are to act with nothing but mere faith. Cause: For no one can help us but God alone, and what we have in body and soul we have from God alone, on whom alone we should set our hearts.
4th Now they pervert it so that they put the faith due to God on themselves and on other people, and fall there on their little feet, and what the high masters devised
that is where we put our confidence. Is not this the devil and death? as God says in Jeremiah Cap. 2, 13: "My people have committed two sins: one, that they have forsaken me, the living fountain, and have digged for them broken pits that cannot hold water. Second, v. 35, he says to the people, "Thou sayest, I will turn away mine anger from thee; thou hast not sinned. "Behold, I will go to judgment with thee, because thou hast said, I have not sinned."
(5) First, he says that the bride has become a harlot and has turned away from God, the living fountain from which flows life, blessedness and all goodness, which they have forsaken. On the other hand, they build on their own thing, their own little fountains, and make for themselves a fountain of their own, in which there is no water. So also our papists build on their own little fountains, on their mass-keeping, fasting, praying, and the like; this may well be regarded as a well, as if they wanted to draw life and blessedness from it, when it cannot hold water; and they leave God, the living fountain.
(6) Then, saith he, they may rebel against me, and I will not be angry with them, but they will have their thing and their work right, and will be justified with me. Behold, this is the other sin, that they will protect their works. Therefore God says: I will go to judgment with you and show you how wicked you have become, that you have always gone your own way.
(7) Behold, faith alone is due to God, and it alone shall purchase from God what is necessary for us, temporally and eternally; and it shall purchase it all, so that it does not think that it has earned it. The same faith should then flow out again toward the neighbor, without any addition: not that one wants to put happiness into it, for God does not want that, but wants only the conscience to be placed upon it. Just as a bride must cling to her bridegroom alone and to no one else; so God also wants us to trust in Him alone.
8 Lucas indicates this when he says: "Be merciful, as your Father is merciful.
is." Then I must set my conscience against God in such a way that I have a kind, merciful Father, and then go out to my neighbor and be merciful to him as well. I must bring faith in and up to God, and works out and down to my neighbor. Thus Abraham, when he went up to God on Mount Moriah, left the servants and the asses under the mountain and took only Isaac with him, Genesis 22:5. So shall we do: if we would go up to God, we shall come with Isaac alone, that is, with Christ through faith; and leave the servants and the asses, that is, the works, under the mountain.
(9) Now let this be said concerning the entrance of the gospel, concerning faith and works, that faith goeth in and up, and works go down and out: so that we are justified in the sight of God and man, to do glory to God, and to look freely to him, and to believe according to his word, and to love our neighbor enough. Now let us examine the words of the Gospel one by one.
Be merciful as your Father is merciful.
10 Now how is God merciful, our heavenly Father? So that he gives us all goods, bodily and spiritual, temporal and eternal, in vain and out of pure goodness. For if he should give us out of and according to our merit, he alone would have to give us hellish fire and eternal damnation. Therefore, what he gives us in goods and honor is pure mercy. He sees that we are in death; he has mercy on us and gives us life. He sees that we are children of hell; therefore he has mercy and gives us heaven. He sees that we are poor, naked and bare, hungry and thirsty; therefore he has mercy on us, clothes us, feeds and waters us, and fills us with all goods. So what we have, spiritually and physically, he gives us out of mercy and pours his goods on us and in us. Therefore Christ says here: Follow your father, and be merciful also as he is merciful.
11 Now this is not a bad mercy, nor is it such as reason
teaches. For it is selfish: it gives to those who are great and learned and deserving; it loves those who are beautiful; it gives to those from whom it derives benefit and piety. This is a particular, beggarly, piece-meal, shaggy mercy. For if I give to him that hath deserved it, or look upon beauty and friendship, it is a duty and a debt, and not a mercy. This is also what the Lord means when he says before this gospel Luc. 6, 32-34. "If you love those who love you, what do you gain? For sinners also love their lovers. And if you do good to your benefactors, what thanks do you get? For sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to take, what thanks do you get? For sinners also lend to sinners, that they may immediately take again." But the Christian's mercy should not seek its own; it should be done in this way: it must be round, and open its eyes, and look at all alike, friend and foe, as our heavenly Father does.
012 And where this mercy is not, neither is faith. For if your heart is in faith, that you know that your God has shown Himself to you in this way, so merciful and kind, without your merit and purely in vain, since you would still be His enemy and a child of eternal curse: if you believe this, you cannot leave it alone, you must also show yourself to your neighbor in this way; and all this for the love of God and for the good of your neighbor. Therefore see that you make no distinction between friend and foe, worthy and unworthy; for you see that all those who are told here deserve something else for us, except that we should love or do good to them. And this is also the Lord's intention, when he says Luc. 6:35: "But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward shall be great, and you shall be the children of the Most High. For he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked." Let this be the first piece of the gospel to say.
13) Further, someone would say here: "Now that you have taught that works are not valid against God, how is it then that here immediately
The contradiction is when Christ says: "Be merciful, as your Father is merciful; judge not, and ye shall not be judged; condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned; forgive, and ye shall be forgiven; give, and it shall be given you. Which sayings all sound that we should act before God with our works, and thereby serve that God be merciful to us and forgive us; when you have always heard that faith alone accomplishes everything.
14 Now notice this, as St. Paul and the whole of Scripture says to and fro: for they urge that one must believe and act against God by faith alone. Therefore, the sayings as they are here, take them to mean that works alone are the test and proving of faith, that where I believe, I must be merciful, not judge, not condemn, forgive and give to my neighbor. Take the example of Genesis 22:5 ff. What did Abraham do when he was told to sacrifice his son? He obeyed the commandment, and now he wanted to cut off his son's head and drew his sword. What happened? The angel of the Lord rebuked him and said to him, "Do not lay your hand on the boy and do nothing to him, for now I know that you fear God and have not kept your only son from me.
(15) So also here: we must receive before we spend; before we do mercy, we must receive it beforehand from God. We do not lay the first stone; neither does the sheep seek the shepherd, but the shepherd seeks the sheep: therefore set the works so that we obtain nothing with them before God, but that without merit we obtain from God all that we obtain. Thus God speaks in the prophet Isaiah Cap. 65, 1: "I was found by those who did not seek Me, and I appeared to those who did not ask for Me." And at the end of the same chapter he says, "The time will come when I will hear them before they cry out, and because they still speak, I will hear them." For before we seek him, he finds us; before we ask for him, he has us. So St. Paul says to the Romans Cap. 3, 23-26.:
"There is no difference; they are all sinners, and lack the glory they should have in God, and are justified without merit, by His grace, through the redemption that came by Christ; Whom God hath set forth to be a mercy seat, through faith, in his blood, that he might prove the righteousness that is before him, in that he forgiveth the sins which were before done in the patience of God, which he bare, that he might prove at these times the righteousness that is before him, that he alone might be righteous, and justify him that is of faith in Jesus Christ." And in the following chapter Rom. 4, 4. 5. he says: "But to him that worketh not the reward of grace is imputed, but of duty. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." "For if it be by grace, merit is nothing: otherwise grace is not grace," as he says in the eleventh chapter, v. 6.
(16) Secondly, set the works so that they may be a certain sign, and like a seal pressed on a letter, that I may be sure that the faith is righteous. Cause: If I feel in my heart that the work flows from love, then I am sure that my faith is righteous. If I forgive, then the forgiving makes me certain that my faith is righteous, and assures and proves my faith that God has also forgiven me and forgives daily; but if I do not forgive, then I may freshly conclude that I lack faith. This is how it happened with Abraham, the work made his faith known to him. God knew that he believed, but he had to know it and prove it.
(17) Therefore works henceforth are but the free fruits and evidences of such faith. For what good would it be to me if I already had a strong faith, if I did not know it? As if I had a chest full of florins and did not know it, it would be of no use to me; but if someone revealed it to me, he would do me such a service as if he gave it to me. So also, if I have faith and do not know it, it is of no use to me.
it is of no use to me. Therefore it must break out and become known to me through the following works, which are then a sign and seal that faith is there. This is also the intention of St. Peter, when he finally says of the works of love and the virtues of faith in 2 Ep. 1, 10, 11: "Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to establish your profession and election; for if you do these things, you will not fall, and so the entrance to the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly given to you. He does not say, do good works that you may be called, but that you may be sure of your calling.
18 Therefore be well accustomed to the Scriptures, that ye plump not into them, and strengthen works with such sayings. For works are rejected in this, that we should not think to become godly by them: but in this they are commended and praised, that they are necessary to our neighbor, and are the tokens and fruits of faith.
(19) Behold, I had to go out of my way, lest I should strengthen the minds of the papists, which they have mistakenly here in this gospel. Now God often sets such sayings against each other, as it seems to us and to reason that He should train us in reading, and that we should not think that we have the whole Scripture when we have scarcely a saying. Some sayings lead the mind how we should act before God by faith alone; as the one: "Without merit we have been saved." Then, lest the body lie idle and sluggish by heart, we also have sayings that guide and exercise the body, such as these: "Forgive, and it shall be forgiven you; give, and it shall be given you"; and the saying in Matthew Cap. 25, 42 ff., where the Lord Christ says that he will require works at the last judgment, when he will say to the damned: "I was hungry, and you did not feed me; I was thirsty, and you did not give me drink; I was a guest, and you did not shelter me; I was naked, and you did not clothe me," and so on. These sayings want to graft and beat in the unwise, careless spirits, and drive everything on the works; that is wrong. But those who are spiritual
They are drawn to the body and stand before God in the spirit alone; this is right and necessary, for man has two things in himself, spirit and flesh. For this reason there are some sayings that lead to faith alone in the spirit, and others that lead to works alone in the body; for a saying of Scripture cannot lead to the spirit and the body at the same time.
(20) Here we must also say how we should treat our temporal goods toward our neighbor. With the goods we shall do thus: we shall let take, we shall lend and give to our neighbor where and when he wills. And these are strict commandments, and not only counsels, as they interpret them, which teach: If any man will be perfect, let him do them. Therefore, those who want to live up to this have moved into monasteries and want to be fully righteous. Therefore all monasteries are built on a devil's muck. For there is no nation that is more stingy and allows itself to be robbed of less than this. Now, if you want to be a Christian, you should lend what you can, freely, without any extra charge. If we see someone who does not have anything to give us again, we should give it to him freely and let go of the debt, as Nehemiah did in Ezra chapter 5 (Neh. 5). For God has given it to you, who can give you more, if you believe otherwise Item, if something is taken from us, we should not demand it again; but the neighbor should stand up for us, and help, so that not too much happens to us, defend against injustice and complain about violence.
21 Now behold, these works have drawn monks and priests altogether to be the only ones. And with this they have drawn all the others away, who, if they have not done a Christian work in their lifetime, fall to the teaching of the monks, when they die, they endow masses or other wills, so that everything is fulfilled and settled. But here you hear: If we want to be Christians, we must lend, give and let ours be taken, or we will lack faith.
(22) Therefore see and understand this gospel, that you do not act otherwise in the sight of God than by faith alone, and let yourselves be saved.
the works go beyond serving the neighbor alone. And this is said of the first part of the gospel. Now let us see what follows in the Gospel, where the Lord tells us what kind of mercy he means. And says:
Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and you will be given.
23 The Lord divides mercy into three parts, so that we may know what mercy is to be shown to our neighbor. First, we are not to judge or condemn; second, you are to forgive your neighbor if he has done something against you; third, you are to help the needy: this is what the word "mercy" means where it is found in Scripture.
(24) And all this must come from a righteous heart, so that it may be done without hypocrisy and falsehood, not looking at the person. For if thou wouldest do good to them that do good to thee, or do good to them that do good to thee, or harm to them that harm thee, it would be great error: but so shalt thou do unto them, as Christ saith here before this gospel, Thou shalt follow thy heavenly Father, and love thine enemy; do good to him that doeth thee wrong; forgive him that offendeth thee; lend to him that hath need; and so forth, as ye have heard.
(25) Now to say of the first part, how we ought not to judge nor condemn, it is to be noted that God has appointed the temporal sword to punish public vices, only to see that it is not done contrary to God's command and commandment, so that one does not kill one if he is innocent. For if the judge does wrong, he is equally a death-slayer as another. The Lord does not speak of this judgment here; Luc. 12, 14. He remembers it when he said to the one who wanted to tell his brother to divide the inheritance with him: "Who has made me a judge or a judge of inheritance over you? For the kingdom of Christ does not ask for outward things.
26. but the Lord says here about a
The other judgment, namely, that one considers another good or evil from that which he does not see from the outside, which alone is God's judgment. For it may happen that you see your neighbor sinning today, whom God will receive tomorrow. You can also be pious in front of yourself and not remember your sin. Christ has forbidden judging, for there can be neither love nor unity where there is such judging and condemning among people. To judge or condemn another is to have a beam in his eye, as all hypocrites have in their eyes. For they that think themselves righteous are offended at their brethren: for whatsoever they do, it displeaseth them, and they themselves will not see their sin. But so it happens that when you see much of the other's sin, you are not aware of the beam in your eye, and so you fall into the judgment of God. Therefore, you who judge another are a greater sinner in the sight of God than the worst of knaves or whores, of whom God alone knows who will be blessed or damned; all sin is nothing if you hold it against your judgment.
(27) These hypocrites are so skilled that they rejoice and delight in speaking of another's adultery or vice, and in stirring up their neighbor's filth; and what other people do, they always put to the worst, and no one can please them; and though they do not do it themselves, yet they love to hear others speak of it. If you were pious, you should cover up and help as much as you can. And it commonly happens that those who judge and judge others are the worst of whores, even after your flesh; yes, they judge not only men, but also God Himself.
28 Therefore, if your brother is a sinner, cover his sin and pray for him. If thou make manifest his sin, verily thou art not a child of the merciful Father; for otherwise thou also wouldest be merciful like him. This is certainly true that we cannot show such great mercy to our neighbor as God does to us; but this is the devil that
We do evil against mercy, which is a sure sign that we have no mercy in ourselves. All this is what the Gospel text means when it says:
Even if a blind man shows the way to a blind man, will they not both fall into the pit? The disciple is not above the master, but he who becomes perfect becomes like his master. How can you see a mote in your brother's eye, and not see the beam in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, "Hold still, brother, I will take the mote out of your eye," and not see the beam in your own eye? Thou hypocrite, first pluck out the beam out of thine own eye, and then see that thou pluck out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
29 As if the Lord would say, "You think your brother is blind, and you want to punish another; that is, you want to lead another, and you yourself are blind. You think he is a sinner, and you think you are pious. What is this but that your heart is so minded that you are better than he? Which is nothing else, but that thou wilt lead others, being thyself blind; and he that followeth thee falleth with thee into the pit. Paul also says to the Romans Cap. 2, 17-23, about the companions who let themselves think that they are better than others, and wanted that one should follow them more than the word of God. 2, 17-23: "But behold, you are called a Jew, and rely on the law, and boast of God, and know His will; and being instructed in the law, you test what is right and what is not right, and fail to be a guide to the blind, a light to those in darkness, a reprover of the foolish, a teacher of the simple, having the form of knowing what is right in the law. Now you teach others and do not teach yourself. You preach that one should not steal, and you steal. Thou sayest not to commit adultery, and thou committest adultery. You are afraid of idols, and you rob God of what is his. You boast of the law, and defile God by transgressing the law." Therefore, in the beginning of the same chapter, he also says to the hypocrites: "Therefore, O man, you cannot excuse yourself for who you are,
who judges, for in judging another you condemn yourself, since you do the very thing you judge. For we know that God's judgment is right against those who do this. But thinkest thou, O man, who judgest them that do such things, and doest the same, that thou wilt escape the judgment of God?"
(30) I mean that this is telling the truth to hypocrites, who presume to show others the way which they themselves do not know, and so lead others into the pit with them. Therefore saith the Lord, The disciple is not above the master: but he that becometh perfect shall be as his master." This is a common saying: I cannot learn more from my master than he knows. Why does the Lord say this saying? For the sake of two masters: the first is blind; if I follow him, I also become blind; if he falls into the pit, I also fall into it. The other master is the merciful Father, from whom we are to learn mercy; if we follow him, we will also become merciful, as he is merciful; and if we were always merciful, we would become perfect, as he is also perfect; but this does not happen, because we are here in this life.
(31) The other part of mercy is that we should forgive those who offend us. A Christian can never be so offended that he should not forgive, not seven times, but seventy times seven times, as the Lord said to Peter, Matt. 18:22. Therefore God also forgives a Christian his sin or infirmity, that he may also forgive others their infirmities. Christ has illustrated this with a beautiful simile and parable, which he concludes with these words: "My heavenly Father will do the same to you, if you do not forgive your brother his sins from your heart.
32 And this we also ask daily in the Lord's Prayer, where we ask and say with an addition: Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Is this not a great thing, if I poor sinner forgive my neighbor his sin or fault, that God may also forgive me my sin and fault?
Forgive infirmities? If one strangled my father, what would it be against my sin to have offended God?
The third part of mercy is that we should give and come to the aid of the poor and needy. John says about this in his 1. ep. cap. 3, 17: "If someone has the goods of this world, and sees his brother in need, and closes his heart to him, how does the love of God abide in him? For where the love of God is, it must prove itself outwardly. Therefore also belongs the saying of Christ Matth. 5, 7: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Therefore the Lord adds a promise here in the Gospel and says: "Prayer, and it will be given to you. A full, pressed, shaken, and superfluous measure shall be given you into your bosom." And further says, "For with the very measure that ye measure with, it shall be measured unto you again."
34 Let this be said enough for now about the three pieces of mercy that we should show to our neighbor. The words of Christ in Matthew 7:12 should be a special stimulus to us. Since he spoke a great deal about the Christian life and how we should treat one another with love
He decides and says: "Everything that you want people to do to you, you do to them. This is the law and the prophets." Now every man is so skilled; if he were sick, he would want all the world to come to his aid. If I am a poor sinner, in disgrace, with a troubled conscience, I want all the world to comfort and help me, to cover my sin and shame. In the same way, I should behave toward my neighbor, not judging or condemning him, forgiving his faults, helping him, advising him, lending and giving, as I would have them do to me if I were in anguish and distress, in misery and poverty.
35 And in this way Christians will be recognized as loving one another and showing mercy to one another. This is also what the Lord Christ said to his disciples in the Lord's Supper, when he said John 13:34: "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." This is the Gospel; we want to call upon God for mercy.