Luc. 6, 1-11.
And it came to pass, when the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, that he stood by the sea of Galilee, and saw two ships standing by the sea; and the fishermen being gone out, and washing their nets, he entered into one of the ships, which was Simonis, and besought him that he would lead them a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. And when he had ceased speaking, he said unto Simon, Go up to the high place, and let down your nets, that ye may make a draught. And Simon answered and said unto him, Master, we have labored all night, and have caught nothing: but at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had done so, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was broken. And they beckoned to their companions that were in the other ship, that they should come and help them draw. And they came and filled both ships, so that they sank. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell to Jesus' knees and said, "Lord, go out from me; I am a sinful man. For he was sore afraid, and all that were with him, because of this fishing which they had done one with another: and Jacob and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simoni's companions, were like unto them. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not: for from henceforth thou shalt see men. And they led the ships to land, and left all, and followed him.
(1) This gospel is easy for those who have faith, and sets before us two things: the faith of temporal goods, and after that, the faith of eternal goods.
2 First, he shows that those who believe in Christ must also have enough in time. And this he does by giving St. Peter and his companions as many fishes and more than they should have desired; so that Christ also provides, as he has provided for us.
*) This sermon is found in a b c and in four single prints from 1522 and 1523, as well as in the two collections (14 and 27 sermons) from 1523, and in "Drei schöne Sermon, gepredigt durch Doctor Martin Luther zu Wittenberg." 1523. cf. Erl. A. 13, 127.
D. Red.
the belly, if it were not for the cursed unbelief. For look at St. Peter and see well into his heart, and you will find that he does not think that he should catch so many fish; so God comes and enters them into the net, and more than they all would have desired.
(3) Therefore this is an example, that they which believe must have enough; but they which believe not can never have enough, and have no rest how they get goods unto themselves; that they may fall into all manner of vices. Here is what St. Paul says 1 Tim. 6, 6-10: "There is great enjoyment in him that is godly, and let him have his fill. For we have brought nothing into the world; therefore open-
We will not bring anything outside. But if we have food and covering, let us be content. For those who want to be rich fall into temptation and snares, and many foolish and harmful lusts, which sink into destruction and perdition. For avarice is the root of all evil. Which some have lusted after, and have gone astray from the faith, and have mingled with themselves in much pain."
Now this saying of St. Paul clearly shows what follows our unbelief, namely, that he who strives for good and wants to become rich must fall into temptation and the snares of the devil. Now we cannot see this, for it is spiritual. But if we could see the harm he does in spiritual things as he does in bodily things, we would have preached well. For we see outwardly how an unbelieving man scatters and does violence to all men, that he alone may scrape together, that he may rely on it, and say, Well, now I have had enough. There we see how unbelief is such a stingy, unkind thing; for it does no one good, is also kind to no one, sells no one nothing, but sees its advantage.
(5) It is a cursed thing that we cannot trust God for our belly, always thinking we will die of hunger, when we must have enough; as Christ says in Matthew chapter 6, v. 25 ff: "I tell you, do not take care of your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor of your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than raiment? Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow, they do not reap, they do not gather into the barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more than they? Who is there among you that can add a cubit to his length, though he care for it? Why then do you care for clothing? Look at the lilies of the field, how they grow; they do not work, nor do they sew. I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed as one. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is standing, and tomorrow will grow in the
Shouldn't he do that much more to you? O ye of little faith! Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? What shall we drink? With what shall we be clothed? For all these things the Gentiles seek: for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Therefore do not worry about the morrow, for the morrow will take care of its own. It is enough that every day should have its own plague."
Here you see how God takes care of the birds and the flowers and decorates them so beautifully; much more does he want to give us what we need, but we cannot trust him yet. So the devil has taken us captive in his snares. When one comes to the point that he is not satisfied and does not trust God, then love must immediately cease, so that one does no good to anyone, but only paws at his own heap.
(7) And hence came the clergy, priests and monks: that they might help themselves and feed their bellies, and not work, they ran into the monasteries. And it has become quite a saying: Despair makes a monk; yes, not only monks, but also clergymen, bishops and popes; for they do not trust that God could feed them, and think only that, how all infirmity and poverty may be taken from them. All this is lived in unbelief. Then they go and keep harlots or commit adultery; these are all fruits that follow unbelief, for they have never trusted God to feed them if they took a wife and remained outside.
Now, here is the example that makes us trust in God, and first of all in the belly, because He also provides for us in temporal goods. We see this in Petro here, where he caught so many fish and it fell to him in heaps. This clearly indicates that God does not want to leave anyone, he must have enough if he trusts in him alone; as the 37th Psalm v. 25 says: "I have been young and grown old, and I have never seen the righteous forsaken, or his seed go after bread."
There is no lack of goods, only of faith; the angels should rather come and give. Therefore, the fact that people suffer so much hardship is due to unbelief alone.
(9) And though God is near to us, and will give enough, yet he will have both of us, work and hope, if he will pardon a little; therefore here he calls Peter to make a haul, saying:
Go up to the heights and cast your nets to make a move.
10 As if the Lord said, "Cast in the nets and do the work of a fisherman, and let me worry. I will not leave the care to thee, but the work. But we will turn this back to him: we will take care and let him work. Hence it is that every man seeketh usury, and bringeth money to himself, that he may not work.
(11) Therefore, if thou wilt live a Christian life, let thy God take care how the fish come into the net, and go thou and take a profession, that thou mayest work. But we all want to lead such professions that we are not allowed to work; that is the devil. And that is why we became monks and priests, only so that we would live like junks and not be allowed to work. That is why mothers let their children go to school, so that they would have good days and serve God. Thus it came to pass that one did not know what a good life was: yet God commanded and was pleased that one should eat bread in the sweat; as he said to Adam, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread," Gen. 3:19. And the deeper thou art in the law, the better it is. Therefore, work thou and believe, and let God have it freely.
(12) So they say, when one speaks of faith, and how one should trust in God and let Him take care: Yea, I must long believe that a roasted dove shall fly in my mouth, if I work not. Yes, it is true, you must work, for you are commanded to work: but let your God take care. Believe and work, and not only a dove but also a roasted goose will fly into your mouth.
(13) But there is also the other part, that one should hope whether God will forgive a little. For this reason, he makes them work all night and catch nothing, and makes them look as if he wants them to die of hunger. St. Peter might have thought, since he fished so long and caught nothing: Now God wants to let his belly pine away. But he does not despair, always works at it, and stands and hopes that God will give it to him, even though he is in distress. Then God came and gave him so much at once, and more than he could have caught in eight days.
(14) Therefore you must learn these things, that you may work and hope, if he will forgive you a little; for if he takes you off a little and makes you work in sweat, so that you now think your work is lost, you must be wise, and learn to recognize your God and to trust in him. Then he comes here and gives more than you need, as he does to St. Peter here. Therefore, if God draws you out a little, remember that St. Peter was also raised a little, and yet he was abundantly endowed. Therefore, put your trust in his good will, and do not desist from it, but hope that your works will be profitable and pleasing to him; and there is hope when he desists from us and does not do as soon as we would like. Therefore he must add to it, and put precious stones thereon, that thy works may become important. The precious stone is faith: but the works of other unbelievers are worse, because they are not built on faith. This is the first part of the gospel, now follows the other:
(15) When they have caught the fish, and have tasted the fruit of faith, faith is multiplied and increased. Now, we must first come to trust God with the belly. For he who cannot trust God with his belly can never trust him with his soul. But this alone is the faith of children, since we learn to walk on the benches and still suck the vapors (mother's breast). But through this we must learn to trust God with our souls. This is what the evangelist wants when he speaks:
When Peter saw this, he fell to Jesus' knees and said, "Lord, come out of me; I am a sinful man," for they were terrified, and all who were with him, about this fishing trip they had taken with one another.
(16) Let Peter here be a figure of those who believe the eternal goods, and take him for a conscience that now waits and looks for the other goods. A sinful conscience is by nature so clever that it does as Peter did here, that it flees from its Savior, and thinks: "Oh God, I am not worthy to be blessed and to sit among the saints and angels! O the good is much too high! The narrow conscience cannot comprehend the great goods, but thinks: "Yes, if I were like St. Peter and St. Paul, I would believe it. This is a foolish thing; for, if thou wouldst trust in thy holiness, thou wouldst have built upon the sand. No, not so, but do as St. Peter did. For in that he thought himself so lowly, and thought himself unworthy of such grace, he became all the more worthy. And for this very reason, that thou art a sinful man, thou must trust; thou must open wide thy conscience, and blow out thy heart, that grace may enter in.
(17) Therefore, when you have known God, do not refuse Him; that is, when we see the great goods, we should not despair. It is right for us to recognize ourselves, and the deeper the better; but you must not refuse grace because of your sin. For when you find your conscience wriggling and wanting to drive you out, you are most comfortable and skillful, then you will find comfort in your conscience, and say like Micah Cap. 7, 18: "O Lord, who is like you, who takes away sin, and throws it into the sea, and drowns it?" All who do not take away sin are idols. Therefore he says that there is no god like our Lord, because the other gods want to find godliness and do not bring it: God the Lord brings it and does not find it. Therefore you need not despair, though your conscience wriggle, and though the
Sin feels; for the more shameful you are, the sooner God will enter grace.
(18) Now the greatest company goes and adorns itself like a kitten, thinking that God will accept it. No, the Scripture thus praises God, that he takes away sin and casts it into the sea. We shall not be able to take away our sins by our works, nor shall we become righteous by ourselves: God, and no one else, shall do it without merit and without works, by grace alone; as He says in Isaiah Cap. 43, 25: "I am he, I myself, who blot out thy sin for my own sake, and will remember thy sins no more." And so it must be; otherwise you will never get over a happy conscience. Therefore Peter, when he said, "I am a sinner," was right in doing so. It is true that he had good reason to be afraid and to humble himself, but he did not have to reject God, but to accept Him.
Therefore, when I feel my sin and become St. Peter here, and feel that I now want to run away from God, I must first turn around and come closer and closer to Him. For if God had fled and would not take away your sin, he would not have come to you and would not have followed you. Therefore, the more you feel that you are a sinner, and the more you want to run away from God, the more you should press toward Him; you must realize this. For as St. Peter does here, so do all consciences, who are frightened by their sins, and want to run away from God and seek another god. Do not desist from this, but come to it freshly and cling to God. Otherwise, if one wants to run away and seek works, and seek help from another god, and then come to the right true God, he will be found like the foolish virgins, before whom the door is shut because they go to buy oil, Matth. 25, 10.
020 But what did Christ do when Peter thus humbled himself, and in great fear and dismay sent the Lord away? Did he leave him in such despair? No, but goes to him and comforts him, saying:
Fear not, from now on you will see people.
(21) This is a gospel word, that the faint of heart may be comforted. And so God makes our work and temptation worthwhile for us; therefore you see how God cares for us physically in that he gives Petro so many fish here, when he would have had enough in two, and also makes him spiritually so full and rich that he should also share his abundance with others, and makes him a fisherman here both physically and spiritually: In the flesh, that he might catch much fish to sell; but in the spirit, that he might be a fisherman of the people: for he hath the gospel, and with it shall he bring in other people also, and multiply the kingdom of Christ.
22. Behold, thus it comes to pass, that if one believes, God gives so much that a man helps all men outwardly with his goods and chattels; from within he breaks forth, teaches others, and also makes them rich within; for such a man cannot keep silent, he must declare to the outside world and tell how he has fared; as the 51st Psalm v. 12 ff. says: "Create for me, O God, a clean heart, and put within me a willing spirit. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.
Let the consolation of thy salvation return to me, and the free spirit contain me. I will teach the wicked thy ways, that sinners may turn unto thee." Item, in the 116th Psalm v. 10. David says: "I believe, therefore I speak." This means that when I believe, I know God, so I see what other people lack, and I go to them and preach the gospel to them.
(23) So we see in this gospel how God cares for His own, and how He sustains them both physically and spiritually, body and soul. But where it is still lacking at times, it is certainly the fault of our unbelief or that we have only recently begun to believe; for if faith is still new and small, then the good is also small and little at times, so that we may learn to recognize God and trust in Him. But when we have come to trust freely, we cannot fail, for God is filling us with bodily and spiritual goods, and with such abundant treasure that we can help all people. This then means the poor made rich and the hungry fed. That is enough of this gospel.