Matth. 6, 20-26.
For I say unto you, Except your righteousness be better than that of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Ye have heard that it was said unto the ancients, Thou shalt not kill: but whosoever killeth shall be liable to judgment. But I say unto you: He who kills with
If a man is angry with his brother, he is guilty of judgment; but if he says to his brother, Racha, he is guilty of counsel; but if he says, You fool, he is guilty of hell fire. Therefore, when thou offerest thy gift upon the altar, if thou thinkest there that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave thy gift there before the altar, and go first, and be reconciled to thy brother; and then come and offer thy gift. Be ready to meet thine adversary soon, while thou art yet with him in the way, lest the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the servant, and thou be cast into prison. I say unto thee, Verily thou shalt not come forth thence, till thou hast paid the last farthing. *)
(1) This gospel teaches a distinction between godliness and hypocrisy. And of the true gospels is one that teaches how works do not make us godly, it must be something higher than anything we may do. For the Pharisees also went about in a pious life, doing what they should outwardly, breaking nothing of the commandments of God, abstaining from strange goods, walking about in fine seeming garments, and also had the name of being called Pharisees, that is, the set apart or stripped ones.
(2) Likewise, he also attacks the scribes, the chief among the Jews, who were learned in the law of God and in the Scriptures, so that they taught other people, and made laws to the people, and gave judgment in all things. Summa Summarum, they were the best, most learned and most pious among the Jews. Christ attacks them here, whom he should have attacked least of all, and says of them to his disciples thus:
Unless your righteousness is better than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
3. as if to say, Behold, the Pharisees and scribes lead such a fine life that both they and other people think they will possess the kingdom of heaven; but it is
*) In the printed Bible text, the marginal glosses are found in the postilla:
1. v. 20: The piety of the Pharisees is only in outward works and appearances; but Christ demands the piety of the saints.
2. To v. 25, willingly: Just as he who has harmed another is guilty of reconciliation, so he who has harmed another is guilty of forgiveness and goodwill toward him who has harmed him, so that no wrath may remain on either side.
lacks far. Therefore he rebukes them, saying, "Truly I say to you, unless you are more devout than the scribes and Pharisees, you will not go to heaven. Now with this is laid down the question of them that ask, What shall we do that we may become godly? Here all the works that man can do are laid down and abolished, and the most pious saints of works are struck down. Therefore, no work can be done by which one can be saved and redeemed from sins. If you say this now, you must be a heretic.
(4) They would have said, "Oh, you are a heretic! O you are a heretic, will you reject good works? But he respects them not, but freely concludes that their works are nothing. But now they might have said, "Works do not make us godly; why do we have the law by which we trust to be saved, if we live by it? This then gives the Lord Christ cause to introduce the commandments, to interpret them, to say how they are to be understood, and to say:
Ye have heard that it was said unto the ancients, Thou shalt not kill: but whosoever killeth shall be liable to judgment. But I say unto you: He that is angry with his brother is guilty of judgment; and he that saith unto his brother, Racha, is guilty of counsel; and he that saith, Thou fool, is guilty of hell fire.
The word is far too high and low for anyone to accomplish. Not only does the Lord testify to this here, but every man's experience and his own feelings prove it. For here he sets forth four things, thoughts, signs, words, and works, before which no man can know that he is guilty. As if he should say: One would like to find them well, who do not kill with their hands; but to be without hatred, not to be angry.
It is important to be kind, not to snort, because no one is like that. This is what experience teaches.
(6) For let us take a godly man or a godly woman: A man is kind to those who are not too close to him; but if someone comes who speaks evil to him and is too close to him, even at times with the slightest word, he cannot help being angry; so he goes away fresh, hating and angering him also. Reason can never conclude that one should favor the wicked. Read all the pagan books and go into your own experience, and you will find that it is so that we must be angry; if it is not against friends, it is against enemies. God is not content with this, my flesh and blood cannot rise above it; for the word must be heeded, when he says, Thou shalt not kill. Who is "Dn"? The hand? No. The tongue? No; but thou, thou, that is, all that is in thee and in thee, hand, heart, and thought, shalt not kill.
7 So Christ here lays down the law of Moses, passes judgment, and says, "Whosoever is angry with his brother is guilty of judgment." The judgment goes over the whole world, for I ask here: Who is there on earth who is not guilty of this commandment? How then shall we do it, if we must do it and cannot? for we cannot sweep out the mud. There must be despair in us, there must be judgment. Therefore, the laws of God alone are a mirror in which we see our mud and wickedness; for they lock us all under sin, so that we cannot work our way out with our help and free will, unless something else comes along. This is the first part.
8 Then he says, "Whoever says to his brother, 'Nacha,' that is, all kinds of signs of anger and hatred. But no one is excused from this. For if I should look kindly on one to whom I am an enemy, yet by the signs it is evident that the heart is not there. For the heart cannot be caught, it breaks out and proves itself through gestures or words, it does not hide itself, nor can it hide itself. But once it is decided
That we are condemned, that we say Racha, that is, that we do not show ourselves sweet and kind in the gestures against friend and foe. Now go into experience, and see this in other people or in yourselves, that no one can help himself out of this malicious heart, which is so deeply implanted in the nature of man. You may well be kind to your brother, but you cannot give him your heart, even if you tear yourself apart. Therefore, no one can help himself here.
009 Then saith he, Whosoever shall say unto his brother, Thou fool, is guilty of everlasting fire. No one does this without the grace of God, for no one is so kind as not to speak an unkind word: if it is not done to friends, it is done to enemies. For though you are compelled to speak kindly to your neighbor, yet your heart is not there; and where you can, and it behooves you, you say, "You fool. This then is already contrary to this commandment; for it comprehends both friend and foe; for it 'saith, Thy brother. So then we are all brothers, of one father's origin, and the Scripture makes us so close that it calls us all one flesh; as Isaiah Cap. 58:7 says: "Give your food to the hungry, and bring into your house the poor who have no lodging. If thou seest a naked man, cover him, and despise not thy flesh." There the prophet speaks of your neighbor. And the word "fool" here is meant to mean all kinds of profanity, cursing and blasphemy, backbiting, judging, judging, backbiting and all blasphemous words.
(10) Thus it is clear that we are all guilty of the commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," and he who is not born again of God is not able to speak of murder. If he abstains from the work, he still cannot refrain from the thought and consent; for if one kills someone, we soon say, "It has been done to him. And the soldiers make a song of their enemies when they have slain them or put them to flight. Now this is already against this commandment; for God asks for the outward
He does not look at the works, he looks at the heart. Therefore, it is much said, "Thou shalt not kill," but thou must be born again and become another man.
(11) So the gospel lays down this question in every way, What shall a man do to be godly? For pray as long as thou wilt; fast as long as thou wilt; give alms as long as thou wilt; institute masses and build churches as much as thou wilt: yet thou art a murderer, thou hast thy brother, thou canst not look kindly on him, thou canst not speak kindly to him, thou canst not leave that; therefore thy righteousness is nothing, it belongs to hell. Now there are two more pieces, which are probably as sharp as the previous ones, and they read like this:
Therefore, when you offer your gift on the altar, if you think that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go first and make peace with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Be ready for your adversary soon, while you are still with him on the way, lest the adversary hand you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the servant, and be thrown into prison. I tell thee, verily thou shalt not come forth thence, till thou pay the last farthing.
(12) These are also two things, but nature cannot do them. The first: If I am angry, my brother shall reconcile me. And afterward, if any man offend me, I forgive him, though he forbear me not; and I bear him a kind heart, lest he deliver me up to the judge, as ye have now heard. Which last piece they divorced from this gospel before; and hold that Augustine did it with Scripture, which we read in the book de spiritu et littera. But this is the opinion:
(13) There are two of them: one who is wounded, and he shall ask forgiveness; and the other who is wounded, and he also shall forgive, kindly and willingly, though he be not asked. Now nature cannot do this either. She goes along, and
But if she did not have to do it and did not fear hell and God's wrath, she would never do it, the grudge still remains in her heart forever. Then he who is hurt cannot forgive from the heart; and just as he asks hypocritically, so he also forgives hypocritically. Now this is nothing in the sight of God, for so the text says: "If you bring your offering before the altar, and remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering, and be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." And the reconciliation must be from the heart; therefore mark the text well.
14 And this saying means this much: If one comes and wants to serve God, he will not have it; in short, you should reconcile yourself to your neighbor beforehand and serve him. As if to say: "Behold, man, I have created you and redeemed you, know this; and now direct all your life to serve your neighbor; but if not, do nothing to me. If thou wilt not do it, when it is necessary, let it also stand, when it is unnecessary. So God would much rather be deprived of His service than of your neighbor's help, and would much rather see through your fingers if you are negligent in His service than that your neighbor's benefit should suffer. And so, summa summarum, God wants our neighbor to be the image to which we should look first.
(15) Now there are many things in which a man is guilty of, such as: if I do not protect his reputation when I can; if I am not kind to him, do not help him, I am already an adversary. If I want to be pleasing to God, I have to be reconciled with my neighbor beforehand; but if not, I cannot be pleasing to him. For God rejects the service that can be done to Him, if the neighbor is not served first.
16 Now consider the life we have led until now. We went to St. Jacob, to Aachen, to Rome, to Jerusalem, built churches, founded masses and forgot our neighbor; this is now completely reversed. But the Lord says here: Go, and for that you will build me a church, give it to your neighbor. See
on your neighbor, as you serve him. God has no power over you, even if you never build a church for him, if you alone are useful to your neighbor. But now all this is left undone and only the contradiction is done. O of the miserable, perverse life we have learned from the papists! Hence it is that no one likes to enter the marital state; for no one gives him his hand, no one puts anything before him, so that he may maintain, nourish and handle himself. That is why he who becomes a monk, a nun, a priest, whom one could certainly precede if one wanted to show the works of love. So one goes, forgets maids and servants and afterwards makes a will and goes to the devil with the will.
17 For this reason God wants you to serve your neighbor and do what you owe him, so that it may be right between you and him in the first place, and you may be reconciled to him in the first place, or he will neither see you nor hear you. Secondly: If my adversary comes, I shall forgive him willingly; but if he does not come, I shall be willing and kind to him, because we are on the way, in this life, lest he deliver me up to the judge.
(18) How is this done? He does not take me by the hand and bring me before the judge; but when I come before the judge, my conscience recognizes that it did not want to forgive my neighbor and still has the grudge in it; the conscience against my neighbor hands me over to the judge; he hands me over to the servant; he throws me into the dungeon, that is, into the hellish fire, until I pay the last penny, that is, forever; for there is neither payment nor salvation. There you see the great works that no one can do, neither works nor law; for works alone make hypocrites and glorifiers, the law alone makes despair.
How then shall I do to him? Do I hear that I am to be condemned? So tell him: Fall down to Christ, if you feel the abomination, and say: Oh my God! behold, your law has now become a mirror to me, by which I know that I am a corrupt and lost man; O God! now help me!
to me for the sake of your only begotten Son. So then, through faith God gives you the Spirit, which transforms your heart, so that afterwards you become kind to your neighbor and think: "Oh, behold, if my God has shown Himself to me in this way, and forgiven more than I can ever forgive, why would I not also forgive my neighbor a little?
(20) Against this seems to be the temporal sword, and here comes a question: Shall I forgive, not be angry, not strike to death: how then shall I punish? If I am to wield the sword and strike, must I ever be angry? This we must also do; for the gospel here is seen to overthrow the temporal sword altogether. But know this: Christ is here a spiritual teacher, who alone leads the consciences, and teaches them how much hatred, and envy, and wrath there is in them, and how they should get rid of it. This is his office, so that he can work, and has nothing to do with the secular sword, but lets those lead who are commanded to do so.
21 Now this teaching does not enter all hearts, most of it remains outside; but those who fall into the heart, and so fall before God, and call upon him to help them, are already devout, and may not use the worldly sword; for they are ruled by the words. Now, those who do not catch this and live evil by heart must be wielded with the worldly sword. So you must learn that a worldly ruler, or whatever he may be, who wields the worldly sword must also do as is taught here, not to anger and not to kill.
022 How then shall they do that they have the sword, and sit on high in the stead of God? So shall they do unto him, that they may wield the sword, which pertaineth unto their office. At the bottom the gospel also draws them, there they are to be kind in heart, merciful and gentle: at the top then, when it comes to the office, they are to be serious and joyful, nothing respected, whether friend or foe, beautiful, rich or learned. We see this in Moses, who was the kindest man that ever was, so also that he fell down, and desired to be blotted out of the book of life, Ex. 32, 32, so that only the
The heap would be helped. Behold, was not this a mild, sweet, kind man, who wanted to go to the devil and be damned in body and soul, so that only the mob would be spared? But when it came to the authorities, and he was made ruler, he went and slew three and twenty thousand of them, that he might appease the wrath of God. So did Paul, who was also ready to offer his salvation and blessedness for the Jews, as we have written to the Romans Cap. 9, 3. But when he realized that Corinthians had taken his stepmother, he wrote such a hot and strict epistle as he had never done before, and commanded that he be delivered to the devil, that the spirit might be delivered from judgment, I Cor. 5:5. So did David and the others. Now there are many in the Old Testament who have wielded the sword with all their might and executed them like young chickens, yet they were gentle and mild in their hearts.
23 So that you may know how to conduct yourselves in the regiment, let us take a rough example before us. Consider the coat of arms or shield of the Prince of Saxony with two swords in a white and black field, so that the hilt is below in the white, the edge above in the black. Now, the fields indicate how one should conduct oneself in the regiment: below, where one has the sword by the hilt, one should be wise, gentle and merciful to oneself, so that one means what one does kindly; above in the regiment, one should lead the point in the black field, that is, seriously, bravely and severely, so that the sins may be outwardly increased. And this is what the swords mean, that they are red, so that one may strike with them and shed blood. So Moses, David, and the others wielded the sword finely with the hilt in the white field, being neat, mild, and kind in heart, and wielded the point in the black field, that is, being serious and severe in regiment.
(24) So shall a temporal man or judge do. If he sees a wicked man who does not want to govern himself with words
He shall think: Oh God, how gladly I would die for him if I could; he has a soul that I cannot help, he leads an evil life, flesh and blood are evil in him, he cannot force the body under the spirit. And then he puts these two on the scales, and sees which weighs more, then he finds that it is a light thing when the man dies, a great thing when the soul dies; for the death of the soul is eternal. So he must think and say: Oh, behold, how your soul would come into judgment, behold, how you would perish. Therefore, lest sin break in any further, I must strip thee of thy body, and see that, since I cannot help thy body, I alone shall save thy soul. And then you must strike freely and jump over the blade, so that you may avoid the wrath and the severe judgment, as Moses did with the children of Israel. That is, the swords in the white and black field led.
(25) Now about this also is made fine, that the two swords fall against each other, as one would defend the other. This indicates that a judge should be wise and prudent, and see where this strict court must be tempered and moderated, as is right and just, as where two rights clash, as one overrules the other; and not always proceed procebiren secundum strictum jus, according to the severity of the right, but see what is right and just, and where the matter wants to go, there he should also turn.
026 Take ye an example: The disciples of the Lord did grind the ears of corn on the sabbath day, and did eat as they passed through the corn. Now the sabbath was commanded to be kept under the curse of life: but the disciples were very hungry: therefore one law overruled another. For this reason the Lord excused them from the Pharisees, saying, "The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath," Matt. 12:8. Although the Sabbath was commanded to be kept by divine commandment, yet the disciples were excused, because the Sabbath was not to be kept so strictly that they should not have eaten, but should have perished over the keeping of the Sabbath. Likewise,
When David was hungry and ate the consecrated bread, which was not fit for a layman to eat, 1 Sam. 21:6, the two swords fell into each other, and it was necessary for one right to give way to the other. Therefore David and the disciples were excused. For no commandment was ordained of God, that man should perish thereby, but that he should be helped thereby, both in body and soul.
(27) Thus, summa summarum, the temporal power should be angry outwardly and ward off sins, but inwardly it should bear a fine, gentle, Christian, sweet courage; about this it should be wise and prudent, so that it may know how to moderate and alleviate severity, according to what is just and right. That is enough of this gospel, let us call upon God for mercy.