Of the signs that followed the death of Christ, and of his burial.)
And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and the earth shook, and the rocks were rent, and the sepulchres were opened, and many bodies of the saints that slept arose, and came out of the sepulchres after his resurrection, and entered into the holy city, and appeared unto many. But the centurion that stood by stood over against him, and they that were with him, and kept JEsum, when they saw him die with such a cry, and saw the earthquake, and what was done, they were sore afraid, and glorified God, and said: Verily, this man was a righteous man, and the son of God. And all the people that were present, when they saw what was done, smote them on their breasts, and turned again. And all his kinsmen stood afar off, and many women that followed him out of Galilee, and saw all these things; among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of little Jacob, and of Joses, and Salome the mother of the children of Zebedee, which followed him, when he was in Galilee, and ministered, and many others that went up with him to Jerusalem. But the Jews, because it was the preparation day, lest the dead bodies should remain upon the cross on the sabbath day (for that sabbath day was great), besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other that was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, seeing that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one of the soldiers opened his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he that saw it hath borne witness, and his testimony is true; and he knoweth that he speaketh the truth, that ye also may believe: for these things are come to pass, that the scripture might be fulfilled: Ye shall not break his bones. And again another scripture saith, They shall see in whom they have bruised. After this, in the evening, because it was the preparation day, which is the day before the Sabbath, Joseph came from Arimathea, the city of the Jews, a councilor, a good devout man, who had not consented to their counsel and trade, who was waiting for the kingdom of God, for he was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, he ventured and went in to Pilate, and asked that he might take away the body of Jesus. Pilate was surprised that he was already dead, so he called the centurion and asked him if he had already died. And when the centurion had inquired of him, he gave Joseph the body of Jesus, and commanded that it should be given him. And Joseph bought a linen. And there came also Nicodemus, which had come before by night to JEsu, and brought myrrh and aloes among them, about an hundred pounds. Then they took the body of Jesus, which was taken down, and wrapped it in clean linen, and bound it with linen cloths, and with the spices, as the Jews were wont to bury. Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden a new sepulcher, which was Joseph's, which he had hewn out of a rock, wherein no man was ever laid. There they laid Jesus, because of the preparation day of the Jews, when the Sabbath began, and the grave was near, and rolled a great stone before the door of the sepulchre, and departed. And there was Mary Magdalene, and Mary Joses, sitting over against the sepulchre, and other women also, which had followed Jesus from Galilee, beholding where and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared the spices and the ointments, and kept silence on the sabbath day, according to the law. The next day, after the preparation day, the chief priests and Pharisees all came to Pilate and said: Lord, we thought that this deceiver spoke while he was still alive: I will rise again after three days. Therefore command that the sepulcher be kept until the third day, lest his disciples come and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead; and let the last deception be worse than the first. Pilate said to them: You have the guardians, go and keep it as you know. So they went, and covered the sepulchre with guardians, and sealed the stone.
*Held on the afternoon of Char Friday, March 30, 1537.
1530 A. 19. 306-309. Of the signs that followed the death of Christ, W. XU. 1981-1983. 1531
We have heard how Jesus took his end and departure on the cross for our sin, for it cost him much that our conscience might have rest. We are the dry wood; he is the green. We deserve what he suffers; he does not: we should have suffered eternally, which he suffers temporally. Therefore we should thank him. And if God wanted it to come into the heart, the mouth would probably overflow. But this is our consolation, if we are not perfect, that it falls into the prayer, "Lord, forgive them." For Christ does not want the murderous cry to be in vain. Therefore, let him who is weak 'take comfort' because he lives on earth. For it can come no higher in the wretched flesh. We can come to crying and lamenting, but we will never come to perfection and angelic purity, because this temporal life lasts.
2 Christ has now died and lets his father rule, therefore a new game starts and all prophecies come true. For all prophecies are directed to the end of the people. God has chosen for himself a people, that is, his own property, and says: "Whoever harms the people shall offend the apple of his eye. But because they have thrown the great God's word to the wind and angered him, he has turned his kind heart away from them and is now angry at the end. And that it is true, he proves it with the deed, takes up the rod and the sword. The king of Assyria swept away Samaria and Galilee, almost ten generations. They thought they would remain forever, but there is the end of this people. When? When Messiah comes. One sees the punishment; but one does not want to believe the prophets. Therefore they are also killed; because they say differently than the Jews think. After that he takes the king of Babylon, beats one boy with another, and also tears down the two families. The king shouts over the city that God is with him and has abandoned his people. Isaiah cries out against this and says that one should not build on a staff of reeds. But it does not help: therefore they go to ruin and are torn away, the temple of Jerusalem is destroyed, the city is desolate. The prophets still cry out that it must be
nor a kingdom be set up; that starts there. Out of the clog of David comes Mary, bringing JEsum, the Son of God, who shall feed. "Who will be able to tell his birth?" says the prophet Is. 53, 8. He shall become a king, shall have many subjects. But who will believe it? We could not have believed either, if we had seen Christ on the cross, so maledicted by God. For there was no consolation at all that anything should come of Christ: there is no man who believes, or remember once his words which he spoke of his resurrection. Everything is forgotten, and they only think: Now it is over, now nothing will come of it. If they had only been able to believe that he would come back to life, they would not have anointed him or buried him. This saying is said of the kingdom of God, and continues:
3. "His rest shall be glorious." Because a king is on earth and alive, he hath a fear; they give pensions and interest, and live by his obedience: if he be dead, no man enquire after him. When he is dead, no one asks for him; when he is alive, no one asks for him. For thus say all the prophets, and his rhyme is, "Reign in the midst of thine enemies." How the enemies have raged, you have heard. It can be seen that Jews and Gentiles, sin, devils, death and hell have overcome Christ. But because it is written, "Reign," Christ must rise for the sake of His title and rhyme. At the Cross there is rest and Sabbath: but because He and the Holy Spirit are silent, God must speak and work, that His rest may be glorious. When a king dies, a new one is sought; but Christ first rises when he is dead, and powerfully possesses his kingdom. Hence it comes that God, who for a time left him in distress, does such great works, lets a darkness come that also greatly frightened Christ in the distress of hell. But there was a sign, of which the prophet said: "I will give signs in heaven and on earth," Joel 3:3. All this was accomplished when Christ rested and God worked. Therefore also Centurion had to cry out, "This was the Son of God." Before they would have called him the son of the devil
called. He is, as they said, the son of God. Who told the Centurion and the others, but he who had the rhyme written: "You shall rule in the midst of your enemies"; there is more than would have been meant. That is why Lucas writes: "They beat their breast"; as if they were speaking: We have done too much and unjustly; for he has a kingdom to begin. Here we see that God keeps what He has spoken, and mightily. This should be our mirror. If we could also rest like Christ, we should be the best people. But we also want to work in the devil's name; therefore, God cannot work. It is innate to us to work; therefore this is the rule of repentance that does more than twenty Moses or a thousand penitential books of the pope.
4 Now Christ was followed by some wives, who helped him to live, for he did not have much property. He had one gold or thirty, for the wives, some of whom are mentioned here, joined together and did not let Christ suffer hardship. Here Christ wants to praise all those who take care of him: that is why John calls the wives and the other ones "puffed up".
5 After that he also writes about Joseph, who has the fame of having been an honorable councilor and did not consent to their advice and dealings. This is an example to all councilors: if a thing cannot be raised, do not be silent and consent to a false council; this is enough, and there must be no noise about it. A man is not valid at times; therefore one should say: You do wrong, and go away. Nicodemus was not allowed to publicly accept Christ in his life, but, as John says, he came to him in the night: here, since he is dead, he stands up and says that he is one of his disciples. Who gives Nicodemo such courage? Certainly God, and no one else, who let his son write a rhyme that must come true. Joseph had his own grave hewn on his body, and in the grave, where no one had lain before, he laid Jesus. Nicodemus and Joseph have brought together almost a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes,
To anoint Christ. The women also prepare Specerei. It is a fine service that they take care of the deceased Jesus and do not fear the authority of Pilate.
(6) Our Lord God can well suffer that the dead be held in honor, not rejected like dogs. For the body, whose soul has fallen at the word of God, must rise again; for not from bread alone, but from all the word of God, do we have life; this is the reason for the resurrection. Therefore we should not despise the mirror of temporal and eternal life, but have it in honor, as here the women who are praised and not punished. But not in vain is this done. For there is faith from his resurrection; there is no man, not even his disciples themselves, that believeth that he shall rise again the third day.
7 But his rhyme, of ruling, must come true; therefore the Jews come, saying, He said that he would rise again the third day. These are liars; before Pilato they say much differently. So the lie breaks out, and say here right. There they lied, and said, He spake of the temple: but John saith, He spake of the temple of his body. So one must have seven lies to cover one with. But the truth breaks out and keeps its place. This is very much against the Jews. They have denied the truth, therefore they must make do with lies. They go and bequeath the grave; Christ rests, God must work. Therefore the Jews with their great diligence deceive themselves, and will condemn them at last, that the guardians say: He is risen, and the Jews did not want to believe it.
8 So now we have the burial. Let us not forget that all the women, even all the apostles, doubted Christ, and that no one believed that he would rise from the dead. Just as the two who went to Emmaus say. For if they had had any hope, they would not have anointed him and laid him in a tomb. And if it had been a human work, God would not have done it. This day would also not be called the great day in the Scriptures. That is
Much greater article than the first, that God created heaven and earth. No one can be saved unless he believes that God raised Christ from the dead. The papists have preached it, but in fact they have denied it. Therefore, all papists, Turks, Jews and pagans who do not believe the article must be condemned. To believe this is not human, but God's work, of which Paul and the Scriptures say much.
(9) Here also we are to note the great work of the resurrection of the dead. This is a new kingdom, and a sign that Christ is not
They would lie down for a long time, as if they were saying, "Let's get up, much more will he get up. This is God's work, which we should worship, not blame; otherwise we will be punished. We should only trust and give thanks to God's words and works, as He has done for our good. The resurrection you will hear in his time. For it would not have been enough for Christ to have suffered and died if he had not been raised again by God. But because he rose again from the dead, we have a certain confidence in him in all our needs and concerns.
s. Sermon.