In the week of the thirteenth Sunday after Trinity.*)
Luc. 10, 23-37.
And he turned to his disciples, and said in particular, Blessed are the eyes which see that ye see. For I say unto you, That many prophets and kings would see that ye see, and have not seen; and would hear that ye hear, and have not heard. And, behold, a certain scribe stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And he said unto him, How is it written in the law? how readest thou? And he answered and said, Thou shalt love thy Lord God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: do this, and thou shalt live. But he, desiring to justify himself, said unto JEsu, Who then is my neighbor? Then answered Jesus, and said, There was a certain man that went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among the murderers: and they stripped him, and smote him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And it came to pass about this time, that a priest went down that same street; and when he saw him, he passed by. A Levite came to the same place and saw him, and he passed by. And a certain Samaritan journeyed, and came thither: and when he saw him, he lamented him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, and poured oil and wine into them, and lifted him up upon his beast, and brought him to the inn, and nursed him. The next day he traveled and took out two pennies and gave them to the innkeeper, saying to him, "Take care of him, and if you give any more, I will pay you when I come back. Which of these three do you think was the closest to the one who fell among the murderers? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said JESUS unto him, Go thy way, and do likewise.
(1) Because there is no special gospel for this day, we will borrow a piece that was preached on the next Sunday, and speak of it as much as God gives us grace. But ye have heard that Christ saith, Blessed are the eyes which see that ye see: for I say unto you, That many prophets and kings would see that ye see, and have not seen; and would hear that ye hear, and have not heard" etc.
(2) These words, as they read, may be regarded as if there were not much great art in them, so that one might learn something from them. As it is with all the words and works of God, that they have no reputation, as if they were beautiful and powerful works and words; for it does not show off, nor does it present itself as another thing in the world, but enters in plainly, and thus hides itself completely, as if there were nothing behind it. And
*) Held in Coburg after September 11, 1530.
That is why he wants to entice people to think about it. Otherwise, if he poured it out in a heap, we would soon be full and think we had it all. But because he pretends to be so short, simple and bad, we are otherwise curious and forward, and then we become lascivious and get into thinking; and then the words feed and satisfy the heart well. So now we see that Christ has provoked his disciples here and all of us, so that they and we may well and diligently meditate on these things.
(3) The same reflection helps us to come to this point at last, and to grasp and be able to grasp things with certainty. For this is the nature of our Christian doctrine, that it should be grasped with certainty, that each one should think and believe it: Well, the doctrine is right and certain, it cannot fail. But he who comes to think, and wavers with himself, Dear, thinkest thou that it is true? etc. Such a heart never makes a true Christian. For it goes along in doubt, thinking that it is very sure and certain of the matter.
it can do everything. Hence it is that the same people judge and judge so sacrilegiously of all things, even though they do not understand them at all, and remain mere washers; nothing more comes of it. For when they read the Scriptures or hear the sermon, they do it only so that they can and know how to wash from it; then they go and think they are sure of the matter, and persuade themselves that they have a firm strong faith. But the same faith is much more dangerous than if he had never heard or learned anything about it.
(4) Therefore I also would that the word "faith" were not so common, or in its proper sense or usage, that it were called faith, that one is quite sure and undoubted of a thing. For he who thus walks along, that he lets himself think that he believes and knows all the arts, is in a more annual state than one who knows nothing at all about them. Cause, who knows nothing at all about it, he can strike and speak in himself: You have never heard the teaching, nor do you know anything about it; dear, hear it once, what it is after all; so it may happen that he will grasp it well. But his conceit prevents him from thinking that he has already grasped it and even knows it; and so he goes along and lets it be, and does not worry much about it.
5 This is what Christ means here, when he says: "Blessed are the eyes that see, and the ears that hear. As if he wanted to say: It is a great thing that you have seen and heard. Oh, who only would have such ears and eyes to see and hear it aright, and be quite sure of the things. That is why the Scripture calls faith emunah in Hebrew, and Paul plerophoria, that a heart may be completely sure and have no doubt about the word.
(6) The Holy Spirit belongs to this, and so he judges the hearts, as the Psalm also confesses, Ps. 51:12: "Create in me, O God, a clean heart, and renew a certain spirit within me." *) Alas, says he, I would
*) Among so much work that Luther did at Coburg at that time was: also the one so he worked on the revision of the
We like to have a spirit that neither doubted nor wavered, that could freely say: I know nothing of which I am certain, but of your word alone. Then he freely confesses that faith is not a delusion, which grows in our heart in itself; for he says: "Create thou in me", thou must give it to me, I will not conceive it myself.
(7) This is also true of contestation. For as soon as one is uncertain of his things, it is impossible that he should not err and do wrong. Again, when the heart is certain, it is impossible for anyone to sin or do wrong. As an example, if a husband or wife can conclude this about himself with certainty: I believe and am undoubted that God has given me to my husband for a wife, to my wife for a husband, the sun and the moon must bear witness to this, and there is no creature that could say otherwise. If then the heart is certain, you must not worry that the same husband will become an adulterer or that she will become a prostitute; for the heart can soon conclude against all evil desire and thoughts: This is not your wife, therefore let her be content. So the same faith drives and prevents that one can do nothing wrong. It is the same with servants and maidservants: the servant can certainly say, "I am the servant of the Lord. God himself says: Hans, you are the servant of the Lord; and all the angels say: Yes, it is true. If the heart is so finely sure, it will teach him afterwards how he should serve his master and be faithful. For it is impossible for the heart to allow any unfaithfulness to come into it, if it is so certain of its profession, and the servant so idolizes himself, as St. Paul teaches Eph. 3:19: "That you may be filled with all the fullness of God," so that one may be filled with God.
8 Otherwise, if a man's heart is not so sure, and if he is not so godly that he does not think that he is sure of what he is doing before God, he will go and do as he pleases, without all seriousness and diligence, and with an evil conscience. Therefore, when a woman becomes an adulteress, when a servant becomes an adulteress to his
The first version of Ps. 51, 12. 1524 reads: "Schaffe my GOtt eyn reyn Herz, und ernewe ynn me eynen willing Gehst.
If a servant does not serve his master diligently, it is a sure sign that there is no faith in his heart, but only a bad and uncertain delusion. For if it were true faith, she would not break the marriage, and the servant would serve his master with other diligence. As St. John also says 1 John 3:9: "He that is born of God doth not sin; for his seed remaineth with him, and cannot sin: for he is born of God." Therefore we see that all sins must flow from unbelief; and this is the first, that one does not certainly believe and believe that he is a husband, she a wife, a servant, a maidservant, a son, a daughter, after that he falls to doing what he wants, and even lives in sins.
(9) It was the same with dear Eve; the devil did not say to her, Eve, eat the apple, but took hold of her heart and made it waver at first: Do you think that God has forbidden to eat from the tree? If she had been sure and strong in faith, she would have answered him thus: Your words do not concern me, for I know very well that I should not eat of the tree, as God and all creatures, heaven and earth, have said. But she did not do so, and began to waver at first, saying, "If we eat of it, we shall die." "We shall die," she said, as if she did not know it to be true, and could only wash of it, dear Eve. But if it had been a true faith, she would not have doubted it, but would have freely resisted the devil's suggestion. Therefore we see clearly how such faith, which she had at that time, was a two-fold unbelief; for she thus falls away and loses the right faith. Cause, there was an uncertain heart, which doubted the word; therefore there was no stopping her, she had to fall.
(10) So we see that it is impossible for a wrong to happen, but if it does, it is the fault of unbelief. For I suppose that one would be hasty, and let out a curse, or otherwise do wrong; dear God, how should one do to him? A man is soon hasty and overawed. But here sin does not have to be sin; cause such things happen to him unawares, and before he can be
it has already happened. If he had known that it would happen this way, he would have left it alone. This, then, is peccatum ignorantiae (an ignorant sin). Sins have no need, nor do they do any harm; for they do not think that they would do it if it were a sin, but ask our Lord God daily to keep them from sin, and to keep them in the state in which they are. If they are then overtaken by sin, there is no need, it goes away with the Lord's Prayer.
(11) With these words our dear Lord Christ wants to teach us the right faith, so that we have a certain heart that does not waver, and stands firm on what God speaks, creates and does, so that it is true, certain and unchanging. Hence it flows that St. Paul praises his ministry and preaching thus: "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle" etc.; item, a "doctor of the Gentiles"; item: "If an angel came from heaven and preached another gospel, let him be banished. So he boasts everywhere that one might think him a proud man; and especially when he praises and extols his gospel, he speaks of the matter in no other way than as if he alone were wise and prudent, and no one else could do anything; so that a carnal man, when he reads or hears such things, might well say, "He speaks like a mad man. But why does he do this? Because he would like to draw people to it and make them accustomed to it, so that they could say they were sure of it. And this is the very reason why he urges and insists everywhere that they should learn plerophoriam, that is, to have a certain heart; as he says in clear words to the Romans in 14 Cap. V. 5: "Let every man be sure of his own mind",*) that is, let him not waver, let him do what he will. As soon as one falters, his faith is already gone, even though he can still wash it off with his tongue.
(12) Faith has not been taught or preached in this way before; therefore I said before that I did not want the word "faith" to be so vile, or to be used in this way.
*) This is Luther's very first version from 1522; the current version was published in 1534. Cf. Erl. A. 17. 427. ed.
In its right interpretation, it would mean as much as a firm and certain heart. The Sophists have washed much of it, as I also did when I was still a Sophist; but we have not understood it ourselves. The epistle to the Hebrews Cap. 11, 1. calls faith hypostasin, that is, a certain reason, an undoubted confidence, that one can say: You are father, mother, son, daughter, servant, handmaid. Do you also think that you say it?
Therefore, my dear, try it once and play with your heart, ask yourself whether you think it is certain that you are a Christian, father, mother, servant, maid, etc. then you will find how far you still lack that you yourself do not think it is certain and true. Dear, it is not such an art that can be learned at once. I am now an old doctor, have preached, written and read much about it, and still cannot do it. I cannot get anywhere with it; if I have learned a good bit today, tomorrow it may well come that I forget it again. This is what our dear flesh and blood does; it cannot crawl and hide so deeply into the word that it wants to die and perish, as it should and must. The old skin pulls us so heavily behind it, as a centner of lead, that we should only not come to the certain defiance, but sleep and snore, and thus go along in half a faith and doubt, so that one does not rightly open the eyes and see, and also does not rightly hear with the ears, as Christ demands and wants it with these words. And this is now the first defect, that we cannot come to the certain heart, namely our own flesh and blood.
14 Secondly, it also has the defect that the devil gets in the way everywhere, so that one should not come to certainty. That is why, when you have grasped a thing today, tomorrow you will no longer know anything about it. In addition, evil desire and thoughts strike, anger, hatred, envy, fornication etc. After that the example and the great trouble in the world helps, with which the faith must also fight, so that one thinks with himself: "Well, shall I alone do this?
and the whole world, Turk, Pope, kings and princes believe nothing? Dear, how if you were wrong and they were right? So the heart begins to waver and wants to conclude with itself: "Well, my dear, you do not have to condemn the whole world, who knows? Do you also think that our Lord God wants to condemn the whole world for the sake of three or four Christians? As the sophists now also make themselves known with such venomous requests. Do you think, they say, that all our ancestors are damned who did not believe as you now teach?
(15) With the devil and the example faith must engage and strive; then it is an art to stop up the ears and eyes, and to put into the ears and eyes that which is neither heard nor seen, and to say, It is true, Turk, pope, kings, and princes are great: but I know one greater; and if there were yet three worlds full of Turks, and three full of popes, what would it be to reckon against God? From this you can conclude finely: Well, this says the Turk and the priest; but this says God: so I know, if there are many innumerable men, here are many innumerable angels; and the multitude on earth is nothing to be reckoned against those, heaven is full, full of angels, who all say that you are a Christian; so says God Himself. What is the world now? I believe nothing of the Turk and the pope, I must have one who is greater than Turk, pope, emperor and king. With such thoughts the word becomes great, strong and powerful, when one sees who he is who has spoken it, and the other part, Turk, Pope, whoever they are, who oppose it, become like sticks, so that the heart no longer sees either Turk or Pope, and despises all their power, which they use against the word.
(16) In this way one must think and speak of all the other articles of faith; and then one becomes a Christian only when the heart can conclude that it is thus certain that it is God's word. When one has this, the heart lifts up and says: Is this the word of God or an article of faith? Well, whatever speaks against it, let it be the word of God.
Turk, emperor or pope, I act as if I did not hear it. So then the word of God becomes such a cry that no bell, no box, nor thunder sounds so mightily and powerfully. If one then says of Mahomet, the heart says: I know nothing of Mahomet. If one says, "Do we want to condemn all the dead?" the heart says, "I know nothing about them. Henceforth, I believe in Him, and know only of Him who is immeasurable and infinite in relation to heaven and earth. So then a word that God speaks is greater and brighter than ten or twenty suns. This is what a true Christian is called when he is certain in his heart that God says this, and believes that he is who he is among men in the sight of God; but whatever is opposed to this must be fought with and beaten, and thus be conquered, for faith cannot be defeated.
(17) For this reason also the Scripture gives faith the title of changing the heart and making a man new. No work can make a man different from what he is; only faith can and does. A man may take off his red coat and put on a black cap, but nevertheless the rogue in the black cap still walks along, who walked before in the red coat. So the rogue who ate fish under the papacy now eats meat; this does not change a man; only the piece does: that I believe and consider it certain that Christ died for me; and would leave life and limb, neck and stocking, where they would take it from me. After that, faith makes a different person, one who no longer struggles and drives as he did before. Faith certainly brings this with it, and if not, then it is a certain indication that it is not a true faith.
18 Furthermore, just as faith changes man and makes him new, so it also makes him constant in suffering and the cross, which certainly follows faith immediately. For as soon as the devil sees that he can do nothing with our flesh and blood, then with the evil examples, and finally also with his fiery poisonous arrows, which he shoots into the heart, he takes hold by force.
We must not only fight to remain steadfast, but also suffer the violence and iniquities they inflict on us. If then the heart is pure and sure, these are the first thoughts: Is it also the word of God that you must now suffer? As soon as heaven and earth are full of yes, all creatures bear witness and say, "Yes, it is God's word. As soon as the heart is so sure that it is the word of God and that the cause is that of our Lord God, it is undaunted and says, "Well then, let them all ride in in the name of the devil, who are so opposed, and let hell be poured out at once; I do not care; I would like to see whether they will devour our Lord God in this way. God says that this is His word: if this is certain, then I have comfort and strength enough; if I suffer a little because of it, it does no harm, God can and will make it all work out for the best.
19 Therefore a believing heart that is sure of the matter is quite fearless. But if the heart is not truly believing and certain of the matter, it goes about with the thoughts: Who knows how it will turn out? Pope, emperor and princes are powerful etc. So it is quite right that one should trouble oneself with one attack over the other, and yet no one helps, indeed, one only gets worse. Cause, I have fallen from faith, that I do not believe that God's word is. Then one begins to sleep and to snore, so that one dreams, "I will do so and so to him," and yet nothing is done. A believing heart does not do this; it says badly, "I certainly believe that it is the cause and word of our Lord God. If it is certainly his cause, then what do I care, even if they jam me and push me; let it go, it will be well advised. Because it is God's word, I will gladly look upon him who wants to overthrow it. If I believe the word, then it should and must go out, as the word tells me, and should immediately heaven and earth go to ruins. Turk, pope, kings and princes, even the devil himself are all under God and God has them in his hand. If this is certain, then he only cares about a sour reputation, then they will all fall away.
(20) From this kind of faith the sayings of St. Paul have been flowing again and again, when he says Rom. 5:5: "Hope does not put to shame"; item 1 Cor. 10:13: "God is faithful, who will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but will make the temptation come to an end so that you can bear it. This must also be true. It seems to us, because the sophists and the bishops are now so angry, that it will be too difficult for us. But listen to what St. Paul says about it, who says: "God will temper and mix the temptation so that it will not be vain lead. If it becomes too heavy, he must make it lighter; on the other hand, he must also help it out. For St. Paul means two things here: first, that our dear Lord God will help us in the midst of temptation; and second, that there should be an end to it, that we should not remain in it; for this is a faithful God.
021 So did he also with the children of Israel; who had to bear the cross, that their children were strangled, and they weighed them down with great hard labor, and made them servants, that they bore very hard; and our Lord God also helped them to bear it confidently, that yet they never fell from God to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians; at the last also he came and took them out, and said: I will make an end and an end; and he did it abundantly, that they came unharmed from their enemies, and took the treasure of Egypt with them, and saw their enemies drowned before their eyes.
22 Our priests will fare the same way; they have pressed us for a long time (and our dear old father, the Elector, who has a broad back, must now carry it all). Unless it is a matter that there is no God in heaven, or his word is a lie and not true, then they must come to the Red Sea. For there is neither repentance nor contrition, and they run straightway, not against this prince or that prince, they run against Him who is called Dominus (HER) of hosts. The same says, "The matter is mine; they know it themselves, and the Scriptures testify against them, which they have as well as we; how can it be otherwise to them, since they run straight against God, not against us? How they will succeed, they shall know in a little while; as Pharaoh did.
also had to experience, rather he also could not believe.
(23) This is what happened to the Jews: they wanted to tear Christ down from heaven, calling him a rebel, a seducer and a heretic, just as they are doing to us now; there was no saving nor defending. The fine, delicious sermons were of no avail; the great, mighty miracles that Christ and the apostles performed after him were of no avail either, until our Lord God helped the pious Christ and his apostles away; then he dealt with the Jews and the holy city of Jerusalem in such a way that not one stone was left upon another.
(24) So it must be with them now, who so wantonly go against the holy word; and such examples are very comforting to us. But let us work toward this, not as we come out of the cross, but that we may make our hearts firm and sure, that we may say: This is the word of God, that Christ Jesus suffered death for me and my sin, and so redeemed me, and I will stand and persevere. So let us also be accustomed to a right and certain faith, and let every man go into his closet, or where he is alone, and examine himself, whether he believes with certainty. If he feels, as he must feel, that he is still weak and low, then he kneels down finely and asks our Lord God for mercy, and says: "Oh, dear Father, you have given me life and your divine word with it; dear Father, press on, and give me also a certain spirit and firm faith in your word; then God will certainly hear you. Then you will be pious, and can do no evil; for you believe that it is certainly true that Christ suffered for you and redeemed you; therefore you can say: Christ has taken my sin upon himself, so I have it no more, because he has it; he has taken it out of my heart and conscience. Then I had a register, and on it was written: Thou hast been an adulterer, a murderer, a thief etc. But because I have the word: Christ hath taken my sin upon himself, my sin shall not be found in any register or book, neither in heaven, nor in earth; they are committed to the Son
God's written, there I shall see them, and nowhere else.
025 Whosoever therefore shall speak and believe these things, he shall not be afraid of any sin. Though the devil reproach him, saying, Thou hast sinned here and there, he may answer: But, devil, what sayest thou to this, that the sins which thou reproachest me with are not mine? for I believe in the word of Jesus Christ, who hath taken away all my sins, and died for me. With the saying I make a line through the register, therein my sins are written. If I have sinned and done wrong here and there, I will never do so, whether God wills it or not. But that I should despair? Not yet. So one can comfort oneself with the word, if one believes it. But if one does not believe him, he beats himself with his sins, and the longer he does, the worse he gets, and he goes on and on in doubt, and never comes so far that a man examines himself and tests whether he thinks it is certain that Christ died for him.
(26) This then is the art of Christians, that they may believe the word, and have certain hearts toward God; this alone is called a right faith. But if you promise something to someone and keep it, and someone else promises it to you again, that is not faith. Faith must stand only on that: God has said that your sins are forgiven you through Christ. Then further: God has said that you are a wife's husband and you are a husband's wife, son, daughter, servant, maid, God and all the angels call me the Lord's servant etc. So if a man is able to do three things, he will go in a good way, and he will know that he is doing God a favor by serving his master faithfully; he will swing oats, or go into the field, or do anything else he wants. You must not compare these little works to any Carthusian, priest or order, for they are far, far above all orders and works of men. Those who understand this become fine men, who are well satisfied in their position, and do all things seriously, not badly in the wind, as everyone else does.
does. So also a woman in the house, when she walks along in the sense: All the angels and God Himself must say that I am a husband's wife; everything that the woman does as a wife, these are vain, delicious, good works, and she can also boast that all her works are pleasing to God, even though she cannot earn heaven with them. This is such a fine, delicious, unspeakable gift, that even if the holy Gospel teaches nothing else but this, it should still be held cheaply, highly and worthily. But now it also teaches us that we are also well with God, and says to us: "Hear and believe, your sins are all forgiven you; so that it also brings us into that life, because we are still among the people.
(27) After that, when the devil comes with his arrows and wants to disgrace our lives, we can defend ourselves so that we can say to him, "Devil, have you not heard my lesson that Christ has paid enough for all my sins with his suffering? God has told me this through his word; I believe him, he will not lie to me. So the devil must leave you in disgrace, for he cannot harm you.
28 It was soon said, but it is necessary to be sure. Therefore let every man think that he is still a student of this high and excellent art. For there is no more dangerous unbelief than that which is adorned with half faith. For it is impossible for man to come to a true faith after that; the devilish conceit lies in his way, that he can already do it. That is why Christ says here: "Blessed are they which hear that ye hear, and see that ye see." He knows well, the pious Lord, that we are in need of it, and that we always have to press on and teach until we become certain.
(29) And what harm is it that a manservant or a maidservant, master or mistress, when they rise in the morning, should hold a secret conversation with themselves, that a manservant should say finely to himself, Art thou the master's manservant also? a maidservant, Art thou the wife's maidservant? Yes, I am. Do you also believe it and think it is certain, and that must be the case?
God Himself and all His angels testify to me? After that, someone could go about his work in a cheerful manner, singing some German psalm or other song, and then it would come to him all the more quickly throughout the day what he had in mind.
(30) Then he would ask himself, "Dear man, are you also a Christian? Are you sure that Christ died and suffered for you? If you are sure, then
Faith will taste good in your heart. But if you are not sure, it is only a foam on the gun. But if you earnestly ask our Lord God for it, he has given you the word that he will also press it into your heart so that you will believe it. We all want to learn the art, which God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit grant us. Amen.