Held 1616.
Luc. 1, 48. 46.
For he has looked upon the lowliness of his handmaid. Behold, from henceforth all the children shall call me blessed. For he has done great things for me, who is mighty, and whose name is holy.
1. "All generations" are called the series of times, that is, filial; not, however, how
*) Löscher I, 280; Erl. A. oxx. var. urx. I, 116 SM-
D. Red.
some logicians dream, saying that it must be understood for some of all genders; which genders they take for peoples in this place, since it is everywhere-
In the Scriptures, the word "wicked" is not taken for a collection but for a consequence of men, just as Christ calls the Jews a wicked and adulterous species. Furthermore, you shall see what the glorious Virgin teaches us here with her example, how she gives us a faithful lesson of true humility and pure gratitude. She says: "From now on," that is, from this time on, "all generations will call me blessed." Why? Is it because she has done much? Because she was a poor virgin from a royal family? That she received the Son of God by faith and acclaim? She boasts nothing of her merit, she praises no work; but she only confesses that she was a mother who behaved in a lifelike manner, who accepted the good works, but did not work them. For she says: "He has done great things for me," yes, blessed things, because he has done what has been done and given to me. And by this, both she herself and God in her are not praised; because those who praise her blessedly do not pay attention to her [namely, Mary], but admire the gifts given to her. Thus, everything must be attributed to God alone, because He alone is powerful and His name is holy.
2) Here she has expressed the perfect praise of God in the shortest way, since she says: "He who is mighty", that is, who alone does and works everything. Therefore it is said in the Greek: He did. Great things did the same mighty one; as if she said: the same agent of all things. For the word "mighty" in Hebrew is gibbor, which cannot easily be expressed in one word, and means one who works and is mighty in doing and working. In German, I would say "thätig. It wants to say exactly what the apostle says: "He who works all things in all", "without whom nothing is done". So he alone is powerful. The glorious virgin therefore aims at the word: He has done it to me; as if she wanted to say: He has done it who does it, or the doer; that is: He who does all things has also done this to me; so that you understand by this: He is truly the one who does all things alone; as also Matthew in the 14th Cap. V. 3.
means: "The tempter", that is, the one who tempts, and 1 Thess. 3, 5: "That he who tempts may not tempt you. Since all that is is God's, since He alone does all things, since He alone is powerful, that is, a busy tempter, He alone has the name.
3 For the name is due to him who has done it, not to him who has not done it, otherwise the name is in vain. That is why his name is called "holy. His name is defiled when man appropriates something from the work of God. He alone can, he alone shall also have the name. With men of the world he is praised who has done many things, but with God he is praised who has received many things; indeed, if with men he is praised who does, but not he to whom something happens: how is this such unfortunate foolishness that we want to be praised by God when we have done nothing, but have received only through his work. For this reason, praise and honor are due to God, but we have blessedness: we are blessed, rejoice with us and wish for happiness, because the Lord has shown His mercy on us. Just as it is said of St. Elizabeth, Luc. 1:58: "And her friends and neighbors heard that the Lord had shown mercy on her, and they rejoiced with her." So also this holy virgin wants to say: When they will hear that the Lord has done great things for me, they will not praise me, but they will call me blessed, rejoice with me and wish for happiness. O a beautiful virgin! How she draws everything to God! How furious and perverse is the habit today of praising people without reverence for God, without thinking of God and looking to Him! How unjustly is God's honor robbed.
Finally, we must also see that because the Blessed Virgin prophesies that all children will call her blessed, it behooves every Christian to rejoice with a holy affection toward this Virgin, to be favorable to her, to cheerfully call out to her and wish her happiness, because she is the one through whom the fruit of life has been imparted to us, the one who prepares us for life.
serves and has served most willingly. She rejoices and is glad because the Lord has not only done good things for her, but also great things.
(5) So we too must wish her and ourselves happiness, because the Lord has done great things for her; for what he has done for her, he has also done for us. For she has nothing that we do not have, for she carries the Son of God in her womb and we carry him in our hearts; she is the bodily mother, and he himself, Jesus, said: "He who does the will of my Father is my mother, brother and sister"; he was suckled with the breasts of the virgin, we suckle the same with pure and chaste thoughts; she embraces him with her chaste arms, but we embrace him with eager affections and desires of love. He himself, the beloved, dwells both between her and our breasts. O blissful mother! O most worthy Virgin! remember us, and make the Lord also do these great things to us. *)
*) Here Luther gave in too much to papist opinion and tradition. Cf. the introduction. D. R.
(6) Note also this last thing, that the blessed Virgin said in the multiple number, "great things"; for she does not mean only this few great things, that she received the Son of God in the flesh, but all the gifts of God toward us, of which there are many; for it is necessary that we praise them all, as they are great indeed. For how great is it that he creates you from nothing, that he provides everything for you too well, since there is nothing; that he has given you such glorious powers of body and soul and still maintains them? You think it great when a man gives you a thousand guilders, and you think it small that he gives you the eye in the head, and even that he gives you the fingers, since with all the riches of the world you cannot manage to give yourself a part of the limb or to heal it, since you cannot create a grain. But we are blind, and forget the goods and God, the Benefactor. Now let us proceed to our purpose, namely, to the other commandment.