Held in the castle at Weimar.
Matth. 18, 1-11.
At that hour the disciples came to Jesus and said: Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Jesus called a child to him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. He therefore that bringeth himself low, as this child, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives such a child in my name receives me. But whosoever shall offend the least of these that believe on me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the deepest part of the sea. Woe to the world because of trouble. Trouble must come, but woe to the man by whom trouble comes. But if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee. It is better for you to become lame or crippled, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. See that you do not despise any of these little ones. For I tell you, their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. For the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost.
*At that time, in 1518, the Elector of Saxony was staying with his family in Weimar. On the day of St. Thomas, Luther wrote down this sermon at Spalatin's request, as far as he remembered it. The original Latin text is also found in Luther's letters collected by Johannes Aurifaber I, 127. This first printing is followed by the Erlangen edition. - Löscher II, 447; Erl. A. ox>x>. var. ".rZ. I, 226 "qq. D. Red.
1 You should know, my Spalatin, that I want to snatch from oblivion what I will say. Therefore, I will omit many things, and I will perhaps add many things; but I will not speak anything that should not have been spoken at that time. First of all Christ teaches here about humility, but first of all he teaches those who have a preference over others. For there are two forms in the world: one is the form of God; the other is the form of the servant. The form of God is power, wisdom, prudence, righteousness, goodness, and whatever else is good that gives one man an advantage over another, as this can be easily recognized. The form of a servant is servility, foolishness, foolishness, poverty, sin, and every defect by which one may be considered inferior to another.
2 The apostle Paul writes of these two forms in Philippians 2:6 that they were in the man Christ, saying, "Who, though he were in the form of God," that is, full of righteousness, wisdom, truth, etc.; for by this form no man is made like unto God, but unto him only are such things; "and took upon him the form of a servant," that is, lowliness, weakness, foolishness, sin, as it appeared in the eyes of men.
The first form makes nothing into something, even everything; the other form makes everything into nothing, and what is something, it makes it not to be something. The former ascends; the latter descends.
(4) Now every man hath both these things with him, because there is none that should be wholly nothing; but the right use of both is not found in any man. But this right use Christ has taught us, and teaches it here by the word; just as he is described by the apostle as having taught us this with his example, when he says v. 5: "Let every man be of the same mind as Jesus Christ was" etc. But the right use is not to rob oneself of it, but rather to humiliate oneself in it (the wrong use is to rob oneself of it and to fulfill it), that is, to say that all good things are good,
By this we are put in the likeness of God, not for our sake, nor that we should boast and be proud in it; but rather that it is given to us for the sake of those who do not have it, that we may serve them by it and in it, and so not despise them, even to the extent of accepting their evil and vice with less affection than if it were our own. For Christ (Rom. 15, 3.) did not take pleasure in his righteousness, as he could have done with pride; but through it he served us by taking upon himself our sins. Just as the apostle says there, "But as it is written, the reproach of them that reproach thee is fallen upon me," that is, "He humbled himself of his form, and thought it not robbery to be like him," to whom alone it belongs to be resplendent in this form, and to glory in it, to please himself, to serve none, but to rule over all etc. So he put away his wisdom, not pleasing himself in the same, that he despised us; but he despised himself, and serving us by his wisdom, he took upon himself our foolishness, and became a fool in our stead; as he says in the 69th Psalm v. 6, "God, thou knowest my foolishness." So he was our servant by his righteousness, and became a sinner for us, as he says in the same Psalm, "And my debts are not hid from thee." Thus we are to judge of all the goods of Christ, which the apostle briefly comprehends under the name of the divine form; wherewith he thus served all, as if he had them not and were not entitled to them. He has subjected himself to all evil in our stead, which evil he recently comprehends under the word "servant form"; as he says (Ps. 42, 8.): "Thy floods therefore rush" etc.; and Isa. 53, 6.: "The Lord hath laid on him all our sin."
5 The Pharisees, on the contrary, when they obtain these images of God, as if they were given to them for their own sake, not only do they not serve those who do not have them, according to the example of Christ, but they also do not serve those who do not have them.
They please themselves, they rejoice that they are something in front of others, that they are praised and honored; and they are always ready to preside over others, to rule over them, to punish, to bite, to diminish, to condemn and to damn them; and thus, in the good form of God, by the terrible abuse they inflict unspeakable evil upon themselves; and this very thing means to consider this form as a robbery, so that through it they may become as God himself, who, as the freest being, owes nothing to anyone because of his form. For whoever takes this form and does not use it for what it is given for, obviously robs himself of it and considers it to be something that should be his, since he is supposed to be a servant to others in it. Therefore he robs it so that he may be like God. And this is exactly what the apostles were striving for in this gospel. For this reason Christ resists them, and draws them back to the form of servants, that they should be children and small, that is, in the sense that they judge nothing great of themselves, but, like children, are ready to obey all.
Addition.
(6) It is clear that although humility is taught, described, and distinguished by many, its nature and quality are never properly explained except in the holy Scriptures. For humility is to do nothing with all one's goods but to serve the wicked, according to the example of Christ, not to be attached to anything but to humble oneself in everything.
7 Secondly: It is therefore terrible to despise the servant form, to judge a sinner and a fool. For now that Christ has taken and honored all these forms, we should not only not despise them, but we should also honor them, no matter in what people they may strike and meet us. For this is the very reason why he who calls his brother a fool is guilty of hellish fire, namely, because such a one does not sin against a man, but against Christ, who [namely, Christ] has glorified the likeness of such a man in himself; which likeness the one curses who
calls his brother a fool. For this reason Christ wants us to open our eyes, and as often as a poor person, a fool, a sinner, or a similar figure comes to us, we should immediately recognize Christ's emblem on such a person, and through the figure of God (by which we would otherwise like to be puffed up) serve him with pleading, praying, admonishing, helping etc., until we have also torn him out of such a servant's form; that is, he does not want anyone to be despised, even by the least of them, but wants it to be well with them, and that they be honored as if he himself were present.
8. and this servant form is to be proper to the bishops, as is taught in this gospel. - But now they sit like the Antichrist in the temple of God, posing as if they were God; and the power they have received they take for their own benefit and consider it a robbery (especially the pope), resting in safety, serving no one, but also forcing everyone into servitude by force. Accordingly, we are to become all things to all men, that they may be won through us. For "he that receiveth such a child," that is, such a little one, "receiveth me in my name; and he that humbleth himself, as this child, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." However, this doctrine, which is entirely evangelical, suffers much aggravation (such a raging evil is pride and haughtiness). Follows:
And whoever despises one of the least of these who believe in me, it would be better for him to have a millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the sea where it is deepest.
(9) The vexation of these little ones is twofold. The first is gross, and falls upon the senses, for these little ones are provoked to sin by manifest sin, which is without all appearance. However, this irritation is not so dangerous, because it is clearly and obviously recognized as evil. Therefore, one can beware of it; indeed, it cannot become an annoyance, but rather something edifying, if we want to become witty and careful through other harm; I also think that Christ does not mainly speak of this annoyance. The other is subtle and seeming, because one would have it for good and without
is accepted with misgivings. Just as in former times the false prophets seduced the people under the name of God, and just as the heretics, who under the sheep's clothing testified as ravening wolves. This trouble is actually a trouble and dangerous: whoever falls into it once will hardly be freed from it again. The prophets, Christ, the apostles and the holy fathers have worked against this trouble to the highest degree. For the good form keeps them from believing that this is an evil.
Therefore a severe and new punishment is appointed for them by Christ, namely, from the millstone etc. Such are also very often to be found in our time, who walk along in the great appearance of holiness, teach much good, practice many devotions and prayers, sometimes act the suffering of Christ with tears; from their mouths nothing sounds but the voice of humility; in all their gestures there is nothing but holiness. In the meantime, because of their secret envy, hopefulness and avarice, they do not understand and do not see how miserably they themselves perish, nor how they unknowingly bring many to ruin with them. For they are inclined to judge others, to belittle them, to despise them, and then to exalt themselves and their own, to examine the lives of all people, sometimes even to curse them, and to envy the most shameful things.
and pride by much judging and judging: all this, as if it needed no care, they adorn with the rest of the appearance, so that they become an example to others in following, that is, to the most shameful annoyance. These people are beautifully portrayed by Paul in 2 Tim. 3, 5, when he says: "They have the appearance of a godly life, but deny the power. Such must necessarily be all those who follow human righteousness and human statutes, according to forsaken righteousness of faith. And today all places are filled with them, who are the most harmful people in the holy church of God. Therefore follows:
When your eye annoys you.
(11) The eye is the teacher and counselor; the hand is the helper; the foot is the protection on which we rely. All these things pertain chiefly to the office and duty of those who are to precede and lead others in the way of the Lord; but he teaches that we are to be especiallyware of them, lest they vex and seduce us, because, as I have said, their seduction is scarcely improvable. This seems to me to have been almost the summa of the whole discourse; I cannot think of anything more, although I believe that I have said something more and also in a different way.