Held 1516.
John 1:19-28.
And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem, to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; and he confessed: I am not Christ. And they asked him, What then? art thou Elias? And he said: I am not. Art thou a prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, What art thou then? that we may give answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said: I am a voice of one preaching in the wilderness, Direct ye the way of the Lord, as Isaias the prophet said. And they that were sent were of the Pharisees, and asked him, saying unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not Christ, nor Elias, nor a prophet? John answered them, saying: I baptize with water; but he is come in the midst of you, whom ye know not. He it is that shall come after me, which was before me, that I am not worthy to loose his shoe laces. This took place at Bethabara, on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
What is crooked shall become right, and what is uneven shall become bad way.
(1) Thus we have heard of the Jews, that they also waited for Christ, even as they still wait. But in this they were inexperienced, that they would have him come in the way that pleased them; which was impossible. But because he came in another way, they still wait for him and do not receive him. Namely, because he did not come
*) Löscher I, 767; Erl. A. oxp. var. arg. I, 154 syy.
D. Red.
If he is in worldly dress and carnal splendor, they will not receive him, as those who are carnally minded. For they wanted to remain unchanged in their minds, since John had come to change them. So also now it happens that all praise grace and wait for it, but John apes them, saying he has the devil; namely, if they will not believe this gospel, that they are sinners and nothing; will not forsake their wisdom and righteousness, and yet want grace; will not be humbled, and yet want to be exalted. From
The number of these are now those who want grace to be used only as an accidens and adornment, so that what is done remains in essence, since it must be brought to nothing, so that grace alone may take place. Therefore these do not believe that they are nothing, that they do not fulfill the law in any way; they do not hear John, the interpreter of the law, and therefore cannot come over Christ. For they say that it is devilish for anyone to say that everything they are and do is nothing. They say, It is good in its kind, it is a good of nature; as if this were enough, as if every action, which is most shameful, were not also good by nature, even good to someone in his kind.
After we let this go, we ask: What then is the crooked and uneven? likewise: What is right and wrong? By the crooked he understands the evil, which is clear from the opposite. I have said above that the law of the letter is crookedness, but the spirit is equality; as: Thou shalt not commit adultery, if thou understand it according to the letter, and hinder the forbidden work, thy soul shall not yet be made even by this law, but it shall stand secure in itself, relying on itself that it is not an adulteress in the work. But if you understand that one should also have no evil desire, then you understand it in the spirit, and your soul will find nothing in itself on which it can rely and be sure as if it had fulfilled the law. Therefore it is directed toward God, and since it is thus humbled, it longs for grace. This is called a right spirit and a right heart, which relies on God alone and his mercy. If, therefore, the curve of the letter is directed to the sameness of the spirit; the circumlocution to the short concept; the circumference to the line; the bow to the string; and just through this, even the crooked, that is, the people who are crooked in will, are directed to their flat, that is, to that which is of God.
(3) But it is the same between the rough and the smooth, except that even a rough road can be
be rough. In my judgment, the rough is pride itself, which arises from the crooked, because the letter, when it is kept, puffs up; for he who thinks that he is not kept by the law, nor is guilty of the law, cannot confess himself a sinner; therefore he will necessarily not be humble and lowly in his eyes. So they make the crooked rough, that is, high and lofty, as the rough of the mountains is called. But he who feels that he owes the law sighs and becomes lowly before himself. Therefore it follows: Every mountain, that is, hope will be humbled; and every valley will be filled, that is, humility will receive grace.
4 Thus, man is first governed by John and by the literal mind of the law, and is led from righteousness to sin. When this is done, then the roughness and pride are levelled and humility arises, in that he sees that he is a sinner who was previously righteous in his thoughts. And so, after humility has been established through the law, grace truly follows, namely that all flesh will see the salvation of God. But it could not see the salvation of God, if the unequal had not become bad and the rough had not become even, and the mountains had not been humbled and the valleys had not been filled.
005 But they that hate John, and resist him, think it needless that they should be taught of him. When John says, "Make straight the way of the Lord," they say, "We have made it straight, it is not crooked. When John says, What is crooked shall be made crooked; [it is said of them,] Ei! there is nothing crooked. When John says, "That which is rough shall be level"; [they say,] It is all level. When John says, "Every mountain shall be humbled," they say, "Alas, there is no mountain. When John says, "The valleys shall be filled"; [they say,] There are no valleys. When John says, "All flesh shall see the salvation of God"; [so they say, Yes, we are blessed, we have no destruction. At
They resist this way, because they hear that it is said to them, but they do not believe that they are hit, and they want to be regarded as if they are wronged and disgraced by it; so they do not know that if we were not uneven, rough mountains, valleys, and corrupt, he would not remember us for equality, level, humiliation, fulfillment, and salvation.
For he cannot see the salvation of God who sees the salvation of man, and not destruction. He also does not allow himself to be ruled, who does not see that he is righteous; he also does not allow himself to be made even, who does not think himself rough; he also does not want to be
He who does not see that he is proud does not want to be humbled, nor does he want to be filled who does not feel that he is empty. But this is done by those who are proud in their wisdom and righteousness, whose heart is full and does not sigh or long, for it is secure and fat. Therefore it is said Ps. 78:31, "He hath slain their fat ones, and hindered their elect." For the righteousness and salvation of God is not revealed to anyone unless his unrighteousness and condemnation are revealed to him at the same time. As it is said in Ps. 98, 2: "The Lord makes his salvation known, before the nations he reveals his righteousness," that is, he makes known his wrath, as it is said in Rom. 1, 18, and their sins.