About the future of Christ, how to recognize Christ, also interpretation, what the gospel is.
Matth. 21, 1-9.
Now when they were come near Jerusalem to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, and said unto them: Go into the place which is before you, and soon ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her; loose her, and bring her unto me. And if any man say any thing unto you, say, The Lord hath need of her; and he will soon let her go unto you. Now all these things came to pass, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee meekly, riding upon an ass, and upon a colt of the palatable ass. The disciples went and did as Jesus had commanded them, and brought the ass and the colt, and laid their garments thereon, and set him thereon. But many of the people spread the garments on the road; the others cut branches from the trees and scattered them on the road. And the people that went before and followed cried out, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest.
1 Today's Gospel is written by the evangelist Matthew Cap. 21, v. 1-9, in which the prophecy of the prophet and its fulfillment is shown. For all the works that Christ did, giving sight to the blind and straightening the lame, were foretold by the prophets in the Scriptures. But with difference it is done in the Scriptures: the prophecy says of things to come, so the gospel says of things done. So have a difference between the prophecy and the gospel. The gospel teaches that the things spoken of in the prophecy have now been fulfilled. For the gospel teaches what is present that we can see.
2. no one can be known better than in presence. Therefore the evangelist says: Let Christ be present, coming meekly on an ass, saying, "Tell me.
*We retain the revised text of Walch's edition, which faithfully reflects Luther's meaning. For the text of the first printing of 1522, followed by the Erlangen edition, is so confused and incomprehensible that only a few readers would benefit from it. Also, the style is quite different from Luther's other writing from the same time, so that one suspects whether that original really offers Luther's words. D. Red.
to the daughter of Zion: "Behold, your King comes to you, meek, on an ass. To recognize this, it is not enough to confess with the words: "I know that Christ is the King of kings, he is God, he has redeemed us. But when tribulation, anguish, distress, and death come afterward, one immediately falls from confession; for it is not from the whole heart, but from the mouth; nor from perfect love. Such a one falls immediately; when he remembers his sin, he thinks the sin is greater than God can forgive him. When death is presented to him, he is horrified by it and does not remain in the confession of God, for reason frightens him. Therefore a spiritual confession is necessary, which the Holy Spirit alone can give, which does not come from flesh and blood, that is, from reason (because reason must sleep there), but which is from the Spirit, who works such a confession that man fears nothing, neither death, torment, hell, nor the devil, and confesses Christ as his Lord and King. It is not enough to confess Christ with the mouth and to know about him, but if he recognizes him, he must ask God to forgive him.
Lend the spirit so that he may be improved by it, that he may remain in confession in fear, distress, death and anguish; not that he may fall away when he is in distress, but remember that when God has already left him in anguish, that he is almost in despair, he nevertheless knows that Christ is his King and will not abandon him; so that thoughts and reason have no place in him, and he can remember and say in his heart toward God: I know that even if you let heaven and earth fall into one another, I know that you will not abandon me. This means that God is rightly recognized.
(3) Those who, when they come to tribulation, immediately turn away from God, know Him wickedly, for they do not recognize Him as the One who could help them in such tribulation, they doubt Him, which God cannot suffer. One must be certain in Him; and the more certain a man is in Him, the more He helps and gives His grace. Such are confirmed with the Holy Spirit; such then receive with joy everything that is sent to them from God, whether good or evil, for they know that such is from God; and disregard all things for which they otherwise had hope, merely because of the love they now have from the knowledge of God, and are confessors, even if the whole world were against it.
(4) Although, alas, it is now come to pass that the gospel may not well be confessed. Not only do they not want to hear it, but they even spurn it, even though they know that all our salvation and happiness is in it. So did the Jews today, the scribes, who taught from the Scriptures how Christ would come on an ass; yet they would not recognize and receive him, forbidding even the children not to sing.
5. there are also many who say: I do not follow the gospel, I like to hear it. It is not enough. If you have the gospel and know what it wants, you must confess it for the salvation of your soul; otherwise you are not a Christian.
(6) Now it is necessary to know what the future or advent of our Lord Christ means. We read of two kinds of
The first was when he was going to give the law on Mount Sinai; the second was when he was going to give or confirm the gospel as he entered Jerusalem.
In the first future God came in a cruel, thick, black cloud, with fire, smoke and thunder, with a great sound of trumpets, so cruel that the children of Israel were terrified and said to Moses, Ex 20:19: "We want to do everything God wants, but you talk to us, we cannot hear the voice of God, we must die." Then he gave them the law. We note the history. The law is cruel; one does not like to hear preaching about the law. So the law is a terror to reason, that at times man immediately falls into despair. Thus the law weighs down the conscience, so that it does not know what it should do. If the law says: If you do this, you are damned, you are guilty of death! This is hard for a man; all his senses are frightened by it, as happened to the children of Israel. Now that man might be freed from such terror, it has been necessary
The other future of Christ, which is not so cruel, but gentle; as the Gospel says. Not cruel, like God in the Old Testament, but gentle, merciful, like a man; not on the mountain, but in the city; not in the wilderness of Sinai, but in Jerusalem, that is, in safety. In Sinai he came with fear, now he comes with meekness; there he had to be feared, here he had to fear the Pharisees; there he came with thunder, here he comes with praise; there he came in great shouting of the trumpets, here he comes weeping over the city of Jerusalem; there he came in fear, here he comes in comfort and joy and love; there he said Ex. 19:12, "He that shall go up into the mount shall die"; here he says, "Tell the daughter of Zion that a king is coming unto her." See, there you have the difference of the law and the gospel: the law commands, the gospel forgives everything for nothing; the law makes anger and hatred, the gospel gives grace. In the first future the children of Israel did not like the voice of God.
but now you can't hear it enough, so sweet it is. The law threatens punishment and chastisement; the gospel looks to grace, mercy and forgiveness of sins. Therefore, when you are in anguish or distress, you should not run to Mount Sinai, that is, to seek help through the law and satisfaction, but to Jerusalem, that is, to the gospel. That saith, Thy sins be forgiven thee: go, do them no more. This is a meek king: whosoever cometh to him, and knoweth him, the same is one of the daughters in Sion.
(9) So by the first future you are to understand the law, which only frightens and makes fearful; by the other future, the gospel, which is forgiveness of all sin, freely, for no merit. So you can easily understand the difference between the law and the gospel.
(10) But if you ask the sophists of the high schools what the gospel is, they would say, "It is a book that teaches good things. But they know not what, for they understand not.
Gospel means good news. Is it not good news when one is full of sins and heavy with them, and the gospel comes and says, Only trust and believe, your sins are all forgiven? Is this not joyful news, that I know that not only are my sins forgiven, but I also know that Christ is mine, with all that he has? Is this not a gentle king, ready to come to the aid of all who call upon him?
(11) Those who thus know Christ confess him even unto death; they cast their garments, that is, good works, to the ass, that is, to the poor and to the neighbor; for what one does to the neighbor, that one does to God; and cast branches from the trees, that is, sayings of the holy Scriptures, by which we know God and Christ; and can afterwards sing, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna," that is, Happiness! That is, God, grant happiness that the Gospel may proceed. So we will come to Jerusalem, that is, to the contemplation of eternal life, amen.