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.
And the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites unto John, to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; and he confessed: I am not the Christian.
(1) What does it mean that the evangelist describes John's confession or answer in so many words? For since he could have said in one word, "And he confessed," he adds, "And he denied not," and says again, "And he confessed." The evangelist wants to give an understanding of John's steadfastness, by which he overcomes the greatest and most dangerous temptation, which from the beginning of creation and always until the end of the world pursues the word of God; it was therefore appropriate that this great steadfastness be worthily praised with many words.
002 First, because the honor of Christ was offered to him, to which he answered, "I am not the Christ. For he would not have answered thus, if he had not noted that they desired to have him for Christ. After this, take heed to the splendor and irritation of this temptation. They sent to him, not common men of the rabble, but the noblest of the people, that is, priests and Levites, thinking that John should be moved by it. Nor were they content with sending priests and Levites, but they send Pharisees. "Those who were sent," says the evangelist, "were of the Pharisees," that is, the priests of the noblest and most illustrious sect. It is as if today the greatest and most distinguished bishops of the Church were sent in a legation to a poor little village peacock in order to win his favor. And over all this, the envoys, priests and Levites, represented the whole Jewish people, and offered John the grace and favor of the high priest and the authorities, so that if John would have agreed, it would have happened by their authority that everyone would have taken him for Christ. Just as if now the pope with all the cardinals and prelates of the church and all the secular kings had offered his grace and friendship to a lousy beggar.
Now, what did they want with their temptation? Christ shows this in Joh. 5,
33. 34. 35. when he says: "You sent to John, and he bore witness to the truth. But I do not take testimony from men, but these things I say, that ye may be saved. He was a burning and shining light, but ye would be glad a little while of his light. "etc. With these words Christ clearly shows their wrong diligence, that they sought their own benefit, that is, their own honor, from John and wanted to abuse the holiness of John to adorn themselves with it. For if John had stood by them and granted their request and allowed them to believe that he was Christ, they would have been considered by all the people to be great, holy, wise people, as if they had been proven by such a great man's reputation and testimony. Soon the people would consider everything they had done, thought and taught up to now (that is, all the garbage of their ungodly nature and the carnal splendor of the law, wealth and honor of the world) to be right, and with the destruction of the spirit they would be in great reputation carnally. And this was that they might be glad for a little while of his light, that is, confirm and establish their worldly kingdom. But because John despised this and did not accept their homage, they said that he had the devil, as Christ reported Matth. 11, 18. All their hope was that John would not spurn such a noble legation, because they were the most distinguished among the people.
(4) They themselves also show this, saying, "Who then are you, that we should give an answer to those who sent us?" when they provoked him to ask who they were that they thought had been sent to him, that they might have an opportunity to exalt both those who had sent them, and themselves also. As if they wanted to say, "Oh, if you knew what excellent people they are, both those who sent us and we who are sent, you would not only grant us, but would come to us from yourself, desiring what is now offered to you. But John did not pay any attention to these things and kept silent about their temptation, after he had answered them three times: "I am not the Christian"; "I am not Elijah"; "I am not the Christian"; "I am not the Christian"; "I am not the Christian"; "I am not the Christian"; "I am not the Christian".
I am not a prophet. Because he said no three times and remained silent the fourth time, the messengers thought that he had given them a proud and contemptuous answer, since they were such great noble lords, and that he respected no one, neither great nor small, who sent and was sent. This bites and hurts the trustworthy great men, and they present it as a just cause against the pious, saying that they have trustworthily despised God's servants and governors. Then the pious Christians must be called arrogant, possessed by the devil, heretics, rebellious, and the like.
(5) From all this we can see how great was the steadfastness of John, who, challenged by so much incitement to high honors, not only did not give way by a hair, but also, with this contempt, provoked the hatred and violence of the rulers of the Jews against him, and thus put himself in contempt and danger of death. Therefore he boasts John 3:28, saying, "Ye yourselves are my witnesses, that I said I was not Christ, but sent before him." And even if John had applauded them and allowed himself to be used as a cover for all their evil nature, and thus had lost Christ and become the most ungodly traitor, their favor against him would not have lasted long, but would soon have grown weary of him, after they had obtained through him what they desired, namely, that they might preserve their tyranny and ungodly nature.
Therefore John was provoked to the greatest sin with this message, for no man's sin would have been greater than John's sin in this deed. For with this, as much as there was in him, he would have even blotted out Christ, and for this he would have used such glorious gifts of God, which were given to him, so that the people believed him more. So this is no small victory for John and worthy of all praise, in such a dangerous and great temptation, in which he nevertheless remained steadfast. O how many are those who run from themselves and strive for high honors! But who would refuse such dignity, offered to him by such excellent people? John might have argued that he was called by them,
who had the right and power, because he saw that the priests and the Levites were subordinating themselves to exalt him and to raise him up for Christ. Follows in the text:
And they asked him, What? Are you Elijah? And he said, I am not. Art thou a prophet? And he answered, No. And they said unto him, Who art thou then, that we should give an answer unto them that sent us?
007 When the messengers heard of John, that he was not Christ, they offered him another honor, though less than the former, thinking to adorn their thing wickedly, if Elias or a prophet would hold it with them. For we are not to think that they came to John out of faithful hearts, nor sought to believe John, but that they deceived him into thinking that he was like Elijah or a prophet. Otherwise the chiefs would have come to John themselves, as others did who believed him, and would not have searched him out and tried him through emissaries. Nor did they believe or think that he was Christ, Elijah, or a prophet, but because he was held in such high esteem by the common people, they sought how they might gain the honor by bringing him over to their side.
(8) Some want it to be said in this place about the prophet that God promised in Deut. 18:15, where he says, "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brethren. If this is so, it is certain that the Jews thought that this prophet was other than Christ and Elijah, less than both of them, because they finally asked him if he was a prophet. But another holds Peter Acts 3, 22. and Stephen Acts 7, 37, understand Christ Himself as the promised prophet and cite the same text Deut. 18, 15 before the Jews. Therefore, either they did not understand Moses in the same place, or they asked here from an ordinary prophet, whom I give more credence. For if the prophet is promised to be like Moses, they could not prefer Eliam to him, because they did not understand Moses.
higher than all the other prophets. Therefore, since they had no prophet since the time of Malachi, the last prophet, they asked John if he claimed to be a prophet. And Christ also says Matth. 11, 9. 10.: "What did you go out to see? a prophet? Yes, I tell you, he is more than a prophet"; since the Lord sufficiently indicates that they thought John was a bad prophet; item Matth. 21, 26. even more clearly: "For everyone thought John was a prophet."
(9) Do you ask, "If John is a prophet, why does he deny that he is not a prophet? And why, as St. Gregory asks, does he deny that he is Elijah, when Christ calls him Eliam, Matt. 17:12, 13? I do not know if enough answer is given here, that John is not a prophet because he is more than a prophet; because some judgment and opinion would not happen enough, who would say it is ridiculous to say that he is not a prophet, and yet he is more than a prophet. And therefore they conclude that the Jews asked John whether he was the promised great prophet, of whom Moses prophesied; and that John was right in saying, I am not. But they do not understand, if John understood that the Jews asked about the same great prophet, whom they thought to be other than Christ, and thought that he would go before Christ, he should not have denied it; for he was ever truly such a prophet, as they thought from a false understanding of the words of Moses; for they were looking for a great prophet before Christ, and one other than Christ, and that was John; why then does he deceive them? For this is why no one should deny himself when he is asked out of error, when he recognizes himself as the one of whom the one who is mistaken asks.
10 And what shall we say to the prophet Amos, who likewise, yea, more, denieth that he is a prophet, when he saith Amos 7:14, 15: "Amos answered and said unto Amaziah, I am no prophet, neither am I the son of any prophet; but I am a hewer of mulberries. But the Lord took me from the herd, and said unto me, Go, I pray thee.
and prophesy to my people Israel." Is this not an abominable thing to say? He says he is not a prophet, and then he says that God sent him to prophesy to his people Israel. So John also denies that he is a prophet, and yet says that he was sent to baptize and prepare the way before the Lord, and to proclaim Christ, that he had come into the midst of them.
(11) Therefore, I think it is plainly spoken that John does not take upon himself the name of a prophet, which at that time was quite strange and of great dignity, and also because the office of the prophets was that they had to teach and govern the people. But since Christ Himself was present, the Lord of all prophets, John diminished himself in the image of Christ and recognized himself as no prophet, but humbly praised his ministry and pointed them to Christ. As if a bad priest were asked in front of a bishop (who at that time only performs the priestly office) whether he is a priest? and he rejects the questioner and says: "What do you consider me a priest, behold the priest whose servant I am with you: my priestly office is nothing now, nor am I a priest in his presence when he performs the priestly office. So the usage in the Old Testament was that only the high priest performed the priestly office. So, in the presence of the prince, the lower rule of his servants counts for nothing, so that no one in his presence has the dignity that he has in the absence of the prince. We would like to say that John did the same as Amos, who therefore denies that he was not a prophet, because he was not of the sect, line, number and order of the prophets, but was called by the Lord anew, out of order. For at that time there were certain separate orders of priests, wise men and prophets, just as now there are theologians, lawyers and bishops, some of whom are pious but most of whom are evil. When the prophet Micah Cap. 3, 11: "Their heads judge for gifts, their priests teach for wages, and their prophets prophesy for money. And Jer. 18:18: "The priests cannot err in the law, and the wise men cannot fail in counsel, and the prophets cannot fail in the prophecy.
teach unrighteously." So Amos Cap. 7, 15. says: "The Lord took me from the host", that is, when I was not yet a prophet. Now whether John says in the opinion that he is not a prophet, I do not know. I hold with the first interpretation. Although John was truly a prophet, and one whom they were looking for, he still wanted to refute their foolish opinion of him, because Christ himself was present, and to point to Christ, who was so near that there was no need for a prophet to prophesy about his future, because he was already present. Therefore I stick to the first opinion, that John was not a prophet, but more than a prophet.
012 When John was thus humbled, and the messengers perceived it, they puffed themselves up as his overlords, and made their authority known unto him, saying, Who art thou that we should answer them that sent us? See how they now begin to speak defiantly and violently, and since they received nothing with flattery, tried it with earnestness and violence. They do not name themselves, nor those from whom they were sent, but with concealed words they want, as it were, to frighten John, so that he would be sorry that he had ignorantly angered such excellent people. But John kept silent, did not ask who they were or how great they were, was not afraid of their anger, and with his simple silence passed over their cunning silence, paying little attention to whether they answered those who had sent them or not:
What do you say about yourself?
013 As if they said, Tell us this only, what wilt thou be called of men? What name do you want them to give you? What do you pretend to be? Since people must speak of you and your ministry, it is necessary to know by what name you should be called, especially when you teach and baptize the people. Then John began humbly, opened his office faithfully, and said:
I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Direct the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah.
14 This is a whimsical answer: "I am the voice of one who calls"; we speak: I call with the voice. But who is the caller whose voice is John? Here he clearly indicates a mystery, which will be told hereafter. But this is the opinion of John, as if he were speaking to the messengers: I do not want you to praise anything of me or to exalt me; for I am so nothing that nothing but the voice is recorded in me: and if I seek the salvation of the people with the voice, I boast of the voice alone. O an inestimable humility of John! This speech: "I am a voice", is quite common in Latin, that man is meant by his work, virtue or vice. As in Terentius: "Oh, how you are wisdom!" and in another place: "Oh, you vice! since he is talking to a man. So the wolf said to the nightingale, "You are a voice and no more," when he found such a small bird, and thought it must be a large bird, because it made a great noise, as one reads in the fable. So God says to Moses, Ex. 4, 16: "He will be your mouth." So we still make use of the speech today, when a small man has a great voice, so that we speak: He is a voice; or: The voice is the best thing about him. So John says that there is no good thing in him without the voice, and that everything he lives and does is a voice. Oh that those who follow John in ministry would be so diligent in preaching the word of God that they would deserve no other name but that of a voice, like John.
(15) Here again we are praised for the ministry of John and the gospel. What is this: "Preparing the way for the Lord in the wilderness"? And although according to the letter John remains in the wilderness and calls out, we will see hereafter what this means spiritually, for now we simply follow the letter and say: John is therefore in the wilderness a voice of one calling out, so that he may indicate that a preacher who teaches Christ should also be in the wilderness with his
Life and walk, that is, he shall not desire honor, nor riches, nor pleasure, nor all that is in the world; for he that seeketh worldly honor, riches, pleasure, and all that is in the world, seeketh to be among men, and to mingle with the people; as the 10:6 Psalm v. 35. 36. says: "They mingled with the heathen, and learned the works thereof, and served their idols, which were an offence unto them." This is evident in our time, how our bishops, prelates and priests are completely immersed in worldly affairs, which they also serve alone, and have learned their works to such an extent in splendor, arrogance, pleasure and wealth that they surpass even the worldly in them. And if they are so involved in this, how can they preach Christ, if an apostle of the truth is to be mere, wearing neither bag, nor sack, nor girdle, Matth. 10, 9. 10, nor suppress the word of God, and serve at table? Acts 6:2 If they do preach, they do not preach freely, nor consistently, nor without regard to person, but are afraid to speak the truth freely, and always fear the loss of their honor, goods or life.
(16) According to this, a preacher should be a voice of one crying, that is, as St. Paul writes in 2 Tim. 4:2, he should stop, whether in season or out of season, to rebuke, to entreat, to exhort, so that he will not be regarded as anything other than a voice by the people. For there is a great difference between the preaching of the gospel and the preaching of the law. The law was written on two tablets, and was a dead writing, stretching no further than the tablets went, therefore it had little power: but the gospel goes forth into the open air with a living and free voice, therefore it has the more power to convert the people. For this reason Christ himself wrote nothing, but spoke everything orally. The apostles also wrote little, but spoke much. But with the time it has grown, so that bookmaking is no end, until it has come to the point that those who teach best in the church, write books alone, one rarely hears the voice of the bishops and those who should preach there. They prefer to speak out of
They say that the hidden secrets, as they call them, of the church should not be revealed to the common people, as if they did not want to understand them; as if the Holy Spirit did not know, since he commanded to preach the gospel, that the common people would not understand it, or that it was in our power to understand the sermon.
(17) Nor is it in vain that John is called, not the voice of one who speaks, but of one who calls. No doubt because of this, that an evangelical preacher should not only not covet the goods of this world, but also generously despise all evil and repugnance, not be frightened by any persecution, even to the point of death, and not allow himself to be driven into a corner; as those do who freely murmur of the truth in the corner with their own, but publicly keep silent out of fear. Thus Isaiah interprets the voice of the caller in 40 Cap. V. 6. ff. where he says: "A voice speaks: Call. What shall I call? All flesh is hay, and all its goodness is as a flower of the field. The hay withers, the flower fades." And again, "Zion, you preacher, get up on a high mountain, lift up your voice with power; Jerusalem, you preacher, lift up and fear not; say to the cities of Judah, Behold, there is your GOOD! For, behold, the Lord HE comes mightily, and his arm shall rule." For he that shall preach both these things, that all men are as hay, and that God alone reigneth, must have strong courage: for man will not be hay in his ways, neither will he despise that which he doeth and loveth. Now these two things are truly the ministry of John, which the prophet Isaiah describes beautifully in these words. The first is to prepare the way for the Lord, that is, to teach that man is nothing but hay; the other is to show the Lord and the Lamb of God; or in short, to show man himself and God, so that man may know himself and God; for John's ministry teaches knowledge of himself and God, as follows.
18. John confirms his office by the
This is the teaching of Isaiah, that no one should undertake anything of his own accord, especially in public office and the service of the church, unless he proves it with a saying or example from Scripture. St. Anthony also teaches his followers that no one should take on a particular life or work according to his own sense and conceit, but should take something from Scripture and follow it. But what is happening in the Church now? Everyone, especially the superiors, do what they want out of their own desire, and, as they say, in good opinion, which, however, is without foundation in Scripture. John would not have anything said of him unless it was founded in Scripture and prophesied of him beforehand. By this we are instructed that we should always arm ourselves with the weapons of the Scriptures, not with the statutes of men, dreams and vain doctrines that now rule by force, whether in overcoming our enemies or in teaching our friends kindly:
And those who were sent were of the Pharisees.
This sect of the Pharisees was the better part of the Jewish people. But may someone ask why the evangelist reports this? Perhaps this was done to show John's steadfastness, who would not be moved by such great and holy men, who might stir up the whole nation against him with a word, and were already puffing themselves up against John, defying their prestige and authority, as the text says:
And they asked him, saying unto him, Why baptizest thou then, seeing thou art not a Christian, nor Elias, nor a prophet?
(20) Behold, what a puffed-up court! how their words of flattery are turned into threats! how the fancied humility is so quickly changed into arrogance, and wipes out what had long lain hidden! So would it have happened to him if he had consented to the first temptation; for as soon as they had drawn him to themselves, they would have despised him. Learn to be on your guard against men, especially at the time when they are flattering you with great deception.
greet with courage. Take heed of the words of Christ Matth. 10, 16: "Beware of men. Be wise as serpents, and without guile as doves"; that is, do not believe flatterers, and do not repay evil to your enemies. So then the meaning of these words is: "Since we understand that you are neither Christ, nor Elijah, nor a prophet, we note that we are your authorities who govern the people of God according to the Law of Moses, and therefore you should do nothing without our permission and commandment. How then are you alone such a rebellious heretic, disturber of the peace, and establish a new usage without our advice and consent? By what power and sacrilegious authority do you baptize? Shouldn't you have asked us about this earlier? You are worthy that we punish you according to our authority; you would have the devil, that you alone would rebel and revolt against us, and if you do not soon desist from your baptizing and new use, then it will go badly for you and perhaps become too difficult. See how these flatterers, who at first gently persuaded John and wanted to accept him for Christ, now immediately destroy his baptism and intend to turn him away from his pretensions by threatening him. But John, who was not a reed moved by the wind, nor softly clothed, as he despised their flattery, so he despised their threats. Follows:
John answered them and said: I baptize with water. But he is come in the midst of you, whom ye know not; he is he that shall come after me, who was before me, that I am not worthy to loose his latchet.
21 First, it seems as if something is left out of these words, that the speech is entirely in this way, or the following: I baptize with water, but he is come in the midst of you, who shall baptize you with fire, whom ye know not etc. So Lucas writes Cap. 3, 16: "I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire"; and Acts 1, 5: "John baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost." Although John enough-
sam indicates that another baptism will come, saying that he baptizes with water until another comes after him, that he will not baptize with water.
22 This is a harsh answer of John to such a hopeful threatening question: they provided a mild, fearful answer to their boastful words. But John also punished their ignorance, because they did not know him by whose authority he baptized with water. As if he wanted to say: Therefore I baptize with water, because there comes one after me, who is greater than I, on whose future I baptize, whose authority and command is enough for me, although I have neither authority nor permission from you. If you knew him, you would not thus set yourselves against me and flourish; for he has been before me, and I am not worthy to undo his shoe laces. Do you not think that I have enough command, who came from him and for his sake? Learn him beforehand and believe me just a little, and you will soon understand why I baptize without your permission.
(23) The words, "He is the one who will come after me, who was before me," are understood in two ways. First, the teachers of the several parts agree that John said Christ would come after him, not according to birth (although this is also true), but according to the time when John began to preach. For it is written in Acts 1, 22: "Jesus began from the baptism of John." Which he also indicates in Matth. 11, 3, when John sends two of his disciples to Christ and asks him, "Are you the one who is to come?" since without a doubt Christ had already come into the flesh. And in this place John says, "But He has come in the midst of you, whom you do not know"; by this he means that He has already come into the flesh and yet will come after Him.
(24) But that Christ was before John, some would understand of his divinity. But what would he do with this testimony if he said that Christ was before him, because he was before all creatures? It is also not similar to the truth that John immediately revealed the mystery of Christ's divinity to the simple.
He wanted to give understanding and interpretation. And even if he had wanted to do this, how could he have presented it subtly to the hard-believing and stubborn Jews, to whom he should have said roughly and clearly? Furthermore, how would it rhyme when John says that Christ will come after his sermon, since he says nothing either about his birth or Christ's birth and yet in one speech he immediately wanted to prefer him because of the birth? The difference of time must be understood as the same thing, so that Christ preached after John and yet also before John.
(25) And in this I like the opinion of those who say most simply that John speaks here only of the humanity of Christ, and says that Christ will preach after him, and yet is before him in his worthiness; so that John praised Christ, that he should be received more worthily than he. As we also commonly speak, when we see a young man gifted with good understanding and art; who, though he shall follow us in the ministry of teaching, yet was he before us, not according to the ministry, but according to the gifts required for the ministry. Therefore, since Christ was ordained to the preaching ministry from the beginning, full of grace and truth, who would give what John was not able to give, namely, grace, John rightly says, he was before me.
026 This opinion is supported by the fact that John does not say, "He who will come after me and preach has already come and preached;" but says, "He who will come after me was before me. For another is that one comes and preaches, another that one becomes a preacher, or is adorned with the gifts by which he is sent to preach. And accordingly the understanding is clear, when "that he should come" is referred to the office and performance, "having been" not to the nature, but to the person or constitution. Indeed, one must be rather fit for an office before he accepts and conducts the office. From this it follows that although John preached before Christ, he was only prepared for it after Christ. For only in the fifteenth year
The word of the Lord came to John during the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Lucas writes Cap. 3, 1. 2. But Christ was already sent to preach from his mother's womb. May this also be an understanding of the above speech, that Christ was made a preacher from his birth, but John only in his thirtieth year, and yet the first made preacher, Christ, preached late, and the second made preacher, John, preached before; that John assured the people of Christ, that he would come to preach, who was already here.
27 The word "been" is therefore well taken for the word "prepared," so that it indicates not only the time but also the worthiness of Christ before John. For Christ was not ordained to preach by the testimony of John, as John was ordained to preach by the testimony of the word of God, but by the testimony of His heavenly Father; as Christ says John 5:36: "I have a greater testimony than the testimony of John." And in the same sense is also understood the word that John says above: "He it is of whom I said that he would come after me" (that is, preach), "who was before me" (that is, he was skilled to preach), "because he was before me" (that is, he was a preacher before I was), also more worthy and better than I, although I began to preach sooner than he. The same is understood that follows: "This is he of whom I said, there cometh after me a man that was before me; for he was before me, and I knew him not." For these words are repeated three times in this chapter.
Now, the following words: "I am not worthy to untie his lace", some want to understand that John did not know how to reveal the mystery of the incarnation of Christ. But this is unnecessary; for the letter is clear, that John out of humility recognized the worthiness of Christ and wanted to indicate it with the lace. But what secret is in the words, will follow hereafter.
This happened in Bethany, on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29 Here the text is falsified, of it see Erasmum. It should stand for Bethania Bethabara or Bethabam; because Bethania is close to Jerusalem, as one reads Joh. 11, 18., not in the desert, where John stayed, and it is not necessary that some invent, of their own liking, a special Bethania beyond the Jordan, and allow themselves to invent something from distant things. Would someone ask: What moves the evangelist to name the city where this story happened? I think there is a secret behind it; but according to the letter, the city is named to confirm the story, namely, that this happened in a certain place in the presence of many people who could be witnesses against the blasphemy of the Jews, whether they wanted to pretend something else about John; as they then turned everything against him, so that they also said that he had the devil.
From the secret mind of history.
30 And first of all of the ministry of John. The voice of John in the wilderness is the evangelical preaching in the Christian church. Why it is called a voice and not a scripture, we have said before, namely, that a preacher should teach powerfully, freely and bravely, and not let anything go astray, neither fear, persecution, nor anything that might keep him from bearing fruit with his teaching.
(31) The voice is also heard in the wilderness, which some understand to mean among the heathen people, who, being far from the true worship of God, were far astray, forsaken, and barren. The opinion is good; but better sense is that the gospel voice is in the wilderness uninhabited by men, that it is set apart from Egypt and the tumult of the people; for the gospel does not agree with the world. And therefore John also did eat locusts and wild honey, and dwelt not in the houses of kings: for the courts of princes, and the habitation of men, may not be without flattery: because the world hateth the truth, and suffereth not the voice of the gospel to go forth freely, when it ought to be freely. And therefore the voice dwells
of the caller and evangelical trumpet not in the cities and assemblies, but in the desert.
(32) The ministry of John and the ministry of the gospel are also twofold: the one makes sinners, the other makes the righteous; the first indicates sin, the other grace. We will look at these two offices in John. To his first office belongs what is written of him Matth. 3, 1. 2.: "John came preaching the baptism of repentance, saying, Repent"; and as Isaiah Cap. 40, v. 6. says: "Preach. What shall I preach? All flesh is hay." He does not only say to some, "Repent"; for all flesh is hay, not only some flesh; and by this he punishes and reproves all men that they are sinners, and makes every one know himself that he is a sinner. And this is called preparing the way for the Lord. Those who humble themselves and recognize and confess their sin are already prepared for the way of Christ, to receive his glory and mercy. And when John says to all men: "Repent," he also makes all men sinners, leads them to the knowledge of themselves and humbles them. But from this arises envy and hatred; for the trusting Pharisees and scribes, who think themselves pure, do not believe John, and think they have no need of repentance, therefore they say, "He has the devil. But the tax collectors and harlots believe him, therefore they enter the kingdom of heaven sooner than those, Matth. 21, 31. John punishes this hopefulness of theirs, Luc. 3, 7, when he says: "You vipers, who will show you how to escape the wrath to come?" And lest they should boast of their repentance and righteousness, he says further to them, "Therefore do righteous fruits of repentance." As if to say, "You want to be righteous before all other men and rely on your own works; change this foolish opinion of yours, recognize yourselves as poor sinners, and do other and better fruits of repentance.
The same work is done by the gospel when it interprets the law spiritually, as Christ does in Matt. 5 and 6. For there is not a man alive in the world who is not accused against all the commandments of God, who is without God's commandments.
This is the spirit of freedom that Christ alone gives. Although the hypocrites deceive themselves and others miserably by the outward works of the commandments, they do not want to be hay nor evil, even like other people, for the sake of the appearance of their outward works. Therefore, to judge the way of the Lord, to prepare a people ready for the Lord, to teach repentance, to expose sin, to show man his misery, to lead him to the knowledge of himself, to interpret the law spiritually, and thereby to proclaim the wrath of God from heaven, humiliate, kill, lead to hell, break off, tear up, scatter, destroy, teach, all flesh is hay, and what is said in the Scriptures about the power of the Word of God, for the revelation and destruction of sins: Is all one, and belongs to the first ministry of John; for humility prepares men for grace, as St. Peter says 1 Ep. 5, 5. "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble." And this humility is a foreign work of God, so that he may work his own work. To which humility only the hopeful resist, especially those who flourish in the wisdom and righteousness of works; therefore they alone, as they do not accept John, so they also do not accept Christ, and never take hold of the mercy of God.
34) To the other and last ministry of John belongs that which is said in Matth. 3, 2: "The kingdom of heaven is at hand"; item: "Behold, this is the Lamb of God who bears the sin of the world", Joh. 1, 36; and that he says here: "He is the one who will come after me, the one who was before me, of whom I am not worthy" etc.And Isa. 40, 9: "Tell the cities of Judah, behold, there is your God"; for it is not enough that we humble ourselves and that we are shown the evil, if we are not shown the good, by which we are delivered from the evil. This happens when he shows Christ to the humble and those who recognize their sin, through whom they are saved from their sins; who, when he comes, finds sinners with whom he walks and makes them righteous. This is also what the gospel does when it proclaims peace and forgiveness of sins in Christ; Luc. 24, 46, 47: "So Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead.
The third day he died, and preached repentance and remission of sins in his name. Note: To preach repentance is that all men are sinners, and forgiveness of sins is that we are justified in Christ. Paul does this beautifully to Romans Cap. 3, where he confounds all under sin, and presents to all men Christ, who justifies by faith,
(35) So John and the gospel are one doctrine and one work, namely, to humble the proud and to exalt the humble, to make hungry those who are satisfied and to fill the hungry with good things. But because this is not by outward effect, but by word and preaching, it is only a voice and not a thing. But Christ is the thing that worketh and giveth that which John and the gospel preach. So you see that John is in the middle between Christ and Moses, between grace and the law, between the Old and New Testament, because he reveals them both, enlightens them and connects them together. The law requires grace, so grace does the law; but none is known, neither what the law requires, nor what grace does, unless the voice of John comes between them, and the shining and burning light, by explaining the law, kindles the knowledge of sinners, and by showing grace kindles a desire for the forgiveness of sins; as a good physician who first shows the disease and gives medicine. Neither Moses nor any prophet ever did this, but only prophesied how it should be indicated in the future.
This is also what he means by his baptism in water, and he carries out in the figure of the work what he teaches in the Word. For what is baptizing with water but to increase the cold, and as it seems, to do that which is contrary to fire? Thus, when the law is taught, sin, which is contrary to grace, increases and grows; Rom. 5:20: "The law came in beside, that sin might increase," that is, the true knowledge of sins humbles a man, that he even despairs of himself, and gives him to
understand how far he is from grace or from the fire of the Spirit; and yet, the more he recognizes sin, the closer is grace. This is a beautiful figure of Elijah, 1 Kings 18:33 ff. (in whose spirit John came), when he poured water three times over the bull and the wood, until the water ran around the altar into the pit and filled it; and immediately after, as he prayed, fire fell from heaven and consumed the bull with the wood and the water; then they knew that the Lord was God. So here, too, water baptism is understood to be the teaching of the law, which increases sin to the point of despair, and yet, because man is driven to the future Christ, who baptizes with fire, it prepares man more for grace, which destroys all sin. Then the Lord is rightly recognized, and the prophets of Baal (that is, the false teachers of the law) are killed, and immediately there follows a sound of rain (that is, an abundance of evangelical teaching), as is illustrated there.
37 Now behold what the interpreter of the law and preacher of grace encounters from those who are the wisest, holiest and most powerful among the people, namely, the priests, Levites and Pharisees. First of all, they try to force the gospel upon their minds, and confirm with it their works, their ceremonies, their practices, which they recommend to the people, as some papal decrees and vain statutes of men try to do, depriving the gospel of its power and right understanding. But the gospel remains none the less constant in its meaning, and cannot be changed, which many have attempted to do with their allegories, tropologies, anagogies, and similar foolish things; that I may conceal what they have evidently counterfeited according to the flesh and the mind of men; that they may rule by law and their works among the people of Christ, as the Pharisees wished to rule by John. For there would be no ecclesiastical tyranny in the church, if the voice of John, that is, the gospel, were to prevail, and the statutes of men were not. But since they do not shake John and do not have the gospel for themselves, what do they do? For
After the destruction of the gospel, they put the pagan master Aristotle and human decree in his place, and thus beheaded the captive John with Herod, as is in view at this time. For since the messengers to John could not dissuade him with sweet words from convicting sinners, they finally became quite mad and nonsensical, and said: What baptizeest thou? Stop punishing us! Our works are righteous and our canons holy; if you do not keep them, you are a heretic and must die. Does not this happen daily, and has it always happened, through our priests, Levites and Pharisees, who themselves do not know Him who is in their midst? But why do they not know him? Because they have no regard for the baptism of John, and have no need of repentance, who are accustomed to teach their statutes to other people.
38 So that you may understand everything more clearly, we want to give some instruction to the preachers and pastors of the people for the sake of the following words, so that they may better understand them, how they should conduct themselves when they speak the word of faith and good works, and beware of the dangers of ceremonies. And will set three orders of works, three generations of doctrine, equal to three kinds of baptism. The first and outermost order is, as it were, the forecourt of the temple, which is almost wide, where habits, outward church rites, and statutes of men are taught. This forecourt is described in the spiritual law and in the statutes of the monasteries, and stands in external bodily things, as there are: Houses, dishes, clothes and members of the body. For example, that it is a greater sin to do something bad in church than in one's house or in the church; item, that one does not cook, eat, drink or act in church. The liberties of the holy place serve this purpose, and from this it has arisen that it is a sin to touch the altar cloths, chalice and other priestly utensils; and it shall be an abominable sin for a priest to say mass without a plate, without a stole, chasuble, chasuble and other appurtenances, or if he stammers in the canon, staggers or speaks loudly. There is an innumerable number of these things, neither of Christ.
nor commanded to his apostles; since it is to be diligently observed that such outward ceremonies be distinguished from the commandments of God, that we may encounter the perverse nature which fills and mimics the whole world today.
(39) Therefore a prudent preacher should be careful to see that these outward things are regarded more highly than Christ's commandment; that he may preach against them with all his might, that he may form a right judgment in the people, and sacrifice to Christ clean animals that cleave the hoofs. As if he sees a priest cursing, swearing, being hopeful, angry, stingy, fornicating, or practicing other vices forbidden by Christ, without much care and correction; and the same priest, on the other hand, is frightened and pale when he says mass without a pole, or stammers in the Canon, or omits other such outward church rites: Let him punish him severely for it, and destroy his foolish holiness, and with many words let him say, as much as he is able, how much lesser sin it is, if he says mass on a common table, with unwashed hands, without a chasuble, without all the preparatory ceremonies, and without all that is commanded by men, than if he swears only once, and offends his neighbor, or does not show him good; that he may be a hundred times more conscience-stricken about God's commandment than if he neglects man's commandment; and if he feels no remorse about it, or less, that he knows he is a perverse hypocrite, and angers God more with his perverse conscience than if he reconciles him.
40 The apostle calls these consciences marked with a brand, that is, fabricated and forced; which are not right nor pure. Such consciences are now found all over the world. We see that the priests are the most miserly, do no good to anyone, nor serve in Christian love, yet have no conscience because of such great sin; but where they offend in the Canon, or call a child, if the need requires it, help God, how are they afraid of this in their conscience? Therefore, a preacher against such foolish, free and ungodly consciences should
Preach with diligence, and teach the people rightly what a rightly grieved conscience is; that they learn to regard the outward ceremonies as the least, even as nothing, if they have not first taken God's commandment into consideration; for God is angered by no thing more than by such human statutes and narrow consciences; as Christ speaks Matt. 15:7, 8, 9: "Ye hypocrites, Esaias hath prophesied of you, saying: This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they serve me, because they teach such doctrine as is nothing but the commandment of men." There you see clearly that the doctrine of men and statutes are in vain, and not to be held for worship where the heart is far from God; what could be said more clearly?
There is no thing in which a preacher should be more watchful than to form a right judgment in the people, that they may rightly discern such outward ceremonies; as we also see that St. Paul did no thing more diligently than this. For who would not be astonished if he saw that a woman had a great conscience when she touched an altar cloth or the chalice, since she had no conscience when she let herself be touched by men, or looked at them unchastely and talked with them, or was otherwise talkative, angry, proud, and given to other vices in which she had very little conscience? If a child or a simple person touches the holy sacrament of the altar with his hands, it is a terrible sin that his flesh should be cut off so that he has touched it; and we do not want to know that it is not a sin if a layman touches it with his tongue, lip and gullet; but if a person steals or otherwise transgresses a commandment of God, he is punished very little or not at all. Where does this nonsense come from, other than that the devil falsely makes men have a great conscience in small matters, but does not make them have a conscience in righteous, serious matters?
The other order is: After the outward church ordinances are rightly shown and understood, that they have been wisely compared with the commandments of God, that the man
Know that righteousness in them means more than is given, if we do not diligently practice God's commandments: it is better to lead the people into the inner and nearer circle, than out of the outer court into the middle court of the temple, called the holy, that is, from the commandments of men to the commandments of God. Let the preacher diligently take heed that he alone teaches the commandments of God to the people, for which he has been called. And this is where the office of John begins, namely, that he teaches the law. For the teaching of outward ceremonies belongs neither to the office of John nor to the New Testament; although they are to be practiced for the sake of the young people, yet so far that, as was said above, erroneous consciences, which have a brand, do not come out of them, and the whole service is in vain; as Christ says. Now in this other circle one should teach fear of God, love, peace, kindness, humility, patience, longsuffering, gentleness, and other fruits of the spirit, which are commanded in the Ten Commandments, and punish against pride, unchastity, anger, hatred, and other works of the flesh; for these good and evil fruits and works are not in houses, garments, vessels, skin, and flesh, as the ceremonies, but inwardly in the senses, powers, and marrow of the heart.
(43) This is to be taught, that we do not leave works alone, for that would also be a gluttony; but that we perform the fruits of the spirit with all our heart and refrain from the works of the flesh. As if a virgin remains pure against her will, so that she knows that she has to expect reward for her chastity not from God but from men, and her work is nothing but hypocrisy and a lamp of foolish virgins without oil. Then I fear that at this time many of the best priests, clergymen, nuns, respectable women and virgins, item, many of the most respectable laymen are caught up in this vice, all of whom walk in good works, praying, fasting, chastity, not cursing nor offending anyone; but do all this out of fear of hell and enmity against the law, that if there were no law and they were therefore not punished, they would
would do freely, as other wicked men do. To teach such is to teach the law rightly, and to urge all to repentance, all guilty, and to show how everything is sin that is not done out of a good heart and willingly; for the law wants to be fulfilled with a willing heart, and God hates the servants of wages, seeks free, willing and cheerful givers, who serve Him without all need and compulsion, only out of a willing heart; to whom again He bestows and gives the kingdom of heaven, not out of duty, but out of pure goodness.
(44) If a preacher does this office well and diligently as he ought, he will find how few are the pious, and how many hypocrites are in the world, that even in such good works and hypocrisy perish the best men, and those who have a good reputation for piety; of whom the wise man saith, Ecclesiastes 8:10: "I saw the wicked buried, which walked and walked in the holy place, as though they had the works of the righteous. No one corrupts more in outward ceremonies than the grossly ignorant people, who also never quite understand what good works are; but here the fat ones in Israel are slain, and their elect prevented. What a terrible sight it is that these saints of works are lost, who are otherwise wise and pious, because they think they can do enough for the law of God with works, and as if the law was given so that they should fulfill it with such works. This man's righteousness is called toil and labor in Scripture, Psalm 9, and in many other places. As Christ says Matth. 7, 22, 23: "Many will say to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? Have we not cast out devils in your name? Have we not done many deeds in your name? Then I will confess to them: Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity." Therefore a preacher must be diligent to root out confidence in these works, and teach that if they do not learn to do better works, they must be eternally condemned with their works; and that thus by the law and by the first ministry of John he will make all men sinners.
I want to make them humble and ready to learn what to do next.
(45) After all these follows the last order, which ought to be the first, teaching the doctrine of faith; for therefore the outward ceremonies and the good works of the law are rejected, that the more freely and fruitfully faith may be taught at the first. As we read in the second book of Moses, that first of all the works of the Most Holy must be done, then the works of the middle court, and last of all the works of the outer court: but first the outer court was broken off, then the middle, and last of all the Most Holy. The Holy Spirit thus indicated: that first of all faith and the gospel are to be taught, since God alone works; that after that the works of faith are to be taught and performed correctly; and that last of all, if faith and works are kept correctly beforehand, external church rites and customs are to be taught without harm and danger. But if one wants to refute these, one needs the contradiction, and first the ceremonies must be destroyed, as long as they are still without works; then also the works must be done away with, if they are done without faith; and in the end also faith will be done away with, as St. Paul speaks 1 Cor. 13, 10. and Cap. 15, 54.: "If this mortal will put on immortality", and only love will remain.
46 Therefore, the first and highest work of a preacher is to teach faith, and with John 1:36, to show "the Lamb of God who bears the sin of the world. Thus the apostle says in 2 Cor. 3:6 that we are ministers of the Spirit and not of the letter. For faith in Christ is God's gift, which is obtained and deserves to receive the Holy Spirit; when one has obtained this, the heart becomes joyful, glad and willing, so that it does and suffers all things willingly, not out of fear of hell, nor out of desire for reward, but out of pure goodwill toward God, having a sweet love for Him, because it feels that so many and great things are freely given to it in Christ, so that it is ready to die also, and to be saved in the Lord.
surrenders to all the will of God. This will, born of faith and spirit and created according to God, does right good works, and performs the outward church-giving deeds in a right way, uses them freely, and knows that righteousness is not in them, nor in the works, but in faith and good will; as St. Paul says Rom. 1, 17: "The righteous man is a righteous man.
live by his faith"; and Rom. 10, 10: "If one believes from the heart, he is righteous. Without which faith neither ceremonies nor works help. On the other hand, there is no harm in those who work in faith, if they slacken a little; for there all is free. Of this faith we have said and, if God wills, will say much more; for the Gospel throughout the year teaches nothing else.