Matth. 11, 25-30.
At that time Jesus answered and said: I praise you, Father and Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to babes. Yes, Father, for it has been well pleasing in your sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father. And no one knows the Son but the Father; and no one knows the Father but the Son, and to whom the Son wills to reveal it. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
(1) This is a beautiful gospel, and has many things in it; but we will speak of it now in part, as much as we can, and God gives grace. The Lord praises and glorifies his heavenly Father here that he has hidden these things from the wise and prudent, that is, that he has not made known the holy gospel to the wise and prudent, but has revealed it to children and young men who cannot speak and preach, nor are prudent and wise. Hereby he showed that he was hostile to the wise and prudent, and had pleasure and love for those who were not wise and prudent, but were like young children.
(2) But this is spoken very loudly and annoyingly before the world, that God should be so hostile to the wise and thus condemn them, since we think that God cannot rule, that he must have wise and prudent people to do so. But it has this opinion: The wise and prudent in the world make it so that God cannot be favorable or good to them; for they have the heartache, make it in the Christian church as they themselves want it, everything that God does and makes, they must improve, so that no poorer, lesser, contemptible disciple is not on earth than God: he must be the disciple of all, everyone wants to be his schoolmaster and
*Why Luther chose the text of St. Matthew's Day (Feb. 24) instead of the Sunday Gospel is not clear from the sermon. - Cf. Jen. A. VIII, 305; Mtenb. A. VIII, 527; Leupz. A. XII, 425; Erl. A. b 561 D. Red
Preceptor. This is seen in all heretics from the beginning of the world. Arius and Pelagius, and now in our time the Anabaptists and Sacramentarians, and all heretics and leaders, are not satisfied with what God has done and instituted, cannot let it remain as He has ordered it, think they must also do something, so that they are something better before other people, and can boast: I have done this; it is too bad and small, yes, too childish and foolish, what God does and establishes, I must do something about it.
This is the nature of shameful wisdom on earth, especially in the Christian church, where one bishop picks on another, one priest on another, and one hinders and pushes the other; as one has always experienced in the church regime with great harm. These are the true masters, of whom Christ speaks here, who bridle the horse in the butt, and do not want to stay on the path that God Himself has presented to us; but always have and must do something special, so that the people say afterwards: "Well, there is nothing wrong with our pastor or preacher, this is the right man, he will do it. But isn't it annoying, and shouldn't God be impatient about it? Should he be very pleased with those who are too clever and wise for him and always want to lead him to school? as in the same chapter
Then follows (v. 19): "Wisdom must be justified by her own children." It is a fine thing when the egg wants to be wiser than the hen; it must be a beautiful mastery when the children want to rule their father and mother, the fools and fools wise people. Behold, this is the cause that the wise and prudent are everywhere condemned in the Scriptures.
4 The pope also did the same. When Christ confirmed and instituted the ministry of preaching and the sacrament of his body and blood, as Christians should use it* to strengthen and fortify their faith, the pope cried out: No, no, it must not be so, it is not wisely done; for his decree says that it is not fine that the sacrament should be administered to strengthen the faith of Christians, but it must be a sacrifice when the priest says mass for the living and the dead; as when a merchant wants to travel overland, he should first have mass said for him, and then he will be blessed etc.
5 Thus, that God has instituted baptism is a small thing to the pope, and was soon lost and powerless with him; on the other hand, he makes his disciples who wear caps and plates, who must help the world with their orders and monasticism, so that whoever enters such an order has a new and better vesture, through which not only he, but also other people, where they want to be saved, will be helped. This is the wisdom and prudence of the pope. Thus it is with our Lord God in the world that everything he establishes and ordains must be perverted, blasphemed and defiled by the devil and his own, and yet the world thinks that God should be pleased with such things and let them be good, that any fool should want to master and rule him.
(6) In worldly affairs and government, it is true, as Aristotle also writes, that some men are gifted with great wisdom and understanding, and are not common men; as God often gives a fine, high, understanding man, who with wisdom and counsel might serve lands and people: but such flee from business, and it is difficult to bring them to government. But
After that, there are others who want to be and do and yet cannot do it; in the secular regiment, they are called wise men and masters. They are very much scolded, and one is also a real enemy of them, and everyone has to complain that one can't get along with fools anywhere; they are not useful for anything, except that they only bring in hair. That is why people say of them: Has the devil thrown fools at us? And Aristotle, who saw in the regiment that there are few right, competent people for government, makes a distinction between right wise men and prudent men, and others, whom he calls δόξα, i.e., opinione sua sapientes, who make themselves believe that they are wise and prudent; just as one says in German: Der Dünkel macht den Tanz gut. These think that because they sit in the regiment and lead a high person, they must be wise; and such a fool in the council hinders the others, so that they cannot get on with any things; for he wants to be wise in the devil's name by force, and yet he is a fool.
(7) If, then, one is justly hostile to such in the secular government, who want to be wise, and yet are not: much more are these peevish people, whom both God and men justly resent, who want to be wise in the holy Christian church, and are not; for these hinder the preaching ministry, so that people cannot come to God. As there have been in our time Munchers and the Sacramentarians, who hinder and prevent the Gospel from running its course, deceive the people, thinking that they alone are wise and prudent, because they sit in the office and regiment of the church.
So the pope also wants to be a very wise man, yes, the very wisest, just because he sits high and pretends to be the head of the church; so that the devil inflates him in such a way that he thinks what he is only allowed to do and say is vain divine wisdom, and everyone must accept and follow it, and no one should ask further whether it is God's word or not. As he may impudently say in his great book of fools: It is not to be assumed that such a sovereignty (as he wants to be) can err etc. So also emperors, kings, cardinals, because they sit high, they think that they cannot err nor miss.
nen. Caiphas also had such wisdom when he went to counsel with the Jews: Ye rude fools, ye have no heads, ye know and understand nothing: is it not better that one man should die, than that the whole nation should perish? Joh. 11, 49. 50. This was wise counsel, that it was better for one man to die than for the whole nation to perish. But how did this counsel go forth? By this very means he caused the whole land to perish and perish. This is what all such wise men do in the Christian church and in the secular government.
(9) This is why the Lord Christ says here that he is hostile to the wise men, that he does not want to suffer them in his Christian church; they are called emperors, kings, princes, doctors, who master his divine word and rule with their own wisdom in the great matters of faith and our salvation. We ourselves have experienced many such examples in a short time, that such clever ones took upon themselves to bring about unification or reformation, so that there would be unity in the Christian church; and brought this to the market with delicious pretenses, saying: So and so the emperor, the kings, princes and lords should do it; so one could help countries and people and create much good in Christendom. But what one achieves and creates by such own suggestions and cleverness, one can well see.
(10) Most of all, and always, such wisdom and prudence has driven the pope and the cardinals, who wanted to be God's masters and govern Christianity themselves. But God does not want to suffer this: He does not want to be a disciple, they should be disciples. He is the eternal wisdom and knows well what he wants to do or not to do. They think that because they sit at the top of the regiment, they are the smartest, they see deeper into the Scriptures than other people; that is why God overthrows them horribly, because he does not want to and cannot and should not suffer it. And so the gospel remains hidden from the high and the wise, and governs his church much differently than they think and understand, even though they make themselves believe that they know and understand everything, and because they sit in the government, God cannot advise them and govern them.
(11) And though it seems as if he were speaking enviously, saying thus, "I thank thee, O heavenly Father," yet there was no envy or hatred in his heart; for if he had given himself life and limb for us, how could there be any envy? But the displeasure and unwillingness comes from the fact that the miserable foolish people want to master the divine majesty; he cannot and should not suffer that either, and all pious hearts thank him for it; for otherwise there would be no end to the licking and mastering. The devil drives people to seek a high name, praise and honor from the Holy Scriptures and God's Word, and to be more than other people. But we should say here: Dear Heavenly Father, speak, I will gladly be a fool and a child, and keep silent; for if I should lead the regiment from my own wit, wisdom and reason, the cart would have long since stagnated in the mud and the ship would have long since gone to pieces! Therefore, dear God, govern and lead it yourself, I will gladly gouge out my eyes, put my reason to it and let you rule by your word alone.
(12) But this cannot be obtained from the world; the spirits of the mob rise up for it, seeking nothing else in the bottom, but that they may have great honor among the people, that it may be said of them, This is the right man, he will do it; and that they may also tickle and boast themselves with such fame: You have done this, this is your work, you are the good man, the right master, that is not good for all dogs.
(13) For true preachers should teach God's word diligently and faithfully, and seek His glory and praise alone. In the same way, the listeners should say: I do not believe in my pastor; but he tells me about another Lord, whose name is Christ, whom he shows me, whose mouth I will look at, and if he leads me to the same right Master and Preceptor, God's Son. So it would stand right in the church and be called well governed, and unity would remain everywhere; otherwise there would always be displeasure, as is also common in the world's government. And how a city council would not like to have such a fool, who often makes the whole city go astray?
but thrusts him out, and the whole land rejoices: so it shall be in the Christian church, that none shall be preached or taught, but the Son of God; of whom alone it is said, Matt. 3:17, "This is my beloved Son, him shall ye hear," and no other man, whether he be emperor, pope, or cardinal.
14 Therefore we say thus: I let it happen that emperor, king, pope, cardinal, princes and lords are wise and prudent; but I will believe in Christ, who is my Lord, whom God has called my name, and I will learn from him what is true divine wisdom and prudence. Then cries the pope, and all that is attached to him, No, no, thou shalt not do such things; thou shalt be obedient to the authorities, and do what we command thee. Yes, I say, this I shall do; but first be thou one with the Lord, who saith here, All things are delivered unto me of my Father" etc. Therefore, dear pope, emperor, king, lord and prince, do not proceed thus: I will gladly hear thee in temporal government; but that thou wilt sit in Christendom as a lord, and have authority to conclude what I shall believe and do, that I will not accept; for thou wilt be wise and prudent in the place where thou art a fool, and it is not revealed unto thee. For here is the Lord, whom alone is to be heard in these things; as he also saith here, "No man knoweth the Father, but the Son, and to whom the Son will reveal him": these are the foolish and simple, who know themselves neither wise nor prudent, but hear and accept his word. Now if it is his word that you hold up to me and command me, I will gladly accept it, even if it is spoken by a young child, or even by the donkey that spoke to Balaam, and I will not make any distinction here between the person who speaks it, whether he is wise or a fool; for it is to be said, and it is decided: All things are delivered unto me; I am the man that shall teach and rule alone, in spite of all the wise and prudent, who shall blind their eyes, and use their reason.
For our wisdom and prudence in divine matters is the eye that the devil opened for us in paradise, when Adam and Eve also wanted to be wise in the devil's name. God had taught them Himself, and His
The devil comes and makes it better, closing their eyes, because they did not see God, so that they could not see the devil. This is the plague that still clings to us, that we want to be wise and prudent in the name of the devil.
(16) But against this we are to learn what it is: "All things are given unto me," that is, I am to rule, teach, counsel, ordain, and command in my church. And herewith he publicly confesses that he is truly God; for no angel nor any creature has this glory, that everything is given to him. The devil once wanted to sit in the chair and be like God, but he was soon cast out of heaven. Therefore Christ says: "All things have been given to me", that is, to me, to me one should obey. If you have my word, keep it, and do not look at anyone who teaches you differently or is called anything else; I will govern you well, protect you and save you; let the pope, the emperor, the mighty be learned and wise, but do not follow them, even if they are a thousand times more and all much wiser. Do not do that, which no angel in heaven is allowed to do, so that he would underline himself in the rule and power to be wise himself, or to rule and reign in God's regiment; and yet the wretched poor people, popes, emperors, kings and all the tribes, are not afraid to presume such things; but God has set His Son at the right hand, and said, Ps. 2, 7. 8.: Thou art my Son, unto thee have I given all nations and all the earth for my own etc.; whom ye kings and lords, if ye will be wise, shall hear, and do homage unto him as your Lord, and know what he hath said unto you, that I may tell you.
(17) We Christians should learn and recognize this (even if the world does not want to) and also be grateful to God (as Christ Himself here happily thanks His heavenly Father) that He has blessed and given us so abundantly that we can hear Him for ourselves. In former times we would have run to the end of the world, if we had known a place where we could have heard God speak; but this is not seen, that we now hear such things daily in sermons, yes, all books are full of them. You hear it at home; father and mother-
ter, children sing and say about it; the preacher in the parish talks about it: there you should raise your hands and be glad that we have come to the honors of hearing God speak to us through His Word.
18 O, they say: What is this? they preach every day, and often one day many times, so that one is almost tired of hearing it. What have we more of it? Go on, dear brother; if you do not like God to speak to you daily at home in your house and in your parish church, then be wise and look for another. In Trier is the skirt of our Lord God, in Aachen are Joseph's pants and our dear women's shirts; run there, spend your money and buy indulgences and the Pabst's Treudelmarkt: that is a delicious thing, that is why one had to run far and spend a lot of money and leave house and yard.
(19) Are we not mad and foolish, blinded and possessed by the devil? There sits the idiot of Rome with his bag of tricks, and lures all the world to him with their money and goods, when every man should run to his baptism, sacrament, and preaching seat; for we are honored and blessed highly enough, that we know that God speaks with us and feeds us with his word, gives us his baptism, key etc. But there the crude godless people say against it: What baptism, sacrament, God's word! Joseph's pants, that thuns! This is the devil in the world, that the high persons, emperors, kings, do not respect such things, and allow themselves to be so grossly deceived and fooled by the arch-robbers and liars, the pope and his platitudes and pimps, and throw their filth all over themselves. But we shall hear the word of God, that he is our schoolmaster, and know nothing of Joseph's breeches, or of Pabst's foolish work etc.
(20) This is the first part of the gospel, how Christ and God the Father Himself is hostile to the wise and prudent, for they also do Him great displeasure. They tear up the sacraments and the church, and put themselves in his place, wanting to be masters themselves; all the angels in heaven and all the Christians on earth are hostile to them, and they should say to them: "If you want to teach me Christ, I will gladly listen to you, otherwise not, and if you are a
Angel from heaven; as St. Paul says Gal. 1, 8: Si quis aliud evangelium docuerit, etc. Whether the great lords, emperor, pope, cardinal, and bishops are hostile to us, put us under ban, and would like to burn and murder us all, we must suffer this, and say: For the sake of pope, bishop, and prince, do not let them. Christ says, "Come unto me, ye that labor." As if he also wanted to say, "Stick to me, stay with my word, and let go of whatever goes; if you are burned or beheaded because of it, have patience, I will make it so sweet for you that you will be able to bear it.
21) As it is written about the virgin St. Agnes, when she was led to the dungeon and was to be killed, it was as if she was going to dance. Where did this come from? From this Christ alone, through the faith of this word, which he says here: "Come to me, all you who are troubled, and I will give you rest. If you are in trouble, I will give you courage, and you shall laugh; and the torment shall not be so great unto you, neither shall the devil be so wicked: though ye walk on coals of fire, yet shall it seem unto you as though ye walked on roses. I will give you the heart to laugh when the Turk, the pope, the emperor, etc. are angry and raging in the most dreadful way; only come to me. If you have a burden, death or torture, if the prince, the Turk or the emperor attacks you, do not be afraid; it shall not be heavy for you to bear, but light and gentle; for I give the spirit that such a burden, which would be unbearable to the world, shall become a light burden to you.
22 For then it is said, if you suffer for my sake, "my yoke" and "my burden," which I lay on you with grace, that you may know that such suffering is pleasing to God and to me, and that I myself help you to bear it and give you strength and power. As also the 25th and 27th Psalm v. 14 says: "Be of good cheer, all you who wait for the Lord," that is, you who suffer for His sake: your own misfortune, sin, death, and what the devil and the world put before you, let everything run and storm against you; but if you only remain of good cheer and undaunted with your waiting and waiting for the Lord through faith, then you have already won, and have escaped death.
run, far superior to the devil and the world.
23 Behold, this is called rejecting the wives of the world, that we may learn, not to be wise in our own eyes, and to put away from our sight all high persons, and to shut up our eyes unto evil, and to keep the word of Christ, and to come unto him, as he doth most kindly entice us, saying, Thou only art my dear Lord and Master, and I am thy disciple. This and much more could be said about this gospel, but I am too weak, we will leave it at that.
An admonition against the Jews.
1. Now that I have been here for some time and have preached to you, and now have to go home and perhaps no longer want to preach to you, I hereby want to bless you and have asked that you diligently stay with the word that your preachers and pastors faithfully teach you about the grace of God, and that you also get used to praying that God will protect you from all wise men and wise men who despise the teaching of the gospel; for they have often done much harm and still want to do so.
(2) Above others, you also have the Jews in the land, who are doing great harm. Now let us deal with them in a Christian way, and offer them the Christian faith, that they may accept the Messiah, who is their cousin, born of their flesh and blood, and the true seed of Abraham, of whom they boast; although I am concerned that the Jewish blood has now become watery and wild. This you shall first offer them, that they may turn to the Messiah and be baptized, that it may be seen that they are in earnest; if not, we will not suffer them. For Christ commands us to be baptized and to believe in him. Even though we cannot believe as strongly as we should, God is patient with us.
3 Now it is so with the Jews, that they blaspheme and profane our Lord Jesus Christ daily. Because they do this, and we know, we shall not suffer it.
For if I should suffer him with me that profaneth, blasphemeth, and curseth my Lord Christ, I make myself partaker of other men's sins, when I have enough of mine own sins. Therefore you masters should not suffer them, but drive them away. But if they repent, forsake their usury, and accept Christ, we will gladly hold them as our brethren.
4 It will not be otherwise, for they make it too great. They are our public enemies, they do not stop blaspheming our Lord Christ, they call the Virgin Mary a whore, Christ a whore child, they call us changelings or calves, and if they could kill us all, they would gladly do it. And they often do, especially those who pretend to be doctors, even though they help at times; for the devil helps to seal it up in the end. So they can also do the medicine, as one can in the woods, because one teaches a poison, from which he must die in an hour, in a month, in a year, yes, in ten or twenty years. They can do the art.
005 Therefore be ye not sworn with them, as with them that do no other thing among you, but to blaspheme our dear Lord Jesus Christ, after our life, limb, honor, and estate. We still want to practice Christian love toward them, and pray for them that they will convert and accept the Lord, whom they should honor before us. Whoever will not do this, let there be no doubt that he is a wicked Jew who will not cease to blaspheme Christ, to suck you dry and (where he can) to kill you.
6. Therefore, I beg you, do not make yourselves a party to other people's sins; you have enough to ask God to be merciful to you and to keep your regiment; As I still pray daily, and shelter myself under the umbrella of the Son of God, whom I hold and honor as my Lord, to whom I must run and flee, wherever the devil, sin or other misfortune assails me; for he is my umbrella, as far as heaven and earth are, and my glorified hen, under which I cringe before God's wrath. Therefore, I cannot have fellowship nor patience with the hardened blasphemers and abusers of this dear Savior.
7 As a countryman, I want to tell you this as a warning for the last time, so that you do not participate in the sin of others; for I mean well and faithfully, both with the lords and subjects. Do the youths
If they turn to us and cease from their blasphemy and what they have done to us, we will gladly forgive them; but if not, we will not tolerate or suffer them among us.