Luc. 1, 26-38.
And in the sixth moon the angel Gabriel was sent by God into a city of Galilee, which is called Nazareth, unto a virgin, which was trusted unto a man, whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, blessed art thou: the Lord is with thee, thou that givest gifts among women. When she saw him, she was frightened by his words and thought: What greeting is this? And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bear a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be called great, and the Son of the Highest: and God the Lord shall give unto him the throne of David his father: and he shall be king over the house of Jacob for ever: and his kingdom shall have no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be? for I know of no man. The angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, thy friend, is also with child with a son, in her old age, and now goeth in the sixth moon, which is in cry, that she is barren. For with God no thing is impossible. And Mary said, Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord: let it be done unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
1 This feast is celebrated in faith for the sake of the article, because we say: I believe in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord, who was conceived of the Holy Ghost, and born of Mary of virgins. For this is an excellent, high article, which reason could not dream of, if the Scriptures did not tell us so powerfully about it. For who would believe that (because otherwise all women, as it is created and ordered by God, become pregnant in the same way, by the presence of the man), that God should bring forth this certain virgin and start a special thing with her, which never before was heard of in the world, and for which shall never happen as long as the world stands: that she becomes pregnant and a mother, not by a man, but by the Holy Spirit alone? It is impossible, I say, that reason can know or believe such things. For it abides by the common saying, "If I do and believe as other men do, I am not deceived.
2. but a Christian must put the proverb here in a corner, and speak:
*From a sermon preached publicly in the afternoon in 1532.
If I want to be a Christian, I must believe and do what other people do not believe or do. For God's works seem foolish and impossible; but yet they are great works and are exceedingly fine. So it is here also that Mary, the pure virgin, becomes a mother, and yet no man on earth knows it but she alone. Foolish and impossible it is. For if such a thing had happened before, it would have a semblance and could be believed; but that God chooses this virgin alone out of all women and performs such a miraculous work with her, such a thing makes the deal unbelievable.
(3) For this reason Christians are a peculiar people, called to believe and preach the articles that are foolish and unbelievable in the eyes of the world. But for this very reason they should hear the sermon and learn the word all the more diligently. For he that will think of such things apart from the word is easily overthrown.
4 So that this article of the conception of our Lord Jesus Christ may remain firm and certain in the hearts of Christians, this feast is celebrated. Therefore let us take such an article before us, as the evangelist writes of it, and learn how such miraculous
This work has been accomplished. We will divide this sermon into three parts: the first, about the person of the virgins of Mary, that she is of the house of David; the second, about the angel's sermon, in which he teaches about the Lord Christ and his ministry; the third, about the faith of the virgins of Mary.
5 The evangelist deals briefly with the history concerning the person of the virgins of Mary. For he reports nothing about her state and nature, what she did when the angel came to her, or in what form the angel appeared to her. But whoever thinks of such things and would like to know something, let him stick to the worst and most simple thoughts that rhyme with history and the prophets. For that she was not of great fortune, there is much evidence in history. So it is easy to assume what kind of status and character such a virgin had, that she had served a friend and done the common housework, like another maiden who is bad, pious and righteous. And it is possible that just as she was doing such housework, the angel came to her and brought her this message. For thus it is seen in many histories that angels came to men as they were going about their business and waiting for their office. Thus the angel appeared to the shepherds in the field as they tended their flocks. He appeared to Gideon as he threshed the grain. He appeared to Samson's mother as she sat in the field. Or she, the Virgin Mary, like a pious child, would have been alone in a corner, praying for the salvation of Israel; for angels are particularly fond of prayer.
Now the evangelist does not report a word about who the virgin was because of her arrival or her tribe. But of Joseph, to whom she was entrusted, he says that he was of the house of David; yet we are not concerned about him. But it is because of him that it is known that the Virgin Mary was of the house of David. But the evangelist considers it unnecessary to indicate this, since it had been sufficiently indicated before in the prophets that Christ was to be of the house of David.
The son of David will come from the house of David and will be called David's son; like this prophecy, Isa. 11, 1: "A rod will come up from the tribe of Jesse, and a branch from its root. Here the prophet clearly states that the tribe of Jesse must remain until Christ is born from it. Since this child has no father on earth, but only a mother, this mother must be of the tribe and blood of David; otherwise her child could not be called a son or descendant and heir of David.
(7) This saying is also a good description of the time, as is the promise in Genesis 49, for it compares the Lord Christ to a branch that grows from an old trunk and from the root. For the lineage of David had almost departed, so that not only was it no longer in dignity, but its people were also few. Therefore, this glorious, royal lineage looked like a tree that had not only lost its branches and leaves, but had withered to the trunk. For this is the way God works, when everyone despairs and says, "Nothing can be done;" then He first starts and does many glorious and great things that no man could have imagined. This is how it happened here: since, as Jacob says, the scepter of the house of Judah has completely fallen and this family has come into the highest decline, God takes this poor little servant, the Virgin Mary, and accomplishes the glorious work through her, since all the prophets and patriarchs had preached about it and put the whole world off.
8 Lucas continues to write how this work took place: The angel came to the maiden, greeted her and told her that she had a gracious God. "Hail," he says, "Blessed art thou, or blessed art thou, the Lord is with thee, thou most blessed of women." These are high and great words, since the pious child was shocked and thought what kind of message this might be. For whether she knew at first sight that it was an angel who was speaking to her, we cannot know, although the words of Luke almost sound as if she had not known him. For
He says that she was not frightened by him, but by his speech and greeting. For it is an unusual greeting; afterwards she also had to think that it is an unusual messenger that he starts as soon as: O Mary, blessed art thou, how hast thou such a gracious God, no woman has ever come on earth to whom God has shown such grace: thou art the crown among them all etc. Such words caused the pious child distress and fright, so that she did not know where she stood. Therefore, the angel comforted her and said what God wanted to do with her and what he wanted to use her for, and said:
Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found grace with God.
(9) Mark this word well. For it did not only serve to comfort the little girl, but also to increase the abominable idolatry that was subsequently found among Christians by the pope and his monks, and still exists among the papists, who make a god out of the virgin Mary, ascribing to her all power in heaven and earth, as if she had it from herself.
(10) But although the Virgin Mary is blessed above all women, because no woman has ever received such grace and honor, yet with this word the angel brings her down and makes her equal to all the other saints, saying clearly: What she is, that is grace, and not merit. Now there must always remain a difference between him who gives grace and him who receives grace. He who gives grace is the one from whom grace is to be sought, and not he who has himself received grace. This was not done in the papacy. For everyone ran to the Virgin Mary and sought and hoped for more grace and help there than in the Lord Christ. To counteract this error, notice this little word here: "Mary, you have found grace with God. Then learn to take her for a person who has come to grace, and not for one who is to bestow grace. For her child, our dear Lord Jesus, is ordained for this purpose, that we should seek grace from him and through him come to God.
As John the Baptist says: "We have taken all of His fullness, grace for grace" (John 1:16). Now let us hear further the angel's message. For thus he says:
Behold, thou shalt conceive in the flesh, and bear a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.
(11) This is the first part of the heavenly preaching and the first revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, both of which are written inside. First, that he is the true natural son of the virgin Mary, borne in her womb, and born into the world, as all other children are borne and born. But how he was conceived, that will follow hereafter. And secondly, that he is the true natural Son of God, born of God for eternity. For there the words are written loud and clear: "You will conceive in the flesh, or in the womb, and bear a son.
(12) Therefore this child is a true man, having body and soul like another man, and having been formed, nourished, and grown in the womb like another child. Therefore it is a seductive heresy that some in former times thought that Christ did not have a true natural body. But some in our time, and especially among the Anabaptists, hold that he took neither flesh nor blood from the Virgin Mary. For if this were so, he could not be a son of David, and the evangelist would not diligently put his words thus, "Thou shalt conceive bodily, or in the body." Against such and other errors, these words of the angel should be well remembered; for whoever would deny them should be dismissed as a mad man, and have nothing further to do with him.
13 Therefore, it is also a powerful testimony against Arium and other heretics, who did not want Christ to be the eternal, almighty God, that the angel speaks here: "He will be called a son of the Most High", that is, so they will preach about him and believe that he is the Son of God. But now we know,
which means "son", namely something born. Now if this Jesus, born of the virgin Mary in the flesh, is the Son of God, it must follow that he is also God. For what God gives birth to must be of His essence, nature and quality, which is eternal, almighty, just and living. No matter how you look at it, whoever does not like to deceive himself and to err, will not be able to pass by these words; he must let this child, born of the virgin Mary, be the true, eternal, almighty God. As the angel further indicates, and says:
And God the Lord will give him the throne of David his father, and he will be king over the house of Jacob forever, and there will be no end to his kingdom.
(14) This can ever be said of our Lord Jesus, that he is both an eternal God and a true natural man. For behold, what kind of a throne, regiment or kingdom did David have? Was it not the people of Israel who dwelt here below on earth and in the land of Canaan? Now if this child of his father David is to have a chair, he must also be a man, like his father David; otherwise neither David would be called his father, nor he David's heir. But here afterwards a very great inequality is found. David dies, and leaves his seat and rule to his son Solomon, who also dies, and so on one after the other dies, except for this little child Jesus. He takes David's throne and possesses it, not as David and other heirs of his body for a time, but forever, so that there will be no end to his kingdom.
(15) Now learn to rhyme the two together. This child is born of the virgin Mary, lives, eats, drinks, sleeps, wakes, like another human being; it must follow that he must also die like another human being, as we confess that Christ died and was buried on the cross. Such is the nature and characteristic of this temporal life. And yet the angel says of such a child, that the Virgin Mary should conceive in the flesh and give birth to it, that it should be
shall sit forever on the throne of his father David. Now dying and reigning forever are two disgusting things, which do not suffer with each other; and yet they shall be here with this person with each other. She dies, and yet cannot die; but reigns forever, as the angel says. Then I would like to know who would or could rhyme it together, apart from this one article, that this person, born of the virgin Mary, is not only a man, but also God? Therefore he must die as a man: again, as a true natural God, he cannot die; but he is a Lord of death, whom death cannot hold.
(16) If therefore death shall not strangle him, neither can it, neither shall sin have any power over him. For life and sin do not suffer one another: where sin is, there cannot be life, but death must be there. Therefore, where there is life, there can be no sin, but there must be perfect righteousness and complete fulfillment of the law. Where then does death come to the man Christ, if he is not a sinner, but righteous and without all sin? Here we find the great consolation that we should regard the death and dying of our dear Lord Christ as an innocent death, which was not imposed on him by his own debts but by those of others, for the sake of our sins, so that we, having been purged of sins by his death, may also live with him eternally.
(17) Thus the angel's words are short, but they are far-reaching, and teach us that this man, born of the virgin Mary, actually and rightly recognizes that he is a true, natural God: but that he became man so that he might die, when he could not die as God and without all sin, but should possess and reign forever the kingdom that was inherited from his father David. Thus man and God are here one person, who dies, and yet lives eternally. Death comes to him from foreign debts, but life he has in himself from his own righteousness and innocence; therefore we should accept it, and know that it was for our sake that we were given it through this means.
from sins and death and also become eternally blessed.
(18) This is the sermon the angel preaches to the pious virgin, that she may rejoice in this child and let go of all fear and sadness. But she should not accept this sermon alone; we also belong to it. Therefore, although this pious virgin alone is the mother of this child, we also belong to this child's regiment and kingdom. Otherwise we would be in a very bad position. All that we are and have is temporal and lasts a very short time. For what are forty, fifty, or even a hundred years? But he who is in such a kingdom, which is an eternal kingdom, would stand well and have cause to walk always in leaps and bounds, even if he were the most miserable man here on earth. Now the angel's sermon goes to remind us with these words of this temporal life, in which there is so much driving, sin and death, and wants to make it unpleasant for us at once, because he says of a kingdom, the like of which has never come on earth, which is an eternal kingdom and has no end.
19. in such a kingdom there shall be no death; neither shall there be sin therein, for sin and death are together; neither shall there be any wrath of God, but only mercy and grace. For life is the highest treasure, which God gives us after His Son. Who would not want to be in such a kingdom with all his heart, and no longer worry about remaining on earth for a long time, where there is nothing but sin, death, sorrow, fear and misery, and to enter that kingdom? So the angel would gladly make this life, all kingdoms, power and splendor, and all that the world has, unpalatable and displeasing to us, since it is all temporal and transitory, and nothing but a kingdom of sin and death; and point us to this king, which kingdom shall have no end, like other kingdoms.
(20) How then to come to this king and eternal kingdom, hear your love throughout the year, that we should accept the gospel and firmly believe what Christ promises us, and put all our heart and confidence in him who by his death and resurrection has given us the kingdom of heaven.
He has prepared such a kingdom for himself, that is, he has helped us from sins and eternal death to eternal life. For if his kingdom is to remain forever, he must also have people who live forever. For he shall be king over the house of Jacob; which are ever men, and not angels, nor unreasoning beasts. Now if men are to live forever, sin and death must be gone. We should strive for such a life and despise the temporal here; so we commonly turn it around, and so place ourselves that it is well seen that if we had enough of the temporal, we would even forget the eternal.
(21) This is the first part of the angel's sermon, which is mainly to teach the virgins Mary and all of us what kind of child she will bear, not a common child like other children. In this it will be like other children, having flesh and blood, limbs and other things, as other children have; it will need washing and wiping, eating and drinking, sleeping and waking. But in this it shall be unequal to all the children of men, that it is the Son of God and shall reign forever, that is, that not only shall it live forever for itself, but also in its kingdom it shall establish an everlasting life, so that those who are in it shall live forever, and neither sin nor death can harm them.
(22) Therefore the angel preaches further, and shows how this child, because it will be unequal to other children in so many ways, will also be conceived unequally. For when Mary heard the message that she was to conceive with such a son, who is called the Son of God, she wondered, and asked the angel how it was to be, since she knew of no man; and the angel answered her, saying:
The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore also the holy one who is born of you will be called the Son of God.
(23) As the common course of nature and the order of God otherwise go, everyone knows that a woman cannot become pregnant by herself alone; without the Turks being such gross fools, and allowing themselves to be bere-
that their virgins can bear children and still remain virgins. Now it is so here that Mary also cannot become pregnant of herself; and nevertheless she shall become pregnant and know of no man. How is this to happen?
(24) Now this is the special work, since the angel says here, and no man can ever grasp with his reason, that this virgin is not to become pregnant by a man, but by the Holy Spirit; in such a way, which the angel himself cannot indicate with a better nor clearer word, than that the divine power will overshadow her. We must leave it at that and not worry about it any further. For we will not be able to think it out; it is a divine power that cannot be grasped by our thoughts.
(25) But this we can understand, if this virgin conceives by the Holy Spirit alone, that first her flesh is sanctified, and that which is born in her must also be holy and without all sin. For this reason the angel gives the child Christ, while it is still in the womb, the name and calls it holy. "The holy one," he says, "that is born of you will be called the Son of God." With this word the angel makes as great a distinction between this child and all other children, as with the manner of conception, since he spoke of it above. For although John the Baptist and others were sanctified in the womb, they were conceived unholy and only became holy after the conception, which was a sinful conception. But this child is a holy child, in whom no sin has ever been, and therefore has not been sanctified, but sanctifies everything itself.
26 This is so that we may not only learn to recognize that we are unholy and sinful by nature, and in such a case are not at all like this child; but if we want to be free from such unholiness and sin, we must know where to look for it. A beggar, if he wants money, must not go to another beggar, who also has nothing; he must go to
to find a rich man who is not stingy and who is happy to spend. So here also: if we want to be freed from sins and become holy, we must not go to those who are also sinners, that is, who are also men like us, and need grace; but here we should keep to this child, who is holy. There we will find the ability to be helped, and nowhere else.
Why do the blind papists go to the Virgin Mary, St. Peter, St. Paul and other saints, and ask God to let them enjoy their intercession and merits? They are holy and God loves them, it is true. But they do not have such holiness from themselves, but it is a given holiness, to which they have come by grace. There one does not find the fountain of graces, it is not the source, but only drawn water. But it is this child who is born of God in eternity, and is therefore called the Son of God, and is conceived of the Virgin Mary through the Holy Spirit. So that even though it has flesh and blood, such flesh and blood is absolutely holy flesh and blood, in which there is no sin. This is the true fountain and source of grace, where we should go if we want to be holy and without sin. For this is also the reason why this holy child is born, that we unholy, sinful people lay under the wrath of God and in death and could not help ourselves from such misery. But if we were to be helped, it had to be by one who was without sin and could also help others from sins. This is our dear Lord Christ, eternal God and yet true man, conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the pure and holy virgins of Mary, and born into the world, so that we might find our way to Him, cling to Him, and take comfort in His holiness.
If the holiness of Christ had been preached to the people in the papacy as the angel preaches here, the idolatry that was practiced with the dead saints would have remained behind. But there one has the words
and yet no one has been directed to the Lord Christ, who alone is holy and alone can make holy, but all such trust has been placed in the saints. May God forgive them!
This is the sermon of the dear angel Gabriel about the infant Jesus, to which he attaches the new newspaper about the old Elizabeth, how she also became pregnant with a son in her old days. And adds the beautiful, comforting saying that with God no thing is impossible. But we will leave such history until its time, and now conclude with the third piece.
(30) When the tender virgin has enough report from the angel what God wants to do with her, she answers and says:
Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.
(31) This is a very fine answer, because not only is there great humility, but also great faith and heartfelt love toward all people. For first of all she gives herself in all humility and full obedience: "I am the Lord's handmaid. As if she wanted to say: Here I am; my God and Father in heaven make of me what he wants, so I am willing to do it. And even though I am far too unworthy for this work, since you tell me about it, I still accept such grace and good deed of God with joy and gratitude.
For when she says: "Be it done to me as you have said," these are words that she desires with all her heart, that she is happy and of good cheer that the blessed time has come, that the devil's head shall be crushed and the poor, wretched sinners shall be helped. She desires this from the bottom of her heart, and is glad that God wants to use her for this; not for her person and honor, but that she knows that through this child she and all the world shall be saved from sins and death. For she believes both, first, that God will accomplish such a work with her, as the angel says; and second, that this child will have an eternal kingdom, will redeem her and all the world from the devil's kingdom and death.
33. and by such faith alone is it
blessed and freed from sins, and not by the work of bringing the Son of God into the world. This was indeed a special grace and glory, as she herself confesses in the Magnificat: "All the children's child will call me blessed"; but only by this she becomes God's child and comes to eternal life, because she considers this her child, as the angel preached about him that he would sanctify her and give her eternal life by grace.
34. but just as she alone has the glory of becoming the mother of God and giving birth to the Son of God in the world, so we are to believe with her that this child is holy and will have an eternal kingdom, that is, that he will also give us eternal life and sanctify us.
35) This is the history that is to be preached at today's feast, so that the article among us may remain firm and certain that our dear Lord Jesus Christ, conceived by the Holy Spirit, is both true God and true man in one person. This shall be our hope against the devil and all other creatures, that we are set in the glory that God Himself shall be and be called my flesh and my blood. He has not attached himself so closely to any creature as to man, that he does not want to dwell in man alone and be around him; which should be enough for a special great joy: but he himself has become what we are, and has made himself so close to us that he has such a nature, such a body and soul, as I and you have, outside of the one piece, that everything in him is holy, but in us it is sinful.
Such honor, which the Son of God has bestowed upon us poor human beings, greatly displeases the devil, and does not grant us the glory of being able to say: My flesh and my blood is God, and sits above in majesty, ruling heaven and earth.
Therefore, we owe it to God to thank Him from the bottom of our hearts for this grace and gift, that He has placed us in such great and high honor and has allowed His Son to become man. For otherwise it seems as if God is hostile to the world. But here we see that it is not
*) From a sermon of the year 1832.
is true; because he has befriended and acted so closely to us human beings that he not only wants to dwell in us, but has himself personally wanted to become a human being. Such grace is committed today, that we thank God for having cancelled our impure, unholy birth through his holy birth, and for having given the soul of our Lord to us.
He has brought salvation upon us all, that through him we may be holy and blessed. For this is the purpose of his dear word, holy baptism and the reverend sacrament. May God, our gracious Father, send His Holy Spirit into our hearts, so that we may believe this and thereby become eternally blessed, Amen.