Matth. 16, 13-19.
Then came Jesus into the region of the city Caesarea Philippi, and asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that the Son of man is? They said: Some say that thou art John the Baptist; others, that thou art Elias; others, that thou art Jeremiah, or the prophet ?iner. He said to them: Who do you say that I am? Then Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon the son of Jonas: for flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
This is one of the excellent high gospels, for it contains exceedingly high and excellent articles, for which we Christians are especially concerned. Namely, to learn what Christ is, what his church or people are, what enemies the same church has, and then also what excellent gifts and goods no one else has in the whole world, so that it may stand firm and be preserved against the devil and all his power.
Now it is a wonder beyond all wonders that through this very gospel, which is so comforting and the highest treasure of Christians, the devil has caused all misfortune and the highest abomination and has done the greatest harm to the church. For on this text the Antichrist, the pope, has placed all his power, that he is the head of all churches, that he alone, as the supreme head, has the keys. Which they point to such power that he may conclude, set and do among the Christians, also in worldly matters, what and how he wants. In sum, by this text he has made himself Lord in heaven, on earth and in hell. For these are the two things on which the papacy is built and on which it stands: the first, that the Lord builds his church here on Peter, and gives the keys to him alone, and not to other apostles; the other, that he, the pope, is a successor, and that such power as the Lord gave to Peter is inherited by him alone, and belongs to him alone. For this reason, he excluded from the church all those who did not want to recognize him as the supreme head, who alone had the keys to heaven, and condemned them as heretics and gave them to the devil.
For this reason it is necessary that we act diligently on this text, not only for the sake of the excellent doctrine and great consolation which is held out to us in it by our dear Lord Christ, but also so that such misunderstanding of the papacy may be eradicated and the right understanding may be maintained.
The first thing we are to learn and remember here is what Christ is, what we are to believe him to be, and what we are to believe about him. For this is why the Lord asks his disciples first of all what other people say about him, and then especially what they say about him.
so that, if they are under a false delusion like other people, he may instruct them correctly and help them. For as has often been said, it all depends on knowing Christ rightly. He who knows him rightly has eternal life. But he who does not know him rightly must remain in his sins and be eternally condemned; there is no other way out. As we also heard on the day of John.
(5) There are many thoughts. Some take him for John the Baptist, some for Elijah, some for Jeremiah. Not that he is the same person (that would be too foolish to believe), but that he comes with such a command, office and spirit as John, Elijah and Jeremiah. But these are still pious people. For the Pharisees and chief priests thought him not a prophet, but a deceiver, having not the Holy Ghost, but the devil; as is more than seen in one place in the gospel'. The disciples do not speak of them here, but of the pious, who thought highly of Christ. But Christ makes it sufficiently clear that he is not satisfied with such things. He who knows him well must hold him higher than John, Eliam or Jeremiah. Therefore ask his disciples in particular, and say:
Who do you say that I am?
6 First of all, notice that he does not ask Peter alone, but all the disciples together. For from this it is evident that Peter's answer, and after that Christ's answer, is not to be drawn from Peter's one person alone, but from all the other apostles who confessed with Peter. Mark this well, for this is the first thing that can be done to catch and drive in the papists. As the holy teachers, and especially Augustine, clearly testify, the Lord does not speak to Petro alone, but to all.
7 Peter is soon ready for this question, answers for himself and the others, and freely says publicly: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. This is a short confession, but the right core of the whole holy scripture. For the word "Christ"
was a well-known word among the Jews, that it was called the Seed of the woman, who crushed the head of the serpent and through whom all generations were to be blessed; who was to establish an eternal kingdom on earth, save people from sin and death, and bring them to eternal life. He, says Peter, of whom Moses and all the prophets testified, is you; and through you such grace shall be given to all the world. This is what we, your disciples, believe and think of you.
(8) Now it seems as if it were enough of such a confession that he says, "Thou art Christ. But he adds another excellent piece, since few Jews knew of it, and all the world does not yet want to believe it today, and says: "You are the Son of the living God. This is a new and previously unheard of word, that God has a Son. Now God cannot give birth to anything out of His being or nature; God must also be eternal and omnipotent. That therefore Father and Son, because of their essence, are two different persons, must be one being. Even today the Jews do not want to believe this; the Turks do not believe it either. But whoever looks with Petro rightly at the office which Christ is to lead in the world and carry out with us, must conclude with Petro that Christ must be God in equal omnipotence. For overcoming sin, death and the devil, and giving eternal life, no man, as we see, can do; sin and death hold them all captive. Therefore, if this man Peter is talking to is the true Christ, who is to help us from the curse, from sin, from death and from the devil's kingdom, then he must also be the Son of God, who has life in himself and is omnipotent like God. With men it is lost.
9th Now this is to know and confess Christ, not only to say the words, Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, but to believe in one's heart that this Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary, is the Son of God, who therefore came to earth and was made man, that he might tread on the devil's head, remove the curse, since all men are under sin.
and on the other hand will bring us to grace. If the heart firmly believes this, and is not afraid of sin and death, because he has Christ, that is to confess and believe rightly.
(10) But one does not find much of such Peter; most of the people still consider Christ to be John, Eliam or Jeremiah, even though they profess with their mouths that he is Christ, the Son of God. For if the pope and his crowd considered him to be the Christ and the true Son of God, they would rely on his works, on his suffering and death, as the only atonement for their sin, and would not dare to atone for their sin and do enough. But because they still subject themselves and think that they must save themselves from sins by their own works and piety, this is a certain testimony that they think no more of Christ than of John, Elijah, Jeremiah. They have long passed away and died; therefore they dare not enjoy them. They hold Christ in the same way, and nothing else, even though they may not confess it with their mouths. They are good Turks. They also consider Christ a pious man and a great prophet, but they do not dare to enjoy him for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. All papists have such a Turkish faith.
11. Therefore, let us keep this confession in mind and learn it correctly, so that we not only repeat it with our mouths, but also firmly and surely believe in our hearts that this Jesus is the true Christ, the Son of the living God, who alone has done enough for sin, has strangled death, captured the devil and torn hell asunder; that we may take comfort in him and hope for certain help against sin and death through him, and not be frightened, but keep the hope of God's grace and eternal life firmly in our hearts. This is the first thing we are to learn today.
The other is from the holy Christian church, in which such a confession alone goes and remains. To the Lord Christ
He likes such faith and confession very much, praises Peter for it, and comforts him: because he believes such things, there is no need for him, and says:
Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.
(13) An excellent word is this, that he saith, Blessed art thou. For by this the Lord means that he who has this confession and knowledge has everything that leads to salvation. Again, he who does not have it has nothing that leads to salvation. But such a word would not have remained unchallenged if the unbelieving Jews had been there and heard it. Just as the papists of today do not leave it unchallenged when we speak as it says here: Faith in Christ alone makes blessed. They would have said: How can Moses, the Ten Commandments, worship and sacrifice be nothing or help? As our papists also say, "Shall good works be nothing?
014 Well then, it is written, Blessed art thou, Simon the son of Jonas. Now Peter did nothing but confess with his mouth what he believed about Christ in his heart. Christ says that he is blessed because he believes this and not because he does this or that. For although God demands and wants good works, this alone shall serve and help to salvation, if one believes and confesses Christ, for which Peter believed and confessed Him. As St. Paul also says, putting the two together very finely, Rom. 10:10, 11: "If a man believe with all his heart, he shall be saved." For the scripture saith, He that believeth on him shall not be put to shame.
(15) The pope and his crowd vehemently oppose this article of faith, and cannot mock enough that we say, "Faith alone makes you blessed; good works do not make you blessed. For they consider faith to be a bad art, thinking that whoever can say the words of Peter according to them, believes. But hear thou what Christ saith and holdeth: for thus saith he:
Flesh and blood has not revealed these things to you, but my Father in heaven.
(16) Now if any man would learn what faith is, and whence it cometh, let him hear the Lord Christ. "Flesh and blood," he says, "has not revealed it to you." That is to say, such faith is not a human thought that a person could create and make for himself; the Father in heaven must give it and kindle such light in the heart. But by what does the Father do it? By nothing, but by the Word and His Holy Spirit. This is the only way to come to the knowledge of Christ and to faith. But where the Word and the Holy Spirit are not, it is easy to learn and repeat the words. As the pope and his crowd often do in all churches today. But there is no faith there, no heartfelt trust, that they should set their heart on Christ alone, and nothing else in all the world should comfort them before God and His judgment.
(17) Therefore flesh and blood, that is, our reason, knows nothing of such things, but is even as a light which is lighted by night, and shineth fair: but when the bright day cometh, and the sun shineth over all, then such light is lost, and shineth and shineth no more: for the sun is too bright and fair. It is the same with faith. It is a bright, great, beautiful light, since our reason is black and dark against it. Whoever wants to say that such a light, which is above all human reason and can be kindled in our hearts by God alone, is a bad, small thing, may do so. But we must regard it as the highest and greatest work of God, whereas all human work, reason and ability are nothing.
18 But this is also so that we should not be sure or presumptuous, as if we already had such grace completely. For we must ask God daily to kindle and sustain such light in us through His Holy Spirit. For the devil does not celebrate, he is very hostile to such light, raining and shuddering, blowing and blowing on all sides, if he could dim and extinguish such light. Therefore, we have good and great reasons to ask God to keep us in such a heart and trust in our dear Lord Christ,
and graciously guard them from all other thoughts.
19 For there is a fine example before our eyes. Soon after such a confession, the devil sets upon Peter, that he forgets such faith and confession, and thinks no more of the Lord than of another man, and warns him to take heed and not to be carried away. Therefore, just as the Lord says here, while he still believes, "Blessed art thou"; so he says afterwards, "Get thee, Satan, out of my sight; thou art vexatious to me, for thou meanest not what is divine, but what is human." That it is therefore highly necessary for both parts of prayer: first, that God through His Holy Spirit may reveal the Lord Christ to us and kindle the right faith in our hearts; and second, that He may graciously preserve us in such faith and confession to the end.
20 This is the doctrine of Christ and the right faith. Now follows the text about the Christian church, who it is, what enemies it has, and what its comfort should be.
You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church (or congregation), and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
In the first verse of John 21, when the Lord first saw Peter, he said to him (v. 42), "You are Simon son of Jonah, you shall be called Cephas," which is interpreted as "a rock," and is called Peter or Petra in Greek. Because Peter says and confesses here in such a fine and round way what he believes and holds about Christ, Christ answers him: "You are Peter"; as if he wanted to say: "You have such a name, it is not without reason that you are called Peter (a rock); because your faith and confession is rock-solid, firm and certain, it stands right and firm, as on a strong rock; and in spite of the devil, if you only remain so that he does you harm. Upon this rock I will build my church or community. Upon this rock (understand), not that thou art; for thy person would be too weak for such a foundation: but upon the confession and faith that made thee the rock.
I will build my church on it. The foundation can hold and is strong enough; the devil will not be able to overturn it or tear it down.
22 This is the text, which is very comforting; but as reported above, it has been most shamefully misused by the pope. For this reason, it would be necessary to report all such abuses and refute them; but, since this has been done enough elsewhere, we want to stay with the right understanding alone, and see the comfort and teaching that is held out to us here.
(23) There has always been the greatest controversy in the world about who is the true church, as we learn even today. For there one is sure that one stands on the rock and may not fall in eternity, as Christ teaches here. Now if anyone wants to make a right judgment and not fall short, let him learn here from Christ that the church is nowhere else, for where this rock is, there is the confession and faith that Peter has and the other disciples have. If you find such faith and confession or doctrine, do not doubt that the church is there, whether such people have standing before the world or not. Again, if you find this doctrine, faith and confession of Christ either not at all, as among Turks and Jews, or not pure, as with the pope, do not doubt that the church is not there. For just as building and foundation must be together, so, says Christ here, this confession, doctrine or faith will be in the church, and nowhere else. You cannot divide one from the other. Where the foundation is, there is the building, and where the building is, there is the foundation.
(24) He who follows and accepts such a judgment cannot be deceived. For he will not look to see whether the pope wears a triple crown, carries the keys in his coat of arms, and emperors and kings kiss his feet and worship him as the highest bishop; but he will see whether the doctrine, so that the pope rules, rhymes with this confession, whether he considers Jesus to be the Christ and the Son of the living God, and comforts himself with all his heart for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life, and teaches others that they too may be like him.
comfort. If he does not find this, he immediately judges, "Pure, you are not the church that is ruled by God's Spirit, but the church of the devil. Cause, the triple crown, the keys in the coat of arms, the name pope does not make the church, but the confession of Christ and the faith in him. Again, if he finds such a confession and doctrine among those who have no special standing, indeed, who must also bear the name that they are heretics and cut-off members of the church, he is not mistaken: let the world judge what it will, so he knows that they are true Christians and the true church.
(25) Whoever, then, had looked at the confession, and not at the splendor, the great name, and the great power, would have considered the pope a great lord; but he would not have considered him the head of the church, or, if I may say so, the least member of the Christian church. For this reason, he would have given nothing to his commandment, nor would he have accepted his worship, since the whole world alone has allowed itself to be deceived with pretense and false words.
26 Thus we have who the Christian church is, that it is bound neither to place, time, person, nor anything else, but only to this confession of Christ. This is the rock and foundation on which Christ himself builds it, through his Holy Spirit and the preaching of the Gospel.
Now this church, which is built on this rock, has its enemies: not only the world, but also, as Christ calls it here, the gates of hell, that is, the devil with all his power; he cannot stand such a confession, for it breaks his kingdom and power. Therefore he tries it and confidently storms against it: first in the hearts of Christians, that he wants to take away the comfort they have in Christ, as if God did not want them, as if he had forgotten them, as if he did not want to forgive sin but to condemn it; then he sets up mobs and heresies, by which the ministry of preaching is miserably corrupted and distorted; and yet there is no end to it. He also stirs up worldly authorities to go against the Word,
persecute Christians and even eradicate the preaching ministry.
Therefore there is no creature on earth more afflicted or miserable than a Christian, as St. Paul says in 1 Cor. 15:19. If it were not for the consolation we have of the life to come, we would be the most miserable people on earth. We must be accustomed to this, and see what Christ says about it, and how he comforts us. For this he confesses plainly, that Christians who are built on such a foundation will have the gates of hell for enemies, as well as the world, which is bitterly hostile to them. But this is the consolation, although the devil is evil and tries Christians everywhere, that he will not prevail, but the victory will remain with the Christians. As we finely see in experience. He who can hold fast to the Word and this reason finds comfort even in the greatest troubles and temptations, since otherwise all the world despairs. The devil, as we partly see in the histories and partly experience ourselves, has done very great harm, and still does, through heresy and tyrants; but still the church has remained: they have perished, died shamefully, and become corrupt in body and soul.
29 Therefore, even if it happens to us this very day that we feel the gates of hell pressing on us and pressing on us in all places, let us only hold fast to these rocks, and we will retain the victory. Again, the world and the devil must leave off with shame and suffer for eternity; since the suffering of Christians is only a temporal and small suffering, which nevertheless shall finally be paid for with eternal joy. Therefore, although the world and the devil with their power bring things to such an extent that the Christians have to go down and leave life and limb; nevertheless, the gates of hell do not yet have the victory, but the victory shall finally remain with the Christians. Cause: they have forgiveness of sins; therefore death cannot harm them, they will remain heirs through Christ to eternal life. What, then, is evil or terrible about such death and decease, and who would not a thousand times rather give up life and limb than live there in eternity?
die? This is what the devil and the world do when they are at their wickedest, so that the poor Christians here are also taken away from temporal sorrow and misery and promoted to eternal joy.
30 Therefore this consolation is certain: If you are a Christian, built on this foundation by the Lord Christ, so that you recognize him as the one who overcame sin, death and the devil, who acquired eternal life through his death, then there is no need to let the devil be angry, the world rage and rage, you will remain safe, not because of temporal life, which you must let go without, but so that you will remain in eternity in peace and quiet, and the devil will no longer drive you or torment you.
In addition to such victory and comfort, which shall be found in that life and remain forever, Christians also have a great treasure here on earth. For thus the Lord speaks further:
And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
32 Here the pope and the gates of hell have proved themselves worthy of having so miserably mangled this comforting saying. First of all, the pope said that he alone, as the head of the church, has the keys; whoever wants to have or use them must take the power from him. Secondly, he did not mean such keys only for forgiveness of sins and excommunication, but that he might make statutes and command whatever he wanted, even in temporal matters, although the Lord clearly says that they are the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And since the Lord gives such power, John 20:23, after his resurrection, to bind or loose sin, he does not give it to Petro alone, but to all the apostles at the same time, one as much as the other, as the words there clearly imply.
33 Therefore it is a gross lie, so that the devil has done much damage to Christianity through the pope, that he may say that the
The keys are given to Petro alone. But enough of that now; let us take the right opinion and the consolation that is in these words before us now.
(34) The keys of the kingdom of heaven are nothing else, but that those who believe in Christ and accept the gospel and desire forgiveness of sins should have their sins forgiven, and thus heaven opened to them, which is otherwise closed, where sins are not forgiven. But again, those who do not believe in Christ and do not accept the gospel, but continue in sins without repentance, their sins shall not be forgiven, but heaven shall be closed to them. This is the treasure of the church, that is, the group or assembly that confesses with Peter that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of the living God.
35 The Christian church distributes this treasure, not only in the Word, through absolution and public preaching, but also through baptism and the Lord's Supper. For "he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved". So if you believe that Christ's body was given for you and his blood poured out for your sins, and in such faith receive the reverend sacrament, the body and blood of Christ, you also have forgiveness of sins.
(36) Since the church is commanded to distribute forgiveness of sins in this way, let no one despise such means of grace, but use them gladly and often. For it is not without cause that Christ has appointed them. He knew very well that we need such remedies, for it may soon happen that the devil and our flesh hurry us and throw us into sin. Where will we go then? For we know well the wages of sin, and must therefore fear it. There is nowhere else to go but to the church, to which Christ has given this command to forgive sin through Word, baptism and sacrament. Baptism is an eternal covenant, in which we are to remember God's grace and mercy, and it is not necessary to be baptized again; indeed, it is a grave sin. For to be baptized again
It is just as much as accusing God of not keeping the promise He once made to us in the first true baptism. At such baptism, our dear Lord Christ has arranged both the Word and His Testament, so that we may always remember this covenant and the forgiveness of sins in the name of Christ. This is to remind and assure us of this covenant and the forgiveness of sins in the name of Christ.
Therefore, it is not enough for you to find yourself in absolution and the sacrament once or twice a year. Whenever your heart becomes dumb and fearful for the sake of sins, take before you the covenant that God made with you in baptism at the beginning, and adhere to the Word and reverend Sacrament by which God has assured you of such a covenant that you should not doubt the promise of forgiveness of sins. There you will find a certain righteous comfort. For the Holy Spirit wants to be with such work and word, so that it shall not depart without fruit.
(38) Now this is the treasure of Christians, that no one, not even their own sin, should bar them from heaven. For though they have sin like other people, yet they have the keys of the kingdom of heaven, that through the forgiveness of sins, which is promised and given to them in many ways, heaven may be opened to them again. Such grace is found not only in those whom Christ has ordained to preside over His church, but also in the case of need in every Christian man. For where forgiveness of sins is proclaimed in the name of Jesus, there
they should be believed and accepted. For the church, that is, all Christians have such power and command that they should not let any sinner despair in sins, but should comfort him and promise forgiveness of sins in the name of Jesus.
(39) The ministers of the church are also commanded to proclaim the forgiveness of sins to anyone who desires it, to communicate holy baptism and the testament of our Lord Christ. We should be more comforted by such grace than by the daily approach of the gates of hell. For if there is forgiveness of sins, there is no need; heaven shall remain open to us, and if the devil should be sorry. So we should not let the world frighten us either. For the more it rages against Christ and his word, the further it is from God's wrath and forgiveness of sins. And we know that it cannot come to forgiveness of sins except through our gospel. For she does not have the keys to heaven; the church alone has them. Because she rages against the church and the word, her sins are retained. It is impossible for her to come out of it, unless she converts, accepts the Word, and is thus freed from sins through Word and Sacrament. Thus our dear Lord Christ comforts His Church, since the confession and knowledge of Christ is within. May God grant us His grace that we may be preserved in such confession until the end and be eternally saved, through Christ, our dear Lord, amen.