Luc. 2, 22-32.
And when the days of their purification came according to the law of Moses, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him unto the Lord: as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that first breaketh the mother shall be called holy unto the Lord. And that they should offer the sacrifice, according as it is written in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. And, behold, there was a man at Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was devout, and feared God, and waited for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Ghost was in him. And an answer was given him of the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, because he had first seen the Christ of the Lord. And by inspiration of the Spirit he came into the temple. And when the parents had brought the child Jesus into the temple, to do for him according to the law, he took him up in his arms, and praised God, saying, Lord, now let thy servant depart in peace, as thou hast said: for mine eyes have seen thy Saviour, whom thou hast prepared before all nations to be a light to enlighten the Gentiles, and for the praise of thy people Israel.
1 In today's Gospel, your beloved hear the story of how the infant Jesus, when he was six weeks old, was brought into the temple. And the evangelist calls such six weeks, according to the law, the days of their purification; for Moses also calls it so. Now this was not a natural law; therefore the Gentiles did not keep it: but God took hold of his people in this way, and laid such a commandment upon them, that they kept it so, that every mother, when she had given birth, after six weeks, if it was a son, and after twelve weeks, if it was a daughter, must go into the temple, and present herself with an offering.
(2) Such a commandment the pope also laid upon our childbed women, that after the childbed they should be blessed before the church, as if they were unclean, and otherwise should not go into the church or among the people. But it is wrong, because the uncleanness, which was assigned to the puerperal women in the law, is not a natural uncleanness, but an imposed uncleanness, which is not valid apart from the law, and therefore should not be imposed on anyone.
003 And this also was specially commanded in the law, that the firstborn, after the six weeks, should be presented unto the Lord, and given for his own: for so it is written in Moses,
*) Held in the house, 1534.
Levit. 12): "Every male that first breaks his mother shall be called holy unto the Lord", not only men, but also cattle, cows, oxen, sheep, etc., all of which should be called and be of our Lord God. Therefore the firstborn son also had his special glory, that he was the lord of the house, king and pope, father of the house and priest among the other brothers. But because this would be too much among such a great people, that the firstborn should always remain in the temple and be the Lord's own, God gave the parents this freedom, that they could redeem the child for half a florin, or a quarter of a florin, and a year-old lamb, or a pair of turtle-doves, according to whether one was poor or rich; so they took their son again, and yet he was called the son of our Lord God.
It seems that the Virgin Mary was not one but a fortune, because she only offers the sacrifice that poor people used to offer, a pair of turtledoves. With such a sacrifice she redeemed her son, and confessed whether she was the right mother, but that the son was not hers, but God's son and his own, because he was the firstborn.
5 For this reason, our Lord God has decreed among the Jews that the first and second
*) 2 Mos. 13, 2. D. Red.
They wanted to have the firstborn male as their own, as a testimony and memorial, so that they would know they had such a God who redeemed them from Egypt and strangled all the firstborn in all of Egypt in one night. As a sign of this redemption, he ordered the firstborn male, among cattle and men, to be sacrificed and presented in the temple. This has now been abolished and does not bind us Christians any more than other ceremonies and laws given to the Jews alone.
(6) Now here is nothing special for us to learn without seeing how Christ submits to the law when he was not guilty. On the feast of the circumcision of Christ, your love heard of what we should comfort ourselves with.
(7) For this reason we want to draw such obedience down now, so that, just as it serves us there for faith, it also serves us here for outward life and good works. For here the obedience of the infant Jesus and his dear mother is praised and held up to our shame, since God cannot bring it about with us that we do only half of what we owe to do, with the loss of our blessedness and forfeiture of eternal damnation and hellish fire.
8 Such disobedience and abominable naughtiness rhymes very badly with this example, that the infant Jesus, who is lord over the law and everything, and since Moses is a man, nevertheless humbles himself in this way, and does what Moses, his servant, called other children to do, who were unclean and sinners. The virgin Mary also does this; she knew well that she was still a virgin and therefore owed nothing to the law (for Moses speaks of such women who become pregnant in a common way); nevertheless she goes, does not want to need such freedom, because it might be annoying to others, who knew nothing about such trade, to do what other women were obliged to do according to the law.
(9) These two examples of the infant Jesus and Mary, his mother, should make us red with shame, and are written and preached so that we may blush for the sake of the Lord,
We have everything, yet we do not do what we are obligated to do; yet he does it for our sake, which his servant Moses calls him, and by right he is not obligated to do. Whoever then has the color to turn red should spit on himself and say, "I am not worthy to have the sun shine on me, since my Lord and Savior thus throws himself under the law and sets his own example of our iniquity. Because my Lord and Savior throws himself so low under the law, and with his own example condemns our disobedience so high that he could not be more shamefully disgraced; for that he throws himself so low and makes such superfluous obedience, with the same he scorns and disgraces us who are not obedient to the Lord, who after all can cast us into hell or give us heaven.
10 So the obedience of Christ disgraces our disobedience, that we should be ashamed in our hearts and say: I poor maggot, what am I doing? will I not also be obedient to the Lord, and follow his example, who for my sake became man, and was laid in the cradle, and carried to Jerusalem, and obeyed his servant Moses, to whom he owed no obedience? For he himself is the Lord; but Moses is hardly worthy to be called his servant: nevertheless he doeth that which he is not bound to do. Again, I do not do that which I owe and am commanded to do in my condemnation. This is the first simple teaching of children, that we should be ashamed for the sake of the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus Christ, that we are so wicked and disobedient.
The other teaching is about the glory of the first son, that God holds him so high that he is called God's own and His son. This was a very great glory and freedom, which the Jews also took upon themselves, and others took their brothers for it, as if God did not respect them, they alone being the dear children. As the examples show, in which it can be seen that the firstborn have generally done the worst and behaved most shamefully, for they were overcome by hope and considered themselves the sole sanctuary of our Lord God, despising all others. And if it is still
If we were proud monks, we would also want to be proud noblemen for the sake of such fame; as one may feel in the monks. If they could lead the fame and say: I am God's holy child, there is his word and order; how do you think they would boast, because the lousy cap makes them so hopeful?
(12) Now this hope has dealt a blow to the firstborn, so that they have fallen, like Lucifer, the highest angel. Cain was the first son, and there was a wonderful thing about him, that Eve gave him the name, as if he should be the right man to crush the serpent's head, when she said: "I have the man, the Lord. But as the angel Lucifer became a devil, so Cain became an arch-villain and fratricide.
13 Ishmael was also Abraham's firstborn son; therefore, says the Scripture, Genesis 21:9, he was a scoffer who despised Isaac, his younger brother, and held him in low esteem, as if he were the heir, not Isaac. So they all went away in hope that they alone were the sanctuary of our Lord God and no one else; therefore God had to overthrow them. Esau also thinks that he could not fail to be the ruler, but our Lord God does otherwise. For since he let himself think that he was the firstborn, that he should be worthy of hope, that he should oppress and despise his brother, God made it so that he had to go behind the blessing, just as Cain and Ishmael did.
(14) It is the same with the Jews. They would be the firstborn son in the kingdom of God and Christianity, and we Gentiles the other son. But since they wanted to be proud, our Lord God said, "No, you shall not be, for I did not sanctify you as a people to be proud and to despise others, but that you should be all the more grateful and obedient to me. But because ye will not do these things, control yourselves, and let the heathen come unto me, and they shall have the preference; and ye shall follow behind, ye shall even be excluded.
015 So David also did: he took away the right of the first birth from all the eldest sons, and set Solomon the youngest son,
to the king; for our Lord God wanted it so, since he could not otherwise control the court.
16 And so it was with David himself. When the Lord sent Samuel the prophet to anoint the son of Jesse as king in Saul's stead, the eldest came forward first; he was a brave person and a proud fellow, as you can see, 1 Sam. 17:28, that he attacked David hard in the camp as if he were his servant, but the Lord said, "He is not;" until the sons of Jesse all seven passed by, and the prophet had to ask, "Have you no more son than these?" Then answered Jesse his father, "Yea, there is yet a younger one without, waiting of the cattle." For Jesse could not think that God would make something special of the youngest. But it was he who pleased God. The eldest and firstborn did not please God, as he said to Samuel: "I judge differently from men, for I look at the heart.
(17) But why does God not keep His own law and make David a king who was the youngest son, when according to God's word and order the firstborn should be king? That is why He does not want to celebrate anyone, nor does He want His law, blessings and gifts to be bestowed upon us, so that we may become proud and exalt ourselves. He wants to have humble, not proud children. But he that will be proud, though he set him high, may very well cast him down, and set him lower. Because Cain, Ishmael, Esau, Eliab, the Jews, and the angels themselves were proud, and wanted to have their advantage, which was given to them by grace, for a right, and to despise and insist on others for it, they had to go to the devil into the abyss of hell, regardless of their first birth; as the 113th Psalm also says v. 5-7: "Who is like the Lord our God, who has set himself so high, and looks on the lowly in heaven and on earth? Who lifts up the lowly from the dust, and exalts the poor from the dung ?" And the Virgin Mary in her song: "He pushes down the mighty from the throne, and lifts up the lowly."
18 Therefore it is the way and work of our Lord God that he overthrows the hopeful, etc. for he does not want to suffer pride or defiance,
He does not give his gifts for us to consider as if we had them from ourselves. For this reason, he often pulls out a poor man's child, lifts him up, and on the other hand throws a king from the chair, to death and all misfortune.
19 Thus among the Jews the firstborn was highly honored. For the rule in worldly and spiritual affairs was due to the firstborn sons, according to the word and order of God. But because they wanted to abuse such honor for their own pride and preservation, God broke such law and order for them. Reuben was also the first son, but Jacob left the curse behind him that he should remain neither kingdom nor priesthood, both of which were due to him by birth. Abraham, as it is believed, was also the youngest son, but God gives him the right that was given to the eldest and firstborn.
20 So it is quite a common example that the first sons are seldom well turned out. This has done nothing but the great hope that they thought: I am the first son, therefore I am lord of the house. I am our Lord God's sanctuary, and his own; my brothers are nothing, God does not look at them. Our Lord God cannot stand such pride; therefore He resists the proud and throws them to the ground, and gives grace to the humble.
For this reason, no one should be overburdened with graces or gifts. If you are learned and able to do more than another, use such gifts to honor God and to benefit your neighbor. But if thou exalt thyself, thou shalt incur the displeasure of God. So, if you are holy, beautiful, rich, in sum, let the gifts be what they will, beware of pride; for God proved in the first and highest patriarchs that he would not suffer pride or pride; for this reason almost all are disgraces. John the Baptist was well advised, but he is almost alone. Christ must have been right, for there was no sin in him.
(22) The other firstborns in common have all abused such glory, fallen from it because of pride and arrogance, until at last all Judaism has fallen, and the Gentiles, who consider it an abomination, have been destroyed.
have taken their place. For Christianity is now our Lord God's own, and his first birth: not because of outward power or splendor, as the pope boasts; but because of the Word and holy Sacrament. For though we are unequal one to another according to outward birth, yet we are all equal because of baptism; for we are all born of the Christian Church, which is a pure virgin in the Spirit; which has the pure Word of God and the holy sacraments, from which she conceives and ever gives birth to Christians; who are the true firstfruits, and our Lord God's own, I as well as you, you as well as me. There it goes right in the work, which was there only in the image and figure.
(23) But if God had done something special, baptized me and you specially, given me and you a special word and sacraments of our own, we would also have gone to the devil for hope's sake. But because God does not make anything special for any of us, we must all say and confess: We have the same baptism, the same mother, the Christian church, the same faith, word and sacrament; so no one can despise the other, you must let me be a firstborn son as well as you, and I you as well as me. So they are all at the same time, one as well as the other, kings and priests, but only according to the spirit; for in the outward being a difference must remain.
24 But that the pope, according to the spiritual rule, considers himself better than others, he has no command; therefore no one but the wretched devil has called it for him. For among true Christians it should and must be so that no one is better than another. But the fact that preachers, pastors and other church servants must be, does not make them children of God; but baptism, the word and faith in the word must do it, so that we become children of God and firstborn.
(25) Now let everyone learn that those in the Old Testament were an example in which our Lord God made us see that He cannot suffer pride, but overthrows everything that wants to go up, unless someone humbles himself and puts himself down.
The world does not want to believe this and still abuses the bad, small gifts for hope. For this reason God overthrows one after the other, so that they tumble down like Lucifer and his angels from heaven.
(26) This is one part of today's Gospel, as far as the history of the revelation in the temple is concerned. After that, the evangelist reports what happened in the temple.
when the infant Jesus, as the firstborn son, was presented to the Lord in the temple and redeemed with a sacrifice. We will speak about this in the following sermon, now asking God for His grace, that He may protect us from all hope, and through His Holy Spirit awaken our hearts to right and earnest obedience and graciously keep them therein until the end, amen.