Matth. 4, 1-11.
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, that he might be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he hungered. And the tempter came unto him, and said, If thou be the Son of God, let these stones become bread. And he answered and said, It is written: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil brought him with him into the holy city, and set him upon the pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, let thyself down: for it is written: He shall command his angels concerning thee, and they shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Then said Jesus unto him, Again, it is also written: Thou shalt not tempt thy Lord God. Again the devil took him up into a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them. And said unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then said Jesus unto him, Remove thyself from me, Satan: for it is written: Thou shalt worship God thy Lord, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil left him; and behold, the angels came to him and ministered to him.
In this gospel you hear how the Lord Jesus was tempted three times after his baptism, after he had been forty days and forty nights in the wilderness and had eaten nothing; or as Lucas says, these three temptations lasted the whole forty days, so that he went about with one many days, and perhaps not according to the order as Matthew tells here.
*) Held in the house, 1534.
Now this is a broad gospel, especially if one wants to apply it to the whole of Christendom, which is also tempted by famine and persecution, by heresy, and finally with the empire of the world; as the histories, whoever has respect for them, finely show. But we do not want to go so far this time, but stick to the common doctrine. And first of all, let us take this example of our dear Lord Christ before us, in which we see that every Christian is a Christian,
As soon as he is baptized, he is ordered into the army against the evil devil, who is charged against him and persecutes him because he is alive. If then the poisonous enemy cannot, by his temptation, bring about the fall of the Christians and prevail against them, he does as he did with Christ, and sees that he hangs them on the cross and kills them.
(3) All Christians are in such a position. For this is to be well reckoned, because he has not spared the Lord Christ himself, but has set himself up against him so well, he will spare us much less, since he knows that we are much weaker and less equipped. Therefore we may send ourselves out of such a journey, and learn from the Lord Christ here how we may also meet such an enemy, so that he must desist from us. But this happens only through faith in God and His Word. Whoever has such armor and needs it rightly will remain safe from the devil. But whoever does not have it or needs it wrongly can neither be advised nor helped against the poisonous enemy.
For this reason, every Christian should diligently attend to preaching and to the Word of God, learning it diligently and practicing it; besides this, he should always be in God's ears through earnest prayer, that he may bring his kingdom to us and not lead us into temptation, but graciously protect us from all evil.
Now it says here that the Lord Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, that is, the Holy Spirit called him into the wilderness. This is what the evangelist especially wanted to report, that one should beware of his own devotion; since Christ himself did not go into the wilderness out of his own devotion, nor did he wrestle with the devil there; as many do, and undertake many things without God's word, out of their own devotion. But it shall by no means be. No one shall begin anything or run to serve God, unless he knows that God has commanded him to do so, either by His word or by men who have power over us in God's stead. For whoever does something without such a profession, as monks and nuns have run into the monasteries, does not only do no service to God, but also does no harm to God.
service, but does against the obedience of God.
(6) Therefore this example of Christ is good for us to consider, that he did not run into the wilderness of his own accord, but was commanded by the Holy Spirit; that we also may do these things, and not undertake anything of our own devotion, but may boast and say in all that we do: Let it be done in obedience and commandment of the word. You have often heard this teaching, that one should take special care to be sure that God has commanded it, and not do anything apart from His word.
(7) There is no need for a new commandment concerning the common customs and works of love, for these are already commanded in the Ten Commandments. Our Lord God commands everyone to hear God's word, to love God, to call upon God, to be obedient to father and mother, not to kill anyone, not to commit fornication, but to become married. All this is God's creature and command; therefore, one must not ask the Holy Spirit to call you or me specially to be married, to be father and mother etc. Such a command is there before. But to start something special, to run into a monastery, and to serve God there, item, not to eat meat, eggs, butter during the fast, not to sing Hallelujah during the fast, there is no command nor word of God about it; therefore it is a stinking dirt before God and no service of God.
8 Now let us also consider the temptations one by one. The first is that the devil says to the Lord JEsu, seeing that he hungers: "If thou be the Son of God, say that these stones become bread. This does not seem to be such a hard challenge. For we think: What harm could it have done Christ? He could easily have made stones into bread. If he had done more and greater things! But he does not want to do it, because he understands the devil very well in his language, who is not primarily looking for Christ to do a miracle; but, as one can clearly see from Christ's answer, he would like to take away his faith and trust in God's mercy, and put the thought into his heart: God has forgotten you, he does not want to take care of you, he wants to let you die of hunger,
and will not allow you a piece of bread. Therefore the Lord answers, "Devil, not so; man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. So this is the devil's suggestion, that he should think only of bread, and pay no attention to God's word, unless he has bread.
9 Such temptation still goes on today, that the devil puts such thoughts into people's hearts: If you are God's son, God cannot be angry with you. Therefore, now, be confident, be stingy, and be generous in the world's trade; it will do you no harm, you cannot sin. For if God should not want to grant you food and bread, he would have to be a bad God and a merciless father. With such thoughts he turns citizens and peasants into scoundrels, so that they continue to scrape and sting, and think that God will not be angry because it is only a matter of daily bread and food. I must, everyone thinks, take care of my wife and child and provide enough for them etc. So the devil puts a lid on sin with the word, saying: You are the son of God. As if he wants to say: You cannot sin or do wrong. As it is seen everywhere in the world, that no one is conscience-stricken because he asked little of the word, and asks only for bread or food. Therefore this temptation still goes on in the world, that the devil makes light of the word, and drives people not to care so much for the word as for the bread.
(10) Then must one learn and resist such temptation, saying, Devil, thou wouldst gladly take me from the word; no, thou shalt not succeed. For before I would lack the word of God, I would rather lack bread and die of hunger. For it is ever better that the body should perish, than that it should be preserved by food, and that the soul should die and be lost forever. etc. The devil does not like us to think such thoughts, and therefore always gets in the way with temptation, and works so that we only look at the fullness of our stomachs and despise God's word, thinking
I do not need it, God is my Father, should He not grant me bread and food?
(11) If any man would save himself from such temptation, let him learn here from Christ that a man hath two kinds of bread. The first and best bread, which comes from heaven, is the word of God. The other and lesser is the temporal bread that grows out of the earth. If then I have the first and best bread from heaven, and am not brought by it, then that temporal bread shall not be lacking, nor shall it remain outside: rather the stones should become bread. But the others, who leave the heavenly bread and take only the temporal, when they have such a full belly, they lie down and die. They cannot even eat the good, but must leave it behind and die there eternally hungry. But it shall not be so. Therefore, if the devil tempts you with persecution, lack, hunger and sorrow, suffer and fast with Christ, because the Spirit is driving you in this way, and do not abandon your trust in God's grace. Then the dear angels will come and become your table servants, as the evangelist says here at the end of Christ.
(12) This is the first part of the first challenge, that we should learn to hold God's word in high esteem and believe it, and not let any lack or misfortune move us to conclude that God is ungracious to us, that He does not want to help us, that He has forgotten us. There is no one to comfort us against such temptation but the Word of God. This is such bread and meat: he who eats of it, that is, he who believes the word, has eternal life. Mark this well. Again, temporal bread, which all the world hungers for, lasts only until the hour comes, then it is finished, and after that we must die of hunger for eternity.
The other temptation is that the devil brings the Lord Jesus into the holy city of Jerusalem and sets him on top of the temple, saying, "Let him be brought down, and he will not be harmed, for he is the Son of God; therefore all the angels must wait for him before he should strike a stone. etc.
This is a severe and spiritual challenge to faith, since faith is also challenged on the other side, just as it is challenged above with sin and the wrath of God. For where the devil cannot make us despair of God, he tries on the other hand to make us presumptuous and hopeful and too bold. As if the devil wanted to say: "Do you want to argue with me from God's word; stop, I can do it too. Then you have God's word: "He will command His angels over you, and they must build you a stairway and carry you on their hands. Now jump down, let's see if you also believe such a promise of God.
(15) Christ must be understood and regarded as a man who has hidden the divinity in his humanity. Just as on the cross he presents himself as a pure and honest man, lamenting and crying for help and salvation, so here he also presents himself as a pure and honest man. That is why the devil thinks he wants to get him to tempt God with an unnecessary miraculous sign. For this reason, he introduces the 91st Psalm as a testimony; however, he leaves out the necessary part: in viis tuis, the Lord will keep you "on your way". With such a saying, the prankster wants to tear out of the eyes of the Lord Christ what he was commanded to do, and lead him in a way that he was not commanded to do. For Christ is now in the wilderness, not because he is to perform miracles, but because he is to suffer, he is to be a suffering man: so the devil wants to lead him out of the way, where God has ordered him to be, and persuade him to perform an unnecessary miraculous work.
16 But Christ drives him back, saying, "It is written: Thou shalt not tempt God." For there is a stairway or staircase; therefore it is unnecessary for me to go down. Because I can go down the stairs without going, it would be wrong for me to go down without need and without God's command.
17 This is also a necessary and useful lesson, that it is called tempting God, where someone wants to step away from the ordinary command and do something new and special without God's word. As monks and
Nuns do this, who, out of their own devotion, take on a special life; afterwards they say that Christ has commanded it, since he says: "Leave everything and follow me. There is not only reason, but also Scripture. But here you see that the devil can also lead scripture and deceive people with it. But he has the defect that he does not lead the Scriptures completely, but takes only so much as serves his cause; what does not serve him, he omits and is silent about it.
(18) The Anabaptists also do this, writing a great deal about how no creature should be trusted or relied upon. After this they say: Baptism is also a creature, for it is nothing but water; therefore one should neither trust nor rely on baptism. They do not want to believe in God's grace at baptism, but grope with their hands. They do not lack the Scriptures, but they lack that they do not guide the Scriptures correctly. For if God's word were not written, "Unless one is born again through water and the Spirit, he will not see the kingdom of heaven," it would be wrong to seek God's grace in baptism or water. But there God's word stands firm, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." For faith and baptism, word and water, must be together; this the blind people do not want to see.
So Christ also contradicts the devil and answers: If I walk in my ways which God has commanded me, I know well that the angels are with me, and must watch over me and keep me. So when a child walks in his filial obedience, father and mother, servants and maids go in their office and occupation, as accident befits them, then God will save and help through His angels. But if they go out of the way, the angels shall not be there; then the devil can break their necks every hour, as he often does out of God's decree, and it hardly serves them right, for they should not make new or different ways, for that is still tempting God.
020 Now this is a temptation which no man understandeth, except he have tried it. For just as the first drives one to despair, so
drives them to presumption and to such works that do not have God's word and command. A Christian should take the middle road, so that he neither despairs nor is presumptuous, but remains simple with the word in right trust and faith. This is how the dear angels should be with us and not otherwise.
The third temptation is only traditio humana; it is very gross, that the devil, through honor and violence, subjects us to idolatry, contrary to God's word. It helps a great deal that the outward holiness has such a great appearance before reason, and glitters far more beautifully than all obedience to the Word of God. For the pope does not consider the married state to be a holy life, item, nourishing and teaching children, being industrious, obedient and faithful in the house, as much as he considers it a holy and great thing, where one goes, puts on a gray skirt or cap, does not keep himself like other people, does not eat meat on Friday, fasts, goes on pilgrimages etc. This makes such an appearance that king and emperor bow down before it.
(22) With such devotion and self-invented spirituality the pope arose, that he and his company did not want to do what other people do, because the same would be too small. But this has a special reputation, if one runs into a monastery, becomes a monk and our Lord God's (as they boast) own servant, since one seeks neither money nor goods and even forgives the world. For this is how the monastic life has been praised; although it has had a different opinion, as everyone knows well. But summa summarum, this is a real diabolical challenge. For it is an unbidden holiness, and is not called serving God, whom, as Christ says here, one should serve alone. But if one does not serve God alone, then one certainly serves the devil. He also rewards, as he promises Christ here, and gives good life, fine sinecures and great dominions as wages.
23. But he who wants to serve God, let him do what God has commanded in His word. If you are a child, honor your father and mother. If you are a maid or a servant, be obedient and faithful. If you are a master and a wife, do not offend your servants with words or deeds, but do what is good for you,
and also keep them in the fear of God. That is then serving God and His word, and not the person. For there is his word, which commands and wants such things. Now call it what you will in the sight of the world, that it may serve masters or wives, fathers or mothers, neighbors or children, but it is a true service of God. For God has ever written his word over my neighbor's head, saying: You shall love your neighbor and serve him.
(24) That the pope does not respect this command and makes a special holiness out of it, where one puts on a gray cap and eats neither butter nor meat, but oil and herring during fasting, that is just a devil's specter. For God's command and word is not there. That is why it rhymes with piety, which is valid before God, just as it rhymes with stone buildings, when children make little houses out of sheets of cards. Cause, you cannot serve God, unless you have His word and command. If his word and command are not there, you do not serve God, but your own will. So then our Lord God says: "Whom you serve, let him also reward you; which devil has called you? I command you to serve your father and mother, to serve your authorities and your neighbor; you let that stand, and in the meantime you do what I have not commanded; shall I put up with that? No, nothing will come of it.
(25) Thus the pope and his company are pure idolaters and servants of the devil. For he not only despises the word, but also persecutes it; nevertheless he wants to be holy for the sake of this outward worship, which he has done with caps and plates, with fasting, eating fish. Reading mass, and what is more like that; no one can make him stop. Why? Because the devil has shown and promised him the kingdom of the world. This makes him mock our preaching and worship. For we are beggars in this, and must suffer much. But his worship he lifts up to heaven; for there he has money and goods, honor and power from, and is a greater lord than emperor and king can be. There you can see how the devil is so powerfully seated with him with this challenge. But we are to give the
To face the devil and say to him, as Christ says: "Devil, get thee away from me, for it is written: "Thou shalt serve God thy Lord alone", that is, to look to God's word alone and follow it, and not to worship outside of it. We must await the challenge of all three because we are alive. Therefore, we are to learn here how to protect ourselves with God's word and to endure it, so that we may take the middle road; and
Therefore, do not let us be deprived of faith, so that we have stone and not bread when we hunger, nor become presumptuous in faith, or finally fall away from the right worship of God for the sake of money and goods; but at the same time remain steadfast in faith and the fear of God. Our dear Lord Christ, who overcame this temptation too well for us, give us also strength, that we may overcome it through him and be saved, amen.