Luc. 19:41-48.
And when he was come nigh, he looked upon the city, and wept over it, and said, If thou knewest, thou wouldest consider in this thy time what is for thy peace. But now it is hid from thine eyes. For the time will come upon thee, that thine enemies shall make a siege against thee, and against thy children with thee, and shall besiege thee, and be afraid in every place, and shall drag thee, and shall not leave one stone upon another, because thou hast not known the time wherein thou art afflicted. And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought therein, and said unto them: It is written: My house is a house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests, and the scribes, and the chief of the people, sought after him to destroy him, and found not what to do for him: for all the people adhered unto him, and heard him.
1. Christians should diligently remember this gospel, so that they may learn to fear God from it. For it is one of the most terrible gospels in Luke; for this reason it should go to our hearts, so that we never forget it. For here we hear what a great wrath is
*) Held in the house, 1532 and 1534.
and earnestness has fallen upon Jerusalem. From this we certainly conclude: He who wants to be secure in his wickedness and continue in sins should not take it into his head that he will escape punishment. For if God has not spared the excellent, highly gifted city, because it has had God's word, and yet has not reformed, then only think of every-
man, and at times desist from sins and improve himself; otherwise the punishment and wrath will certainly not remain outside.
(2) Now the wrath and woe that has come upon this city and people is so great that the Lord Christ himself is moved to the heart and weeps bitterly over it, that the beautiful city should perish and be torn apart so miserably that not one stone should be left upon another, and wishes, "Oh Jerusalem! If you knew, and believed such future misery to come upon you, you would certainly not be so sure, but would also weep, and consider what serves your peace, and pray that God would be merciful to you.
Although the Lord speaks of Jerusalem alone, he wants to warn and threaten all those who have the word of God and yet hear it in vain and despise it, that they should not be sure or rely on it as if God were giving it to them. No, the punishment will be found, as God lives. Therefore, one should beware of all sins, but especially of the one that is called despising God's word or the time of the visitation, that is, hearing the sermon, and yet not reforming, but continuing in sin forever, preaching and saying whatever one wants. The punishment for such sin certainly does not remain outside, although it is stopped for a while.
4 In this gospel we are given a special example of God's terrible judgment of His most beloved and holy city Jerusalem and His own people, which city was our dear Lord's own house and hearth, and the people His own household. For Jerusalem was like half a heaven, where God Himself dwelt with His angels, where all divine services were held, where almost all the patriarchs lived and had their burial, and finally where Christ, the Son of God, Himself walked, died, was buried, rose again and gave the Holy Spirit. So that this city is so heaped with holiness that it has not been like it in the whole world, nor will be like it until the last day. Nevertheless, all this is unseen, since they do not accept God's word.
When the Jews did not want to follow it, our Lord God kept his word so firmly that his dearest city had to be devastated in the most horrible way. How much less will he give to other cities that cannot hold a candle to Jerusalem, and to other peoples who do not belong to him as closely as the Jews, who were his blood friends.
(5) Therefore, in this example, notice God's anger, and beware of despising the word, lest we say, as we commonly do, "God will not be so angry, he will not punish so severely. For if he has caused the holy city Jerusalem, his most precious treasure on earth, to be torn apart so that not one stone was left upon another, so that the Jews heard the gospel and did not improve, you must not think that he will give it to us if we also lie in the same sin. For Jerusalem is so far gone that it could not be said that a house stood there.
6) But God let this terrible punishment happen at that time, when the Jewish people had gathered in crowds to Jerusalem for the Easter feast, and almost thirty times a thousand *) people (as the histories testify) were there. For God intended to kindle a great fire, therefore He brought the fires all in heaps. When he had gathered them together like a great funeral pyre, yes, like a forest, he led the Romans over them, so that they set it on fire and burned it. Josephus says that from the time of the siege until the city was conquered, ten times a hundred thousand were slain and died of pestilence, and seven and ninety thousand were taken captive. They were so despised and worthless that thirty of them were sold for a shilling. So Christ also had to be smelled, whom they had sold for thirty pieces of silver.
7 Now this is the miserable and pitiful punishment that God has inflicted on His people, which He brought out of Egypt with such great glory and miraculous signs, which He placed in the land of Canaan, which He had been their father, and which He has destroyed.
*) one hundred thousand [a b] D. Red.
spoke and dealt kindly with them. But because they despised his word and did not want to follow him, he let such wrath and terrible punishment pass over them etc.
(8) The Lord sees such sorrow, that it is not far off, and weeps for it, saying, If thou knewest, thou wouldest have considered in this thy time what was for thy peace. But now it is hid from thine eyes." Therefore you go safely, as if there were no need for you. But it will not remain so long, it will have to break; and is already before the hand, without that it is still hidden and you do not see it.
(9) Here it may occur to one why our Lord God hides the punishment? Why does he not let it go immediately? Answer: He does it to prove his patience, and to see if we will mend our ways and seek mercy. For if he should strike us with thunder and lightning as soon as we deserve it, none of us could live seven years. That is why he keeps the punishment to himself, to give us time and space to mend our ways. This is fitting for God, who thereby praises his mercy toward us. The devil, however, is an angry spirit, he will not do it; if he could beat you to death with a straw, he would do it, and would not tarry long. But God is merciful, that is why he wants to draw out the punishment, but not let it go at all.
(10) This makes people sure that not only do they not improve, but the longer they stay the worse they become. As you can see: An adulterer, a usurer, a thief, because the punishment does not come as soon as possible, makes himself believe that there is no need for a long time, that he may well atone for his lust. But beware, do not let yourself be seduced or deceived. For here you hear that God may hold back and hide the punishment, but that is not why it remains outside. Therefore, turn back at times, repent and improve yourself. This is what Christ means here when he says: "But now it is hidden from your eyes"; as if he should say: Do not be deceived that the punishment is hidden. You will kill me and shed my blood, as you did with other prophets before me. I will keep silent, let it happen and suffer it. This is what makes you think that it is
will always go on like this and probably remain unpunished. For this reason, no one is serious about becoming more pious and better. But beware, you are not exempt from punishment. If you could be persuaded to believe it, you would think about escaping the punishment. But you do not believe it; that is why you go so safely, let the time of your visitation, in which you will be warned and you could come back to grace, rush by, are safe and do not improve. This is the very sin for which God's wrath will overtake you and hasten you.
(11) Study diligently and notice what God considers to be the greatest sin, which He can least tolerate nor suffer, namely, that His people did not recognize the time of His visitation. For the Lord is silent here about all other sins, and remembers only this, that they went safely there and not only did not turn away from the prophets' admonition and threat, but also persecuted them and shed much innocent blood, until, as the Scripture says, Jerusalem became full of blood here and there (just as Germany today sins horribly with manifold persecution of the Word and its servants). Alongside this sin, adultery, fornication, usury, avarice, stealing, indulging, drinking and the like went on with power.
(12) Christ says here that I have punished such iniquity with the word, and have taught you to be godly and to amend your ways. For this cause I sent my prophets, John and my apostles beforehand; indeed, I myself appeared, preached, performed miraculous signs and did everything that might serve to correct you. Now all other sins, great and many as they are, should not harm you, but be forgiven and remembered no more for eternity; Jerusalem should stand well and remain unchallenged by the enemy: if only you knew the time of your visitation. For I come to you not with the sword, not with the club, but meekly and a Savior. I preach and cry, Repent, amend your ways, and be godly. Hear and follow before
the wrath comes with power. So I seek you out.
(13) Yes, it will not end there. You make all your sin greater by not wanting to recognize, accept or suffer the visitation. That is why, as the saying goes, "He who cannot be advised cannot be helped. What devil would want to be the barber of the sick person, who would take the razor out of his hand and stab him, the master, in the body? This is exactly how you Jews deal with our Lord God. He lets you offer forgiveness of sins through me, wants to be your merciful God, gladly forgetting and forgiving everything: only that you still stop sinning and accept his word. But you go to me, blaspheme me, say: I have the devil, call my preaching heresy, want to put me on the cross on top of it, will not be satisfied sooner, you have done it. But that is the devil, when God not only wants to forgive sins and be merciful, but also wants to give great, high gifts, so that one turns his back on him and blasphemes his grace in the most horrible way. If it comes to that, I can no longer hold on, the punishment must come. For where one cannot suffer forgiveness of sins and God's grace, there is neither counsel nor help.
14 And this is the main cause that the wrath of God is so exceedingly great and terrible. For just as the Jews would neither see nor hear His word, so God would not see or hear their cries, prayers, worship and other things, and His wrath would not be quenched until Jerusalem was destroyed, that not one stone was left upon another. Purely from and everything is it turned to the ground. That is what they wanted to have. This is the terrible example that the evangelist has written for our correction, that we should not despise God's word and let the time of our visitation pass without fruit.
(15) It is especially to be noted that the Lord says, "But now it is hidden from your eyes. For so it is common that one does not think that God will punish, but because God out of kindness will punish with the
If you go away and wait for correction, the world will think that you will always remain silent. But beware, saith Christ; though ye see not the punishment, yet think ye that, if ye amend not, it shall not remain without. For even though God has tarried for a time, He has laid so many nets and ropes everywhere, set so many mouse traps for the sake of the wicked, that it is impossible that you should escape from Him at length.
16 He has commanded father and mother, lord and lady of the house, to have respect for wicked children and servants. Whoever will not let them defend themselves, he commands the secular authorities, who punish by Master Hansen; he is a very rough preacher, has such a harsh voice that he can scream your head off your neck. The devil is also still there, who can punish you with pestilence, hunger, water and fire (if you do not want to improve yourself) out of God's decree. Therefore, let no one think that he will lead it out and escape punishment. If thou wilt not be pious, and wilt not let the word of God guide thee, then thou must let the executioner or the devil guide and lead thee without thy thanks; but truly with thy harm and destruction.
(17) Therefore make no distinction between the punishment that is hidden and that which is certain. For the punishment of sins is certain in every case, though it be hid. But that it is hidden deceives men. As Solomon also says, "It is not good that people should not be punished soon, and that our Lord God should remain silent for so long, for they will only become more wanton.
18 A thief who steals today, when it suits him, steals again tomorrow, and thinks he will always get away with it; this finally brings him to the gallows. If he would think to stop stealing when the time comes, he will not stop. So do adulterers, usurers, and in sum all sinners: the better they like their behavior, the more heated and lustful they become about it. For they do not see this definition or sentence, although the punishment is hidden.
is that it is nevertheless certain. How it finally turns out that, according to the proverb, the jug goes to the well until it breaks.
Therefore beware, and be not deceived. Even if the force is already hidden, it is nevertheless certain and does not remain outside. As the Gentiles have learned from experience, and therefore have said: When our Lord God wants to come and punish, put on woolen socks, so that he may walk quietly and not be heard. Learn this, and therefore do not be sure that our Lord God will not strike quickly; but be afraid and beware. For he has so many angels, so many servants, so many plagues, war, famine, pestilence, that he may well strike you. He can make the air full of fire and burn you. He can drown you in water, strangle you with poison, by untimely or otherwise unhealthy fruit. In sum, there are a thousand and one thousand ropes and nets that God sets for the wicked and unrepentant sinners.
020 This then is the cause that our dear Lord Christ so faithfully warns, and weeps, saying, Behold, O Jerusalem; because the punishment is hid, thou thinkest that it shall remain without; but thou art far from it. For the punishment is not hidden, that thou shouldest be free; but that thou shouldest be struck the more surely, if thou wilt not know the time of thy visitation. If then thou wilt not abuse such delay, but use it aright, cease from time to time to sin, keep thee here to the word, and counsel shall be given thee; if not, thou must go down.
(21) In this way Peter preaches to us, 2 Pet 3:15: "Consider the patience or longsuffering of our Lord," he says, "for your salvation. That is, let it be thought to be your salvation, let it be for your good, that you be not condemned. For if God were to punish us in all ways, as and according to what we deserve, then, as I said above, none of us would live beyond seven years. Well, he does not, but is long-suffering, sticks to himself, and forgives the punishment. This, saith Peter, take heed; let it be for your salvation's sake, that ye should say: O Lord, I am sorry to say that I have sinned much and often, and now in
dem, now in another. Now the punishment doesn't come, but it passes. But what does it mean? Certainly nothing else, except that even though the punishment is hidden, it will certainly come. Therefore, dear Father, forgive me, and I will repent and amend. This saying of Peter is very well to remember, that the patience of God is our blessedness. "For God," he says shortly before, "does not want anyone to be lost, but that everyone should turn to repentance." Therefore, where God forgives the punishment, it is for our good. But whoever does not remit, but continues in sin and abuses such patience of God, the jar must ultimately break. As you can see, because the thief does not want to desist from stealing in time, he will finally be handed over to the executioner; a lewd woman who does not want to desist from her lewdness will finally become a disgrace before everyone. But God has proven it especially with the city of Jerusalem, even though he hides and holds back the punishment, that he will finally come and not give us the disobedience.
Therefore let everyone fear God, everyone, great and small, young and old, learn that if he does wrong and will not desist from it, the punishment will not remain outside. For Jerusalem stands as an eternal example, the holy, beautiful city, which even the pagan histories praise as having been longe clarissima urbium Orientis, the most glorious, most famous city in the Orient; it is gone and destroyed, so that no one knows where a house has stood, because it has not refrained from sins and has not turned to the Word. This. The Lord gives us this example in today's Gospel, so that we should take it to heart and amend our ways, or know that if we do not remit our sins, do not follow the word, and do not want to accept it with faith, that God will not remain outside with the punishment, even if he forgives it for a time; which, as I said, is for our good, so that we may take advantage of the time and remit our sins. If, however, you do not want to improve yourself, but only to become more insolent and to comply more with your will of courage, know that the evil hour will come before you know it.
Our Lord God will also make you cry out, but will not hear you.
23 For he did likewise with the Jews. The siege lasted a short time, from Easter until the autumn moon. Every day they had such a sacrifice in the city, such singing and praying, that it was a miracle. But it was all in vain. God had stopped his ears and would not listen. Cause, he therefore hid and delayed the punishment, so that they would mend their ways and recognize the time of their visitation. But it would not be with the hardened people. Therefore, when he revealed the punishment, he also hid himself and would not be found. As Hosea also threatens the kingdom of Israel in chapter 5, v. 6: "They will come with their flocks and herds to seek the Lord, but will not find him, for he has turned away from you"; and Isaiah chapter 1, v. 15: "When you lift up your hands and pray, I will not hear."
(24) Let us therefore diligently keep this example in mind, so that, since God will not remain outside with the punishment, we may fear Him; and since He does not strike us as soon as He sees fit, but gives us time to repent, we may also love Him as a merciful Father, and say: O dear Father, You will certainly not let sin go unpunished; so grant me Your grace and the Holy Spirit, that I may amend myself and escape the well-deserved punishment. So whoever goes to repentance shall find grace.
25. Jerusalem would still be standing today if the Jews had recognized themselves in this way, humbled themselves and said, "Dear God, we have done wrong by being such bad boys and strangling your dear servants the prophets. Now thou hast given us the holy gospel through thy Son: give us grace, that we may be instructed, and become more godly. If they had done this, there would have been no need; the Romans, with all their power, would have had to leave them alone and stay at home. But because they continued in sin, saying, "Oh, there is no need; do you think that God will let the city go down like this, where he himself dwells and has no other place of worship? Oh no,
nothing will come of it. There it went so that not one stone remained on the other. And now the poor Jerusalem, destroyed, devastated, and ravaged, stands as an example to all who are wantonly wicked and do not want to mend their ways, so that they must also suffer such punishment.
But to others who accept God's word and amend, this history is held up for their comfort and instruction, so that they may learn that if God hides the punishment, it is for their peace and good, that God will graciously forgive their sins if they cease and amend. For it is no wonder that we sin; but to defend sin, to persist in it unrepentantly and stubbornly, is something that God cannot tolerate; rather, everything must come to nothing; especially when He comes with the gracious visitation of the Word and would like to call us to repentance.
27 So poor Jerusalem is gone, and nothing hath overthrown it, but the great title, that it was called the city of God, his own house, and his own habitation. This made the Jews sure that they thought: Should Jerusalem perish? Nothing will come of it, God is more concerned; therefore, even if the whole world were to come, it would not be able to harm us, God will not let His dwelling place be desolate. On such title and grace they sinned, asking for no sermon. This pushed the bottom out of the barrel and brought them into all misfortune.
Because God, out of His special grace, is also visiting us with His word today, but we in both parts are very badly opposed to it, the bishops are persecuting it, we are misusing it for our avarice, hopefulness and other sins: so I fear that Germany will actually have to suffer a great defeat, whether by the Turk or otherwise by war, famine and other plagues. Therefore, let us take this example to heart, that Jerusalem was so miserably destroyed because it did not accept God's word, but despised it: so that we may learn to honor God's word, to hear it gladly, and even if we sin, to repent and amend. This is the first part of today's Gospel.
29 After this the evangelist tells how Jesus went into the temple and began to cast out those who were buying and selling inside, saying, "My house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of murderers."
(30) This is done by Christ out of a special power, and is to be respected like other miraculous signs, which we cannot imitate. Otherwise, so many great and mighty nobles, who had their enjoyment of it, would have resisted him and not allowed it, nor would they have yielded to him alone, who without a sword but with a scourge (as the other evangelists report) undertook such a thing.
(31) That they should suffer such violence and harm, and keep silence, is a sign that the Lord has spoken to them just as he spoke to the Jews in the garden, when they all fell back to the ground behind them. We will slowly imitate Christ in this. Therefore, no one should interpret this history to mean that the preachers wanted to lay hands on them and use force in the same way as Christ did here. For if Christ had not wanted to use more than human force here, he alone would have achieved little against so many.
(32) We are not to look at the work alone, but also at the cause. The Lord attaches this to the words: "My house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves. What could move the Lord to such a harsh word? For they committed no murder in the temple, but waited for their trade, namely, that they had there their exchange bank, with the cattle large and small, as one needs for the sacrifice. Market held. For the Jews, who lived far from Jerusalem, could not bring out from their homes what they wanted to sacrifice. The servants of the high priests were sent so that there would be livestock and perhaps money for sacrifice. For the temple had its own special coin, as one finds now and then in the histories.
This seems to be more praiseworthy than desecrating. For since God Himself ordered and commanded such worship, who would consider it wrong that it should be so
promotes and faithfully helps that he goes well in the Schwang? But they had a different opinion. The priests pretended that they were doing it to promote the service; but they would not have cared so much about the service if it had not carried so much. That is why they were concerned about the money and not about our Lord God. They were driven by such avarice that they could preach nothing but sacrifices; they praised such worship just as the monks and priests praised their sacrifice of the mass, that one would thereby put away sin and come to God's grace. This has brought the people together and driven them to abandon the right worship (which means to fear God and trust in His goodness, and to diligently keep to the word of God); they have continued in sin with all certainty; they have let themselves think that if they only slaughter and sacrifice, there will be no need. As you can see in the prophets, they preach very strongly against their sacrifice for this reason.
34 This is the real sin, which is called murder, because not the body but the souls are murdered for eternity, namely, when people are taught to trust in their own works and not in God's goodness and mercy. Christ could not suffer that. We are not to suffer it either, but to prevent it as much as we can by the word (for otherwise we are not commanded): that people refrain from trusting in their own works and merits, as if they wanted to put away sin and become blessed by them; and that they give up their hearts and put their trust in God's mercy alone, who for Christ's sake wants to forgive us sin and make us righteous and blessed. After this, people should also be called pious, not following their own thoughts, but the word of God and keeping to it. Whoever does this is in need of the temple and its office. He who does not, abuses it and is a murderer of souls.
35 Hosea also gives this title to the priests in the kingdom of Israel, and it almost seems as if the Lord had seen such a saying of Hosea here, because he says Cap. 6, 9: "The priests together with their companions are like the priests of Israel.
the storms that lie in wait and choke in the way that goes down to Shechem. This is to indicate the damage they were doing with false teaching. For since they were supposed to point the people to the sacrifice of Christ, they pointed them to the slaughter of cows and oxen, as if everything had been arranged and nothing else was needed for eternal life. This was well received in the kitchen, for they always had their share. But people were not only deprived of money, but also of soul and blessedness. Christ could not stand that, so he threw everything into a heap.
36. but how he was more wonderful then
*) Ströter - strings, bush thieves. D. Red.
Thus it can be seen that God still allows such punishment to be inflicted in the church against the idolatrous spirits and false preachers. Therefore, with the godless bishops, priests and monks, who hold so strongly to the mass and other idolatries for the sake of their avarice, one day will find that God will expel them and overthrow their fair, whether it be the Turk or someone else.
That is enough of today's Gospel for this time. May God, the Father of all mercies, for Christ's sake, through His Holy Spirit, awaken our hearts to His fear, and graciously keep us in the Word, and guard us from all sorrow bodily and forever, amen.