On the first Sunday of Advent.
First sermon.*)
Matth. 21, 1-9.
Now when they were come near Jerusalem to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, and said unto them: Go into the place which is before you, and soon ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her; loose her, and bring her unto me. And if any man say any thing unto you, say, The Lord hath need of her; and he will soon let her go unto you. Now all these things came to pass, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee meekly, riding upon an ass, and upon a colt of the burthen of an ass. The disciples went and did as Jesus had commanded them, and brought the ass and the colt, and laid their garments thereon, and set him thereon. But many of the people spread the garments on the road; the others cut branches from the trees and scattered them on the road. And the people that went before and followed cried out, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest.
This gospel has two parts. The first is of the Lord's entry into Jerusalem. The other piece is that the Lord, as St. Lucas writes, when he comes near, looks at the city of Jerusalem and weeps over it. We must first speak of the first part.
2 You have often heard that a Christian is called, not because he is born of father and mother, nor because he is called John, Peter, Paul, but because Christ has written his name on his forehead, even on his heart. For by baptism we die, and there it is said unto us, Thou man, which hast hitherto been an Adam's child, hast been called Hans, Peter, Paul; thou shalt no more be called a man only, but shalt be called a Christian also. A man is called one who is born of flesh and blood; but a Christian is called one who has been baptized and baptized with Christ.
*) Held by Luther in the house, 1532.
stu's blood washed from sins in baptism: he shall bear the name and be called Christian or a Christian. So that if anyone should ask you and say, "What is your new name, Christian or Christian? Are you otherwise called Hans, Peter, Paul?" you might answer and say, "Yes, I was called Hans, Peter, Paul etc. by my Father; but I am and am called a Christian because I was baptized and washed in Christ's blood. From the man Christ I am called a Christian. He is called Christ, I am called a Christian, not from my holy life, but because I put on Christ in baptism, and his name is written on my forehead, yes, pressed into my heart.
3rd Now this is the purpose of this gospel, that we should receive the King, from whom we are called Christians. For when it comes to dying, John, Peter, Paul die; but a
Christian does not die. I see that John, Peter, Paul are buried; but a Christian does not die, is not buried, but lives. Therefore if I die as Peter, Paul, there lies not. But because I am a Christian, Peter, Paul shall again come forth from the grave. For Christ, from whom I have taken the name, says Himself that we must come out of the grave again as Christians, so that we may learn to believe what we have through this King, namely, salvation from sins, death and hell. And this is also what the prophet Zechariah, whom the evangelist introduces here, says: "Behold, your King," who wants to save and protect you, "comes to you meekly, piously and helpfully." He is full of righteousness, and comes to you to make you devout; he is full of life, and comes to you to give life. This is called Christ, and therefore we are called Christians.
This is the high sermon that we should gladly hear and thank God for, so that when we die we can have certain comfort and say: I Hans, Paul, Peter lie here and am sick; but because I am a Christian, I want to die to Christ, from whom I take the name, and remain where he is. Thus Hans, Paul, Peter does not go to hell, nor does he remain in death, but goes into Christ's bosom and lives.
(5) This is a different sermon from the one that teaches about good works. True, Hans, Paul, Peter must and should do good works: but this sermon goes higher. If you Hans, Nickel, Paul, Peter are pious and do good works, then you must have something more, namely, that you are a Christian, and say from the heart, "I believe in Jesus Christ; the same King comes to me with all meekness and grace, and delivers me from sins, death, the devil and hell; in him I was baptized, in him I believe, with him I remain, and so I die. This is how one escapes death and this life, and comes to eternal life.
This is the first piece that the prophet Zechariah and the evangelist proclaim from the prophet: >,Tell the daughter of Zion, behold, your King is coming to you, merciful, just and a helper", he will make you pious
and make them righteous. It follows that this king does not come to judge people and cast them into hell. Moses comes to accuse and to judge, Joh. 5, 45. The devil also comes to accuse, to judge and to kill. Judges, kings, emperors come to judge and kill. For this is the office of the temporal authorities, commanded by God. But this king does not come to judge, but to help, to redeem from sins, to forgive and to pardon. Thus we are to learn to recognize him, and to such a king we are called. May God grant that we may receive him and abide with him, amen.
The other piece is that St. Lucas says that Christ wept over the city of Jerusalem. The people who precede and follow him cry out to him, saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David"; praise God, the king is present, there is now no need. But he, the Lord, lifts up and looks at the city and cries. "Ah, if thou knewest," saith he, "thou wouldest also consider in this thy time what is for thy peace." He weeps over those who do not heed such preaching. He should have been angry and struck them with thunder and lightning; he would have done the same if he had wanted to judge them according to their merit. But he weeps because they are so stubborn and will not accept the time of their visitation, saying, "They will storm you, Jerusalem, young and old, strangle everything and drag you.
008 This he saith before Jerusalem with a sorrowful heart, and putteth the cause thereof, saying, This shall be done unto thee, because thou knewest not the time wherein thou wast visited. As if to say, "I come to seek you out with mercy, to bring you help and comfort, to bring you salvation from sin and death, and eternal life. I do this out of pure goodness and mercy, if it were not obligatory nor due. And you, on the other hand, should be so full of devils that you not only do not want to accept such goodness and mercy offered to you by me, but also mock me for it? This will be smelled in you honestly.
(9) So the gospel is preached this day, and it is abundantly heard that Christ is such a king as this gospel makes him out to be.
lium. But citizens, peasants and those of the nobility trample their pastors and preachers underfoot; the princes and great lords of this world persecute the gospel. What will become of them? Christ graciously seeks them out, brings the fair to their door; so they beat him to death. How could a man be more foolish than to bring silver and gold before his house, and say, All this shall be thine; open thine hand and thy bosom, and take it; and he leadeth, and gathereth all things together, and smote him to death that setteth before him the silver and the gold? All who see this would say, "This man is possessed," and this would be the truth. But here is not a sack full of florins, but another treasure, namely, if thou canst no longer live, and now shalt die, Christ will forestall thee, and bring thee such help that thou shalt have eternal life: and yet, offering thee such treasure, he is cast away from thee, and despised. This is what he laments here.
Therefore, let us be careful. This king's entrance and future are rich in grace, and the gift he brings is comforting. But when he is despised and persecuted, and one does not want to believe, he weeps. So I have often said: A plague must pass over Germany, the princes and lords owe our Lord God a foolishness, there will be such bloodshed that no one will know where he is at home. Then this king will say to you, "I came to your house and offered you eternal life, but you went away and got drunk, did what you wanted, and persecuted my gospel. So now also have this misfortune to reward you.
011 And so it was at Jerusalem. When Christ was come thither, and said, Daughter, open the door; here cometh thy king, what did she do? The bride went and hanged her king on the gallows. Then he did the same to her, so that now it is not known where Jerusalem has remained. Now fifteen hundred years have passed, and there has not been a Jew in Jerusalem; but they are scattered, here one, there ten; they are scattered through the whole world; and where they are, they are sitting on the hill, and must wait that they may see the kingdom.
They are so poor that they are not safe anywhere. They are so poor that they are not safe anywhere. All in all, they are such poor people that they are not safe anywhere. They would have liked to go back to the Jewish land and rebuild their city, but they could not. The reason was that the daughter would not listen at that time; therefore the king will not listen to her again.
012 Wherefore, little children, young and old, small and great, let it not enter into your mind to think, saying, I can hear the gospel all the days of my life, I will learn it yet: but take your time, because the Lord is near, as the prophet saith, Isa. 55:6, Seek the Lord, because he is to be found; call upon him, because he is near. If we let him shut the door, it will come to nothing; but he will cry out again and make us knock in vain, as he answered the foolish virgins who came when the door was shut, saying, "Lord, Lord, open to us," and said, "Verily I say unto you, I know not yours." Matth. 25, 11. f. So we also: if we are careful, there will not be a single preacher who will be able to teach a single gospel correctly. Just as in the priesthood, when I was a monk, I did not hear a single one who could have told me who Christ was, what the Ten Commandments, Our Father and faith were; item from where I am a Christian, what the sacrament is, what the chastisement is, what the episcopal office is, what the marriage state is, what other states are. None of these things could have been said to give comfort. Now that all this is preached righteously and clearly, one does not know how to despise it enough. In former times, one could build monasteries and churches, even with all too superfluous expenses; now one cannot build a hole in the roof for a priest so that he could lie dry, I will remain silent of the great contempt. That would also be worthy of tears, that one should see such contempt.
13 Therefore I say, Beware; you are young, it may happen that you will experience, see and learn the future calamity over Germany. For there will be a weather
come over Germany, and will not remain outside. God could not have given it to the city of Jerusalem, where so many holy people lived and were buried, David and all the prophets, yes, where God Himself dwelt. Jerusalem was his little castle and chamber, of which he himself says: "Here I dwell, my heaven is here"; and yet, for the sake of sin, which means not respecting the time of the visitation, God punished and devastated this city so horribly. Therefore, I do not so much respect the stinginess of the peasants, and the fornication and immorality that is now rampant everywhere, as I do the contempt of the Gospel. Avarice, fornication and immorality are great, terrible sins, and our Lord God also punishes them with pestilence and dear time; but nevertheless, the land and the people remain standing. But this sin is not adultery nor fornication; indeed, it is not a human sin, but a devilish sin, that the great grace of God's fatherly visitation should be so despised, ridiculed and mocked.
(14) So this punishment, first among the Jews after Christ's ascension, then also among the Gentiles, who had come to the fellowship of the gospel and Christ's kingdom, and yet shamefully despised the time of the gracious visitation, as the Jews had done before, after the apostles' time, took away everything that was spiritual, all the offices in the church, so that not a single doctor and teacher remained who could righteously interpret and interpret some of the Ten Commandments. The Turk does the other, turns the cities upside down, cuts and beaks men, women and children to death, so that neither young nor old remains. These are God's punishments for the devilish sin of not recognizing the time of the visitation. It is indeed a great sin that peasants, citizens, nobles and everyone are so stingy; but that they so despise God's word about this sin, that will break their necks. Beware of this. If our Lord God will let us fall, let us not fall into this eternal sin of the devil. For
Our Lord God Himself wept over this sin. The Jewish people would not have been harmed by all their sins, if only this abominable sin, contempt of visitation, had not been added to them. For Christ, their King, came to help them. But if one does not want to be pious and despises God's word, there is no counsel. Therefore, beware, be pleased with God's word, listen to it, read it, speak gladly of it, and you will do God the highest service and you the best benefit. If the world despises it, do not be angry; one day it will know and feel what it has done.
15 Lot the righteous was in Sodom, what happened? Those in Sodom not only did not want to hear the righteous Lot, but also wanted to push him out of the city. Our Lord God had given them their sin, so he preached to them that he would be merciful to them and that they should turn to him; but they would not listen, but despised and laughed at him. Then he also rained hellish fire on them and turned their cities back. For this was their sin, that they were not only shamefully wicked, but also would not suffer the word of God. The first world mocked Noah, who by God's command built the ark a hundred years at the time of the flood. They vexed the preacher of righteousness. But when the ark was built, God sent among them, not pestilence, nor the flood, nor the sword, but the waters of the flood, which destroyed them all, even as he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah utterly, so that they could not have kept one dog. So in the destruction of the city of Jerusalem not a Jew was left. And so it will be with us when we fall into this sin. Our Lord God can create angels for Lot and Abraham to save them, prepare an ark for Noah to be preserved in, command the apostles to flee from Jerusalem; so He can also preserve and save us, but Germany will have to suffer. If the Turk will not do it, the last day will. For the shameful contempt of the Gospel will not go unpunished against the Germans.
16 So this gospel has two parts.
The first, that Christ is a helper to that life. The other is not to despise God's word. Christ laments for the city of Jerusalem, as if to say, "Jerusalem will be destroyed, and the Jews will be scattered throughout the world. They do not want the time of visitation, they do not ask for it, no matter how sweetly they are preached to. Well, he who is not to be advised cannot be helped. He who is not only weak, but also wants to trample underfoot those who lead and guide him, who will help him? It is too much that we are sinners, and on top of that we want to strangle the one who wants to make us blessed and carry us. This is not a human sin, but a devilish sin; and such people are possessed with many shocks of devils. For to slay him that cometh to make him blessed, let no man do it, but the wicked devil, and they that are full of devils. If my son wanted to strike me dead and strangle me,
If I were to help him, I would have to say he was mad and foolish.
(17) Therefore our Lord God will keep his word, that and no other; if not, it shall not remain unspotted. We have enough examples of this, the flood, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, the city of Jerusalem. Before the last day, new errors will come, so that, as Christ says, even the elect will be deceived into error wherever possible. May God protect us and give us His grace, so that we may be the few who gladly accept Christ and sing: Hosanna, praise be to God, that we have this King and are Christians and are called so; and that we know why and from where we are called so, namely, from this King Christ, that we are baptized in His name and washed in His blood. Now, let us sing Hosanna, and ask God to keep us in it, Amen.