First sermon,*)
Luc. 2:1-14.
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a commandment from the emperor Augustus, that all the world should be treasured. And this valuation was the very first, and came to pass at the time that Cyrenius was governor in Syria. And every man went to be appraised, every man to his own city. Then Joseph also departed out of Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, into the land of Judah, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, that he might be esteemed.
*) Held by Luther in the afternoon in 1532 in the parish church.
with Mary, his trusted wife, who was with child. And when they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her first son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; for they had no other room in the inn. And there were shepherds in the same region in the field by the hurdles, tending their flock by night. And, behold, the angel of the Lord came unto them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them: Fear not; behold, I proclaim unto you great joy, which shall be to all people: for unto you is born this day a Savior, which is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. And this is the sign that you will find the child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And immediately there was with the angel the multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and goodwill toward men.
From the Historia, how Christ was born in Bethlehem.
This is the history of this feast and of the birth of our dear Lord Jesus Christ, which is now to be preached. And it is very well arranged that the Historia is celebrated in this way in the Christian church, especially because great power lies in the Historia and the foundation of our Christian faith is written on it; so that the young people who grow up and the common man may learn this Historia well and keep it in memory and know how to establish their Christian faith. And this is the power and might of our Lord God, that he has preserved the text against the great wrath and fury of the devil: that in the ghastly darkness of the world and of the papacy, the young people and the common man may nevertheless know something to say about Christ's birth, suffering, death and resurrection, as far as the Historia and history are concerned.
(2) In this gospel there are two parts: the first is the history of how it happened today that our dear Lord Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem; the other part is the angel's sermon about the use and power of history, how we should make use of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. The history is to be taught to the young people and common men, so that they learn the article, where we in the Christian faith confess and pray: "I believe in Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary. According to history, we should also show the benefits diligently, so that we may get the right juice and taste from it.
3 St. Lucas describes the history in such a way that he certainly indicates at what time, in what year, in what place and in what form and manner Christ was born, namely:
in Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, at the time when the Roman Empire was at its best and the most noble emperor reigned, and when the first treasury went out over the whole land. The emperor sent out the commandment to treasure all the world, and took from every head something for treasure. At such a command Joseph and Mary also set out in obedience to the emperor to be treasured, and for this reason they came from Galilee to Bethlehem in the land of Judah. Then the time came for Mary to give birth, and she also gave birth to her Son, the Savior of all the world, since they were in a foreign land and in a foreign city, since they had neither house nor yard, and since the city was so full that they had no room at all in the inn.
(4) This is the history recently described, from which it is to be seen and learned that the Lord, immediately after his birth on earth, begins to distinguish his kingdom from the kingdom of the world. He does not present himself otherwise than as if he did not know the world and its kingdom; and again the world also presents itself as if it did not know this king and his kingdom. But Christ does not take away the Roman emperor Augusto's power and rule, but lets him write out the commandment and treasures all the people, yes, that is more, his parents, Mary and Joseph, also give their treasures. The emperor does in his kingdom as he wants, orders his kingdom, as best he can, by reason, wisdom, lawyers, law and order. Christ lets all this happen, but he wants his kingdom to be different from the emperor's kingdom. For this reason, he acts as if the emperor's kingdom and the kingdom of the world are none of his business, and
In turn, the far and the emperor also act as if this king and his kingdom were none of their business.
5 He is born in Bethlehem, in the very city where his fatherland is, and in which city he is to be the future king, as the prophet Micah says: "Out of Bethlehem shall go forth the duke who shall be ruler over God's people"; but he is a stranger in his own fatherland. Another, namely the emperor Augustus, is king there and has the power and the regiment; Christ finds honest room in the stable and in the manger; for he is born in a foreign place, since he has no house, and in addition in the hard winter and at night, since he is both, for the sake of the place and the time, abandoned by everyone, and has nothing that would be of any use to him in such a case. It is a miserable situation, and the world is worse and more unkind to this king than lions and bears. It does not do him so much friendship and service that it gives him a chamber or heats up a room, but pushes him behind into the stable with the cattle. There the noble Son and great King is born in great poverty, wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. These are signs and testimonies enough that the world does not look at this king, but despises him; so this king also presents himself with this figure of his birth, that he does not respect the world, but that he wants to start another being and kingdom; nevertheless he wants to be in the world.
Now there is great skill in distinguishing these two kingdoms, for there are very few who can do it right. It is common that the secular lords want to rule the church, and the clergy want to rule the town hall. Under the papacy it was called well governed, and is still called well governed, if one mixes the two together. But in truth it is very badly governed. When the bishops were still pious, they kept the difference pure, waited for the church and let the emperor rule. But afterwards their descendants mixed with each other, took up the sword and became secular lords. Today it is the same: the nobles and the squires
the consciences want to rule and command in the church. But when the clergy get back on their feet, they will again take the sword from the seculars, as happened under the papacy.
(7) Nevertheless, Christ is born in Bethlehem and has a natural mother, has a manger and swaddling clothes, needs the world, although he is born under the emperor Augustus and the emperor Augustus has the power and the rule in Bethlehem. So there is no Christian on earth who does not need this world. Therefore Christ and the emperor's kingdom are to be distinguished: Christ's kingdom is and should be, in short, a spiritual kingdom, and yet this same spiritual kingdom is in the midst of the world's kingdom, and Christ and his Christians need the world, as St. Paul teaches, 1 Tim. 6; the emperor's kingdom is a worldly kingdom, who judges and settles worldly matters, pronounces justice, gets, wields the sword etc. Christ has nothing to do with such worldly matters, but his kingdom and office is to save souls from sin and death, and to help where the world cannot help.
008 Therefore he holds himself against the world, as if he knew not the world; and the world again holds itself against him, as if it knew not him. It would have been right for the citizens of Jerusalem to have crawled out on their knees to Bethlehem and received their king; or at least for the mayor of Bethlehem to have gone into the stable, received this king and offered him service and support. But no one comes, neither from Jerusalem nor from Bethlehem, no one respects this king, they push him behind the stable; and again he presents himself not at all as a king and lord, but as the poorest beggar who ever came on earth, to show that he is not a worldly king nor has a kingdom in the flesh, but that his kingdom belongs to another world and life.
(9) Therefore, whoever wishes to be a preacher and teacher, even a common Christian, let him direct all his actions to serve that life, knowing that causa finalis, that is, the final request of the spiritual government and kingdom of heaven, in which Christ is King and Lord,
How one should live there in that world. How one should live here in this world, that one commands the emperor, who has and holds worldly peace, orderly and controlled regiment, judges and kills the evildoers, teaches in his empire how one should establish marriage, raise children, build, plant, divide goods etc. But Christ has and gives eternal peace, eternal life and eternal bliss.
(10) It is true that Christians eat and drink in the world and have need of this life on earth, just as their King Christ also ate and drank in the world and had need of this life. But Christians do all these things as pilgrims and strangers and as guests in the inn, just as Christ also did. In the inn it is so: The host takes care where he takes food, drink, bread, meat, wine, beer; the guest does not take care. The guest does not teach the innkeeper how to keep house, he does not say: "Dear innkeeper, when you buy food, do so and so; but he says: "Dear innkeeper, have you no bread and meat? carry me, let me eat, I am ready. So, too, Christ did not come to earth to interfere with the Emperor Augustus and teach him how to rule. But nevertheless he needs the worldly regiment and the manger, until he completes his office, for which he was sent. So St. Paul teaches, 1 Cor. 7, speaking verses 29-31: "Further, this is the opinion of them that have wives, that they are as though they had none; and that weep, as though they meant none; and that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and that buy, as though they possessed none; and that have need of this world, that they abuse it not: for the things of this world perish." This much is said: The Christian's final request is not to be on earth, to be free and to be free, to eat, drink, clothe, rejoice, buy and sell (although the need of the body takes an hour or two, like a guest), but another, which remains when all this ceases.
11 This difference should be well remembered: Finis politiae est pax mundi; finis ecclesiae est pax aeterna: The temporal regiment's final request is temporal peace; the Christian peace is temporal peace.
The final request is not peace and shelter on earth, beautiful houses, wealth, power and honor, but eternal peace. The emperor does not see to it that I die blessedly and live forever, nor can he help me against death, but he himself must also die, and when I die, he must follow me afterwards; death comes upon him as well as upon the poorest beggar. The emperor's regiment serves this temporal, transitory life; but when this temporal life ceases, the Christian church's regiment is rightly concerned. That she may proclaim to the sorrowful, anxious consciences the treasure acquired by Christ and commanded to the church by Christ, namely, forgiveness of sins and eternal peace: this is to be the goal and end to which the Christian regiment is to aim and reach.
The pope abolished this difference and in his decree made Christ's kingdom a worldly regiment. But Christ did not come to abolish the old, worldly regime, but to establish a new, spiritual regime. He did not take anything away from the worldly regime, but gave what was due to it. He needs this world, but he does not rule this world in a worldly way, like a king in the flesh. He takes a morsel of bread from the world, but he does not teach how to acquire the bread, but lets the emperor teach it. And this is the first part of this gospel.
The other part of this gospel is the angels' sermon, which is also the main saying of this gospel, and clearly shows that Christ's kingdom is much different from the kingdom of the world. For if our dear Lord Christ had wanted to be a worldly king, the chief priests of Jerusalem, Annas and Caiphas, or other great men of Bethlehem, would have come and preached of his birth, singing, "Glory to God in the highest." But now the heavenly spirits and holy angels of God, the very princes where such a kingdom belongs, come to his birth. And these same princes of heaven do not turn their eyes to the world, but look upon this King who is born in the stable and lies in the manger. Thereby they indicate that this king has such a kingdom, in which neither the emperor Augustus, nor the king
Herod has to rule, but over it God Himself is King and Lord, and in it are vain angels and holy men.
Soon, through the future of the angels, this history of the birth of the Lord Christ is opened and brought to light, and Christ's kingdom is separated and distinguished from the worldly government, and it is shown that it is a heavenly, eternal kingdom, although it already begins to reign here on earth. If you now ask what kind of king Christ is, you will see here that he is a king of heaven and of the dear angels; and yet this heavenly king lies in the manger, but he does not rule the manger, but is a sojourner on earth, and has another and higher thing to rule, of which the angel preaches, as we will hear hereafter.
(15) It is also shown here who are those who belong to this kingdom, namely, those who are sorrowful of heart and broken of mind. Those who strive for the worldly kingdom, power and sovereignty, do not belong to this kingdom. True, a Christian may and can be a worldly ruler, governing country and people; but he does this out of obedience to God and out of Christian love, that he may follow his calling and serve the world with his rule, yet he keeps himself like a servant in the house and a guest in the inn; as David says, even though he is already a king, Ps. 39:13: "I am both your pilgrim and your citizen, like all my fathers." But those who seek and wrestle after the power and dominion of this world do not belong here in this kingdom. Here belong the poor and miserable people; for them this King came on earth; therefore his kingdom is a kingdom for the frightened, afflicted, miserable people.
(16) For this reason the angels come with great splendor and splendid clarity, and the shepherds are terrified, so that it may be revealed that miserable, sorrowful people who do not seek great riches, power and majesty come to this kingdom alone. They have need of the riches of this world, of power and dominion, if it falls to them; just as their King Christ has need of swaddling clothes, milk, a manger: but they do not seek and struggle there.
but look to that eternal kingdom in which eternal peace and eternal life will be distributed. That is why the text says, "The shepherds were greatly afraid." For the angels came to them with brightness and great light, so that the light shone in the dark night as though the heavens were fire, and the shepherds thought it was lightning. This indicates that this king is born to those who are in fear and trembling, and that they alone belong to his kingdom. To them also preach as the angel preaches to the poor terrified shepherds, "Behold, I proclaim great joy to you."
What is this joy? Listen to what the angel says. "Behold," he says, "I proclaim to you great joy, which shall be to all the people." As if to say, "This joy will be offered to all the people, but only those who have a troubled conscience and a sorrowful heart are capable of this joy. These are the ones who belong to me and to my preaching, to whom I want to proclaim something good. Is it not a great wonder that this joy should be nearest where there is the greatest unrest of conscience? Where one is in fear and trembling, there such glorious, lovely, sweet joy should come, so that a human heart can hardly grasp and accept it. To the shepherds comes such a beautiful light and splendor, before which all the darkness of the world must give way; yet they are frightened by it and are very afraid. Should one then be frightened by joy, and be afraid of such a beautiful light? Well, it is written that the shepherds were afraid of the glory of the Lord that shone around them. And so it shall be, and no other way.
18. But mark this very well, and grasp it firmly and surely, that the angel says: Christ, born in Bethlehem, is not terrible sadness, but great, comforting joy, which a frightened heart can desire and wish for. The world is joyful and of good cheer when it has money and goods, power and honor. But a miserable, sorrowful heart desires nothing but peace and comfort, that it may know whether it has a gracious God. And this joy, of which a sorrowful heart desires peace and
Peace is so great that all the joy of the world stinks in comparison. Therefore, preach to the poor consciences as the angel preaches here: Listen to me, all you who are wretched and sorrowful of heart, I bring you glad tidings. Do not think that Christ is angry with you. For this is not why he came to earth and became man, that he might cast you into hell, much less why he was crucified and died for you; but this is why he came, that you might have great joy in him. Summa, there is no sourness in him.
This is the correct definition and alteration. If you want to define Christ correctly and actually describe who and what he is, notice how the angel defines and describes him here, namely, that he is and is called: "Great joy. Who could learn this definition and grasp it with certainty? For there lies power. A human heart cannot decide for itself that Christ is called by his right name: "Great Joy". I have especially learned the harm of this in the priesthood, since I was taught no other way than that Christ is a strict judge who will judge me according to my merits and works. Therefore I am accustomed to always remember how I have done many good works, so that I may propitiate Christ the judge. But this does not mean "great joy" and "the Savior is born to you today," but preaching the hellish fire. I am lacking in that I cannot call Christ in my heart by his right name, as the angel calls him here: "Great joy", as he is also certainly great, sweet, lovely joy.
(20) But this sermon, as I have said, is addressed only to the wretched and terrified consciences, who should learn this definition and not imagine Christ in any other way than pure joy. For it follows that those who are to set this definition, that Christ is great joy, make themselves vain terrors out of it. And again, to whom this definition does not belong, they point it out to themselves for carnal security. Those who are not concerned, have soon learned it; again, those who should grasp it, cannot grasp it. Now they should grasp it nevertheless, and also belongs to them alone.
Therefore, those who can make this definition in such a way that they do not paint Christ in their hearts other than pure joy, these are the right true disciples. When they hear that the first world is destroyed with the flood, that Sodom and Gomorrah are turned back with brimstone and fire, and what are more such terrible examples of divine wrath and judgment, they say: Let all these things go their way; but I see who Christ is, and believe that his right name is called Great Joy.
(21) But the devil does not like to let us come to that, but he always wants the works to be included, and he blows into the poor, afflicted consciences the most terrible histories and examples of divine wrath and judgment, and he tortures and frightens them, so that they melt with terror.
22. Therefore let this be learned, that Christ and all other works may be separated from one another; that in the fear and anguish of conscience one may no longer think of them, nor long trouble and torture oneself with them, how God is angry and has cruelly punished for and on behalf of the world of the wicked; but speak thus: It is true that God has destroyed the world with the flood, reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes with brimstone and fire, smitten the king of Assyria and his army to death before Jerusalem in one night; but all these things I command the ungodly world, the Papists, the Turks, false Christians and stiff-necked sinners, but something else now belongs to me. I am in fear and trembling; therefore I shall remember that Christ is called by no other name than the one the angel describes here, namely: "Great joy". Here I see another image before me, namely, that a virgin sits in the dark stable at Bethlehem, who has in her womb a friendly, blessed child, whose name is called: "Great Joy".
23 The angel was pleased to teach us this in this sermon, so that all sorrowful hearts and troubled consciences might learn to recognize and grasp Christ in his true image. Where Christ sees sourly, he drowns the world with the flood, and strikes down kings and tyrants; but here he sees not sourly, but kindly and sweetly,
and is called: "Great joy". Too good for whom? To all sorrowful hearts. This is the golden text that we should remember, so that we may know how to comfort ourselves with it in sadness and temptation.
24 But what is the name of the great joy? This is indicated by the angel when he continues: "The Savior is born to you, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. The word "Christ the Lord" is terrible to us. This is what makes Pabst's theology and our stupid nature that we always think that Master Hans is with us with the gallows, rope and sword. But it is a comforting word, especially because it says: "Savior", that is, a helper who gives happiness and salvation. Those who are without fear and temptation have no need of this Savior; but the poor sinners who are in fear and distress have need of him: no one else can help them, but this Savior alone, Christ the Lord, born today in Bethlehem.
(25) Therefore let the angel's preaching be true, and do not make him a liar. For he gives Christ the proper names that are his alone. He is and is called the only Savior. For also
on the last day, when he will come to judge the living and the dead, he will first be the right helper, and prove us the right sleeve, deliver us from the devil, death, the pope, proud scoundrels, wicked peasants and citizens, and from this shameful life. If he did not come on the last day, he would not be a true savior. But now he will come at the last day, that he may show himself a true Savior: not that he may judge those who delight in him, but that he may judge and punish the pope, cardinals, bishops, and the ungodly world who blaspheme and persecute him. He will come to deal justly with those who have torn up his inheritance. This is first the devil, then the tyrants of this world, evil peasants, burghers, nobility, who plague us.
26 Therefore, let Christ be where he wills, in the manger or at the right hand of God, called Lord or Judge, as we confess of him in faith, he is always a Savior. For all that he has done and will do is for us, and is for our salvation. May God give us His grace to grasp and keep these things, amen.