First sermon.*)
Matth. 2, 1-12.
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in the land of Judaea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, the wise men came from the east to Jerusalem, saying: Where is the newborn King of the Jews? We have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him. When Herod the king heard this, he was afraid, and all Jerusalem with him; and he called together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, and inquired of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem, in the land of Judaea. For thus it is written by the prophet: And thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah art by no means the least of the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come to me the duke that shall be lord over my people Israel. Then Herod called the wise men secretly, and learned diligently of them when the star appeared, and directed them to Bethlehem, saying, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye find him, tell me again, that I also may come and worship him. When they had heard the king, they went. And, behold, the star which they had seen in the east went before them, until it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they were greatly rejoiced, and went into the house, and found the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him, and opened their treasures, and gave him gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. And God commanded them in a dream that they should not turn again to Herod. And they went again by another way into their own land.
*) Held in the parish church, 1532, morning.
From the Historia.
1) There are many things to be preached on this feast, namely, the history of the wise men, item, of the baptism of Christ, item, of the first miraculous sign that Christ did at the wedding in Cana in Galilee. Therefore, today's feast is also called the feast of the revelation of Christ. For thus it is said that these three revelations took place in one day, though not in one year. The first, that the Lord Christ revealed himself to the wise men in the east by the star; the second, that the Godhead revealed itself at the Jordan, when Christ was baptized by John; and the third, that Christ revealed his glory at Cana in Galilee, when he turned water into wine at the wedding. Whether or not these revelations occurred in a single day, for the sake of the times, they are very good stories and glorious revelations, well worth preaching about and learning about.
(2) First of all, let us consider this gospel, which contains the glorious history and revelation that took place to the wise men of Arabia, or the east country. By the same history the Lord made known and confirmed his future, not only among the Jews, but also among the Gentiles, that everyone might know that he was present, and that no one might excuse himself, nor say that he had kept himself secret, that no one had known of him.
(3) But this history was especially written for the testimony of the Jews, that they might not be excused, nor say that they had not known. Because it was decided that he should come, not as a worldly king with great splendor, but miserable and poor, as the prophet Zechariah prophesied of him, and he was also born on earth, that he found no room in the inn, was laid in the manger etc., his future was especially vexatious, at which the Jews were especially offended, and even today they still are.
*) The ยงยง 1-8 read with Walch so completely differently that an exact indication of the Columnenzahl is impossible.
D. Red.
The day of his death. For this reason his future and birth were so strongly put into words and preaching that the Jews could not say, "How were we to recognize and accept him, because he was so miserable? but would have to confess and say, "It is true that he came from bad and miserable, but he is preached and proclaimed gloriously.
The Jews should have believed this glorious testimony. For both time and place were proclaimed long before in the prophets, and everything rhymed with the matter. The angels testify of him in the field in the air, the shepherds in Bethlehem, Simeon and Hannah in the temple in Jerusalem. Everything is proclaimed in the most glorious way, so that the Jews should know about it. But especially the testimony of the Gentiles is glorious and powerful. For the wise men come from a far country to Jerusalem, the royal capital, and make the cry of the newborn king so famous that Herod is frightened and all Jerusalem is agitated. The king asked them where Christ was to be born, and they answered him from the Scriptures, indicating the city where he was to be born. So that they were convinced first by the Scriptures, then by themselves, and finally by the wise men, that they had known of such a birth.
(5) For us Gentiles, such an example of the wise men serves us well. For this is why it was done and prescribed that we should learn from it, so that it cannot be otherwise: if we want to come to this child and find him, we must believe the word, stay with the word and not let ourselves be turned away from it. Where we let the word go, the trouble is already there. For the child is too small and wretched to be seen that it is impossible not to start with reason without the word. Reason and worldly wisdom cannot grasp it in the heart nor believe that this child, which finds no room where it can be born, is a king and so great a king and lord, who is the Savior of all the world. Therefore, by the word
preached and written in the Word, it shall come into our hearts that we may believe it. And as his birth is poor and miserable, so his whole life is nothing but poverty, beggary, suffering, misery, shame and disgrace. Whoever then loses the word and looks at him badly with bodily eyes, as he lies there in the manger in the stable etc., has already lost him.
(6) But this happens especially when the devil strikes and makes a false Christ for us, so that we fall into thoughts and paint Christ as he pleases us. As our enthusiasts and papists do, they abandon the Word and therefore cannot grasp or accept Him as He is before their eyes, but make of Him a judge and a stickmaster. They do not like the fact that he alone is to be the Savior. Therefore they add their own works and devotions, which they intend to enjoy beside the Savior Christ. They call upon the Virgin Mary to show her breasts to their son and to reconcile him; they think that such invocation and intercession should also be a savior for them. But it is nothing but a lie; for where one drops the word and gropes after Christ apart from the word, one is lacking and takes hold of the devil. He makes such a noise in front of people's eyes that they think it is the real Christ, and yet it is the wretched devil.
(7) We have experienced this in the papacy, when we were drowned in such thoughts and taught and lived like this: Whoever wants to stand before Christ must enjoy the intercession of the saints. I myself trusted more in the goodness and intercession of the Virgin Mary than in the grace and intercession of Christ. We looked at him, as the painters paint him, on a rainbow as a judge. As he was painted by heart, so he was painted by heart in our hearts. So we were deceived and misled, had fallen away from the faith and fled from Christ, in whom we should have refuge. We only heard the mere history of him, that he had come, but why and for what purpose he had come was completely silent. This is what happens when one does not stick to the word. Dar
he devil is particularly interested in how he can tear us away from the word and lead us to his own thoughts apart from the word. For then he knows that he has won and we have lost. So the wise men come first and seek Christ in Jerusalem. They have this from divine revelation, that the King of the Jews is born. Then their reason leads them to Jerusalem, because they think, "The King of the Jews is not to be found anywhere except in Jerusalem in a magnificent castle and a golden chamber, where he sits on a royal throne and where many men in armor have been appointed to wait for him. For how would reason think otherwise of a king? But such thoughts, because they are without word, do not rightly grasp Christ. Therefore the wise men are lacking in their thoughts and do not find this child in Jerusalem, since it was the holy city, God's temple and dwelling place. But if they are to find it, they must follow the word, which is the right star and the beautiful sun that points to Christ.
Since Christ cannot be found at Jerusalem, where his seat was, without his word, we should in short stick to the word and reject all thoughts. Our enthusiasts leave word, baptism, and sacrament, climb up above the clouds, and seek him in heaven; but they miss him. It is true that heaven is his temple and dwelling place, as the prophet Isaiah says in Cap. 66, 1; but you will not find him in heaven, for it is decreed that you shall know nothing of God and Christ except in the Word. If thou abide in the word, thou shalt find God and Christ, and shalt be victorious; if thou abide not in the word, thou shalt lack God and Christ, and shalt be lost.
(9) This is what I would like to firmly imagine for myself and others; for all the devil's mischievousness lies in tearing us away from the word; if it is not in the outward preaching that one does not want to hear the word, it is in the heart that one does not cling to the word. I cannot get our enthusiasts to see God's word in the sacrament, as well as in father, mother, rulers, authorities, etc., but they judge badly according to what they see, as a cow looks at a new gate. What is va-
Mother, prince, they say, better than I? Item, the Lord's supper, they say, is bread and wine; for they have badly formed the work without word in their eyes. Therefore they go on, saying: What good would bread and wine do? And if it were Christ's flesh, yet flesh is of no use. So they go on, and take the husk only, but leave the kernel, the word, behind. But as it was with the Jews, who saw the miraculous signs of Christ, and heard his preaching; but because they hearkened not unto the word, none helped them: so it is with our revelers, that they keep the husk, and lose the kernel.
(10) It is true that if you look at father, mother, lords, wives, rulers, authorities, as they have blood and flesh, there is no difference between them and other people; likewise, if you judge the Lord's Supper without a word, reason finds no more than bread and wine: but, dear friend, you must pay attention to the word here and believe it. This tells you thus: "You shall honor your father and mother"; "You servants, be obedient to your physical masters in all things", Col. 3, 22; "Be subject to all human order for the sake of the Lord, whether to the king, as the ruler, or to the captains, as the messengers from him", 1 Petr. 2:13, 14. Item, of the Lord's Supper the Word tells you thus, "Eat, this is my body given for you; drink, this cup is the New Testament in my blood shed for you for the remission of sins." Sayest thou: Meat is of no use; I say, Hear the word, and believe the same, and it shall be profitable unto thee: for the words which Christ speaketh are spirit, and are life. All the work that Christ does is put into the word, and in the word and through the word he wants to give us everything, and without the word he wants to give us nothing.
(11) The highest and best art that can be done is to hold fast to the Word and not to think of divine things in any other way than as the Word tells us. Therefore, one should be accustomed to know nothing of God and Christ without and apart from the Word. But if one has the word, then one should firmly
If you stand on it and say, "Make Christ your judge or your cane-master, as you will," his word is, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." I stand by that word. So we should not want to know anything about Christ, how he leads his kingdom in secret etc.; but only keep to the word, how he acts with us in the preaching of his gospel, in baptism, absolution and his Lord's Supper. But where the word is abandoned, and speculation is done without and apart from the word, reason is very uncertain and slippery.
(12) So the wise men are lacking in their thoughts; they think of Christ thus: If he is the king of the Jews, he will have the royal city and castle; therefore they go straight to Jerusalem; but when they come there, all their thoughts are void. What do they do here? Then they come to the Scripture; for the Jews say thus: The king of the Jews shall not be born in the royal city of Jerusalem, but in Bethlehem of Judah, as it is written in the prophet Micah. The word is the right star that truly shows them Christ. Without and apart from this word they would not have found the King Christ.
013 Now Bethlehem, to reckon it, was a cowshed against Jerusalem; for Jerusalem was the capital of the land of Judah, Bethlehem was a little place. But so it was promised that Christ should come from the tribe of David. But now the people of Israel were so divided by the prison that no tribe had its own place as before. Before the prison, the tribes were finely divided and separated, each to its own place; but after the prison, this distinction was abolished, and all the people were one cake. Therefore the tribe of David was hard to meet. Mary and Joseph were of the tribe of David, but they dwelt at Nazareth in Asher and Naphtali, and yet belonged to Judah; and so all the people were blended together. Therefore, by the prophecy of the prophets, God had made it so certain that although the people were divided and the tribes were mixed together, here one part of Judah, there the other, yet nothing would be found.
Christ was to come from David's fatherland, where David was born and lived, from the lineage of Judah and from the city of Bethlehem, as the prophet Micah says here.
(14) All these things were made for the comfort of the Jews, because the families and tribes were blended together, and now the time was present for Christ to be born. Behold, what an uproar there is! The Jews know the lineage, the tribe, the place, the city, and show it to King Herod; yet they do not believe. For if they had believed, they would have gone to Bethlehem. But the wise men and strangers from the east believed, and believed so firmly that they also went from the royal city of Jerusalem to the poor city of Bethlehem. They would have said: This is a ridiculous thing; if we do not find the King of the Jews in Jerusalem in the temple, in the house of his God, we will certainly not look for him in the village of Bethlehem. Where else should we look for him, but where his God dwells, who sent him? Now they point us away from Jerusalem, from the temple, from God's dwelling place, to the dirty town of Bethlehem. If the king presents himself in this way, he will be hard to find; if he is not found in his kingdom and in his God, he will not be found anywhere else. So they would have said. But they keep the word of the prophet, "Out of Bethlehem shall come the duke." With the Jews this was an annoying thing, just as if the prophet was greater than the temple at Jerusalem, that he was allowed to say, "At Bethlehem the duke shall be born;" so the prophet must be the greatest heretic with them. When the king of the Jews comes, they thought, he will not leave the temple and worship and will be born elsewhere than in this place. But the temple and God's dwelling place shall not do it, says the prophet, but Bethlehem shall give the duke.
15Therefore the wise have a good and beautiful faith, that they may overcome great and mighty vexation, and not be offended, because the king of the Jews hath forsaken his temple and his worship, and chosen the
The village of Bethlehem, where the peasants lived, was opposed to the citizens and scholars of Jerusalem. What will they have said about this? No doubt they had strange thoughts. We are looking for the king of the Jews, so we are directed away from the temple to the cowshed. Do they take us for fools who have no sense? No doubt they have had such thoughts according to the flesh: but faith puts aside all such thoughts, and they turn not aside from them, though Christ is not to be found in the temple with all the Jewish priesthood, nor in the royal palace with the temporal power; but they follow the word without fear, and go to Bethlehem.
16 We have also done and had to do this. All the world looked for the Christian church in the Concilio, in the pope and his followers. But the Christian church is found in the Concilio and the pope, just as the wise men find Christ in Jerusalem. You say: If the pope has the Scriptures, the office and the power, how can he be lacking? Answer: Was not the temple and God Himself also at Jerusalem? and yet it is missing. That is why we are concerned with the council, the pope and the bishops, as the wise men are concerned here with the chief priests and scribes at Jerusalem.
(17) It is a great thing that they come to Jerusalem, where both kingdom and priesthood are, even where God's dwelling place is, and yet shall not find Christ there. God does this because he wants to hold us to his word alone; so that we learn to despise the great cry, "Church, church! Fathers, fathers! The church cannot err, the church cannot err! Well then, if the church cannot err, then I and you can err, and come where God is, and yet not find God there. Therefore, the Church, the Fathers, the Temple, the priesthood, Jerusalem, God's people and all things should be learned out of sight, and only hear what God tells us in His Word.
(18) Therefore the wise keep the word which they have heard from the prophet. The same word is their light and guide, so that they may cover all distractions. This is a great, abundant grace
God, that the Gentiles, who have neither temple nor priesthood, neither circumcision nor law, but are without law and worship, and are strangers to the testaments of the promise, should fall so hard upon the word of the prophet that they should not be troubled by any other thoughts, but should stick straight to the word and follow it. Again, it is a great punishment that the Jews, who had the law, the service, the promise, and from whom Christ came according to the flesh, are so hardened that they do not believe the word, even though they proclaim it to others.
19 After the wise men heard the word of the prophet, God also gave them a sign from heaven that the star would return as soon as they got outside Jerusalem and shine before them as far as Bethlehem, in front of the door where the baby was. They were in need of such a sign. For when they came to the village of Bethlehem, seeking the king, they found Mariam and Joseph beggars, and the child lying in a manger, and there was misery, poverty, and beggary.
020 And they might have said, Is this the king of the Jews? how is it that they stand against him? Are the people here vain stones and blocks, that no one gives him a drink of water in his own land? Why then do we believe in him, because his own people show him no honor? Who knows if what is said about him is true! If it were true, the high priest would come from Jerusalem and receive him! But the pious people do not let themselves be deceived, they hold fast to what they have heard from the prophet Micah and have seen in the star.
21 This is a strong faith, that the wise men only look into the mouth of the prophet Micah, cling to his word so firmly, and let everything else go. I myself, if I had been there, would have stuck to the temple and said: Here dwells God, therefore, if the child is to be found in one place in the whole world, it will be found here, where the whole priesthood and the service of God is. But this king had something else in mind, he thought of the whole priesthood,
Kingdom and worship, and here begins this with the deed. For the Jews built on their kingdom, priesthood, relied on the temple, that they had Moses, law, priests, Levites, and were God's people. God did not like that and intended to tear Moses away with the temple, kingdom and priesthood in one heap. Summa Summarum, nothing should help, neither temple nor priesthood, but only Christ alone.
(22) If God has done this to His kingdom and priesthood, which He has ordered, established and instituted, and has torn away everything pure, He will much less respect the pope, the bishops, monks and priests with their caps and plates, which are not ordered nor instituted by Him, but are devised and invented by men. They do not want God; so also God says to them: If thou wilt not that I should make thee blessed by grace, neither shall thy invented spirituality of thine own choosing make thee blessed; if thou wilt not me, neither will I have thee, nor all that thou art and hast; if I have not regarded my own people with Moses and all their holiness, much less will I regard thee. Therefore it must come to pass with us that we cling to Christ alone and cast away all offenses, even though the pope, the Turk and we ourselves believe otherwise, that a Christian nevertheless remains firm with Christ and his word and does not let either spiritual or worldly things offend him.
(23) This is the reason why he was not found in Jerusalem but in Bethlehem. Bethlehem was scarcely half a roof above Jerusalem, yet God would not look upon Jerusalem, nor let the duke of His people be born of her; that He might destroy the false confidence of the saints, and make us believe that true holiness was neither in the temple nor in worship, but in Himself. Let this be said of the Historia; let us now take before us the prophecy of the prophet Micah:
And thou, Bethlehem of the land of Judah, art by no means the least of the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come to me the duke that shall be lord over my people Israel,
(24) This is the joyful text, which not only testifies of Christ's coming, but also teaches us what we should look upon him for and consider him, and what a king and lord he is. He shall be a Lord over God's people, says the prophet, and yet shall be born in Bethlehem and be the most despised man on earth. This is contrary to one another, and it is very repugnant, that a poor beggar, born in a small, poor place, should be a duke and lord over the people of Israel. Before the world it is like this: whoever is to be a king and lord must have money, goods, land, people and authority. But here it is like this: Bethlehem is small and poor, and yet from Bethlehem comes a great, mighty king and lord.
(25) From this it follows that the Lord's rule is not to be understood as tyrannical, that he, like a tyrant, wants to afflict and force the people. For this is why the prophet paints most beautifully and says: "Bethlehem, you who are small". As if to say, "Do not be afraid of this king as of a tyrant. For there is neither power nor splendor, neither money nor goods, neither sword nor gun, neither horse nor traveling stuff to be afraid of; but only poverty, lowliness, gentleness and humility, so that one may see how this king and his kingdom are not terrible at all; for who would be afraid of a child, and a poor beggar at that? One is justifiably afraid of great power, and especially God's power in his majesty is not well tolerated and deceptive. But here is neither majesty nor power, but poverty. Nevertheless, this poor child is a master.
(26) Therefore, if he is a duke and lord, yet born poor and miserable in the poor little village of Bethlehem, what can his glory be but that he is poor in the sight of the world, but rich in spirit and all spiritual goods? In the sight of the world he should be nothing; he should not tyrannize or use force, but be a poor, loving and kind child. But in spirit and spiritual being he shall be a rich king and lord, whom every man may enjoy. What will his riches be? Not other than sin, death, and righteousness,
Truth, life and everything is at his feet.
27. this is the dominion of this child, and in such a case his people shall enjoy his. He will not help you physically, as far as your salvation and his honor are concerned, because he himself is miserable and poor. For this reason, no one should think that he wants to become a Christian so that he can have money and goods. This may be expected of the pope and his like, who makes his creatures lords over great goods and divides the lands to them, as Daniel prophesied. But this child's dominion is to be felt and enjoyed only in that he delivers you from sins and adorns you with righteousness before God, saves you from death and gives you eternal life.
28 For in the spiritual realm there is also a lord, the devil, who is a king and lord of sin and death, and makes foolish, despondent and terrified. That is his spiritual kingdom. On the other hand, this child is also a spiritual king, who drives out the devil, delivers you from sin and death, and sets you free from the devil's kingdom, so that you may become righteous, alive, happy and blessed. This is his dominion. For since he has no dominion on earth, and yet is to be a Lord, he must have another dominion, namely, that in his kingdom he makes righteous, godly, happy and blessed before God, whereas the devil in his kingdom casts you under sin, so that you must be and remain eternally dead and lost.
29 Now this King and Lord, Christ, cannot reign in such a way as to cast people under sin and drive them to death and damnation. For the same kingdom of sins and death already has its master, the wretched devil. Again, this king cannot rule in a worldly way, because he is supposed to be poor and miserable. From this it follows that this King Christ must not be a worldly lord, nor spiritually evil, but a spiritual, kind and gracious lord, and his kingdom must not be a worldly kingdom, nor a spiritually tyrannical kingdom, like the devil's, but a gracious and blessed kingdom.
30 Such a Lord is he. Not a lord of sin, death, hellish fire, but a lord of the...
a Lord of righteousness, life, heaven and blessedness. For for this I must have a Lord who will restore me to lost and damned man, deliver me from sins, death and the devil, and bring me to heaven and eternal life. Now faith is necessary that you diligently keep God's word; as it is reported in the beginning that the wise men have firmly grasped this saying of the prophet Micah. But he who will forsake the word and follow his own thoughts will soon lose Christ, and will have to take him not for a kind and gracious Lord, but for a judge, and flee from him as from the devil. For this is the devil's kingdom, that he should model Christ differently to people, frighten them, and finally plunge them into hell through sin.
This text indicates that Christ, born in Bethlehem, is a benevolent Lord who will help all who believe in him against sin, death, the devil and hell, and finally redeem them from the last judgment. For even on the last day he will not come to condemn his own, but to deliver them from all evil, as St. Paul teaches in 2 Thess. 1:7. Much could be said about how the poor, miserable child is such a great Lord against the great dominion and power of the devil. But it is too much for this time, so let us save it until after noon. May God, together with the wise men, graciously lead us by the star of His holy Word to His Son Christ JEsu, and keep us from all offence forever, Amen.