From the article of our Christian faith: I believe in JEsum Christum etc., descended to hell; on the third day risen again from the dead.
1. on this paschal feast one celebrates the fine, comforting article of our christian faith of the descent and joyful ascent of the
*) Held publicly on the last of March 1532.
The first resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ; as this feast is also instituted, that this article may be preached, and be made known unto the people, and be well understood and kept. Therefore we now also want to take this
Article remain and speak of it; as we then owe to praise and honor God, and to preach of His Word as long as we are.
(2) Thus we pray in the Christian faith, and thus the holy gospels, which are preached at this time, teach and testify that our Lord Jesus Christ died and was buried, that he descended into hell, and that he rose again from the dead on the third day. I will now take this same article before me, because I am weak and do not know how long I want to live, and there are so many of the red spirits and enthusiasts, so that I may leave my opinion and confession behind me, and pious hearts will know what I have thought of this article.
(3) There have been many, and there are still many, who have tried to understand this article by reason and the five senses, especially this part, how it happened that Christ, before he rose and went to heaven and was still in the grave, went down to hell. But the very best and surest thing is to stay with the words and with the simple childish mind, as the words read.
You see how the Lord's descent into hell is painted on the walls, namely that Christ has a choir cap or cloak on, and the angels go before him, but he has a flag in his hand and pushes against hell with it, and the devils resist; but at last he pushes open hell and casts out the devils: in the same way as one storms a bodily castle or house. In the same way, they played for the children in the Easter Vigil, and in the same way they sing on Easter Day: He who broke hell and overcame the wicked devil in it. What now is such a simple childish painting, play and song, that is right and pleases me well, that one thus presents, plays or sings to the simple and children, and with such simple pictures, paintings and songs one should let it remain.
(5) It is true that the Lord's descent into hell may be spoken of in two ways: first, in a bad and simple way, through childish words and images, which is also the best and safest, as I said; and secondly, it may be spoken of in a sharp way, like
it is in itself how it happened that Christ went down to hell, and yet his body lay in the grave until the third day.
(6) For some teachers have been highly concerned about it, and have subtly and sharply disputed how it was possible that Christ's body was in the grave and his soul had gone to hell. Some have said that he did not descend personally and presently, according to the soul, but only spiritually, according to his work, power and effect. But what is it, if one has been worrying about it for a long time and sharply disputes it? It cannot be attained nor fathomed by thought, as the teachers themselves have not understood, even though they have long fretted and vehemently argued about it. For that I should reason with my mouth and with my tongue, and understand with my reason how things are that are far above and beyond my reason, sense and understanding, I will well leave that alone. But that I should speak with my tongue, and understand with my heart, how the Lord fared, and how he was troubled in the garden, when drops of blood fell from his body to the earth, that I will well forbear, though I am already under it. In the same way, I will never be able to say in words, nor will I be able to say in thought, from what heart, love and fire came the prayer and supplication that Christ offered up on the cross with strong cries and tears. I must let this remain in word and faith; I will never achieve it with my words and thoughts.
(7) Therefore, just as I cannot fathom nor obtain these and other things, neither will I fathom nor obtain how Christ has gone to hell. The Christian faith testifies that he went to hell, and the Holy Scriptures establish this article with clear words, Ps. 16:10: "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to perish"; and Eph. 4:9: "That he hath ascended, what is it but that he went down first into the lowest parts of the earth?" But how
You will not be able to fathom how it happened; and even if you were already ten times wiser than Solomon, you will still not attain it. Therefore my faithful advice is that you leave it at the simple words and childish pictures, and do not let the sharp minds, which think of it without a picture and want to fathom it with their clever reason, challenge you; but as this article is presented in the word and painted with pictures, that the angels go before, and Christ goes down with the flag, breaks the gates of hell and destroys it, so take it simple. For although it is simple and crude, and childish imagery, yet such words and imagery finely show us the power and benefit of this article, as we shall hear.
If it were up to Klügeln, I would want to be as clever as those who sneer at us and mockingly ask and say: How was it done? Was the flag made of paper or cloth? How did it happen that it did not burn in hell? What kind of gates, locks or bolts did hell have? Were they iron or wooden? So they sneer at us Christians and our Christian faith. I could also make allegorias and secret interpretations out of it, and say what flag and staff and cloth and hell gate and devil, so driven out, mean. But if I were to speak of this article in actual, sharp words, without a picture, you would not understand me, and I myself would not know what I was saying.
(9) Therefore, I will leave aside the cleverness and the high, sharp questions and allegorias, and I will speak of this article in a simple and childish way, as words and outward paintings and understandable, easy images give it. The infant Jesus is painted as stepping on a serpent. This is an outward painting and a crude picture, but it clearly shows the first promise of Christ, since God promises Adam and Eve and the human race that Christ, the seed of the woman, shall trample the serpent's head. Moses set up a bronze serpent in the wilderness, and whoever looks at it is healed from the fiery serpent's bite. This is also a crude image and likeness, but
See how sweetly and finely Christ was lifted up on the cross, as Christ Himself tells us, John 3:14. For just as the Jews who looked at the bronze serpent in the wilderness were healed from the fiery serpent's bite, so whoever looks at Christ lifted up on the cross, that is, believes in Him, is healed from the devil's bite and poison and has eternal life. But if I want to fathom these promises without a picture, to make them clearer and sharper, as they are in themselves, I will not be able to explain them, and you will not be able to understand them.
(10) For this reason, outward images, parables, and signs are good and useful to illustrate, grasp, and retain a thing. Yes, they also serve to ward off the devil with his fiery arrows, who wants to lead us away from the Word with high thoughts and subtle questions, and to keep us in the right understanding of the Word through such bright and light images, which any simple-minded person can easily grasp. As, in this article of Christ's descent to hell: when a child or simple-minded person sees painted on the wall Christ holding a flag, storming hell and casting out devils; or when he hears singing at Easter: He who broke hell, and overcame the sorrowful devil in it, so the Lord redeems Christianity etc.: he thinks from that time on: If this is true, then Christ has overcome and bound the devil. This is right and Christian thinking, for it is also true. Even if it is not expressed with sharpness how it happened, it is still the truth.
(11) It is ridiculous that Christ should go down with the flag, and yet the flag should remain intact, when in the hellish heat the brass should melt, let alone a flag. But how to do it? Because this article is to be imagined by people who cannot grasp it in its sharpness, it must therefore be pictured, and roughly formed, saying: "That you may understand and grasp the Lord's descent into hell, notice it in the outward image; just as if a strong hero or ruffian were to come to a strong, strong castle with his army, panoply and stuff, and that-
If the devil wins it, and catches and binds the enemy in it, then it is understood that Christ has gone down to hell. Whoever hears this will easily understand that Christ, who went down to hell and bound the devil, has become Lord over the devil and hell.
(12) Therefore, when I say that Christ is Lord over the devil and over hell, and that the devil has no power or authority over him, and over those who belong to him, this is spoken without image or flowerwork. So if I can grasp it and believe it, then it is good. But if I paint it with flowers and images and make a flag so that Christ has opened hell, so that the children and the rude people, who otherwise cannot grasp it without an image, may also understand it, grasp it and believe it, then it is also good. As it can be grasped either by external images or without external images, so it is right and good; if only one does not become a heretic, and this article only remains firm, that our Lord Jesus Christ went down to hell, broke hell, overcame the devil, and redeemed those who were imprisoned by the devil.
I say this because I see and experience that the world now wants to be clever in the devil's name, and to master the articles of faith according to its own head, and to justify everything. As, in this article, it leads to and makes many useless, futile questions, whether the soul went down alone, or whether the divinity was with it; item, what he did there, and how the devils multiplied and how he overcame them. After this, when she has asked for a long time, she thinks thus: Christ died on the cross, his body is laid in the grave, his soul is in heaven with the Father to whom he commanded it; how then can it be possible that he went to hell? And so finally puts this article in doubt altogether.
(14) Therefore hold fast to your infant faith, which is this: I believe in Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, our Lord, conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary; that is, I believe in the whole man, that he is true God and true man, undivided, descending to hell: I believe in the whole man, that he is truly God and truly man, body and soul, undivided, descending to hell.
and broke the hell. The whole person, that is, Jesus Christ, true Son of God and true man, born of Mary, did it. The same God and man, in One Person, went to hell, but did not remain in it. His soul is not left in hell, as the 16th Psalm says about him. But where the soul is, there also belongs the body, according to the scriptural language, which calls the whole man soul.
(15) But how it came to pass, that the man lay in the grave, and yet went to hell, say, I know not, neither will I be able to conceive it, nor to reason it out. But I can roughly paint it for you and put it into a picture: He took the flag as a victorious hero, and ran with it against the gate of hell, and pushed it open, and rumbled among the devils, so that here one fell out of the window, there the other into the hole. Then comes a foolish man with his highly intelligent reason, smiles with scorn and says: "What are you pretending? Do you think that hell has a wooden gate? Then you say again: "Dear master Klügeln, I know that as well as you do; I could also, if it were necessary and useful, speak about it as sharply as you do; I know very well that no carpenter has made the gate of hell. For hell was before a carpenter came to earth. It has not wood, iron, bolts, nails etc., as the castles and houses on earth have. The gate is not made of wood or iron, and the flag with which Christ opened the gate is not made of cloth.
(16) I would also like to transfigure and interpret all such images and figures finely, what flag, gate, bolt, staff etc. means, and would not need a smart aleck to do so. But I will not do so, but stick to the simple, clear words and childish images that finely paint this article for me. For the devil would like to get me off track with high thoughts and sharp questions, and lead me from clear words and simple understanding to human wisdom. Therefore, it is better for me to remain a child here, who takes this picture and thinks that Christ has run up to hell, as one usually runs up to a gate. Such an image cannot be
but serves and helps me to grasp and retain this article all the more strongly; and yet the mind remains pure and unconverted, that Christ overcame the devil and hell, God granting that the gates, gate, flag, staff were wooden, or iron, or none at all. If we otherwise have to grasp all things that we do not know and do not know by means of pictures, even if they are not as true or in truth as the pictures paint them: why would we not grasp this article, which we also cannot understand or explain, by means of pictures, because the picture helps to preserve the right, pure understanding, namely, that Christ Himself personally destroyed hell and bound the devil? Christ has done this with his back, head, flag or staff, there is nothing to it: but it is that I know and believe that the gate has been opened, the devil bound and captured, hell broken and torn apart, so that neither hell nor the devil can take me captive or harm me and all who believe in him.
17 Christ touched it a little, Matt. 16, when he says, v. 18: "Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it"; and St. Peter, 2 Pet. 2, 4."The angels that have sinned, God hath cast into hell with chains of darkness, and delivered them to be kept for judgment"; and St. Jude, v. 6: "The angels that kept not their principality, but left their habitation, God hath kept for judgment of the great day, with everlasting bands of darkness." But what gates, eternal bands of darkness and chains of darkness are, remains hidden to the sharp mind. And even if I want to refrain from speaking sharply about it, I will still not understand it.
(18) Therefore I suffer this article to be prefigured by outward images and childish play, so that the simple may grasp it, and the wise and prudent may become fools about it. Turks, pagans, Jews consider us to be gross fools, as those who believe hell to be a wooden or
iron building, and have gate, locks, bolts, windows, made by carpenter or blacksmith. But we are not so crude, but say that this article should be painted with crude pictures and images, so that it may be understood by us, and we remain with the words and with pure Christian understanding.
(19) This is a part of this sermon, from the article that Christ descended into hell, that is, that he overcame the devil and broke hell, so that no Christian should be afraid and terrified of the devil from now on. He did this with the flag, that is, with the heel with which he crushed the head of the serpent. Of course, we will see this flag and heel on that day, even though we cannot understand it in this life, nor can we speak sharply of what it is. It was not a flag, as we make flags, of cloth or paper; but we let it remain a flag, that the main thing may be kept, that Christ hath broken hell, opened heaven, bound and taken the devil, and delivered the captives.
(20) The world with all its powers would not have been able to deliver anyone from the devil's bonds, nor to take away the torment and violence of hell for one sin, even though all the saints lead to hell for one man's sin; but all, especially as many as have ever come to earth, would have to remain in it forever, unless the holy, almighty Son of God had gone there with his own person, and had mightily won and destroyed it by his divine power. For no Carthusian cap, no barefoot rope, nor the holiness of all monks, nor the power and might of all the world can extinguish a speck of the infernal fire. But this is what happens when this man himself comes down with his banner, when all devils must run and flee from their death and poison, and the whole hell with its fire must go out before him, so that no Christian may be afraid of it, and even if he enters hell, he should not suffer the torment of hell; just as through Christ he does not taste death eternally, but passes through death and hell to eternal life.
The other part of this sermon is that our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the third day. A strong, firm faith belongs to this, which makes this article strong, firm and good. The words, Christ risen from the dead, are to be well remembered, and written with large letters, so that one letter may be as great as the tower, even as heaven and earth, that we may see, hear, think, and know nothing else but this article. For we do not speak and confess this article in prayer for the sole sake of it, as we otherwise tell a fable, a fairy tale, or a story; but that it may become strong, true, and living in our hearts. And this is what we call faith, when we imagine it in such a way that we put ourselves completely into it, just as if nothing else had been written, except: Christ is risen.
22 St. Paul is a right master to delete this article, Rom. 4, 25: "Christ was given for our sins and raised for our righteousness. Eph. 2:5, 6: "Being dead in sins, he hath quickened us together with Christ, and hath raised us up together with him, and hath seated us together with him in the heavenly estate in Christ Jesus." 1 Thess. 4:14: "If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, God will also bring with him those who have fallen asleep through JEsum."
(23) If then we believe these things, we shall live and die well; for Christ not only overcame death for his own sake, and rose from the dead; but you must be so attached to one another, that it may be true of us, and that we also may stand and be apprehended in the resurrection, and by and through the same must rise again, and live with him forever; that our resurrection and life have already begun in Christ, and as surely as if it had already happened, without being yet hidden and not made manifest. So keenly should we look at this article that all other sights are nothing in comparison, as if we saw nothing else in all heaven and earth. If you see a Christian dying and being buried, and nothing but a dead carcass is lying there, and both before your eyes and ears is a grave, a death song, a death word, yes, a death: yet you shall see such an image of death.
out of your eyes, and by faith you will see another image underneath for that image of death, as if you did not see a grave and the carcass of death, but life itself and a beautiful, joyful garden and paradise, in which there is no death, but new, living, joyful people.
(24) For if it be true that Christ is risen from the dead, we have already passed the best part of the resurrection, that the bodily resurrection of the flesh out of the grave (which is yet future) is to be reckoned small in comparison. For what are we and all the world compared to Christ, our Head? Hardly a droplet against the sea or a small stick against a great mountain. Since Christ, the head of Christianity, through whom it lives and has everything, and who is so great that he fills heaven and earth, and against him the sun, the moon and all creatures are nothing, rose from the grave, and thereby became a mighty Lord of all things, even of death and hell, we also, as his members, must be struck and touched by his resurrection, and become partakers of the very thing that he has accomplished, as having been done for our sake. For as he by his resurrection took all things with him, that both heaven and earth, sun and moon, and all creatures, should rise again and become new, so he will also take us with him. The same God who raised Christ from the dead will also make our mortal bodies alive, and with us all creatures that are now subject to vanity and anxiously long for our glory, shall also become free from the perishable nature and glorious. So that we already have more than half of our resurrection, because the head and heart are already above, and it is still a matter of the least that only the body is buried under the earth, so that it may also be renewed. For where the head remains, there the body must also go; as we see in all animals when they are born to this life.
(25) In addition to this, another half also happened, even far more than half; namely, that we are already spiritually resurrected through baptism in faith, that is, after the
The best part of us, and therefore not only the very best has happened bodily, that our head has ascended from the grave to heaven, but also, according to the spiritual essence, our soul has taken its part and is with Christ in heaven, and only the shells and husks or broken pieces remain here, but for the sake of the main part they must also go there. For the shell and husk shall yet be resurrected, but the right piece and the core has already been resurrected.
(26) This is to be firmly believed, so that when we see a Christian sick, being raised, laid in the grave, or even when we ourselves are to die, we may put all this out of our sight, and pray the resurrection rightly, confessing and saying: The best part of the resurrection has already taken place; Christ, the head of all Christendom, has risen through death and from the dead. Moreover, the most noble part of me, my soul, is also through death, and with Christ in the heavenly being. What harm can the grave and death do me? Is this body, as St. Paul, 2 Cor. 5, 1, says, only a hut of the soul, as made of earth or clay, and an outdated garment, or an old, shabby, lousy fur. But because the soul by faith is already in the new, eternal, heavenly life, and cannot die nor be buried, we have no more to wait for, but that this poor tabernacle and the old garment may follow after, and become new, and perish no more, because the best part is above, and cannot leave us behind. If Christ, who is called Resurrexit, is gone from death and the grave, then he who says, Credo, and clings to him, must also go there. For he hath therefore gone before us, that we should follow after; and hath already begun this in us, that we should rise again daily in him through the word and baptism.
(27) Behold, we ought to be accustomed to such thoughts of faith against the outward, bodily sight of the flesh, which sets vain death before our eyes, and seeks to terrify us with such an image, and to cast doubt upon and destroy the article of the resurrection. For it is very disconcerting to leave reason to its own devices.
For a man can have nothing but vain thoughts of death, because he sees the body lying there, rotting and stinking miserably and horribly, so that no dead man's body stinks so disgracefully as a dead man's body, and no one on earth can suffer it. And there is no remedy that can help or ward it off, except to burn it or dig it under the ground as deep as one can. This moves St. Paul when he says, 1 Cor. 15, 42, 43: "It is sown corruptible, and will rise incorruptible. It is sown in dishonor, and shall rise in glory; it is sown in weakness, and shall rise in power." It is especially annoying how the Saxons say, "Do you think that one guy is in the other? I see that this one is dead and is buried two or three cubits deep in the earth, and stinks so disgracefully that no one can stay around him. Do you think that something should come of this guy?
No one can deny that it is a very poor thing around a dead man's corpse. But if it were a matter of reason, I could speak of it just as mockingly as you. You consider it great art, what reason judges of it. But if I wanted to judge by my eyes, I would bet on it, where it would come to the meeting, I would make it much worse and make this article much more miserable than you. If you see a dead body rotting, I see it too. If you see a human corpse torn apart and eaten by worms, fish, wolves or other animals, I see it too. But if I want to judge by reason, as I see and understand, I am lost.
29 But I have a higher understanding than eyes see and senses feel, which faith teaches me. For there is the text which says: Resurrexit: He is risen, he did not remain in the grave and in the earth, but rose from the dead; and not for himself, but for our sake, that his resurrection may be ours, and that we also may rise in him, and not remain in the grave and in death, but also keep with him bodily an eternal paschal day.
30. Behold, how does a husbandman who sows in the field, and casts the grain into the ground, that it must rot and perish, that it seems as if it were lost; yet he has no care for it, as if it were in vain; yea, he forgets where the grain remains, asks nothing how it is, whether the worms eat it, or else it perishes; But goes away with vain thoughts, that around Easter or Pentecost beautiful stalks will come out, and carry many more ears and grains than he has thrown there. If a young farmer, who had not seen a grain growing before, saw this, he would certainly say to him, "O father, what are you doing? How can you be so foolish as to throw the grain into the ground? It is lost, it will rot, and no one can benefit from it. Let it lie on the ground, that bread may be baked of it.
31 Thus, when our Lord God sows our bodies and buries them in the grave, our reason says, "Should it be true that God makes His Christians alive? He lets them be beheaded, crucified, burned, become powder and ashes, die and rot in the earth. But what does God say? Just as a father says to his son and young fool. The son thinks he is wise, and says: "Dear father, why are you so foolish as to spill the grain into the ground in such a useless way? But the father says: Dear son, close your eyes and let me deal with the grain, I will not spoil it. God also says, "Dear one, let me deal with my Christians, and do not let yourself be troubled, even if they are beheaded, burned or killed; let me take care of what will become of them.
(32) Yea, saith reason, there I see; when I go into the field in summer, the corn is fair and beautiful. Here, however, I see nothing but horrible sights: there one is taken by the head and strangled; here the other is buried in the ground and rots. Answer: If the grain was before your eyes as soon as it was sown in the ground, you would not need any experience and would not expect God's work every year. So too, if the body were to be resurrected from the dead as soon as it is
If you were to be buried in the earth, you would have no need of faith, and God would not have room to show His wisdom and power over our wisdom and understanding. But now faith confesses and says: I believe in Jesus Christ, risen from the dead. I believe in a resurrection of the flesh. And the holy scripture testifies, Psalm 34:20, 21: "The righteous must suffer many things; but the Lord shall save him out of them all. He preserves all his bones, so that not one of them is broken.
(33) If you see the body perishing, rotting, and being eaten by snakes and worms, you are lost. But if you look to God's word and keep the faith, you will be preserved. For as God's work year by year and experience testifies that the grain which the husbandman throws into the ground and lets rot, and which grows up in the summer, takes on a different form and bears much fruit: so faith and the Scriptures testify that our bodies, which God buries and lets rot in the winter, will come up again in His time, on the last day, much more beautiful than the sun.
(34) It is a strong temptation that we go so miserably; there one howls, weeps and laments; there one sees before one's eyes no life, but the vain form of death. In the face of such temptation, we must keep to God's word and faith, and in the face of death we must exhaust comforting and joyful thoughts of life, and think that the grave is not a grave, but a beautiful garden of spices, in which beautiful nails and roses have been planted, so that they will grow and blossom in the summer. For as the grave of the Lord Christ must be made clean, and not stink, but become lovely, glorious, and beautiful: so must the graves of Christians also be made clean, and not stink. These are the thoughts, art and wisdom of Christians.
35 Thus it is read of Saint Agatha: When she was led into the dungeon and to death, she said she was going to dance; and when she was tortured, she said, Behold, how woe is me, they whistle a round dance for me to dance. Behold, this holy virgin
has imagined the article of the resurrection of death much more firmly than any husbandman can imagine the experience that the grain, sown in winter, should grow and green in summer. If God would, I could only draw such hope from the resurrection of death, as a husbandman draws hope from a grain of wheat. And of St. Vincent and others one reads that they went to death with joy and laughter, and mocked their judges and executioners. When they threatened St. Vincent with sword, fire and death, he said: "O fools, do you think that I am afraid of this? It was ridiculous and mocking to him that they wanted to defy him; therefore he defied them and said, "The torture that you threaten me with is all joy to me in Christ. He had imagined the resurrection so firmly and had grasped it so surely that he only mocked the executioner.
36 Let us also learn this, that when the devil raises his spear against us and threatens us with death and hell, we may drive the article into our hearts and take comfort in it and brave it; that we may also answer him and say, "Devil, do you know nothing?
more than to threaten with death? Well then, I am not afraid of your threat; you sing me a pretty little song and lead me to dance, my grave is a merry garden. Because Christ, my. For since Christ, my head, in whom it all lies, has risen, lives and sits above, and I have been baptized in him, I already have far more than half gone, and only a small piece still remains, so that I must have the old skin completely peeled off, so that it also becomes new again. Because I already have the whole genetic material, the husks and shells must also certainly follow it.
So let us put away from our eyes the miserable sight of death, which terrifies human reason, and let us not look at the outward appearance, but at the Scriptures and at faith, since we learn that because Christ is risen and exalted above all heavens, and our soul is also risen with him, our body must also come forth again from death and the grave and shine as beautifully as the sun. For this, may God grant us His grace, so that we may grasp it and comfort ourselves and others with it, amen.