Of the history and fruit of the resurrection of Christ.
Marc. 16, 1-8.
And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary Jacob, and Salome, bought specimens, that they might come and anoint him. And they came unto the sepulchre on a sabbath day very early, when the sun was risen. And they said one to another, Who shall roll us the stone from the door of the sepulchre? And they looked there, and perceived that the stone was rolled away; for it was very great. And they entered into the sepulchre, and saw a young man sitting on the right hand, clothed in a long white garment; and they arose. And he said unto them: Do not be dismayed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified one; he has risen and is not here. Behold the place where they laid him. But go and tell his disciples and Petro that he will go before you into Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you. And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for trembling and terror had come upon them; and they told no man; for they were afraid.
*) Publicly glattened on April 13, 1533.
(1) To the merciful, eternal God, in praise and honor, let us now preach and hear about the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ; as it is appropriate that the article be preached and practiced at this feast, because the time brings it with it, and the Gospels, which are arranged for this feast, understand and comprehend the history of this article. It is also important that this article be preached and practiced primarily, since it contains our greatest and highest things, not only in this present life, but also in the life to come. To this end, this article should be practiced, not only because it is useful and good, but also so that God may be praised and honored with it, so that there may be someone on earth who hears it earnestly and gives thanks to our Lord Christ for His suffering and resurrection; for God likes it to be remembered and always preached.
(2) And it cannot be sufficiently preached and heard, for it cannot be sufficiently comprehended. We preach nothing new, but preach always and without ceasing about the man who is called Jesus Christ, true God and man, who died for our sins and was raised for our righteousness. But even though we are always preaching and practicing such things, we will never be able to grasp them sufficiently; we will still remain infants and young children, who are now learning to speak and can hardly speak half words, or even quarter words,
That is why we want to talk about it now, because our highest priority is on it. So also our greatest work is that we may preserve you in this article, and when we die, leave you this treasure. For it is unfortunately obvious that if we, who are now preaching, lay down our head, there will come red spirits and enthusiasts who will tear down, ruin and break what we have built. Thus one preaches and hears already under the Pabstthum nothing of it.
(4) So now everyone cuts because the harvest is here, and everyone buys because the fair is at the door, and grasp this article quite well, yet it cannot be grasped sufficiently. I must not boast that I have grasped it sufficiently, and so can that I should not learn more about it, whether or not I can.
I am already a doctor. To this end, it is important that this article be well collected, so that it is not forgotten; for this article must preserve us when death comes, indeed, this article preserves the Christian church.
(5) The apostles are diligent in describing the benefits and fruits of Christ's resurrection. But the evangelists, though they do not express the benefit as much as the apostles, yet they describe the history diligently. For the office of an evangelist is to describe the history, just as the office of an apostle is to interpret it, so that it may be known what fruit and benefit the history brings. We will take both pieces before us, and first speak of the history; then also show what the power and fruit of the history is.
(6) In the history of Christ's resurrection from the dead, it is necessary to open one's eyes and distinguish the resurrection of Christ from the resurrection of Lazarus and all men who have been from the beginning of the world and will be until the end. Lazarus was raised from the dead after lying in the grave for four days, and he and all men will rise again on the last day. But the same resurrection is nothing compared to the resurrection of Christ. For of the resurrection of Christ the Christian faith says thus: I believe in JEsum Christum etc., on the third day risen from the dead. Of Lazaro and others the Christian faith does not say: I believe in Lazarum, risen from the dead. And the Scripture says, Apost. 2, 24: "It was impossible that he should be kept from death."
(7) And now I am not speaking of how the resurrection of Christ is far different from the other resurrection as far as the power and fruit of Christ's resurrection is concerned, but that it is also far different from the other resurrection according to history, just as Christ's suffering and death are also different. For here dies not Lazarus, not a prophet, not an apostle, not John the Baptist, but he of whom the Scriptures testify that he is truly God and man in one person, and without all sin, innocent, blameless, holy and pure, full of grace.
and truth, also according to humanity, I am silent according to the divinity. Therefore, here is a wonderful resurrection. If you look at the person, there is also a great difference between the resurrection of Christ and Lazari. For in Christ you see the lovely and comforting struggle, which you do not see in other persons, how death and devils run to Christ, and try their luck and salvation in him, and still win nothing. Death and devils look at Christ like Lazarum, Jesaiam or another prophet, and think: We have eaten and devoured all those, as great and high they were; we also want to eat and devour this one, he shall hardly be a morning bite for us. But then death and the devil come in, for he falls upon such a man who could not die nor should die. He could not die for the sake of his divinity, for it is impossible for God to die. He should not have died because of his humanity, for he was such a man in whom there was no guilt and to whom death had no right.
(8) Death has a claim on all of us, including John the Baptist and all the saints, as St. Paul teaches in Romans 5:12: "Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death has come through to all men, because they have all sinned. But to Christ he has no claim. That is why he transgresses and departs from him. But death and the devil do not realize that he has such a person before him who cannot die and should not die. Therefore, death and the devil, who devours all the world, and Christ, whom he cannot devour, run together. Death and the devil come with all their power, and try their best: Christ takes neither sword, nor armor, nor guns, nor weapons, but keeps silent, and lets the devil run and thrust at him with sin and death, and does not lift a finger, but lets himself be blasted as he pleases; and with such silence he overcomes sin, death, the devil, and hell.
9 St. Paul speaks of this, Col. 2, 15: "Christ has stripped the principalities.
and the mighty, and made a show of them publicly, and made a triumph of them, by himself." By himself, he says, Christ overcame, plundered and robbed his enemies. He held up his humanity to death and the devil, and let him cut and stab at it, let himself be struck on the cross, and did not strike again, let himself be killed, and suffered this patiently. Since death and the devil did his best and killed Christ, he killed mankind. But the person lives, who is God and man at the same time, as our Christian faith testifies. Since the person is eternal and cannot die, mankind, even if it is already killed by death and the devil, must not remain in death, but live and reign eternally. Death and the devil only cut a wound to the person, but were not able to overpower him: he only hit mankind, but he could not hit the Godhead.
(10) Thus the history of the resurrection, of which the Easter feast reports and the holy evangelists write, happened in this person, who is both God and man, and who neither could nor should die. This person, God and man, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of virgins, who walked on earth and was found to be like another man, deceived the devil and death. For death had to be devoured. The devil has indeed invaded with terror, law and death; but because he has attacked the person whom he should not have attacked, death must lie down and the devil must fall under the feet of this person. The devil, together with death, has poured out all his venom and wrath, but he has not hit the right person, whom he could have overpowered. So far the devil and death have struck the right ones whom he could overpower and devour, because he was right with them, because they were sinners: but here he has not struck the right person, because he had no right with him, because he was righteous, innocent, pure, and without all sin, and eternal and immortal.
11 Christ tore the devil's belly and death's mouth apart, not only of-
half that he should not have died, but also that he could not have died; and lost sin, death and the devil in that person; for they accused Christ as a sinner, and condemned him as an evildoer, and thought that he was a pure and righteous man. But he was both God and a righteous, innocent man. Therefore he suffered all these things, but after that he came forward and said: "Hear, sin, hear, death, hear, shameful devil, why do you accuse me? Why do you kill me? What right have you to me? Then sin, death and the devil must fall silent, and no guilt can be brought forward. Because sin, death and the devil have so offended Christ, he has become Lord over sin, death and the devil: not only that he is truly God, but also that he is innocent according to his humanity.
(12) So the person should be made great. But if the person is great, then the resurrection, which took place in this person, must also be great. Christ is truly God and truly man, truly God and the Son of the virgin, greater than heaven and earth. In addition, he is innocent and without sin, as the prophet Isaiah Cap. 53. says, v. 9: "He was buried like the ungodly, and died like a rich man; yet he did no wrong to anyone, nor was any deceit found in his mouth"; and the apostle Peter, 1 Pet. 2, 22: "He who did no sin, neither was any deceit found in his mouth." This is greater than all sin, and greater than all devils, including death. For Christ, true God and man, without all sin and guilt, weighs a thousand times more. So when a Christian grasps this greatness of the person, he also recognizes the greatness of the fruit. How small are sin, death and the devil compared to Christ? But if Christ is greater than heaven and earth, greater than sin, death and the devil, then everything he suffers and does must also be very great. His suffering must be great; his resurrection from the dead must also be great.
(13) And this is the high article which we preach always, and which ye diligently observe.
and keep it. For there are few who preach it rightly; fewer who learn and grasp it. There are also already the spirits of the wicked, and more will come, who are very clever and sharp in their arguments, and will disgrace this history, so that we will lose this person over it. They will preach Christ like another prophet, and deal in vain spirits, and say: Spirit, Spirit. Thus they will obscure this article, and make it so that we will despise this history, and with the history lose this high person; although this person is far different from all prophets, and this history is not a bad history of Dieterich of Bern, or of the Turk, how he defeated and overcame the king of Hungary; but a high, excellent history of the glorious victory of the Lord Christ against sin, death, devil and hell.
In the papacy they sang fine songs: He who broke hell, and overcame the sorrowful devil in it, so that the Lord redeemed Christendom etc.; item: Christ rose from his torment all etc. This is well sung from the heart; but there were no preachers who could have told us what it was. At Christmas one sang: Ein Kindelein so löbelich ist uns heute geboren. At Pentecost they sang: Now we ask the Holy Spirit etc. The text of the Gospel, the Passion or History of the Passion of Christ, was read to the people. In the mass they sang the good song: Praise and glory be to God, who has fed us Himself etc. But from all this, not a single letter nor a single tittle was understood, but one quickly fell on another thing, and forgot the beautiful words. Therefore it can easily happen again that the history is concealed, either by the spirits of the pagans, who pervert and obscure it, or by lazy preachers, who do not respect this article.
(15) If we preachers are lazy, you will not receive it. For you brew your own beer, and the righteous, pure doctrine gives you nothing to do. But I will have warned and admonished you faithfully, that you learn this article well and grasp it, whether Rotten-
I'm not sure how long I'll be here, but I'm sure I'll be here for a long time. I do not know how long I will be here. That is why I wanted to leave this article pure and unadulterated after me. Now you have the Gospel pure and fine, you have interpreted the Catechism, the Ten Commandments, the Faith, the Lord's Prayer, Baptism, the Blessed Sacrament, briefly and finely; take heed lest you be ungrateful, and red spirits and false teachers come and pervert everything. For I am greatly concerned that shameful ingratitude and contempt will snatch away the pure word. I am excused, for I have preached to you with all my diligence, to the best of my ability, exhorting you, asking and pleading with you that I may prosper in the sight of God.
16 This is the first part of this sermon, that our dear Lord Jesus Christ, as the true God, who is greater than all that is in heaven and earth, and as the most pure and innocent man, has torn death in two. Because death and the devil had nothing on him, he came out of the grave more beautiful than the sun. This is what you should know, that Christ, risen from the dead, is truly God and truly man in one person. And if you do not understand how it is that Christ is God and man, the person one and undivided, but the natures distinct; then put away the question and say: I believe that Jesus Christ, God and man, is one person, and the two natures, Godhead and mankind, are joined together. In this I remain. For in the Christian faith we confess that the Son of God and the Son of Mary are one Son, one Person, one Christ and Lord; not two Sons, not two Persons, nor two Christs and Lords: so that whoever touches and kills Christ the Man or the Son of Mary touches and kills the Son of God. For as my body and soul are two natures, and yet I am one person; so that whosoever shall bruise, cut, or kill my body, bruise, cut, or kill me, though he bruise not my soul, neither cut, neither kill it: so also
Christ is God and man, and he who strangles Mary's Son strangles God's Son; he who despises, blasphemes, defiles, crucifies Mary's Son despises, blasphemes, defiles, crucifies God's Son and God Himself. The Mother Mary suckled, fed, watered, cradled true God and man, although God did not need suckling, feeding, watering, cradling.
(17) The other part of this sermon is to draw the history to the power, fruit and benefit. Throughout the year you will hear how our Lord Jesus Christ, through his victory in himself, overcame and defeated sin, death and the devil; he strangled the devil in his own body, drowned death in his own blood, and eradicated sin in his torture and suffering. He accomplished these things alone and in himself, but he did not keep them for himself alone and for himself. For he, as the true, eternal God and Lord over all, did not need such victory for himself; much less did he need to become man; much less to suffer under Pontio Pilato. But that such a great, high person has accomplished such a thing, it is for me and for you and for all of us. And this is the power and fruit of the passion and resurrection of Christ.
(18) According to history we must know and believe that Christ is a high and excellent person, truly God and man, and that his suffering and death were great and high, and his resurrection from the dead glorious and victorious. But according to the power and fruit we must know and believe that his victory and triumph are distributed and given to all who believe in him; so that we not only believe that Christ died and rose from the dead in his person; but also that we accept the same suffering and resurrection as our given and bestowed treasure, and have right consolation from it; as we sing in the Easter hymn: Let us all rejoice, Christ will be our consolation. It applies to us, Christ wants to comfort us with his resurrection.
19These are well sung, and are very comforting, even spiritual words; for
They teach that the victory and glorious resurrection of this great and glorious person is given to all believers as a gift and as their own, so that I may have Christ's resurrection against mine, you against yours, and each against his death, which is greater than heaven and earth, and in which the whole world's sin and death is swallowed up. My holiness shall not do it, neither can it do it, nor deliver me from some sin, let alone from the burden of sin and death. But this is because this person, true God and man, has won an eternal, glorious victory over sin, death and the devil in and through himself; and this same victory shall be mine, if only I believe in him and recognize him as the person who has done this for me and for all believers.
020 If any man believe not these things, let him not: we preach for them that hear gladly, and have need thereof. These are they that are in anguish, terror, and trembling, saying, I must depart and die; item, I have sinned, I have neither rest nor peace. For when the devil attacks one, he makes heaven and earth close to him. Sometimes he also torments me in such a way that he makes such a sea and fire for me out of a vain sin that I do not know where to stay. He does this with sin. He does the same with death: he can make it so horrible, ghastly and terrible that one forgets God and his word. He is a thousand-fold favored one, he is a master of sins and of death; therefore he can also make sin and death so masterly. He has often made a small sin, even one that was not a sin in itself but was right and well done, so hard for me that I could not stay away from it. And he has often made such an image of death for me that I might have died of fright.
(21) Against such an enemy it is expedient and necessary that we prepare ourselves and make ready with a right understanding of the power and fruit of Christ's resurrection, that we may not remember that Christ rose from the dead for his own sake, and ascended into heaven, that he alone might live in all blessedness;
but that he shared his goods and his inheritance with us. For his own sake he did not come to earth, for his own sake he did not allow himself to be crucified, he had no need of this for himself; but he bore our sin, our death he bit out and devoured by his death, and the hell where we were to go he destroyed; as it is written in the prophet Hosea, chapter 13, v. 14: "I will deliver them from hell and save them from death. Death, I will be a poison unto thee; hell, I will be a pestilence unto thee." He speaks of our death, and of the hell that imprisoned us, and says that he will blot out the sin that is upon me and accuses me, and will bring to nothing the death and hell that devours and devours me.
(22) So shall we put this man, who is called Jesus Christ, almighty, eternal God, and innocent, righteous man, to sufferings, death and resurrection against our sin and death. The devil comes and says: "Behold, how great is your sin! Behold, how bitter and terrible is the death that you must suffer! Dear devil, do you not know how great is the suffering, death and resurrection of my Lord Jesus Christ? In him is eternal righteousness and life; in him is an almighty resurrection from the dead, which is not only greater than my sin, death and hell, but also greater than heaven and earth. My sin and death is a small thing, but my Lord Christ's death and resurrection is a great sea.
23 And these things are so true that the devil cannot deny them. Christ's resurrection and victory over sin, death and hell is greater than heaven and earth; you cannot make his resurrection and victory so great, it is much greater. For since his person is great, eternal, infinite and incomprehensible, his resurrection, victory and triumph are also great, eternal, infinite and incomprehensible. Therefore, even if there were a thousand hells and a hundred thousand deaths, they would still be but a speck and a drop compared to Christ's resurrection, victory and triumph. But Christ gives
His resurrection, victory and triumph to all who believe in him. Since we have been baptized into him and believe in him, it follows that even if I and you had a hundred thousand sins, deaths and hells, it would still be nothing. For Christ's resurrection, victory and triumph, given to me in baptism and in the Word through faith, and now mine, is much greater. If this is true, as it certainly is, let sin, death, the devil, hell, the world, the pope, the emperor, and all calamities murmur; what harm can they do us? This is the other part of this sermon, that we should not only consider the history that has taken place in Christ's person, which is great and glorious; but also that we should know and believe that all these things have happened for our good, and have been presented to us in the Word, and have been made our own through faith; as St. Paul says, 1 Cor. 15:57: "Thanks be to God, who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
(24) How many people are there now who rejoice in this victory with all their hearts? It is no lie what Christ has declared by his resurrection, but the truth, founded in the holy Scriptures, proclaimed by the prophets and testified by the apostles: but we have thick ears and heavy, slow hearts to grasp such things. If we knew it rightly, we would rejoice in it with all our hearts and go in leaps and bounds. But because we seek joy elsewhere, in Joachimsthaler, money, goods, splendor, pleasure, we do even as the pope and other unbelievers do: when some sin awakens and takes hold of them, that same sin is greater before theirs.
eyes than twenty of Christ. We are such great fools and disgraceful people that we destroy this greatest of treasures through our sorrowful unbelief. They preach it and sing it to us, but we do not want to hear it.
(25) Then let us see. Let him who despises this treasure despise it, but no one's loss will be greater than that of the one who despises it. Nevertheless, Christ will find people who will rejoice, marvel and thank him that he has done such a wonderful work by his resurrection from the dead. We should already be certain that through Christ's resurrection and victory we have been given such assurance that neither sin nor death shall terrify us. But if sin and death terrify us, then either we are wronged, because Christ has set us free, or we do not believe. For Christ, risen from all torment, who will be our consolation, is greater than our sin and death, yes, greater than heaven and earth. But what does our tender flesh do? Because this treasure is not Jehovah's gold coins, which can be seen, grasped and groped, but is preached and presented in the Word, we despise it. But I urge everyone to learn and grasp this article well. I speak as one who has experienced and tried it myself. Whoever is not well grounded and practiced in this article, and is attacked by the devil, will realize what a master the devil is. Our dear Lord Jesus Christ, who wants to be our comfort, grant us his grace and spirit, so that we may learn and keep it right, amen.