First sermon.*)
John 20:19-31.
Now in the evening of the same Sabbath, when the disciples were gathered together, and the doors were shut, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and saith unto them: Peace be unto you! And when he had said this, he shewed them his hands, and his side. Then the disciples were glad to see the Lord. Then said Jesus unto them again: Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, so I send you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said unto them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Gemini, was not with them when Jesus came. Then said the other disciples unto him, We have seen the Lord. And he said unto them: Unless I see in his hands the marks of the nails, and put my finger into the marks of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it. And again his disciples were there eight days, and Thomas with them. When Jesus came, and the doors were shut, he entered into the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he unto Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and put it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing. Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord, and my God. saith Jesus unto him, Because thou hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast believed. Blessed are they that see not, and yet believe. Also many other signs did Jesus before his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life in his name.
The first part of this history, that Christ appeared to his disciples, who were gathered together (except for Thomas) and had closed the doors for fear of the Jews, happened eight days ago, on the evening of Easter. The other part, that the Lord appeared again to the disciples, when Thomas was with them, happened eight days after Easter, as today. Both parts serve to reveal the resurrection of the Lord Christ from the dead, and the disciples, strengthened in the faith of his resurrection, not only become certain of this article for themselves, but also bear witness to it continually throughout the world.
(2) Besides such revelation, there are other teachings and examples in it, which are useful and comforting. First of all, it should be noted that the Lord does not wait for His disciples to follow Him, but goes after them through closed doors, greets them, and gives them a warm welcome.
*) Held in the house, 1534.
kindly, comforts and strengthens them in the faith of his resurrection. He could not do more kindly than to offer them peace, and to show his hands and side, so that they may be sure of his resurrection, and through such faith be comforted against all sadness, fear and terror. There is nothing unkind or terrible here. The greeting is sweet and lovely. For "peace" in Hebrew means all good, happiness and welfare. "Peace be with you," in German means as much as when we say: GOtt grant you a good day; GOtt grant that it may go well with you. So the appearance is also finely comforting, that he shows his hands and his side to the disciples, who had now despaired of him, and could not hope that he should live.
(3) With such an example Christ exemplifies his heart, who he is, and what kind of heart and will he bears toward us, for the consolation of all sorrowful, frightened, and fearful hearts, that they may have all goodness and kindness toward him. The disciples who loved him
He comforts and strengthens those who have the Lord in their hearts and rejoice in His future (as the evangelist says: "The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord"). But the others who despise him, as the Jews, he punishes in his own time. Thus one should learn to recognize Christ, 'that he is friendly, inclined and comforting to all miserable people who are in distress and anguish and desire his comfort and help. And again, that he may be a strict judge over all those who despise him. So whoever recognizes him, recognizes him rightly.
(4) Therefore let us turn to Christ for all love, kindness, comfort, help, and succor, and call upon him in trouble of fire, in trouble of water, in death, and in all temptations. For he also is the one cornerstone to whom we must cleave in all our afflictions. If you fall into the fire or water, if you are in death, hold fast to him and say, "Lord, I know you will not leave me; you will help me.
5 This is the first part of this gospel, that Christ deals so kindly with his disciples, not reproaching them for their unbelief, sin, and weakness, but comforting and strengthening them, and helping them up. This has been done for our good and comfort. For since the devil continually attacks us, as St. Peter says in 1 Peter 5:8: "Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour," it is necessary for us to imagine such examples of Christ's kindness and love toward us, that we may know how to comfort and uphold ourselves against such an enemy.
6 Secondly, it is noted in history that Christ sends his disciples, just as he was sent by the Father. This is our great comfort and joy, that we hear Christ's word through the word and mouth of the apostles and those who came from them. It is a great and glorious thing that I and another preacher and minister of the word have the treasure that Christ gave to the apostles. But Christ gives power to the apostles to forgive and retain sins when and how often it is needed. If I or you are frightened and tempted by the sins of the apostles, then
I and you shall listen to the one who comes to comfort us with God's word and believe his words as if God himself were speaking to us. If you walk safely and sin stubbornly, and your pastor punishes you and keeps your sin until you repent, your sins will be kept for you by Christ Himself and by the Heavenly Father.
7 For this is the mission: "As the Father has sent me, even so I also send you. As I forgive the sins of poor sinners who repent, and retain the sins of hard-hearted and secure saints, Pharisees and scribes, who will not repent: so shall ye also forgive or retain the sins of others after me. This is the command that the preaching of Jesus Christ should remain, that all who believe in him should have forgiveness of sins, but those who do not believe should have their sins retained.
(8) This is a great and excellent thing, that the mouth of every righteous pastor and preacher is Christ's mouth, and his word and forgiveness is Christ's word and forgiveness. If you have sin and confess it, and believe in Christ, the pastor and preacher shall forgive you of that sin in Christ's stead, and you shall accept the words he says to you on God's account as if Christ himself had said them to you. Therefore, it is right to call the word of the pastor and preacher, which he preaches, the word of God. For the ministry is not of the pastor and preacher, but of God; and the word that he preaches is also not of the pastor and preacher, but of God.
9 Therefore, it is a terrible thing if someone does not want to hear God's word. For he will certainly have to hear the devil's word one day, otherwise he will not hear the devil's word. For who can explain or sufficiently express how great a grace and exceedingly excellent a thing it is that we can hear God's word, yes, God Himself, through our brother's mouth? Therefore, these are hopeless, even foolish people, who run to the oak tree, to St. Jacob's and to other pilgrimages, so that they can see the tomb and the
The saints, who may see the bones of this or that dear saint, leave such a great treasure and excellent sanctuary at home in their church.
(10) If one knew of a church in the world where one could hear God's voice, how would one run to it? And one would not be able to hear anything other than what one hears at home in the church from the pastor. David counts among other God's goods and gifts that he has received, this as the most distinguished good and highest treasure, that God has given him such a kingdom, in which God's word is taught; as he says, Psalm 60:8 and 108:8: "God speaks in His sanctuary, I am glad." We can also boast of this and say: God has given us the most precious jewel, His dear, holy Word.
Therefore, the holy Christian church is a beautiful and glorious thing, where one can hear what God speaks and what He wants from us, namely, that we should turn to repentance, be baptized in His name, and believe in His Son, Jesus Christ, and prove our faith with Christian fruits, be obedient to God, and serve our neighbor. Whoever touches a Christian and believer touches the apple of God's eye. Whoever believes and does this shall be God's house and dwelling place.
These things are preached and said to us every day. But we pass by and do not turn to it, and it is as if a cow were bleating at us. But we should thank our Lord God from the bottom of our hearts for this unspeakable gift, that God's word is preached to us daily. For the Word of God is the true sanctuary by which the Christian Church and all Christians and saints of God are sanctified. The sanctuary at Jerusalem, and wherever else it may be in the world, is nothing but dirt compared to this sanctuary. But we do not see such treasure, and are much coarser than Thomas, of whom we will soon say that we do not want to see the dear, precious treasure, God's Word, which makes everything holy. May our Lord God give us His grace that we may put away our hardness. He punishes and scolds us severely enough, and as He wills; but He only takes from us His
Do not let the sacred word be torn down among us, and do not let enthusiasts and the spirits of the wicked come in and take away our treasure.
The third piece is from Thomas. It seems that Thomas was a rough man. He is so unbelieving and hard that he will not believe Petro, nor the women, nor the other disciples, all who say to him, "We have seen the Lord"; but will see in his hands the nail marks, and put his fingers into the nail marks, and his hand into his side. So he thought, It must have been a ghost that the disciples and women saw, and they think they have seen the Lord. Therefore he would not believe that he saw the nail marks, but felt and touched them with his hand and with his fingers.
(14) The nail marks on the hands and feet of Christ are commonly said to be transparent. And many also sharply dispute whether Christ will come to judgment on the last day with the wounds that he had on the cross. I believe that the place on his hands and feet, where he is nailed, is marked, or that there are scars in that place. Thomas wanted to put his fingers into these scars and see them with his eyes. Therefore it seems that he was a rude and simple man who wants to be converted by the mark of the nails, which do not have special power to convert one. For if the body had been false, or a ghost, the scars on the body might also have been false.
(15) This is a great coarseness and stubborn hardness, that Thomas will not believe that he sees it with his eyes and feels it with his fists. Nevertheless Christ bears and tolerates such coarseness and hardness, and therefore does not reject him; he comes about eight days after the Easter day, when Thomas is gathered with the disciples, and shows him the same scars that he desires to see, and makes him put his fingers and hand into the nail marks and side, so that he may come out of unbelief to faith, and out of coarse ignorance to certain, clear knowledge and light; makes a special thing with him in the presence of the other disciples, does not allow himself to be left alone, and does not allow himself to be left alone.
see, but also grasp and feel, just in the nail marks and in his side, and says to him, "Do not be unbelieving, but believing."
16 These things are written for our sake, that we may learn how dear Christ is to us, and how kindly, fatherly, gentle and mild he deals and will deal with us. He deals harshly and uncleanly with the ungodly and unbelievers who think nothing of him. But he does not want to overthrow the weak believers, nor reject them, but tolerates their weakness, does not snap at them cruelly, but deals with them gently and cleanly. He proves this here with Thomae, who, even though he is coarse and simple-minded, is not unfaithful or malicious, but faithful and pious. So he thinks: I would gladly believe that Christ has risen from the dead, if only I could believe it. And he wishes with all his heart that it were true, but still he cannot believe it. Just as if I said, "I would like to see my father rise from the dead, but I cannot believe that it is possible. So Thomas still has the old faith in Jesus, who was crucified, but he cannot understand that he is supposed to have risen from the dead, and yet he would like with all his heart that it were true.
17 Christ faithfully seeks him, bears his hardness and helps him to believe. Such an example with St. Thomas, as I said, happened and was written too well for us. For as Saint Paul writes of himself, 1 Tim.
1, 16. that mercy befell him, that in him first of all Jesus Christ might show all patience, as an example to those who should believe in him to eternal life: so it may be said of Thoma that this patience befell him, that in him Jesus Christ might show all kindness and gentleness, as an example to all the weak and simple.
(18) So we see in this history, not only in the example with Thoma, but also in the example with the other disciples, how very devout a Lord we have in Christ, who does not deal harshly or cruelly with us, but seeks us out and comforts us, like lost and strayed sheep. He does not say to the disciples: You have forsaken me, have been offended at me, have run away from me, have denied me, therefore I do not like you; but he bears and tolerates their weakness, and does not let them repay him for the fact that they have sinned so grossly against him and are still sinning; which is truly much, that they not only fall away from him before his suffering, but also now after his resurrection are thus unbelieving. These things are prescribed for our good and comfort, that we may learn that, though unbelief be altogether against him, yet he will credit us with our grossness and hardness; yet so far that we sin not out of contempt, but out of weakness. And this is what has recently been said of this Gospel. May God grant us His grace, that we may grasp it and keep it, amen.