John 16:16-23.
Over a little one ye shall not see me; but over a little one ye shall see me: for I go unto the Father. Then said some of his disciples one to another, What is this that he saith unto us, Over a little thing ye shall not see me; and over a little thing ye shall see me, and that I go unto the Father? Then they said: What is this that he saith concerning a little one? we know not what he saith. Then Jesus perceived that they were about to ask him, and said unto them: Of this ye ask one another, that I said of a little one ye shall not see me; and of a little one ye shall see me. Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye shall weep and wail; but the world shall rejoice. But ye shall be sorrowful: but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. When a woman gives birth, she is sad, because her hour has come. But when she has given birth to the child, she no longer thinks of sorrow for the joy that the man is born into the world. And ye also now have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man shall take from you. And in that day ye shall ask me nothing.
1. this gospel is also the high article, which we do daily, and which is called and is a Christian article,
*) Held publicly on the last day of April in the year 1531.
and only Christians make, maintain and practice, so that they grow and increase day by day. Summa, this article belongs only to the small group of those who are and want to be Christians.
2 The Lord divides this gospel into three parts. The first part are the words, that he saith, "Over a little thing ye shall not see me; but over a little thing ye shall see me, because I go unto the Father. The other part is the understanding and the opinion of the words, that the Lord afterwards gives the gloss on the words, and says: This is the interpretation and opinion of the words: "You will weep and wail, but the world will rejoice, but you will be sad; but your sadness shall become joy." This gloss is clearer than the text and words. Third, he sets the example of the woman who gives birth, where trouble is short and joy is long. Let us see these three pieces and talk a little about them.
The first part is finely composed and worded in such a way that it should remain all the better in the hearts and memories of the disciples. For the words, "Over a little thing, and ye shall not see me," etc., have at once a different sound than other words have. Now such strange, hidden, and unusual sayings are most commonly thought of as peculiar marks and signs. That is why the Lord wanted to use such dark and hidden words, so that they would stick more firmly in the heart and be remembered better.
4 Now this is the text: The Lord will signify unto his disciples, that he shall die, and rise again from the dead. "Over a little," he says, that is, over two or three hours, "ye shall not see me," that is, I shall come out of your sight, die, and be buried; "but over a little ye shall see me," that is, I shall rise again from the dead, and be seen alive. These are strange, veiled words, to indicate that he would be with them two or three hours more, after which he would be killed and die; but on the third day he would rise again from the dead and be manifested alive. And after such death and resurrection he would go to the Father.
5. these two pieces, dying, and, rising from the dead, the disciples can
in the text. Therefore they said one to another, "What is this that he says to us, 'Over a little one you will not see me,' but over a little one you will see me, and I will go to the Father? And they say again, "What is this that he saith, Over a little thing? We know not what he saith." Their thoughts are carnal and stand thus: Perhaps he will go into the chamber especially alone, or will wander into another city, and for a time not be seen. But after that he will come back and be seen again. But that he says he wants to go to his father, they understand from the way on the street, or from the path or bridge, where one goes up with feet. They cannot imagine that he will soon be snatched from them, caught, crucified and buried; much less can they believe that after suffering and dying he will come out of death and the grave again, rise from the dead, and show himself alive and manifest himself. They follow their reason, which cannot make anything else out of these words: "Over a little, and ye shall not see me," but that the Lord wants to hide and conceal himself for a time.
(6) So flesh and blood judge and judge from Christ's word, and flesh and blood do so in the saints. For the saints also, while they are in this life, have a great particle from the old Adam, and it is great art that they judge not the word according to human reason. The disciples are full of gifts and of the Holy Spirit; yet they speak carnally, according to their reason and the flesh. Yes, even after Christ's resurrection, when he is about to go to heaven, even though they have heard his sermon for forty days, and he has expounded the Scriptures to them and opened their understanding, they still have carnal thoughts about his kingdom, and say, Acts 1:6: "Will you be a man? 1:6, "Will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" So we do not do any better; I and you and all of us still have carnal thoughts, even though we have already been baptized and are called Christians.
7 Therefore, these are shameful deceivers, who insist on pope, emperor, concilia, fathers.
Build and say: The Christian church cannot err; what the Christian church has set, that shall be kept. But say thou: Man cannot live without error. This is seen here in the apostles, who err and fail in the supreme article of the passion and resurrection of Christ; therefore I do not trust the fathers, the churches, unless they have God's word. For here one sees from the apostles that one should not trust the holy fathers and the church, unless they certainly have God's word. What the Church speaks about and apart from the Word of God, whether through the Holy Fathers or Concilio, say: This is the flesh of the apostles, who also speak in this way from reason, without the Holy Spirit. In St. Augustine's books you can find many sayings that flesh and blood have spoken. And I must also confess of myself that I speak many words that are not God's words, when I speak outside the preaching office, at home over the table, or otherwise. That is why St. Augustine, in a letter to St. Jerome, makes a fine statement that only the holy Scriptures should not be held in error. All the others, however holy and learned they may be, are not to be considered right because they have taught thus, when they cannot prove it by Scripture. This is said for good measure.
The other part is the gloss and interpretation that the Lord himself interprets the previous words and says that the disciples will be saddened and grieved by his departure and death. First he shows them with dark words what will happen to him, namely that he will die and rise again from death. Then he announces what will happen to them about his death, namely, that they will be sad. Now I have told you," he says, "that I will come out of your sight and leave you alone; but you will be very sad about it. Death will come upon me, but great sorrow will come upon you. "Ye shall weep and wail, but the world shall rejoice; but ye shall be sorrowful."
9 But just as the disciples before did not understand the words and the text, so they did not understand the words and the text.
they do not understand the gloss and the interpretation of the words, even though what the Lord says here has come to pass and has come into their hands, and he has been taken from them, crucified and buried, they still do not understand either the text or the gloss. For there are two kinds of understanding: intelligentia verborum et intelligentia rerum, understanding of words and understanding of things. The understanding of words is when a man can speak and preach about a thing, but when it comes to the moves and the meeting that he is to put into practice, he cannot do anything about it. Such a man has the understanding of words, but not the understanding of the matter. Now it is not only necessary that one knows how to speak of the matter; it is also necessary, when it comes to the meeting, that he can comfort and strengthen himself with the words, and can rhyme the words and the matter together. This is often lacking, both for me and for many good fellows.
10 Therefore the Lord comforts his disciples here, and rhymes the words and the matter together, saying, "It will come to pass with you that you will weep and wail; the words which I am speaking to you now will come into your hands and under your eyes. There will be nothing with you but weeping and wailing. In addition, this will also happen, that these words, which I am now saying to you, and so that you should comfort and uplift yourselves, will be taken away from you; yes, that is more, when you will weep and howl, then all the world will rejoice, laugh, be in good spirits, and say: Where is now the excellent Master and his disciples?
(11) In like manner as it is with us this day. We, who confess Christ and his gospel, must be defeated and sad; but our adversaries rejoice, exult, and say: Yes, so it is with the heretics, now the emperor is here, now the emperor is here. And there is neither measure nor end to the throbbing and defiance of the papists. But we have tribulation, pain, suffering, misery and distress. Our Christ is gone, and we have nothing of it but the pestering and defiance of the adversaries. So that the two greatest evils are here together-
men come. Suffer harm and have ridicule to it.
(12) So shall it be with the disciples, saith Christ. This is the gloss (if you want to know it), which says: "Over a little thing you will not see me"; it will come into your hands, and the experience of that hour will teach you well. Then remember what I am about to tell you, and see to it that you have not only the understanding of the words but also the understanding of the matter. Then, when it comes to pass, remember it, and say, There must be weeping and wailing, when the world laughs, thunders, defies, and mocks us. The Lord told us before that this would happen to us; he is taken from us, weeping and wailing have come to us, but the world is joyful and rejoices. So remember, and hold your souls with patience, and put the words into practice.
013 And Christ set one thing upon another, sorrow and joy, weeping and laughter. Just as before in the text he set one thing upon another, saying, "Over a little thing ye shall not see me, and over a little thing ye shall see me," so here also he does in the gloss, saying, "I say unto you, verily ye shall mourn, and the world shall rejoice: but your mourning and the world's joy shall be for a little season. One by one they will alternate: your sorrow will become joy, and the world's joy will become sorrow. He says this so that patience will be the stronger. For who could be so firm and strong, and endure suffering, if God did not at times show refreshment? For where sorrow would have no end, it would already be hell itself. But it is said: The Christians' mourning should be a small thing, and the world's joy should also be a small thing. Christians must weep and mourn, but the world must sing and leap and be glad; but be of good cheer and hold your peace for a little, for it will not last long, and afterward it will alternate, and sadness will be turned into joy and joy into sadness. At the end of the Gospel
He interprets it even more clearly and says: "Your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one shall take from you," that is, your sadness shall become eternal joy, and joy shall never be taken from you.
14 Let us learn these things, that we may be able to rhyme them together in affliction and temptation, and say, Well, I am now in sorrow; for a little thing is needful, and this sorrow shall be turned into joy. But especially he that is in the preaching ministry, let him remember it! The devil and the world will not let you be challenged. If you tell the truth, the world will become mad and foolish, and will curse, condemn and persecute you, and you will suffer scorn and ridicule. If the world can draw the sword against you, it will not refrain from doing so, and the devil as a master helps to do so, driving such poisonous, fiery arrows into the heart that the heart wants to melt. If you feel such a challenge, the world curses and persecutes you, mocks and laughs at you, and the devil torments you, what should you do? Should you become impatient, abandon the preaching ministry, run away and curse? No, but be patient, wait, and take courage, saying, "Well, my Lord Christ said before, "You will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice"; but he also added, "Your sorrow shall become joy," meaning a little. Now because he is true, and hath not lied unto me concerning the little one, that I should not see him now, and weep and mourn: neither will he lie unto me concerning the other little one, that I should see him again, and that my heart should rejoice.
(15) Therefore let these words be diligently remembered, that the Lord says they shall alternate one with another, one for another: Not to see Christ and to see Christ; to be sad and to rejoice; to weep and to be glad. And these things are of great need, that we may be able to bear them, and not fall to the ground under them, and perish. For if Christ had remained outside for a year or four, all his disciples would have fallen away from him to Annas and Caiphas. Therefore he did not want to lie hidden for a long time, but
Only three days, and on the third day he was soon seen alive again, comforting and strengthening the disciples. He does the same with us; he does not leave us long in weeping and wailing, but gives us breath and rest, so that we may endure. Thus says the 85th Psalm, v. 9: "Oh that I should hear that God the Lord speaks, that he should promise peace to his people and to his saints, that they should not fall into folly! I would very much like," he says, "that our Lord God would let His word be heard among us, so that His people would not fall into foolishness and despair and blaspheme with impatience and say that He is not God. For the sake of the cause, our Lord God must temper and moderate the weeping and wailing so that it is small, lest His people fall into foolishness. He does not allow the defiance and mockery of the wicked to remain forever, lest the saints turn to wickedness, and the wicked be strengthened in their pride. For if the counsel of the wicked were not returned, they would think that all they do is right.
16 And now this is the text and the gloss, the words and the interpretation, in which it is also to be noted what he speaks of the world, although he does not say much about it, because he has no desire for it. But he gives enough to understand that he says, "The world will rejoice, but you will be sad; but your sadness shall become joy." For it follows that the joy of the world shall become sadness. The world, saith he, shall rejoice for a season, even as ye shall weep and be sorrowful for a season: but their joy shall become terror and mourning, even as your sorrow shall become joy. And such, the sorrow of the world, shall never cease, but shall endure for ever. We see this now also in our adversaries. Because they have insisted and defied the Diet and the emperor so much, and their attacks have not gone ahead, they go and hang their heads, as the evil-doers, and will still hang themselves with sorrow over it. For their mourning shall not be a small one, but a long and eternal one; and that begins already now.
(17) And so it shall be with our squires and covetous men, who, in this mischief with the corn, are now doing their mischief; they stop and mock us, and have good courage, and laugh; and it is good for them, that they may confidently gather money. But let them beware of the saying, Prov. 11:26: "He that keepeth corn, men curse him: but blessing cometh upon him that selleth it." When God will be merciful and, as we hope will happen soon, will again give a rich, fruitful year, then their joy will turn to wormwood, and the miserly will be put to shame. For such wanton evil-doers are not worthy to be judged by the authorities (the same punishment would be a great mercy), but should punish themselves. It does not help them what is said, admonished, warned; they want to know, so they may also see whom it will repent of. We have the advantage: if we suffer misfortune, let us pray; if we die over it, it shall not hurt us. They may see how it will go for them.
The third part of this gospel is that the Lord, to strengthen this teaching, gives us the example of a woman giving birth. Look at a woman," he says, "when her features are going on and she is to recover from the child (women know this better than anyone can speak of it, but experience shows that the hardship is great, since many die from it; in sum, it is a great cross that God laid on the woman in paradise after the fall); look at such a woman who is to give birth," says Christ; there is laughter to be borne. She cannot see the end of her pain, nor can she say with certainty whether she will recover from the child or not, but her thoughts and words are thus: God help, God counsel, be it done to me as God wills. For she does not know whether the child will be born or whether she will stay over it. Such a woman also has the text before her, as it was said to her in Paradise: "I will cause you much pain when you conceive; you shall bear children with pain." And she also lacks that she cannot find the little word: "Over a little one"; yet she stands in the hope-
The pain is the reason for the painfulness of the work and the maintenance, whether it will last one, two or three days, but finally it comes from the pain.
19 Our dear Lord Christ presents us with such a likeness and example to strengthen this doctrine of the cross and suffering, so that we may learn with certain hope. For he speaks here of the woman who gives birth, not of the woman who remains above childbirth. And thus he means to say: A woman, when she gives birth, is in fear; just as you are in fear when the cross and suffering come upon you. But in her anguish she cannot add the little word, "Over a little one," for she has the word that she shall bring forth children in pain. But she does not have the promise that she will certainly recover from the child. But you, in your suffering and mourning, should add the little word, "About a little one. For you see that such a woman, of whom I speak (but I speak of such a one who recovers), works a little while, and afterward is saved. For this you have the promise and assurance, which the woman does not have, namely, that your sorrow will last a short time and then become joy. If the woman in her child anguish had the promise that you have in your suffering, she would not be sad. But she must mourn, because she is not sure whether she will recover. But you, through the example of the woman, should also take hold of the promise that is certain to you and cannot be lacking.
(20) Therefore, when we have temptation, sorrow and suffering, and fall into heavy thoughts about them, we should remember that we are then in childbirth and child distress. What shall we do here? Shall we act like a woman who does not know whether she will recover or remain above childbirth and die? No, for a woman has not such a promise as we have. Therefore a woman who has not yet given birth is not to be our example; but a woman who has now been delivered and is done with childbirth is to be our example. Just as a woman who has now been delivered from her pain and has given birth to the child has joy, so certainly joy shall follow our weeping and wailing. A woman, before she has recovered, may well miscarry.
We shall not lack it, because the promise is not made to us.
But how do we do it? How do we follow this teaching? When sorrow and suffering occur, our dear, tender flesh is there and our noble reason, and thus thinks: When will the suffering have an end? All is now finished and eternally lost. For flesh and blood and human reason cannot do otherwise than to judge and judge according to the five senses and according to feeling. It sees how painful suffering is, and it sees those who bring suffering upon us. But this only increases the sadness and suffering, until it finally becomes so great that one would have to die because of it. Therefore, whoever wants to be a Christian should not pay attention to how painful it is and how much the flesh would like to be rid of the suffering; but should keep to the word and rhyme it with the matter, and comfort himself with this comforting promise that the sorrow will last for a little while and then become joy. This example of a woman who is now delivered from her fear and has joy because a man was born into the world should also serve this purpose.
(22) He that doeth these things shall abide, though the temptation and the suffering be great and grievous. But he who does not do this will not be able to endure even a small, minor challenge. For because he forsakes the word and the promise, all his doings and undertakings are mere carnal counsels and thoughts, out of which nothing will or can come. Where Christ does not help here with his comforting, certain promise, and does not press it into the heart through his Holy Spirit, then it is lost. One may bite and devour oneself in sorrow and misery with thoughts, but one cannot work oneself out with one's own thoughts. For as it happened to the Jews in the wilderness, that the more they saw the bite of the fiery serpent, the more they were terrified and afraid; so shall it happen to him that forsaketh the word and the promise: the more he looketh on the feeling of woe, the more shall he fall into terror, trembling, and impatience.
(23) Therefore, when we have sorrow, let us keep the word, and rhyme the word and the thing together. My Lord Christ told me before that if I would be his disciple, it must be weeping and wailing, but the world shall rejoice; but weeping and wailing shall not be long. He gave me certain assurances of this, and in addition presented the example of a woman who does not remain above childbirth, but is saved from anguish with joy: so that I would believe that he also wants to snatch me out of misery and bring me to eternal joy. Therefore I will suffer this misfortune patiently, and take comfort in the fact that it is a small thing, and I will be abundantly refreshed in this suffering. If we therefore take hold of the word and persevere in faith and patience, Christ will then let himself be seen again, just as he let himself be seen again by the disciples after his resurrection and after their great heartache. Then we do not look at
suffering, how grievous it is, and how unjustly they act who put suffering on us; but gain the joyful look, which is, as Christ says here, "I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man shall take from you."
(24) So we should also do in this precious time, and not look at the lack, how little grain there is, nor at the great courage of our young men and village fools; but have regard to the word, and say: Come on, let us have patience for a little while, the Lord will be gracious to us, and let us see Him again, as the 4th Psalm says v. 8: "Thou makest my heart glad, though they have much wine and grain.
(25) This then is the gospel in its three parts, which alone is a gospel for Christians, that they may learn to believe, and therewith be comforted in their great trials and tribulations, and have patience in hope.