First sermon.*)
That we may do our Lord God's service and honor today, let us hear the holy gospel.
Matth. 5, 20-26.
For I say unto you, Except your righteousness be better than that of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Ye have heard that it was said unto the ancients, Thou shalt not kill: but whosoever killeth shall be liable to judgment. But I say unto you: He that is angry with his brother is guilty of judgment; but he that saith unto his brother, Racha, is guilty of counsel; but he that saith, Thou fool, is guilty of hell fire. Therefore, when thou offerest thy gift upon the altar, if thou thinkest there that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave thy gift there before the altar, and go first, and be reconciled to thy brother; and then come and offer thy gift. Be ready to meet thine adversary soon, while thou art yet with him in the way, lest the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the servant, and thou be cast into prison. I say unto thee, Verily thou shalt not come forth thence, till thou hast paid the last farthing.
(1) In this gospel our dear Lord Jesus Christ teaches the Christian love which we ought to have one for another, and points out the opposition or hindrances which tend to hinder such love, and wants to teach us not to think that we have Christian love when we are in these things which he here tells. For he who has anger and hatred in his heart against his neighbor cannot love him. Likewise he that saith unto his neighbor, Racha, or thou fool, that is, he that showeth all manner of angry signs in his face and gestures, and speaketh all manner of curses and blasphemies with his tongue against his neighbor, cannot love him either. Therefore, the Lord Christ teaches us to avoid such things, so that Christianity
*) Held in the house, 1533.
Let love be shown freely, without any hindrance to our neighbor.
(2) But it has always happened that those who are angry and envious do not want to be called angry and envious, but say they do so out of right good zeal, for the sake of righteousness. Well," they say, "people are wicked, he who lives this way and he who lives that way; if I should not be angry, they would be strengthened in their wickedness. So then they are angry under the little hat and lid that is called zelus justitiae, zeal of justice, so that the guilt must be of all those against whom they are angry.
(3) Our dear Lord Christ wants to take off this little hat and cover and show us that we are in the skin. For if we are angry with our neighbor and envious of him, let us remember this: I do not do wrong, that
I hate and envy him, forgetting that we should love our neighbor, thinking that we do not owe it to our neighbor. Should I, we say, give him what is mine for nothing? I have had to acquire it with toil and labor. Let him acquire it for him, too. At last they become people who are of no use to anyone, just as if our Lord God had left all things to grow for them alone and had given them for their sake alone, so that they should do no good to anyone or give any of it. And over all this they still go about making themselves pious, scratching and clawing in their sackcloth, helping no man on earth; and yet they say, They do this not out of envy and hatred of man, but out of a special and excellent zeal against the wickedness of men. Thus they deceive our Lord God in heaven, the foolish, unintelligent man.
4 Against such vices our dear Lord Christ preaches here. For there is a very vile vice in the world, which abominates many people out of measure, and is called by its proper name, as the Lord himself calls it here, the Pharisee and scribe righteousness and holiness. As if the Lord Christ wanted to say: It is true, there is a righteousness and holiness; and the highest, most learned, who want to be something special and are considered the greatest people of the world, lead this righteousness and holiness. But whoever wants to be my disciple and a righteous Christian, beware of this vice. For this is what you will find with this righteousness and holiness: those who are tainted with this vice put on gray skirts, look sour, pray a lot, and the world looks at them and is amazed at them, saying, "These are people! But if you look at them in the light, they are envious, hateful, selfish people, and adorn themselves only with the beautiful cover that they are holy Pharisees and scholars of Christ.
Now the righteousness and holiness of the Pharisees and scribes was such that we take as an example the fifth commandment of God, which the Lord himself introduces here. The Pharisees and scribes taught thus: Whoever wishes to keep the fifth commandment, Thou shalt not kill, as Moses commanded, shall not strike anyone to death with his fist.
and sword. And according to such their teachings they also kept in life that they did not commit any outward, bodily murder or death. This was their righteousness and holiness, so people had to say: These are excellent holy people, who keep God's commandment given by God through Moses; they are not murderers nor slayers. But in the meantime their heart was full of hatred, envy and bitterness. And even though they were full of biting, envying, hating and grumbling even among themselves, not to mention against others whom they were especially hostile to, they still went in under the beautiful cover and splendid appearance of great holiness, so that even in the presence of great holiness they did not want to kill God's Son themselves, but handed him over to the Gentile, the Roman governor Pilato; they also did not want to go into the judgment house in the presence of great holiness, so that they would not become unclean, but would eat the Easter. Joh. 18, 28.
(6) Such Pharisaic righteousness Christ punishes here, and warns his disciples and Christians against it, saying: If you want to go to heaven, you must be more pious than the Pharisees and scribes. They think that they are pious enough if they do not kill with their fists, and they do not have a conscience. But one does not find a single kind speech against their neighbor, they do not give a penny to a poor, meager person out of kind love; but if they give something, they want to have honor and glory from it here on earth with men, and there they want to have earned heaven with God with it. Yes, it should be ordered to such saints. Therefore, if you want to be my disciples and Christians and go to heaven, see to it that you are righteously pious.
What then is righteous piety? The Pharisees and scribes, as I said, had such piety: if they did not strike anyone dead with their hand, they thought they had kept the fifth commandment. Such holiness has the pope and his comrades also. For he teaches thus in his spiritual law, saying: Rancor ponendus est, non signa rancoris: The grudge in the heart should be put away, but the signs of grudge must not be put away, that is, if I have given a sign to an enemy, I must not put it away.
If I have been there, it is not necessary for me to go to him, talk to him, help him and lend to him; this is called signa rancoris, which may well be kept. Thus teaches the pope, and all monasteries and convents in the papacy stand on this teaching. This is the kind of love that makes one say: I will forgive him, but I will not forget him.
But Christ says, "Let our righteousness be better than that of the Pharisees and scribes. The Pharisees and scribes are friendly, but in their hearts they are hateful and envious. But Christian love should be righteous, so that one not only presents oneself outwardly friendly, but also drops the hatred and envy in the heart. For if one has forgiven another from the heart, it cannot be otherwise; one must also forget anger. If he does not forget anger, then it is a pharisaical and parochial forgiveness. So I have often let myself be reconciled with my enemies, and afterwards had such friendship with them, just as if I had never been angry with them. Therefore, after reconciliation, love should again be as it was before the insult.
(9) Thus the heathen say, Male sarta gratia nequicquam coit: A mended friendship shall not be whole again; and as the German proverb saith, A broken bow shall always retain a scar: And so shall one hold himself against the world, that he trust not too much, as it is commonly said, Ab amico reconciliato cave: Beware of a reconciled friend. Yes, according to the world it is rightly spoken. For flesh and blood is such that it does not let resentment leave its heart, but seeks space and opportunity to take revenge. That is why such teaching belongs to the world, so that people there think, "He has forgiven me, but who knows whether he has also forgotten? Christians, however, should not do and live in this way, but should think: Our Father in heaven, whom we have all offended and angered, forgives us all our sin and iniquity, so that he says: Iniquitatum eorum nunquam recordabor: I will never again remember their iniquity; prove also this by deed, and so do us good,
that he must be said to have forgotten: so shall we do; I shall not fear thee, if thou be a Christian, as I would fear such a reconciled friend, who is not to be trusted; and again, thou shalt not say, I will forgive, but not forget; but resentment and tokens of resentment shall be put away, and all shall be pure and heartily forgiven.
010 This is what Christ means when he says, Let your righteousness be better than that of the Pharisees and scribes. For hypocritical holiness is a very common plague in the world, that one sets himself up as a friend, and yet is a rejected enemy; as it is said of cats, which lick in the front, and scratch in the back. And if the Holy Spirit is not there, and so makes the heart to forget and despise the offense, saying, What harm is it to me, if I forgive and forget already? God has forgiven and forgotten much more: so it is lost with flesh and blood. But where the Holy Spirit is, there fall rancor et signa rancoris, resentment and sign of resentment. And this is a Christian heart; otherwise no one does it. For to forgive and not to forget is too hard, and is a common plague and sin among all people on earth.
(11) Therefore Christ here preaches a right text to his disciples and Christians, saying, Ye must not comfort yourselves, nor think that ye are holy, if ye outwardly slay no man: but ye must go further, that ye not only be reconciled, and be reconciled; but that ye also shew yourselves to be so with works, that there be no deceit. Ye have heard the law, but ye understand it not. For the scribes and Pharisees interpret it thus: One should not kill with the hand; one should not take away anyone with the sword or other force. But the law reads thus, "Thou shalt not kill." "Thou" does not mean the sword, or the sword alone, but all that man is, body and soul. The scribes and Pharisees make a hand out of the word "thou"; item, out of the word "kill", that a carrion becomes out of it. But this is not the way to stretch the text. It says, "Thou shalt not kill," that is, your heart, mouth, five senses, fist, your money.
and goods, and all that thou hast and art, thou shalt not kill. Not only shall you not strike the corpse dead, but you shall also leave all things standing that are for death. But what is for death? Not only the sword, that you lay your fist on another's body; but also if you do not come to the aid of your neighbor in his need, if you deny him your bread and food in his hunger, so that, if it were up to you, he would have to die. As St. Ambrose also says: Si non pavisti, occidisti: If you do not feed your hungry brother, you have killed him, as much as is up to you. The rich man does not mean that he killed the poor Lazarum lying at his door; but God says that he killed him. For though he does not kill him with his hand, yet he must die for his sake, because he has him lying at his door and has denied him all help. Therefore the fifth commandment is to be understood rightly. "Thou shalt not kill," that is, thy soul, heart, mouth, eyes, fists, feet, purse, money, and all that thou hast shall not kill, but help to life.
(12) So Christ reaches into the heart here when he says, "I tell you, whoever is angry with his brother is guilty of judgment. As if to say: To kill is not only to strike dead with the fist, but also to bear a grudge in the heart against one's brother. Such a grudge is hidden deep in the heart and cannot be seen. The rich man has a heart full of resentment and leaves poor Lazarum at his door, hungry and disgraced. He may come forward and say, "I am angry with Lazarum: I am not angry with Lazaro; but such an excuse is of no use, because he leaves him there and does not take care of him. If he loved him, he would shelter him and give him bread and food so that he would not die of hunger. This also means to be angry and to kill.
(13) Let us be well aware that Christ raises up wrath and calls us all brethren. It is a shameful vice to be angry with a brother and to kill a brother, that is, not to help out a brother who is poor. It is natural for brothers to love one another. That is why Christ calls all those who suffer need and are of our
Our brethren need help, that he may the better blow up the trouble in which our brother is, and the sin which is called forsaking the poor brother in trouble, and teach us that if we forsake our brother in trouble, we should not doubt that we have put our brother to death. For so shall the judgment be at the last day: Thou rich man hast slain so many brethren: thou mightest have helped and counseled this and that: but because thou hast not done so, thou hast become a murderer of them. Thus God will present to the rich man twenty or thirty brothers whom he has slain.
(14) This is what Christ does so sharply here, so that one may be careful and not become a murderer of his brother. He also makes three degrees, so that he may show how such sin becomes more and more serious. The first degree is: "He who is angry with his brother is guilty of judgment." As if to say: It is not enough that you do not kill your brother with your fist; for you can also kill him with your heart, if you do not mean him in earnest. He who is angry with his brother deserves to be judged. The other gradus is, "He that saith unto his brother, Racha, is guilty of rath." "Racha" means to look sourly at one's brother. This means that the one who is angry with his brother has been judged a murderer, but the one who says rakha has been judged even worse, so that it is not known how to punish him. The third gradus is, "But he that saith, Thou fool, is guilty of hellish fire." He who blasphemes and desecrates his brother has to expect even worse judgment.
So our dear Lord Christ does not want a hypocrite in his kingdom, but wants to have true Christian love among his disciples and Christians. But all the world is deep in this vice, which is called beating a brother to death. All craftsmen are vain murderers and thieves. Yes, not only craftsmen, but also princes, lords, counts, nobles, citizens, peasants, clergy and seculars; in all classes through and through, from the highest to the lowest, sinful and unrighteous.
hardly against this commandment. For there is vain abandonment of the brother in all. One could help the poor at times if one wanted to, but the contradiction happens. We have only gathered and gathered, and have not given a penny to anyone, and yet all want to be good Christians.
For this reason Christ teaches in this gospel that we should look at our lives in the right way, and be and remain true, thorough Christians, loving one another warmly. In the world it is according to the saying: A cibo to cocto, ab amico reconciliato, a muliere barbata libera me, Domine: Protect me GOtt from a reconciled friend. But we Christians should let ourselves be reconciled among each other from the heart. This is what happens when I say: "If my brother has offended me, he has done more harm to himself than to me. I will forgive him from my heart and be thoroughly reconciled with him. This is Christian living. I may scold and punish my brother, but I should not be an enemy to him. When I say to him out of a brotherly heart, You fool; as Christ says to his disciples, "O foolish and slow of heart"; and St. Paul to the Galatians, "O foolish Galatians": this is not anger, but friendly love. Otherwise I would keep quiet and let my brother go, if I did not mean well with him. But because I open my mouth and punish him, it is a sign that I love him and seek his best. For it is also a sign of anger if I do not instruct my brother or punish him. Whom a Christian loves, he punishes; as the heavenly Father chastens and punishes whom he loves, Prov. 3:12, Heb. 12:6.
(17) Therefore let our heart be so minded toward our brother, that we may think, Though my brother be mine enemy, what can he hurt me? If he angers me, it is good. If he does not mend his ways, I still want to have peace and quiet and do him good. But only a Christian does this, and no one else. The heathen avenge themselves. For vengefulness is innate in all men. And even though revengefulness sometimes lingers, it comes again when the opportunity arises. I have seen many of them, and
There are still many such people in the world who forgive well, but if they are to serve whom they have forgiven, they are vain wretches, lying so firmly and deeply that no one can lift them up. This is the wickedness of which Christ speaks in this gospel.
18 But the Lord Christ adds a little, and sets a bar at the door, so that such people will not enter the kingdom of heaven. For not to love one's brother is a sign that one loves neither Christ nor God, as St. John says in 1 John 4:20: "If anyone does not love his brother whom he sees, how can he love God whom he does not see? This is briefly concluded.
(19) But here a right distinction must be made, and it must be known that all these things which are spoken of anger and killing are to be understood of personal anger and killing, and not of official anger and killing. For worldly authority, father and mother, and what has to govern, should be angry and punish. Therefore it is also said that princes and temporal authorities are God's wrath; as St. Paul teaches, Rom. 13:4: "The authorities are God's servant, an avenger of punishment on him who does evil." For the authorities do not punish their own person, but for the sake of their office. They should take care that they do not draw such official wrath and punishment on the person, and do not adorn themselves and say, "I did it and had to do it on account of my office," when they did it on account of their person; and thus cover their personal wrath or their own wrath with the wrath of their office. Whoever does this will see and learn whom he has deceived. Everything depends on a kind heart; otherwise anger adorns itself and wants to deceive our Lord God.
020 Let us learn therefore from this gospel, that every man be righteous in love; or if he be angry, that he take heed, and be angry not for his own person, but for the sake of the Lord. For it happens naturally that anger goes the wrong way, as do all other affectus, unless the Holy Spirit changes our hearts. May our dear Lord God and Father grant us His grace, that we may grow and increase in righteous Christian love, and keep right measure in official anger, amen.