So that we may give glory and thanks to our Lord God today, we will preach and listen to His Word.
Marc. 7, 31-37.
And going out again from the borders of Tyri and Sidon, he came to the Sea of Galilee, in the midst of the border of the ten cities. And they brought unto him a dove that was dumb, and they besought him that he would lay his hand upon him. And he took him from the people specially, and put his fingers in his ears, and spit, and touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said unto him, Hephatha, that is, open thyself. And straightway his ears were opened, and the band of his tongue was loosed, and he spake aright. And he forbade them, that they should tell no man. But the more he forbade, the more they spread it abroad. And were astonished at the measure, and said: He hath made all things good: he maketh the deaf to hear, and the speechless to speak.
(1) This seems to be a bad and easy gospel, because it does no more than tell of the miraculous work that the Lord did here on the dumb and deaf man. Of this and similar miraculous signs your love often hears in the year that Christ has shown Himself and let it be seen that He is the Savior who wants to help and assist us against the devil's wrath. Therefore, may God thank me especially for such a blessing that he has given us such a man who wants to help us out of pure grace against everything that the devil can inflict on us.
For the fact that this poor man is so injured that he can neither use his tongue nor his ears like other people, these are all blows and stings of the wretched devil. In the eyes of the world, it may seem that these are natural infirmities, for the world does not know the devil, that he does so much harm, makes people mad and foolish, and causes them all kinds of misfortune, not only to the body but also to the soul. But we Christians should believe that such defects and afflictions, whether of body or soul, that some fall into error and are deceived, some die of fear and sadness, that they are found dead in bed, are nothing else but the devil's blows;
*) Held in the house, 1533.
He causes such misery on earth, strikes people with error, blindness, sadness, that they cannot come to any joy, and does harm where he can.
3 Therefore we should thank our dear Lord God that He took care of our affliction and sent His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who helped this poor man and also graciously protected us so that we are not also damaged with such a plague from the evil enemy. For every man, if he has healthy eyes, ears, hands, feet and other limbs, should believe that it is not a natural, harmless (accidental) growth, as the world sees it, but it is only a gift of God. But because the world does not believe this, but, because it is so wicked, considers it a naturally bad thing, God must sometimes allow such things to happen, so that the devil makes one mute and deaf here, blind there, or even kills him; so that everyone may learn that God has allowed the devil to do this, and thank God all the more diligently for having so graciously protected us from such evil.
4 Thus it is the work of the devil to kill the body, to blind the heart with false doctrine, so that they cannot see or accept the truth. But all God's works are good, for he is good and creates nothing but what is good. The devil, however, is evil, because where God has condemned him, he judges him.
He does no good, and what is hurt, the devil does. Like a tree that bears beautiful, good apples, but when the vermin come and destroy it, the fruit becomes wormy and perishes. This is not the fault of our Lord God, who created the tree good, nor of the tree and the fruit, but of the worms and the vermin.
It is the same with us human beings. God is a God of life, therefore He gives a healthy body and fine, dexterous limbs. But the devil, where he can and God gives him such, corrupts the body and does harm. Therefore, we should learn what such evil befalls us, that it is the devil's sting, which is bitterly hostile to all people, but especially to Christians, and does no good.
Now it is terrible that the wicked, evil, powerful enemy should cause so much misery. But against this we are comforted by today's gospel of a certain help against such an enemy; for there we see, as John says, 1 John 3:8, that "the Son of God appeared for this reason, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Because the devil came to paradise to break the work of our Lord God, and to make disobedient, evil men out of the holy, pious men Adam and Eve, God did not want to suffer this, but thought how he could take revenge on his enemy; therefore, make whole again and better what the devil has broken, and break the devil's work, sin, death and hell. Also, as we see here, he loosens the tongue that the devil has bound, and opens the ears that he had stopped up. Christ came to do this work, and does it for and among his Christians, as you will now hear. Let this be said according to the text of the miraculous sign and work of our Lord Christ, that he might show himself this day to be a helper of the wretched, and heal all infirmities which the devil hath brought upon us, and put him away from among us.
7 By this miraculous work the Lord also wants to show us how these two pieces especially belong to a Christian, that
that his ears be opened and his tongue loosed, and that he will do this work daily in his church spiritually against the devil. The bodily benefit, that he gives healthy ears and tongue, is also done to the Gentiles, but this spiritual benefit, that he opens their ears and loosens their tongues, is done only to the Christians. For this is ever certain, that we all have our blessedness through the word of God alone. What else would we know of God, of the Lord Christ and His sacrifice, and of the Holy Spirit? Therefore, this is still today the greatest miracle and highest blessing, to whom God gives such an ear that gladly hears His word, and a tongue that honors God and does not blaspheme.
(8) Our counterpart, the papists, are a thousand times more wretched than this mute and deaf man, for they have thicker and more clogged ears. Even though they hear God's word, they still cannot and will not hear it; just as we see in the unbelieving Jews: when our dear Lord Christ preached the most beautiful sermons about the forgiveness of sins and eternal life, they became mad and foolish, and not only would not hear it, but also blasphemed. Thus, all those who do not want to hear God's word are deaf and dumb, and much more dangerous than this poor man here; for they cannot do anything else with their tongue but blaspheme God, and speak the worst of His word, the highest treasure. But those who gladly hear God's word, and to whom Christ says, as here to the mute: "Hephathah", ear, you shall stand open! are those who are rightly helped against the devil. For God has shown us no other way on which we can go to heaven, but his dear word, the holy gospel. Whoever hears it gladly, heeds it diligently, and loves and enjoys it, is helped. This is the one miraculous work that still goes on daily in Christianity, that our ears, which the devil has blocked through sin, are opened again through the Word, that we hear God's Word.
9 The other thing is that he also stirs the tongues and makes us speak, as St. Paul says, Rom. 10:10: "If you are heartfelt, you will be able to speak.
If you believe, you are justified, and if you confess with your mouth, you are saved. Through. Through faith in Christ we come to forgiveness of sins; after this should also follow confession, that we are not dumb, but speak as we believe in our hearts. This then makes a Christian; all other works do not make a Christian.
(10) It may well be that a monk fasts and watches, and hurts his body more than a Christian; but by this he cannot become a Christian, for he lacks that, that he is still deaf and dumb. He will not hear the word, much less confess it. But a Christian who hears and believes, and afterwards confesses: these two things make a Christian whole. So our dear Lord Christ still performs such works daily in his church in the spirit and through the word, which work he did there in the flesh, so that he might be seen to help us against all the harm the devil does to us, but especially against spiritual harm, so that we might believe in him and learn to put our hope in him.
Now we must also see what the Lord means by the special splendor here. The people bring the poor man to him and ask him to lay his hands on him. So he approaches him, leads him away from the people, puts his fingers in his ears, spits and stirs his tongue with them. Then he looks up to heaven, sighs, and says, "Hephatbah!" All this is a special gift that the Lord gives especially for this miraculous work. Since we have now heard what it is to be quite dumb and deaf, we must also see why the Lord wanted to use a special ceremony and pomp for this miraculous work, when he could have accomplished such a work with just a few words. For we see through and through in the gospel that it is only a matter of one word: when he wants something, it happens; as the 33rd Psalm testifies, v. 9: "When he speaks, it happens; when he gives, it stands there.
(12) But the Lord is doing so much for the sake of spiritual miracles. For he wants to show how much effort it takes to make a deaf man hear and a deaf man understand.
He makes the mute speak. He wakes up Lazarum with one word; to the gouty man he says: "Get up and walk"; there he was already helped: but with this deaf and dumb man he does not deal so briefly and badly, but needs a special gesture that he reaches into his ears with his fingers, sighs, then first of all he says: "Arise," indicating to us that if we want to be loosed from the devil's bonds and have a ready tongue and certain ears, it must be through the outward word or ministry and outward signs. For we must first hear the word and then not leave baptism and sacrament behind, so that the Holy Spirit will be present to make ears and tongues free.
(13) Therefore, beware of the spiritual wicked, who despise the outward word and sacrament, and wait until God speaks to them in their heart. No, says Christ, there is my finger, the outward word, which must resound in the ears; there is my saliva, which must stir and moisten the tongue: thus my work will be done rightly and completely. As you can see, where the outward word goes right, you will certainly find Christians; where it does not go right, you will find none; for as the shepherd is, so are the sheep.
(14) Therefore, let every man think that he may be found on this path and gladly hear the word of God. For God will not reveal Himself without the Word in your heart. If you are to see and know Him, it must be through the Word and the outward sacraments alone; otherwise the Holy Spirit will not do His work. As God teaches us from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son, whom you shall hear;" item, Christ commands his disciples, "Go into all the world, teach, and run to all nations;" item, "He who hears you hears me." Then our dear Lord Christ commanded to open one's mouth, preach the gospel to the people and baptize them. This is the right way, by which we must be saved; otherwise all is in vain and lost. "He that heareth you," saith he, "heareth me."
15. according to the ministry of preaching, god also ordained father and mother, lords and wives
in the house; they are not there for their own sake alone, but sit in God's stead; you should also hear them, especially as far as the outward life and all your actions toward others are concerned, and know that when you hear them, you hear God; unless they abuse their office and want to speak, say or command something against God and his word, you should not hear them. For "God is to be obeyed more than men." And as reported, you shall first hear God in the church through His servants, and then first of all men, as father, mother; what they say to you on account of their office, that God says to you. Therefore, think also that you accept it and follow it. Now it is ever true: ours is not one who thinks he would walk a hundred miles to such a church, when our Lord God Himself was speaking and preaching; for everyone would want to hear the voice. But our Lord God says: I will make it nearer to thee, that thou mayest not listen so far after it; hear thy pastor, thy father and mother, and thou hast heard me. For they are my disciples and ministers; if you hear them, you hear me.
(16) This is the show that Christ makes with this dumb and deaf man, to show that he does not open our tongues.
not to open our ears, not to open our faith, not to
into our hearts without the outward preaching and oral word and outward sacraments. Therefore, father and mother, lords and wives, pastors and preachers of our Lord are God's fingers, servants and saliva, by which He opens our tongues and unstops our ears. When you hear them, God will speak to you in your heart, as to this deaf man, "Hephatha!" so that your ears will be opened and your tongue will be unstopped, and henceforth you will be a hearing and speaking person, no longer deaf and dumb as before.
(17) Therefore, let us be careful and diligent to remember and learn this miraculous work, that we may become true Christians by word and confession; for this must be done by nothing else, but by the word which the pastor and preacher in the church, father and mother in the home, speak. Through this finger and spittle Christ creates for and in his Christianity that the ears of the deaf are opened and the speechless are made to speak. For this reason we should be all the more diligent in keeping to the Word, because this is the nearest and most certain way that our ears may be opened and our tongues loosed, and that we may be saved. May our dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ grant us this, amen.