Matth. 9, 1-8.
Then he got into the ship and crossed over again and came to his city. And, behold, they brought unto him a sick of the palsy, lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the sick of the palsy, "Be of good cheer, my son; your sins are forgiven you. And behold, some of the scribes said within themselves: This one blasphemes God. But when Jesus saw their thoughts, he said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise and walk? But that ye might know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, he saith unto the sick of the palsy, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go home. And he arose and went home. When the people saw this, they marveled and praised God, who had given such power to man.
From today's Gospel we are to learn the gracious sermon that God has given to men, so that we can speak among ourselves here on earth: Your sins are forgiven you; so that we, together with the pious people here, may marvel at this and thank God from the bottom of our hearts that He has given such power to men. For it is truly a great power that one Christian can say to another: My brother, be undaunted, you have a gracious God; only believe the promise that I make to you in the name of Jesus, and it shall be as surely true as if God Himself had said to you, "Your sins are forgiven you.
*) Held in the house on October 19, 1533, on which day M. S. had proclaimed the dawn of Judgment Day.
2 This power began with the Lord Christ, as we have heard, and has remained with us since then, especially with those who are in the ministry and have the command to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins in the name of Jesus. Nevertheless, every Christian has this command in particular, when you are in despair because of your sin, that he should and can say to you, "What do you care? I, as a Christian, say to you: You do wrong to yourself, God is not ungracious to you. You should take comfort in these words as surely as if Christ himself spoke them from heaven, and you should not doubt the person from whom you hear them.
(3) For it is all up to him that your heart may accept such a promise and believe it to be true that God wants you for Christ's sake.
be merciful to him for his sins. Therefore the Lord first exhorts to faith when he says to the gout-ridden man: "Be of good cheer, my son; do not doubt that your sins are forgiven you. As soon as the gout-ridden man believed this word, his sins were truly forgiven.
4 So, if a church minister or another Christian says to you: God is not angry with you, only you are not angry with Him, because for the sake of His Son Jesus Christ He has forgiven you all your sins; then you should believe such a promise with all your might and let yourself be torn apart rather than doubting it. For if you doubt, the absolution will not help you, even though God Himself, with all His angels, would speak such absolution over you verbally.
(5) This is also true: where there is no faith, our Lord God is called a liar, as if what He promises us is not true, and He does not want us to keep it. May the good Lord graciously protect us from such unbelief and sin; although the devil is a special master at it, who always torments us with the fact that we like to punish our Lord God with lies, that is, that we do not like to believe God's promise. An unbelieving heart dishonors God and gives Him the lie.
(6) Again, a believing heart honors our Lord God with the highest honor due to Him, for it believes Him to be true, who cannot lie, but will most certainly do what He promises. That is why the Lord Christ is especially pleased with these people, because they have a strong confidence in him that he will help the gout-ridden man; therefore he says to him kindly: "My son, you are sick, the devil has inflicted the gout on you, and God has let it happen because of your sin; then terror follows and a sore conscience, so that you think: Oh, God is angry with me, where will I go? For it is natural, when God's punishment is seen, that terror is also found immediately.
7. But, my son, do not let such thoughts sink too deeply into your heart, do not think thus: O, what does God ask of me? Who knows whether he will be merciful to me or not?
For what am I against God? Look not upon thy sickness, but hear what I say unto thee, that thy sins be forgiven thee. Therefore conclude: "Gout, gout! My sins are forgiven me; neither gout nor any other disease shall hinder me from such faith.
(8) So the word and the faith are to be kept closely together, for neither can be without the other. He that believeth, and hath not the word, believeth as the Turk and the Jew: they have faith that God is gracious and merciful, but they lack the promise; for God will not be gracious apart from Christ. Again, whoever has the word and not faith, the word does not help. Therefore the two, word and faith, are given in marriage, and neither can be separated from the other.
9. M. S. believes that the last day shall come this day. Such a belief is a loud lie; for there is no word in it. A Turk believes that he will enjoy his mahomet to bliss: but it is a viler lie; for there is no word in it. So also the pope believes that a Christian must promote himself to heaven by his own works: but it is a false faith; for the word and the promise are lacking. So it may well be that one has faith, but because it lacks the word, it is not true faith, but a mere unfounded delusion, since nothing will ever come of it.
(10) But we Christians do not lack the word, for we have the word rightly and purely by the grace of God: but we lack faith, that we cannot hold to the word as firmly as we ought, when those without the word can believe firmly and strongly. This is what the devil and original sin do, drawing us away from the word and the truth to lies, so that we gladly believe them. In sum, this is the devil's deception and our flesh's way, because our nature is so corrupted by original sin: where there is no word, we believe firmly; again, where we have the word, it is difficult for us to resist unbelief. For our flesh and reason do not want to believe in the word; if it should believe, it would gladly have faith in its hands.
(11) The evil spirit also helps us to do this, so that it does not want to go anywhere with us, otherwise our hearts should be happier and more confident. For if I could rightly and perfectly believe what Christ says here to the gout-broken man, and what was said to me and to you in baptism, and what is said in absolution and in public preaching every day, that I should not be angry nor displeased with God, do you not think that I would walk on my head with joy? that everything would be vain sugar, vain gold, vain eternal life to me? But that this does not happen is a sign that the old Adam and the devil are always pulling us down from faith and the Word.
(12) Therefore learn it, it must be both: you must have the word, and afterward hold to the word with faith and, as much as possible, do not doubt it. Then you shall have all that the word promises you and that you need for the preservation of body and soul. Now those who do not have the word have very good faith. Cause: What they believe is a vain natural thing; we are naturally inclined to believe lies. Our heart always hangs there, the devil has thus corrupted our nature in paradise.
So the pope and his crowd believe strongly in the mass, in the saints' merit and intercession, in monastic vows, chanting, fasting etc. The Turk believes firmly in his woran; because it is a false false faith, that is why it is so firm. There are, to speak with breeders, harlots and knaves together: the heart is the harlot, the false faith is the knave. But we, who, praise God! have a pure bride (for the Word is ever pure and good), cannot believe so stiffly and firmly. And yet we should believe firmly because we have the Word; but those should not believe firmly because they do not have the Word. But this is the fault of our old Adam and of the devil, that through original sin we have fallen from the word and the truth into falsehood.
(14) Let it be learned therefore first of all from the gospel of this day, that we must first have the word; and after that we must also firmly believe it. So then it is a divine power for us, through which we obtain forgiveness.
of sins and blessedness, that we find help and comfort here and there. But if the word is not there, then a faith may well come out of it, just as the sacramentalists, Zwingel, Carlstadt, Anabaptists, Turks, Jews and the pope have a faith. But it is a faith that is innate to them through Adam's fall, that is, it is a faith in lies without a word, to which they cling more firmly than we do to God's word.
15 When our dear Lord Christ preached to the gout-broken man and forgave him his sin, the scribes said to themselves, "This man blasphemes God," because he wants to forgive sin. This is also a necessary thing, since much is needed, and therefore we should be diligent in noticing it. For this can be seen in Zwinglio and all the zealots and the spiritualists, that they are very wrong and do not understand how and by what means the forgiveness of sin takes place. Likewise, the pope and all his doctors do not know what absolution is. For the whole papacy insists on this doctrine: grace is poured into man by a secret effect; whoever wants to come to it must repent, confess and do enough.
(16) But if it be asked what absolution and the keys do, they say, It is an outward ordinance kept in the church. So they do not place the forgiveness of sins on the word and faith, since it must be placed on them, but on repentance, confession, and satisfaction.
(17) So also the Anabaptists say, What shall baptism do for the remission of sins? A handful of water, said Nicolaus Storck, will not wash the soul. Likewise Thomas Münzer said: How can water cleanse the soul? The spirit must do it. The pope and the monks also cannot see what this power is that is given to men to forgive sin.
18 The devotees of the sacrament also say that there is only bread and wine in the sacrament, therefore one cannot find forgiveness of sins there; the spirit must give it, the flesh is of no use. In sum, no priest or monk has been able to see that there is forgiveness of sins.
a power given to men, as it is written here in the Gospel.
Therefore learn here, that you may speak of the matter in this way: I know well and confess that God alone forgives sin. But I also need to know this, how I can know that my sins are forgiven, or what the means is by which my sins are forgiven. The Holy Scriptures and all Christians teach me that if I want to have my sins forgiven, I do not have to sit down in the corner and say, "My God, forgive me my sin! and then wait for an angel to come from heaven and say to me, "Your sins are forgiven;" but God has come down to me, has ordained holy baptism and His word that I should be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and has attached His promise to such a command: "He who believes and is baptized will be saved.
020 Yea, saith thou, is not baptism but water? True; but such water is not alone, there is God's word with it. So if you go to your pastor, who has such a special command, or else to a Christian, and ask him to comfort you and absolve you from your sins, and he says to you, "I, in the place of God, proclaim to you forgiveness of all your sins through Christ, here you shall be sure that your sins are truly and certainly forgiven by such an outward word; for baptism and the word will not lie to you.
(21) Such things were not preached in the papacy, and even today no papal preacher understands them. Therefore, thank God for such grace, and learn that God will forgive sin. But how? Not otherwise, for it says here that he has given such power to men. Just as Christ begins here, and then commands that it be kept this way in the church from now on until the end of the world.
22) As His command reads, Luke 24, 26. 46, 47: "Did not Christ have to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and preach repentance and forgiveness of sins in His name to all nations?" and Matth. 18, 18. Joh. 20, 23.
I say to you, whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" etc.: that therefore everyone should seek forgiveness of sin from men, and nowhere else.
23. Therefore, if you want to have forgiveness of sins, you must not climb up to heaven; but go and be baptized, if you have not been baptized; or if you have been baptized, remember the same promise that God made to you in baptism, go and be reconciled to your neighbor, then ask for absolution, when forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you in the name of Jesus; Believing the same word, receive the reverend sacrament, the body and blood of Christ, so that you may be sure that such a precious treasure is yours and yours alone to enjoy etc.
(24) That one should not despise baptism, absolution, preaching and the sacrament, but seek and obtain forgiveness of sins through them. For this is what God has called and ordained your pastor, your father and mother, and your closest Christian, and has put His word in their mouth that you should seek comfort and forgiveness of sins from them. For though men speak it, yet it is not their word, but the word of God. Therefore, believe it firmly and do not despise it.
(25) When the priest baptizes a child, remember: God baptized the child; when the priest absolves you, remember: God has spoken this, He has pronounced this judgment on me and said that I should be absolved of sins.
26: Learn these things diligently, that you may be able to meet the vile spirits of the wicked when they cry out, saying, What is water? What is the laying on of hands? Do you think that water and the laying on of hands will make you clean from sins? that they may answer: True, the water and the hand do not do for themselves; but that God's word is with the water and with and by the priest's hand. The priest and church servant does not give his water, but gives the water that God has commanded to be given for the purpose of being born again into the kingdom of God and to be delivered from sins.
(27) Just as God gives the word, which is His word, not ours, so He also gives faith in the word; so that both word and faith, or forgiveness of sins and faith, are God's work. For forgiveness of sins is to be sought in the word that is in men's mouths and in the sacraments that are administered through men, and nowhere else.
28. But who does not see that my works, which I do, are far different from the word and works of God? How then do the unholy papists come to seek forgiveness of sins in their own works? Therefore, when they shall triumph in the last day with their works and merit, Christ will ask them, saying, "Where is my word? I have ordained baptism, the sacrament, absolution and preaching in my church, so that people may receive forgiveness of sins and be assured of my grace: Why did you not keep yourselves there? You could not have lacked it; with your works you should and must lack it.
(29) These things I have said for your instruction, so that you may know what forgiveness of sins is and where to seek and find it, namely, that you should not run anywhere but to the Christian church, which has the Word and Sacrament. There you will certainly find them, and not in heaven, as the Pharisees think here, and think that Christ blasphemes God by forgiving sin; no one can forgive sin but God. Beware, then, and say: God has put forgiveness of sins in Holy Baptism, in the Lord's Supper and in the Word. Yes, he has put it into the mouth of every Christian man when he comforts you and promises you God's grace through the merit of Jesus Christ, so that you should accept and believe it no other way than if Christ himself had promised it to you with his mouth, as here to the gout-broken man.
(30) This is why the pagans, Zwinglius, Oecolampadius, and their ilk, as well as the Anabaptists, err very yearly in snatching away the word of forgiveness of sins. This is what one would want to do if it were a man's word or a
of a man would be water. But here is God's word and God's water in the word. But because they snatch away the word of God, they deprive themselves and others who let themselves be persuaded by them of all goods, the forgiveness of sins, baptism, the sacrament, the Lord Christ, and keep nothing of baptism and the sacrament, but only the empty shells. Likewise, because Anabaptists also throw away their neighbor, run away from wife and child, condemn the authorities, reject Christian positions and offices, they also deprive themselves of all Christian works. For he who throws away his neighbor keeps no one on whom he can practice Christian love.
(31) Thus, the pagans and the fanatics have lost Christ, baptism, the sacrament, the preaching chair, the Christian church, and everything. They do not want to hear the public word, they consider the oral sermon through the human voice as low as if some cow had bleated at them. If God spoke through a cow or other animal, what would be more to Him? He once spoke through a donkey! Should one therefore despise his word and not accept it? No. But now he speaks to us through men; even if it is the voice of a man, it is still the word of God, and there is certainly forgiveness of sins.
Thirty-two I say this so that you may be able to prepare yourselves against the false-hearted, as, coiner, Zwingel, and others, and confront them; likewise the pope, who in all his books teaches nothing of this, nor knows anything about it. For he holds and teaches that if a man falls into sin, baptism is no longer of any use to him; but if he wants to have forgiveness of sins, he must confess, repent, and make amends for sin with good works. Thus they spoke of repentance. This is a very fine theology, which the devil laughs at, for it does him no harm.
(33) It is true that I should repent and be heartily sorry for my sins. But this does not bring me forgiveness of sins. By what? Only by paying attention to the word and promise, and by giving my life to the Lord Christ, who, through his appointed servants, and in time of need, through
all Christians, talk to me, believe: I look at the mouth, -and not at my repentance and penance. The repentance that God lays out for me I shall suffer; but the word that Christ tells me through the pastor and brother I alone shall take comfort in.
(34) Thus they turn it back, forsaking the word, paying no attention to what the minister or a Christian says by command of our Lord Christ, looking only to their repentance and contrition, which they impose upon themselves. But in so doing they lose Christ and all that Christ is, and it is impossible for them to counsel or help a single conscience. For they have lost the word, which alone can help, and refer people to their own repentance and godliness.
35 But you learn that you can say and teach others about the forgiveness of sins, that God speaks to us in baptism, in absolution, in the pulpit and in the sacrament, through the church minister and all other Christians, and that we should believe them. Let this be said of the words that are written here, that God has given man power to forgive sins. Now let us also take the Historia a little before us.
The gouty man is an image of all sinners, for this is the nature of this disease, that one can no longer use the limbs: if one wants to pull the foot or the hand toward oneself, one cannot, indeed, one only stretches them more and more away from oneself. That is why Aristotle compares such a person in Ethicis to the naughty, impudent youth that cannot be tamed nor subdued.
So we are all by nature gout-breakers: the more we worry about how to come close to God and reconcile Him with our works, the further we get from Him and the farther we strike back with our hand, and the longer the hesitation in us only grows. I must confess of myself that when I think I do best, I do worst when I am out of faith.
38 If we want to be helped from such a plague, we must turn to Christ, who helps wonderfully: He does no more than say, "Be of good cheer, my son, your sins are forgiven you"; from such a word the joints become strong and firm again, so that one can carry and lift the other; as happens here to the gout-ridden man, whom the Lord also helps physically after the forgiveness of sin.
(39) Before this, the sick of the palsy lies on his bed like a slaughtered pig, stretching out all fours; but as soon as Christ speaks to him, he gets up, fresh and healthy. That ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, the Lord saith unto him that is sick of the palsy, Arise, take up thy bed, and go home. As if to say, "This is a sign that you may learn that I have power on earth to forgive sin.
40 He clearly says "on earth" to indicate that one should not look to heaven or, as the pope has taught, hope for forgiveness of sins when one has died, in purgatory, through other people's works and merit. For here it is written plainly that men are given power on earth to forgive sins when they baptize, administer the sacrament, absolve, and preach from the pulpit. For it is decided that what is absolved on earth is also absolved in heaven; again, what is bound (that is, excluded from baptism, absolution and sacrament) is also bound in heaven.
(41) By such power that we men forgive or bind sins among ourselves, God is not deprived of His glory, nor are we made gods, as the unskilful people speak of it. For we have no more than the office. If you believe the same word, you have it; but if you do not believe, you have nothing. That is why God has bound us together by such a ministry, so that one Christian should always comfort the other, give him a friendly word, and the latter should believe, provided the word is spoken to him correctly, namely, forgiveness of sins in the name of Christ. That means right to God and forgiveness of sins.
led. Whoever dies, then, dies blessed and well.
But he who dies, as is taught in the papacy, on the intercession of the saints, on his own merit and that of others, dies wretched and evil. For he does not have the escorts that our Lord God has given him and appointed, namely, he has no pious pastor, no faithful brother, no right word nor right absolution. And even though he has baptism, he does not know how to comfort himself with it. The devil has caused this misery through the priest and is now starting it again with the mobs; for he cannot stand the word, it stings his eyes.
43 For this reason the pope has done away with it altogether, and in the meantime has established monastic orders, masses, pilgrimages, indulgences and other things. The devil can well suffer this, for it does him no harm. The Anabaptists also help this, who speak contemptuously of baptism; likewise also the sacrament enthusiasts, Zwinglius and his crowd, who speak contemptuously of the sacrament, just as if there were nothing but bread and wine.
44 All these seek to take away this blessed doctrine from us. Therefore, beware of them, and learn that transgressions
The remission of sins is nowhere else but where the Word is. But such a word is in baptism, in the Lord's Supper, in absolution and preaching. Therefore forgiveness of sins is also there, and in spite of anyone saying otherwise. Where therefore the word is, there shall faith be; so that the elbow, which the sick of the palsy could not draw to himself before, is straight and sure. But where the word is not, one remains gout-ridden, and therefore it is impossible for one to grasp it properly.
I have said this in so many words, because the pope and the shameful sects do so much harm that everyone should beware of them. The pope points neither to the Word nor to the Sacrament; so the mobs cannot speak more contemptuously than of the Word and Sacraments, and nothing is valid with them, but Gaist, Gaist! But we know that without Word and Sacrament the Holy Spirit does not want to do his work. Therefore, we cannot despise Word and Sacrament, but we should and must consider them great and the noblest treasure.
46. may God grant His grace that we may remain pure in such teaching, and persevere to the end and be saved, amen.