Second sermon.*)
(1) This is one of the signs which our dear Lord Jesus Christ did soon after he was baptized in the Jordan. The first sign after his baptism, when he began to preach and to do miracles, is that he changed water into wine at the wedding in Cana of Galilee. The other sign is that he healed the king's son in Capernaum.
2 The evangelist says that Jesus came from Judea in Galilee; when the king hears this, he goes to him and asks him to come down and help his son.
*) Held in the house, 1534.
help his son. He has such faith in Jesus, and yet he has not heard much about him, nor can he know much about his sermons and miraculous signs; for the Lord had hardly begun to preach, and had only performed one sign in Cana. Here it should not be thought that Christ came only once from Judea in Galilee, but he often went up and down, from Capernaum to Jerusalem and again from Jerusalem to Capernaum. For he did not remain in one place for the three years of his preaching ministry, but wandered about and went through all the places of the Jewish land, preaching and healing the sick.
3. but we have here an exceedingly fine
This is an example of faith in the king, which faith is so praised to us that we should also learn to believe in the gospel of Christ. For believing is not such an easy art as many people think. The word "faith" has now become so common that many despise faith and say, "What is faith? I have heard about it so many times now. Who should not know what faith is? But truly, the gospel is only an empty sound with such people, and faith is only a human dream that they make up for themselves. Therefore, one should learn what faith is.
This royal man had been an official of King Herodis, and it is possible that he had been a Jew; he no longer knows anything about Christ, because he has heard about him from other people, perhaps he himself has not heard him: nevertheless, since the journey of life with his son, who is sick with a fever, is there, he goes to him and asks him to help his son. In the countries, the fever is such that whoever is sick with it faces certain death. For fever with them and pestilence with us is one thing. When the father sees that his son is going to die, he is very sad and wants to help and advise his son, but he cannot. But when he hears that Jesus is coming from Judea in Galilee, he is glad and goes to meet him on two days' journey, having such faith in his heart that he will help his son.
(5) Such faith he has badly grasped from the common clamor and rumor that everyone has said about Christ, how he so gladly helps all people who come to him. He does not think of his merit as the reason why Christ should help his son. For even though he has been a pious man, he does not rely on his piety, nor does he come to Christ in such confidence in himself; but he has been moved by the common rumor that he has heard that he likes to help the wicked or the pious; as the heavenly Father makes his sun rise on the wicked and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous, Matth. 5:4S. Think therefore, though I am a wicked man, yet is he not a wicked man.
this man is so kind that he pushes no one away; therefore, I will cheerfully dare and confidently ask for his kind heart, which is inclined to help everyone.
6 Such an example is prescribed for us, so that our hearts may also take courage toward God. For faith is nothing other than a hearty confidence in God. He who bears such bold confidence and courageous heart toward God has a right faith. In worldly matters among men, faith is a different thing; as when one trusts a thousand florins, one says, "I will give you this money in good faith. But in spiritual matters, where one deals with God, faith is something different; as when I say: The magistrate here has a fine faith in Christ, that is, he has a firm trust that Christ will impart his mercy and help to him. Think, therefore, that though I have been a wicked man, yet he will exercise his goodness over the wicked and the pious; therefore he will also help me, as he has helped others.
(7) Reason strives against such faith; flesh and blood thus says: Yes, I do believe that God is kind and merciful; but St. Peter, Paul and others who are pious; but I am a bad boy, I am not worthy, therefore He is not merciful to me. He who has such a heart does not believe, but is a pagan, and thus thinks: "Who knows whether God will help me? This is the sorrowful unbelief that doubts God's grace and mercy. God does not help such a person. For as you believe, so shall it be done to you. Our Lord God, as the 18th Psalm says, v. 26, 27, is holy with the holy, pious with the pious, pure with the pure, perverse with the perverse. As you turn and turn, so God also turns and turns: if you think He is angry with you, He is angry; if you think He is merciless to you and wants to cast you into hell, He is merciless. As you believe about God, so you have him.
If you say, "I am not as pious as St. Peter, therefore God will not help me," you will think, "Woe to you! For in doing so, you build a hell for yourself and make a condemnation for yourself. St. Peter did not raise himself as high as you raise him;
St. Peter does not say: I have been pious, therefore give me, God, eternal life: but he says: "We and our fathers did not have to bear the burden of the law, but we believe to be saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the same way as they also" (Apost. 15, 10. 11.). As if he wanted to say: God did not look upon our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, for their piety, but for Christ's sake; so we also do not see how holy we are, but confess that we cannot bear the burden of the law, just as Abraham and the fathers could not bear it; and rely on the grace and mercy of God, promised to us in Christ. Therefore, you must not refer to St. Peter, how pious he was; but you must pay attention to his teaching and faith, so that he says that he believes to be saved by the grace of Jesus Christ. For one must first believe in Jesus Christ, that he alone can and will forgive sin and give eternal life.
(9) So we see that faith is such courage in the heart that one relies on God for all good. Such faith, when the heart puts all its trust in God alone, is demanded by God in the first commandment, when he says: "I am the Lord your God"; and defines and discusses what kind of God he is, saying: "I who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage"; that is, I alone will be your God, you shall seek no other God, I will help you out of all distress. You shall trust me with all your heart and believe that I will be your helper; you shall seek no other for help and comfort. Neither shalt thou think that I am an enemy to thee, nor that I will not help thee. If thou thinkest thus, thou makest me in thine heart another God, than I am. Therefore be sure that I will be gracious to you, and be obedient to me in the other commandments. This is faith, then, when a heart thus turns to God for all help, grace and comfort in all distress. This is what the first commandment teaches.
(10) And there Christians and Gentiles are separated. They differ in the outward works
not. For a heathen may fast and watch as well as a Christian, but he does not believe as a Christian. Now if a man does not have faith, and especially faith in Christ, there is no difference between him and a heathen; indeed, even an unreasonable animal can fast and watch. But this is what distinguishes a Christian from a heathen, that a Christian has recourse to Christ as his only Savior and turns to him for all good. Again, a Turk and a pagan doubts and says: "Yes, if I were as pious as St. Peter, I would believe that God would be merciful to me and help me; but I am a poor sinner.
The monks do the same: they forget the image that God has placed before us in the first commandment, namely, that he wants to be our God, to whom we should look for all good; they also forget the mediator between God and man, namely, the Savior Jesus Christ. They lose sight of the same image of divine grace and mercy, and make up their own minds: St. Peter may well expect grace and mercy from God, but not them. Such are the thoughts of the devil and unbelief in them. Because they now have such thoughts, they fall further on their own works, and say: I will go to a monastery, that I may become pious. Well then, go where thou wilt, and thou shalt accomplish nothing. Whoever wants to become truly devout must not start with his own imaginary works, but with the first commandment and with Christ, so that the heart may first become devout, that is, trust in God and believe. If the heart is not devout, how can the works please God? If you give me a thousand guilders and do so out of an evil heart, so that such money should be harmful to me, I would say, "Go to the gallows with your money. If a man does this, it will be much more displeasing to our Lord God if he does many things out of an evil, unbelieving heart. Therefore, see that you have a righteous heart before all things; after that, that you do good works; these will please God if they are done out of a pure heart.
(12) As the first commandment teaches us about faith, so this gospel gives us a living example of faith in this king: he who believes that Christ will help his son, even though he does not deserve it. He does not think so: I am unworthy, therefore he will not hear my prayer; nor does he doubt his will, he does not say: He could help my son, if only he would. For if he had doubted in this way, he would not have gone to meet Christ, but would have remained a pagan. But because he believes, he goes to Christ and thinks, "Even though I am unworthy, he is merciful and will not deny me his help. A pagan would not have done this, because he knows nothing about faith. A monk would not do it either, because he first wants to reconcile our Lord God with works.
Therefore, we should thank God from the bottom of our hearts that He has delivered us from such darkness and error of the Pabst, since we poor and blind people have sought so many idols; and diligently pray that He will graciously protect us, lest we fall into greater darkness and error, nor seek more strange gods. Let us also gladly hear God's word and learn what faith is, so that our hearts may learn to build on and trust in God.
(14) Thus a Christian and a pagan are distinguished, not according to dress nor according to any work, but according to the heart and faith, namely, that a Christian trusts in God, and a pagan does not trust in God. A pagan also does outward works; indeed, it often happens that the pagans, according to the outward appearance of the works, are considered more holy than the Christians; but faith makes a difference. A dog and ass also fasts and watches, and the soldiers suffer more than the Carthusians. For the devil martyrs, as they say, will earn hell more sourly than the right martyrs heaven. But no man believes and trusts in God, unless he is a Christian.
(15) He who has not such a heart as this royal man, that he is sure Christ will be gracious to him and help him in all his troubles, is a heathen. For where a
If a Christian does not have such faith and confidence, he is not the one whose name he bears. In sum, a Christian should keep this faith, whether he lives or dies, that God will make him righteous and blessed, and help him in all his troubles. We should never abandon such hope when God first tempts us; as Christ does here to the royal man, and first challenges him somewhat harshly, saying: "Why do you not believe without signs and without miracles? Thus he tries him at first, and yet soon strengthens him in the faith. For just as we first lead young children by the hand so that they learn to walk, we then gradually remove the hand and say: Come here, come here, so that they themselves may learn to walk. In the same way, Christ does the same to this royal man, first trying him to see if he will hold fast, and then strengthening him.
(16) When the king said, "Lord, come down before my child dies," the Lord answered and said, "Go, your son lives. The king believes this word so firmly and holds to it so strongly, just as if he saw his son standing before him already fresh and healthy. And when he goes down, his servants meet him, announce to him and say: "Your child is alive. Yesterday at the seventh hour he was healed." Then he realizes that the hour is true in which the Lord said to him, "Your son is alive." Because he believed the same word and thought: The man will not lie to me; when I come home, my son will surely be well; so it happens to him as he believed, and he finds his son well.
(17) Then it is seen that faith is such a confidence, because the heart does not doubt God's grace and mercy; as also the 34th Psalm describes faith, and says v. 5: "When I sought the Lord, he answered me, and delivered me out of all my fear"; item v. 7: "When this wretch called, the Lord heard, and helped him out of all his troubles. So this royal thinks: This is a kind man, from whom no one has ever departed who has not obtained what he desired. Therefore he will not let me go away empty. If you also have such a hearty
If you have confidence in God and can say: Who has ever come to God forsaken by Him? Therefore He will not forsake me; then you have a right faith.
18. whoever does not believe will be condemned, especially because God so kindly draws us to Himself, first promising in the first commandment that He will be our God, that is, our comfort, help, life and all that is good, against all that may be evil to us; and again so earnestly threatening, if we do not come to Him or trust Him from the heart, that He will destroy us from the earth, Deut. 6, and avenge us to the third and fourth generation, Exodus 20; then also gives His Son, and in Him promises forgiveness of sins, eternal life and blessedness. Whoever does not turn to such a friendly promise, serious promise, and in addition to the Son of God, is not wronged when he is condemned. For it is a great dishonor to God if we do not believe in him nor trust in him; just as all sins spring from unbelief. Therefore, as we believe, so shall it be done unto us: if we hold him to be our God, he shall not be our devil; but if we do not hold him to be our God, he shall not be our God, but a consuming fire unto us; as he saith unto the Jews by the prophet Hosea, Cap. 13:4-8: "I am the Lord thy God, from the land of Egypt; and thou shalt know no other God but me, and no savior but me. I took care of you in the wilderness, in the dry land. But because they were fed, they were satisfied, and had enough, he
Their heart is lifted up; therefore they forget me. So will I be against them like a lion, and like a leopard in the way will I lie in wait for them. I will meet them like a bear whose cubs are taken away, and I will tear their hardened heart, and there I will devour them like a lion. The wild beasts shall tear them."
(19) For no greater dishonor can befall our Lord God than through unbelief: by it we make God a devil. Again, no greater honor can befall him than through faith, when he is thought to be a Savior. Therefore he cannot suffer a doubtful heart; as a Turk doubts, and a monk out of despair runs into a monastery, and says: O how hot is hell! therefore I will do so many good works, that I may reconcile God. But no one becomes a Christian by works, but remains a pagan. A Christian becomes so, if a heart believes and says: Christ is a friendly, kind savior of all people; therefore I will step confidently to him and call on him for help in a certain confidence. Such a person starts from the head and not from the tail. Therefore let us be accustomed to exercise ourselves in faith. Faith is the art of Christians alone, in which they practice daily, and it is not as easy as many people think, who make faith so mean and despise it. May our dear God and Heavenly Father grant us grace through His Holy Spirit, so that we may learn to believe, practice our faith daily, grow and increase in it, and rightly honor God in Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.