First sermon.*)
On Sundays, one should hear God's word, as God commanded in the third commandment, saying, "You shall keep the holiday holy," that is, honor it so that it becomes holy. Such
But this happens when one hears God's word and learns how to believe and trust in God. Thus writes St. Marcus Cap. 5:
Marc. 5, 21-43.
And when Jesus was come over again in a ship, much people gathered unto him, and were by the sea. And, behold, there came one of the rulers of the synagogue, named Jairus. And when he saw him, he fell down at his feet, and besought him greatly, saying, My daughter is in the last days: come, lay thine hand upon her, that she may be healed, and live. And he went with him; and there followed him many people, and they pressed him. And there was a woman which had bled twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had consumed all her substance, and was not helped, but rather was made worse. When she heard of Jesus, she came up behind the people and touched his garment. For she said, If I but touch his garment, I shall be healed. And immediately the fountain of her blood dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her plague. And Jesus immediately felt in himself the power that had gone out from him, and turned to the people and said, "Who has touched my clothes? And the disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about for her that had done this thing. But the woman was afraid and trembled (for she knew what had happened to her), and came and fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. And he said unto her, My daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole: go in peace, and be whole of thy plague. While he was still speaking in this way, some of the servants of the ruler of the synagogue came and said: Thy daughter is dead; why troubleest thou the Master? But Jesus soon heard the words that were spoken, and said unto the ruler of the synagogue, Fear not; believe only. And let no man follow him, save Peter, and Jacob, and John the brother of Jacob. And he came into the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw the tumult, and them that were very much afraid and howling. And he went in, and said unto them: Why do ye tumult and weep? The child did not die, but is asleep. And they laughed him to scorn. And he drove them all out, and took with him the father of the child, and the mother, and they that were with him, and went in where the child lay. And he took the child by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha kumi, that is interpreted, damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And immediately the maiden arose and walked; and she was twelve years old. And they were amazed. And he forbade them sternly, that no man should know it, and told them to give her to eat.
This history teaches us that our Lord Jesus Christ is a helper and savior from the highest and greatest need, namely, from death. We see that all men must die, from the first man Adam to the last, from the beginning of the world to the end. One drowns in the water, the other perishes in the fire, this one dies of pestilence, that one of fever; and those who are alive now, have
*) Held in the heap, 1532.
Nothing more certain to await than death. Now the question is, how do you get rid of death, or if you have to die, how do you learn the art so that you come back to life? Christ teaches us the same art here in this gospel. He does not teach how to get rich, but how to be saved from death.
(2) Now it is a shameful plague that all the world sees that they must die, and yet they die.
not only despise these teachings, but also despise the Lord Himself, who saves from death. This is not human blindness, but devilish wickedness, that both young and old know that they must die, and yet they go along in such certainty that they throw to the winds and despise him who says he will save us from death. In other lesser distresses and lesser harm, everyone seeks help. If one has only a bad thigh, he seeks a barber and a physician, and gives money enough that he may be helped. If one has no food, he runs over water and land, in rain and wind, through fire and driving, so that he may fill his belly. And so in every affliction and want, one runs and runs, that he may be rid of the affliction. But in this affliction every man is safe; though this is a greater affliction and higher affliction than all others, because we must die not only here bodily and temporally, but also eternally, if we are not helped.
3 Our dear Lord Christ, the true physician and faithful helper, comes and says: "Listen, dear man, to what I want to do to you; you are in death and cannot escape it. Since no one can help you, I will help you, and not only save you from death, but also give you eternal life; only hold fast to me and believe my word, and you will be safe from death: as I live, so shall you live. But such preaching is to be preached only to those who have need of it, and who know and feel that they must die. The others, who do not feel death, go safely away and throw it to the winds; as peasants, burghers, and nobles do today, and do not esteem a straw so small as this sermon, in which we learn how to escape death and come to eternal life.
This is a terrible, terrible thing, that one should so despise the Lord, who can and wants to help from death, and that one should be so disgusted to hear God's word, as if it were still a great burden. When an experienced and proven physician speaks to a sick person who has the pesti
The sick man answered, "Take yourself away from me; I do not like your medicine; I would rather die than take your medicine." Everyone would consider such a sick person insane and say, "Die in the name of the devil, because you are rejecting such a physician. So one would also say here: If you would rather see death than our Lord God, who wants to help you, then go and have the hellish fire for it. Now the wicked, crude people do this. Death comes and takes away one today and another tomorrow; they see this before their eyes, yet they do not turn to it, they are not afraid. Even though they know that they must die, they do not even think about how they can prepare themselves against death and escape it.
But as for Christians who desire comfort and help and intend to live forever, here is a picture for them to learn what kind of man Christ is and what they should think of him, namely, that he is such a helper who deals with the dead and wants to and can help in the last and greatest need. When all things cease, all friends leave, and the whole world cannot help, there is still one helper, Jesus Christ, who can come face to face with death and deliver us from its power.
You can hear this here in his words, and it is evident in his actions. He says that the girl is not dead, but asleep, and takes her by the hand and raises her up. As if he wanted to say, "Before you the girl is dead, but before me she is not dead, but asleep. Therefore, if you want to know me, know that I have the power of death, and that the dead are not dead before me, but sleep. And this, as it is said, he proves by deed. It is impossible for the whole world to awaken a dead person, but it is not only not impossible for the Lord Christ, but it is also no trouble or work for him. As when one awakens a sleeping person from sleep, knocks on the bed and says, "Hosha, get up," so does Christ here. Yes, Christ is
It is much easier to wake a dead person than it is for us to wake a sleeping person from sleep.
(7) The Lord would have us believe this, and not go away like swine, and like the bad boys, peasants and citizens, who sit in the alehouse on Sundays and workdays, and pour beer down their throats like cows pour water down their throats, and say: Ho, wat frege ick nah GOtt, wat frege ick nah dem Tod? Egg, thou shameful sow, after which thou strivest, thou shalt also succeed; thou shalt also die and be cast down into hell. For because thou despisest thy God and Lord, who not only created thee, but will also give thee eternal life, thou shalt also go to hell and have hell fire for thy reward. And do not be wronged.
8. But if we want to be Christians, let us be careful and guard against such security and contempt of God. We see that we must die and come into disgrace and death, since no one can help us. Therefore we should learn that God is our God and Lord, who wants to help us and save us from death; as the first commandment teaches us: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage"; that is, I am your God, who leads you and delivers you from all distress, who raises you from death, who makes you healthy and heals all your infirmities, and who finally brings you out of the earth and makes you alive. All this is written in the first commandment. "For God is not a God of the dead," as Christ says, Matt. 22:32, "but of the living." Since God says in the first commandment that He wants to be our God, it follows that He wants to help us and save us from death. As if he wanted to say: Only believe in me, I will lead you out of the land of Egypt, I do not seek my benefit, but your benefit. Why else did I ask for you? For I was God before you became God, and I will be the same God when you are long dead. But what I do, I do too well for you. Therefore you shall learn to believe that I can and will help where no one else can help, namely, that I will bring you out of your Egyptian land, that is, out of the land of the Lord.
from sin and death. I will knock at your grave at the last day and you will not remain in it, but I will bring you out and give you eternal life.
9 This is to be learned. That is why it is preached that one should understand God's word and the first commandment: I am the Lord your God, so that God may be our God; just as Christ is the God of this little girl. The maiden is in the last stages, then the father comes to Jesus and says: O Lord, come, show the first commandment, lay your hand on her, that she may be healed and live. The Lord Christ recognizes his office, that he has promised such in the first commandment, and wants to do it, gets up and follows the father, so that one may learn that the first commandment should be true, md leads the maiden out of death, seizes her by the hand, and says to her, "Maiden, I say to you, get up." Immediately the maiden gets up and walks as if she were awakened from her sleep.
(10) Christ did this as a testimony and sign that he could and would save from death. He does not do it all the time and to everyone; otherwise no man would have to lie in the grave, but all the deceased would have to rise from the dead immediately and live. It is enough that he did it once, the other he saves until the last day. But that he did it to this little girl and others, he wanted to prove and explain the first commandment and give us to understand, so that we learned to say: Because he did it here, he can certainly still do the art. What he has done to this little girl, let it be a sign to me, so that I may learn to believe that he will also do it to me at the last day; I shall wait for it, and in the meantime be satisfied with the common help that will come at the last day.
(11) A distinction is to be made between the common ford out of Egypt, which will pass through the whole multitude on the last day, and the signs that have happened and may happen this very day, if necessary. The signs serve so that we may understand the first commandment and believe that God is our
God and Lord be He who saves us from death. We do not yet see the common ford, but there is the word that he himself says: "I am the Lord, your God. So we also have the sign and the proof in this little girl that he can and will do it. Then I shall die and be buried, and say: I am going away now, but in his time I will rise again; for God has promised me that he will be my God and Lord, that he will snatch me out of death. I have such a word; and about the word I also have the sign that he raised the chief's little daughter. And as he did here with this maiden, so did he also with Lazaro, who had lain four days in the grave and was already stinking.
012 But wilt thou say, Why doth he not raise up all the rest also from death, as he raised up these? Answer: He saves the others until that time; but he raises some, that he may give us a sign to understand the first commandment. If none of the dead were raised, it would be difficult to believe the first commandment. But because this maiden, and likewise Lazarus, and the widow's son at Nain, are raised from the dead, by the same signs we are to learn to understand and believe the first commandment. Therefore God says, Ex. 3, 6: "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." This is said as much as Christ interprets it, Matth. 22: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob live; even if they are dead before the world, yet they live to me. So shall it be said of them that are dead, that they are not dead unto our Lord God, though they be dead unto us. He will bring this to light on the last day. For just as Christ brought forth this little girl out of death, so he will bring forth Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all of us. For there is his word: "I am the Lord your God." And the sign stands beside and with the word, so that one may learn to believe and say: "If Christ has raised so many dead, then one sees that he can and will do as he said in the first commandment: "I am the Lord, your God," I will help you out of all troubles; and even if you fall, you shall still return to life.
come alive. So you shall learn to recognize me.
(13) These things he commanded to be preached, that we might learn to believe in him, and call upon him, and cry unto him: O Lord, help me out of death! Be my God and Lord according to the first commandment. And this is to be our practice on Sundays, to preach and learn about it. This is what it means to serve God rightly, to praise and glorify Him, when one hears and learns His word, when one learns to believe in Him and speak of Him, according to the first commandment; when one does not do as the rough people, peasants, burghers, nobles do today, who see that they must die, and yet despise God and His word, and let themselves be strangled to death, like cows.
This is a horrible, horrible thing, that they see death before them, and yet they most certainly despise God, who offers them all mercy. What, say our brawn, schol ick dem Papen thohören? Beer her, lat uns supen. Well, you disgraceful, insolent pig, can you so despise your God and Lord, who promises you so kindly? You must promise your servant when he is to do something for you, your cow when she is to give you milk, your horse when it is to carry you, and all creatures when you need them; and your God and Lord, who wants to give you life, you despise, yes, persecute him, and want to shut him up so that he should not preach to you, do not want to learn how you should call upon him in times of need. It is terrible, I say, that our Lord God should offer his help in vain to such people who throw it to the wind and have no other help. And so it happens that in such certainty and contempt for God they go to hell in the name of all the devils and are eternally lost.
(15) Therefore, you young people, children and servants, boys and maids, learn these things well and diligently, that from your youth you may become accustomed to fear our Lord God and to love God's word, so that you may know how to keep yourselves in all troubles, especially in the time of death, that you may believe that God is your God and your servant.
May the Lord save you from death. This is the first and most important part of today's Gospel.
(16) The other part is that Christ also teaches here by the whistlers how to do otherwise. The whistlers at the dead were the Jews' bells; for they stood before the door where the deceased was, and whistled a funeral dirge, mourning song, or lament. These are called whistlers among the Jews, who stood at the place of suffering and lamented the dead. Christ calls them away here, and says: "Why do you weep and wail? "The child has not died, but sleeps." Then they laughed him to scorn, as is still the case today, that all the world considers the dear Lord Christ to be a fool. But though they highly despise him, yet he continues, and drives out the pipers. So shall it be with all those who whistle evil unto death, whether they be false teachers, or whether they live unchristianly. Everything that is preached apart from Christ is whistled to death. Likewise, all life in contempt of God and in disobedience is also whistled evil to death.
(17) All these things he calls to be done away with; he drives them all out, as if to say, Put away all false doctrine, and all false unchristian living; hear what I say unto you, and do as I command you. I will whistle rightly and well unto death. But how does he whistle? "Maid, I say unto thee, arise"; and, as the first commandment saith, "I am the Lord thy God." If you are a Christian, you should know that you should believe in God, trust Him and call upon Him in all troubles, even in death. After that, he also tells the maiden to eat, drink and be obedient. He imposes nothing on her but obedience. Life is a gift and a present, not a merit; Christ gives it to the maiden by grace and free of charge, so that she may know that he is her God. Then he commands her to eat and drink,
be pious and obedient. That is well whistled to death.
So Christ is our helper and savior, as the 68th Psalm says in v. 21: "We have a God who helps, and the Lord Lord, who saves from death. For this we shall know him and call upon him; after that we shall do as we ought. He does not call the maiden to go into a convent, but calls her to eat, drink, and do in the house what she calls her father and mother. If we have Christ and believe in him, and in such faith go and do what we are commanded, then it is enough; and we are then fine people of blessedness, have a gracious God, and live here in obedience to our profession and commanded office.
(19) Now when the hour comes for us to die, we will pass away blessedly; as soon as our eyes close and we are buried in the grave, we will be raised again. For a thousand years will be for us, just as if we had slept only half an hour in the grave. When we sleep at night, we do not hear a clock, and do not know the time and hour how long we have slept. If this happens to us in our sleep, much more will it happen to us in death. A thousand years will pass like a night's sleep; before a man looks around, he will be a beautiful angel, floating in the air with Christ.
20 This is what our dear Lord Christ wanted us to think. As if he wanted to say: Dear people, learn from me who I am, so that you may know what kind of God you have in me, namely, who can raise you from death. In the meantime, be pious and obedient. If death comes, then dare rejoice in me, and you shall surely have eternal life; for I am a deliverer from the land of Egypt and a savior from death. May God grant us His grace, so that we may believe, amen.