Apost. 7, 37. to 8, 3.; 9, 1-6.; 26, 16-18.; 9, 7-17.; 22, 14-16.; 9, 18-25.
And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, who cried out, saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. But he knelt down, and cried aloud: Lord, do not keep this sin from them! And when he had said this, he fell asleep. But Saul was pleased with his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church at Jerusalem, and they were all scattered abroad in Judea and Samaria, without the apostles. There sent ab'er Stephanum godly men, and held a? great lamentation against him. Saul destroyed the church, went to and fro in the houses, and pulled out men and women, and delivered them into prison. Then Saul, while he was still hurting and killing the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him to send letters to Damascus to the synagogues, so that if he found any of them that way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. And as he went on his way, and came nigh unto Damascus, suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven. And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Lord, who art thou? And the Lord said: I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. It shall be hard for thee to lick the sting. And he said with fear and trembling, Lord, what wilt thou that I should do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and they shall tell thee what thou shalt do. For to this end have I appeared unto thee, to appoint thee a minister and a witness of those things which thou hast seen, and which I will cause to appear unto thee. And I will save thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, among whom I send thee now to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God, to receive forgiveness of sins, and an inheritance with them which are sanctified by faith toward me. But the men who were his companions stood still and were frozen, for they heard a voice and saw no one. But Saul arose from the earth, and when he opened his eyes, he saw no one. And they took him by the hand, and led him to Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and did not eat, neither did Hank. Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias, to whom the Lord said in a vision, Anania. And he said, Here am I, O Lord. The Lord
*) Held in the house on the third Sunday after Epiphany, 1534.
said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called the right way, and inquire of the house of Judah for Saulo, whose name is Tarsen: for, behold, he prayeth, and hath seen in a vision a man, whose name is Ananias, coming in unto him, and laying his hand upon him, that he may receive his sight. And Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard of many concerning this man, how much evil he hath done to a saint at Jerusalem; and he hath power here of the chief priests to bind all them that call upon thy name. And the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for this is a chosen armor unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and before kings, and before the children of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name's sake. And Ananias went, and entered into the house, and laid his hands upon him, and said, Brother Saul, the Lord hath sent me (who appeared unto thee by the way thou camest), that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And he said, God of our fathers hath ordained thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see the righteous, and hear the voice of his mouth. For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of that which thou hast seen and heard. And now, what do you consume? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, and call upon the name of the Lord. And immediately the scales fell from his eyes, and he recovered his sight, and arose, and was baptized, and took meat, and strengthened himself. Saul was with the disciples at Damascus for several days. And immediately he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he was the Son of God. But all who heard it were astonished, saying: Is not this he who in Jerusalem cast out all those who call on this name,' and therefore it is customary for him to lead them bound to the chief priests? But Saul grew stronger and stronger, and he drove in the Jews who lived in Damascus, proving that this man is the Christian. And after many days the Jews held a council together, that they slew him. But it was made known to Saulo that they were pursuing him. And they kept watch at the gates day and night, that they might kill him. Then the disciples took him by night, and put him through the wall, and let him down in a basket.
1. this history of Paul's conversion should be kept in the church and preached, so that we may learn to recognize the miraculous work of our Lord God, how he made Saulum a holy and excellent apostle, and comfort ourselves with it.
2 Saul was present when the blood of Stephen, the witness of God, was shed, and was pleased with his death, and kept the clothes of those who killed him, and also helped to capture, torture and kill other Christians and saints, and thought that he had done well, that he was pleased with the death of Stephen and helped to capture and torture the other Christians. The same blood of the saints, and especially the blood of Stephen, presses him so hard that he cannot rest, but would have gladly exterminated and killed all Christians in one day, if he could and if God had not prevented him. As can be seen in all tyrants: once they have tried Christian blood, the devil does not let them celebrate, hunts them down and drives them to more murder, like a hunting dog that sees the game before it and has come to the jump.
*)In the text, to 9, 11. the marginal note: "(Correct) ευθεία, the wide road".
Since he was so angry, snorted and raged against the Christians, he was converted to Christ; as St. Lucas describes all this very clearly, how it happened, and repeats such Historia often in many chapters. This is an excellent legend, so that we do not find any saint in the whole New Testament who has such a great legend as this man. He was converted in a very strange way and happened in a very strange way, as we hear from the history described by St. Lucas, and Saul became a great saint and apostle before our Lord God.
(3) Such a history should be preached among Christians at least once a year, even though the day is not celebrated: not because we want to worship St. Paul and make a god out of him, as the papists do, but so that we may hear and learn God's miraculous work and improve ourselves from it. For here one sees a miracle above all the miracles that Christ has done, that he so graciously converts his greatest enemy. For as St. Lucas testifies here in clear words, Paul was a murderer, bloodhound and betrayer of all Christians, who also blasphemed Christ and profaned him to the highest degree.
2650 s, 317-319. On the Historia von der Bekehrung St. Pauli. W. xm, 2522^524. 2651
who would have liked to have eliminated Christ and the whole of Christendom in one day, where he could have done so. But what cause has he for this? No other, because he hears that the Christians preach that one cannot be saved by the law; if one wanted to be saved, it would have to happen only through Jesus crucified; apart from him, one could neither come to forgiveness of sins nor to eternal life. When he heard that Moses with his law could not help to salvation, and that all the prophets had not been sufficient for Moses, he became mad and foolish.
4 Just like the pope with his own, when he hears that his filth, monasticism, orders, prayers, fasting, and keeping the mass do not help to blessedness before God, he wants to burst with malice, and cannot stand such preaching at all. So it was to the wretched Paulo's mind, without him having a better cause than the pope and his followers. For he had God's law and word before him; so he thought about keeping the law, the sacrifices, the temple, and whatever else God had ordained, not to reject it, but to let it stand for something; so, he thought, I will leave life and limb over. For how can it be wrong, because it is given and ordered by God Himself? The pope does not have God's word, but his own scripture and man's statute. For this very reason, we challenge their observance of mass, orders, prayers, and fasts, saying that they are unjust and cannot do anything in the sight of God, since God did not command them, but they have done them out of their own choice and devotion, apart from God's command. And yet, one sees what they dare to do in order to maintain their idolatry.
If we now look at the heart of Paul, what moves him that he, so hostile to the Christians, takes letters and becomes the executioner of all Jews against the Christians, he has a far better cause than the papists, who persecute the gospel because of money, good, their status and dignity. Paul has no such opinion; his only concern is that the law and the worship in the temple, which God Himself had ordered and commanded, should not be diminished or reduced. Therefore he does not mean anything else, because
he is doing right. On the other hand, the conscience of our papists convinces them that it is not wrong to take the sacrament under both forms, to become married, to use food and other things freely; for they can never deny God's word, nor the institution of Christ, nor the custom of the first church.
For this reason Paul is more pious than the papists, for he seeks nothing in this, but to defend God's word and honor, and to dare and suffer what he can dare and suffer, and what he does, he does ignorantly; as he himself says 1 Tim. 1:13: "Mercy has been shown me, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. No pope of today can boast of this. For what they do, they do commonly for the sake of the belly; for this God's word thrusts them before the head, and shines in their eyes, that they must confess it to be the truth, and yet they will not tolerate nor suffer it. Therefore, whoever persecutes the Christians knowingly will be persecuted differently than Paul, who did it completely unknowingly.
(7) Now when Paul was so serious about the matter, and thought to fight the new sect in other places besides Jerusalem, our Lord Jesus also had his thoughts, and said, "Stop! He will become good to me, for what he does he does with earnestness; the same earnestness which he now has in an evil matter I will strengthen with my spirit, and use it for a good cause, and set him against the Jews, that he may preach me, and make the Jews mad and foolish, as they deserve. Just as our Lord God needs me today against the pope and his followers: since I would have let myself be torn apart over the pope before, I must now fight most fiercely against the pope. This would make the papists mad and foolish. So Paul became a very good preacher, first among the Jews, then and especially among the Gentiles, of whom he boasts that he is a teacher, and we must confess that we are his children, whom he begat in Christ by the gospel, as he says in 1 Cor. 4:15. But this is a greater miracle, because Christ kept all the other apostles and disciples with him for a long time before, but Paul.
2652 s, 319-321. On the Historia von der Bekehrung St. Pauli. W. xm, 2521-2527. 2653
he immediately sends among the Gentiles and has him preach; so that Paul is our master, we who are Gentiles and not Jews.
This is the great and comforting miracle, that our Lord God converted the man who was so wicked and persecuted Christ and his Christianity with such earnestness. This is how it happened: He took letters from the chief priests to the synagogues in Damascus, so that he could lead the Christians captive to Jerusalem, thinking: "Now I will examine them properly; he quickly set out for Damascus, where some of the Jews had become Christians. They were his blood friends, but he intended to inflict all the plagues on them.
Now as he came near Damascon, suddenly a light shone around him, and he fell to the earth.
The right hour has come. The Lord let the light shine around him in the field, and he fell to the earth. For no heart is so strong, even if it were a pebble or a diamond, that it could hold and not break. The light shines around him and strikes him down, so that he lies there and loses his face in terror. There he lies and thinks: Now you must die! The painters do not paint the history correctly, for they paint how a thunderclap struck Paul to the earth; but as it is written here and in other places, it was not lightning or thunder, but a sudden light, at which he is frightened and falls to the earth. As he lay there in great fear and terror, he heard a voice speaking to him:
Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?
No doubt he will have been even more shocked and thought to himself: Does this mean persecution? Did I think I was doing God the highest and best service by this? And he said:
HErr, who are you? The Lord said: I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest.
(11) This is saying, What you do to my Christians, you do to me; therefore, take hold of his conscience with sin, and put on him all the blood that has been shed, so that it would not be a wonder that Paul in the
would have died in a moment. For when it strikes one's eyes and heart that he has persecuted God, there will be little consolation. The same will happen to our papists, either in the last hour, when they are to die, or on the last day; then their conscience will accuse them and beat them to the ground so that neither heart nor breath will be left.
12 The Lord spoke to him in Hebrew, and his companions saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of him who spoke to him. Therefore they do not know what happened to him. The Lord continues:
It will be difficult for you to lure against the sting.
(13) This is an excellent warning, which all should take to heart who think to persecute Christ and his doctrine. But they have not the grace to believe it; therefore they are not converted like Paul, but continue in sins, until they die and perish here temporally and there eternally. It is a good thing, saith Christ, that thou rageest thus: what dost thou thereby accomplish? Nothing else, but that you stab yourself in the spear. A fine and excellent swordsman is he who thrusts his heels against the spear, or treads on the spear with his feet.
(14) This is a very remarkable and comforting saying for the poor persecuted Christians, that he who persecutes Christ is considered to be licking against a sharp thorn, because the foot is either paralyzed or otherwise not very lucky. Thus it shall come to pass, that he that rageth against Christ shall lodge against the sting. As H. G. thinks today, he wanted to tear Christ down from heaven, but he will soon find out how he will fare. A spear is not made to be walked upon, but to be thrust with; but he that will lick his feet against it shall see how he shall fare. When Paul hears this, he has had enough and speaks with trembling and fear:
Lord, what do you want me to do?
15 This is the way to teach a Mores. This man, who is called Jesus of Nazareth, can
to say to one with earnestness that he feels. Paul would have had to despair and die if Christ had not lifted him up and comforted him. For he spoke to him:
Get up and go to the city; there they will tell you what to do.
16 Although he speaks to Paul from heaven, he does not want to abolish the preaching ministry, nor does he want to do anything special for anyone. He might well have commanded him from heaven by voice what he should do; but he directs him to the preaching seat and pastor, where he shall hear and learn what is to be learned. For our Lord God does not want to do anything special for anyone, but gives his baptism and gospel to the whole world, to one and to another. There we can learn how to be saved, and not wait to see if God will do something new for us or send an angel from heaven. For he wants us to go and hear the gospel from those who preach it; there he will be found, and nowhere else.
Therefore, it is hardly right for those who seek something special to find the devil. The spirits of the mob, Carlstadt, Münzer and others, gather in a corner and wait there for our Lord God and for the Holy Spirit; so the devil overhears and possesses them that they want to force our Lord God to let them see something special. Then our Lord God decrees that the devil flies down in the form of an angel, and it serves them right. Our Lord God has not done anything special to Paul, who hears the bodily voice and word of the Lord Christ and is to become the highest preacher, but he must go into the city and hear Ananiam. He says, "Go," and will not do anything special for him, nor teach and baptize him in the field,
but point him to where his word and baptism are. And Paul gladly follows the command of the Lord, even though he does not yet know where he should be and who should tell him.
018 Then our Lord God sends Ananiam, who preaches to him, baptizes him, lays his hands on him, and says:
Dear brother Saul! The Lord has sent me, who appeared to you on the way you came, that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
So Paul comes to the face, to baptism, to the Holy Spirit, through Ananiam, who was not a finger against Paul, but was like a little candle against the sun. From the same little sulfur wood Paul must receive his light, from the little doctor Anania the great doctor Paul must hear what he should do.
19 Let this be known, that we may learn to hold the preaching office in high esteem: Paul is overcome with vision, understanding, and the Holy Spirit, that he knows who Christ is, what baptism is, by the ministry of Ananiä, and immediately appears and is a different man. How much Christian blood he had shed before, so much, yes, a thousand times more he now makes Christians, that the disciples themselves cannot sufficiently marvel, and say: Is this not a miracle, that the man preaches thus, who in Jerusalem casts out all who call on this name? And much more angered the Jews, than the Christians had angered him before.
(20) This is the history of Paul's conversion, a very beautiful legend, which shows us the miracle of our Lord God, that the great persecutor of Christ and His Church was thus converted and turned from a wolf into a gentle, harmless little lamb, for our salvation and comfort, so that we Gentiles might have such a master and teacher and thank God from the bottom of our hearts for such grace.