Luc. 2, 22-32.
And when the days of their purification were come according to the law of Moses, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him unto the Lord: as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that first breaketh the mother shall be called holy unto the Lord. And that they should offer the sacrifice, according as it is written in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. And, behold, there was a man at Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was devout, and feared God, and waited for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Ghost was in him. And an answer was given him of the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, because he had first seen the Christ of the Lord. And by inspiration of the Spirit he came into the temple. And when the parents had brought the child Jesus into the temple, to do for him according to the law, he took him up in his arms, and praised God, saying, Lord, now let thy servant depart in peace, as thou hast said: for mine eyes have seen thy Saviour, whom thou hast prepared before all nations to be a light to enlighten the Gentiles, and for the praise of thy people Israel.
Today the feast is celebrated, which in the papacy is called Our Lady's Candlemas, because on this day the wax candles were consecrated, exorcised, lit and carried in the procession. You have often heard where this came from, namely, that Pope Sergius took it from the Romans, so that, just as the pagans went about with torches and lights on this night, seeking the Proserpinam, so the Christians should go in honor of Our Lady every year on this day with consecrated burning candles in the procession. We must leave this to the pope and whoever feels like it. We celebrate this day as a feast of our Lord Jesus Christ, who showed himself on this day when he was carried into the temple in Jerusalem and presented to the Lord.
2 St. Lucas remembers three things: the cleansing, the presentation and the sacrifice; and attaches to each thing that it was done according to the law of the Lord. What does he want to indicate by this, that he makes so many words about it and remembers the law of the Lord so often?
First, he wanted to show how God had ruled and forced the Jewish people with so many laws, as a people who needed such coercion.
*) Held publicly in the parish church, 1537.
First of all, the law of purification was a hard law: for the six-pregnant women of the Jews had to be unclean: what they ate, what they drank, what they touched, where they walked, what they touched, everything was unclean, and everyone had to flee and avoid the six-pregnant woman as if she were a leper. If she gave birth to a girl, she had to stay twelve weeks and be unclean, but if she gave birth to a baby, she had to stay six weeks.
4 After that, the law of presentation and sacrifice was also a hard and severe law. When the six weeks were up, the mother had to bring her first son to Jerusalem to the temple, present and sacrifice him to the Lord, and redeem him with a place of guilders (quarter guilders) and a pair of turtledoves if she was poor, and then present and present herself three times a year to Jerusalem in the temple. This was the law of the Jews in the Old Testament, a very hard and heavy law. How angry we should look if such a hard and heavy law were laid upon us.
(5) In the New Testament we are exempt from such laws, but the Jews under Moses had to bear such a burden of the law, not only with a burden on the body, but also with a great cost in money. From each head they had to give annually a place of guilders to the Romans.
After that they must give all the first birth of men, cattle and fruits to the temple. The tenth of all the fruits they gave to the Levites. Over all this they gave almost two tenths, if you count what they gave to the king, item, for sacrifices, item, to the poor. And the pope also did a lot of giving. What was given for wax candles on this day alone! Whoever had the money that was spent in this principality for wax candles on this day alone, would be a rich gentleman. Now we are free, not only from the heavy burden of the law Most, but also from the Pabst's treasure.
But how one thanks God and His Gospel for this freedom is seen daily in the peasants, burghers, nobility, etc.; for now no one likes to give a penny more for the Gospel and the preaching ministry, indeed, everyone prefers to steal and rob from the poor church what was given before the age. The peasants in the villages complain when they have to build a fence for their pastor; indeed, they force him to herd cows and swine, just like the other peasants. In the Old Testament and Mosiah's Law, the Jews were forced to be obedient to their priests, just as in the papacy no one was allowed to revolt against monks and priests; but now, under the Gospel, everyone wants to do as he pleases, and the priests and preachers are not only despised, but also treated badly in other ways. We must suffer such filth beside us, as we must suffer snot in the grass.
Therefore our Lord God was well pleased to burden the people of Israel with many laws. For a donkey and a horse must be harnessed and bridled, otherwise they cannot be used; as the 32nd Psalm says in v. 9: "You must put a bridle and bit in the mouth of horses and mules, if they will not come to you," and Sirach Cap. 33, 25: "To the ass belongs his fodder, scourge, and burden: so to the servant his bread, punishment, and labor." There must be law, punishment and compulsion in the world; it cannot be dispensed with: not only because people are so wicked, but also because the
The devil does not rest, nor does he cease to incite and drive people, until he has brought about fornication, murder, thievery and all kinds of vice. Then one must restrain and ward off as much as one can, and force the people whom the devil drives to sin and vice, so that outward discipline may be maintained. Now the common man is free not only from the burden of waxen lights, but also from all constraints in which they are placed in the papacy, and enjoy the light of the Gospel without any burden, purely for nothing. They should thank God for this, but they become insolent and wild, and do not want to do anything good. This is one reason why St. Lucas looks at the law so often.
(8) Secondly, he meant to signify that our dear Lord Christ threw himself under the law for our sake, so that he might redeem us from the curse of the law. He was not conceived nor born, as the law says of the firstborn, but was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a pure virgin. Nevertheless, he kept the cleansing with his mother according to the law. This is a great comfort to us, that the Scripture thus models and exemplifies Christ to us, that he became like us in all things, but in such a way that he committed no sin. The deeper we can bring Christ into the flesh, the better it is. For he cast himself under the lowest law of purification, that he might show himself to be a natural man, yet a pure and holy man, giving himself under the law for our sakes; as St. Paul says, Gal. 3:13: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us."
(9) It is the same with the law of the firstborn, which must be presented to the Lord. The same law indicates how all young children, soon from birth, would be sinners and condemned to death. Therefore, they must soon be brought into the temple and presented for sacrifice, that is, death. Now Christ comes, bearing not only the law of uncleanness, but also the law of the presentation and sacrifice of the firstborn; not only taking upon himself our sin, but also allowing himself to be condemned to death.
condemn to death for our sake, because all that was sacrificed in the old law was given to death. But whoever wanted to have his firstborn son again had to redeem him with a sacrifice. This is called the other sacrifice in the Old Testament.
(10) So Christ has taken upon himself the judgment that he is condemned to death like another man. From this we see what we are by nature with reason and free will. The law gives us to death, and the very first fruit, which was the best and noblest, to show that there is no good in man, though he already has the advantage and is the firstborn among his brethren. Because Christ therefore hath done these things, and hath given himself under the law, he hath delivered us from the law, that we should not be guilty of death, but much less of uncleanness. For he owed nothing to the law, he is not a sinner, and the law has no right to condemn him to death. But because the law has attacked him as another child, conceived and born in sins, and yet he is excluded from all other children, as he was not conceived of male seed, but of the Holy Spirit; not born of an unclean mother, but of a pure virgin, and therefore the law has no right over him, even that he is the master of the law: therefore he has redeemed us from the curse of the law, that the law should not condemn us to death, if we are baptized into him and believe in his name. And this is the first piece in this gospel, of the laws of purification and the first birth.
The other part of this gospel is more consoling and subtle than the first, that old Simeon, prompted by the Holy Spirit, comes into the temple and takes the child Jesus in his arms, and sings a fine song that we have to console ourselves against death. For it is a different song than the Pope's and the priests' requiem. St. Lucas says that Simeon had a promise from the Holy Spirit that he would not die, because he had first seen the Christ of the Lord, that is, the King of whom all the prophets prophesied and said.
have proclaimed. Then he comes into the temple and takes the child (whom the parents bring into the temple, that they may do for him according to what is written in the law) in his arms, praising God and saying:
Now, O Lord, let thy servant depart in peace, as thou hast said. For mine eyes have seen thy Saviour, whom thou hast prepared before all nations, a light to lighten the Gentiles, and for the praise of thy people Israel.
12 Simeon has a very sharp face. He sees in this child neither a royal figure nor splendor, but a figure like a poor beggar. The mother is a poor woman, and has barely five pennies in her purse, so that she may redeem her child in the temple according to the law. The child is swaddled in a very small, poor swaddling cloth, yet Simeon comes without anyone's testimony or preaching, preaches and testifies publicly himself, saying, "This child is the Savior of all the world and the light of all the Gentiles. This is a strange sermon and a strange testimony about this child. Simeon sees a little child lying in a small cloth. If he had wanted to judge by reason, he would have had to say: This is not a king, but a beggar child. But he puts this poor form, as the child is to be looked at according to reason, out of his sight, and makes this child a king, greater than all the kings of the whole world. For he calls him a Savior, prepared of God before all nations, and a light to enlighten the Gentiles in the whole world. This means to reach out far and wide and to open his eyes wide. He sees into the whole world, from one end of the earth to the other. Wherever there are peoples and nations, he says, in the whole world, this child is a savior and a light. Therefore, take everything that is said in all the Scriptures and hang it on this child whom he has in his arms.
First, he calls this child a savior of all nations. Thereby he indicates that this child redeems from sin and death and gives righteousness and eternal life. The dear Simeon sees these great miraculous works in this child, that he justifies the people and
and speaks of it with such certainty and comfort, as if he saw in the whole world no more sin, no more death, no more sorrow, but only righteousness, salvation and life. "My eyes have seen your Savior." As if he wanted to say: "I have no other reason, but that all that is in the world is life and blessedness. Therefore I will not die, but go in peace. Secondly, he calls him a light of the Gentiles. He is a light, he says, by which all the Gentiles shall be enlightened. He is to take away the darkness and give light among the Gentiles, that is, he is to tear apart the kingdom of the devil, who rules in the world with darkness, error, sin, death and all misfortune; he is to destroy sin and death; as St. Paul also says in 2 Timothy 1:1. Paul says, 2 Tim. 1, 10. 11.: "Who hath taken away the power of death, and hath brought life and an incorruptible nature to light, through the gospel: to which I am set a preacher and an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles." These are great, mighty works and miracles of God that Simeon gives to this child, saying that this child will reign in the whole world, and set the light of his gospel on fire against the devil's error and darkness, and bring people to the knowledge of God.
14 But that all men be not enlightened, nor believe the gospel, there is no power. For the sun shines in the whole world, and yet many people are asleep, and many are blind who do not see the light of the sun. That all people do not see the light of the sun is not the fault of the sun, but of the people who either sleep or are blind, or close their windows and eyes and do not want to see the light of the sun. Our whole city of Wittenberg is full of the gospel, which shines to all, young and old; and yet very few accept the gospel. This is not the fault of the gospel, but of the people who do not want to accept it. Even though many Gentiles remain blind who do not see the light, this child nevertheless remains the light of all Gentiles.
15 Thus the kingdom of Christ remained under the pope, the Turks and the Tarthers, and remains today under the angry nobles,
Bishops and princes, yes, also stays in Rome, where the devil lives in the flesh. One still finds baptism there and some who have the gospel. Therefore, when Simeon says that Christ is a light to enlighten the Gentiles, it means this much: Christ's kingdom passes through the whole world among all the Gentiles, and it is not because all the Gentiles are not enlightened. Thou hast prepared him, saith he, to be a certain King and Saviour in all the world where men are, that he should enlighten the Gentiles with his light. So the old Simeon prophesies of Christ, just as the prophet Isaiah prophesied of him long before, when he says, Cap. 49, 6: "I have made thee the light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be my salvation unto the end of the world."
(16) Since this child, as Simeon says, is to be the Savior of all nations and a light to enlighten the Gentiles, it follows that all nations on earth are without salvation and all Gentiles without light, that is, in darkness, blind, lost and condemned. For if they were not without salvation and light, lost and damned in darkness, they would have no need of this Savior and light. Now Simeon is the greatest heretic who came to earth, and whom all the world rejects and condemns; as we see today that this song of Simeon is highly contested as false and heretical. The pope with his own will not allow Simeoni's song to be true, that is, that this little child Jesus is the Savior of all nations and the light of all the Gentiles. Therefore I would like to preach it in such a way and paint this child in such a way that I, who preach it, and you, who hear it, would grasp it with firm faith, as Simeon grasped it. He says: This child, which I have in my arms, is a savior of all nations and a light of all the Gentiles. Therefore, where this Savior and this light, Christ, is not preached, there is darkness, blindness, sin, death, God's wrath and eternal damnation.
But our adversaries cannot stand such preaching. When I preach and say: All that the pope and his monks, nuns and priests have taught and done is darkness and error, etc. they not only do not want to listen, but also call it "error.
Such preaching is heresy, and yet they sing this song to this day in their churches, with candles, lights, flags, and great pageantry. They keep the words of this song, singing and confessing with their mouths that Christ is the Savior of all nations and the light of all the Gentiles, but they deny the truth. For if it is true that this child is the Savior of all nations and the light of all the Gentiles, it follows that Francis' order, the Pope's decree and statutes are not such a Savior and light. If this text and article is to stand round and pure, as Simeon set it, then one must thereby also condemn everything that follows from this article to be condemned. But if I teach such things and make such consequences, I am called a heretic and a liar, and it is said of me that I teach error and seduction. That is why the papists bite their own tongues, because they say that Christ is the Savior and light of all the world, and yet they teach beside it: Monasticism and good works also help to salvation, as their books testify. This is an abominable blindness, that they profess that Christ is the Savior and light of all the world, and at the same time also want to teach and defend: Good works are the Savior and the light, or, which is the same, Christ is not only the Savior and the light, but if I lead such a life, become a monk, fast like this, pray like this, I am also the Savior and the light.
(18) Let us leave these blind men and blind guides, and see diligently that we may have this text and article certain and pure, namely, Christ is the Savior and the light of all the world; therefore all things that are without Christ are sin, death, darkness, hell, and damnation, even if they be the very best laws and ordinances that there may be. So, imperial law is certainly God's order, one must have it and cannot do without it; but it does not help to blessedness before God and eternal life. I will give a rough example: A cow must have hay and straw, that is its law, which it cannot escape; but by such a law it does not become a child, daughter or heir in the herd, but remains a cow. It is the same here. Even if I have read all the laws and commandments of the
Emperor, I am not, nor do I become, God's dear child through it; much less am I and do I become God's child through monasticism, and even if the monks were a hundred thousand times more holy, neither are they. This is crudely spoken, for I must speak of it so crudely for the sake of the crude, useless chatterers. Just as a cow does not become a daughter or heir in the house by having its law in the stable, so no one becomes a child and heir of God by having his law, whether it is the emperor's or the pope's: without the pope's law being as good as the emperor's, since the emperor's law is God's order according to reason, but the pope's is only human, presumptuous, free essays, so that the poor consciences are weighed down and entangled. If a cow, because she has her law in the stable, wanted to say: I am a daughter and heir in the house, and lie down in the cradle, where the daughter should lie, then one would say: Ei, hinaus mit der Tochter, lassen den Schlächter her, der die Tochter Mores lehren. So it is also said here: Only monks and priests with caps and plates, who want to be God's children and heirs in the kingdom of heaven by their laws and works, are thrown into hell.
19 Therefore Simeon has a pure voice, and sings thus: "My eyes have seen your Savior, whom you have prepared before all nations, a light to enlighten the Gentiles" etc. As if to say, "I know of no other Savior and light than this, whom I now carry in my arms and see with my bodily eyes. From this it follows, as I have said, that everything that is not Christ is darkness, blindness, death and the devil in the sight of God, even if it were the temporal government and the righteousness of Caesar. For such things are not valid before God, but belong to the cowshed, that is, to this transitory, fleeting life. But this little child, of whom Simeon sings here, is the only Savior and light of the world, which enlightens us and makes us righteous and blessed before God.
(20) And the dear old father speaks very truly, and calls the child a savior of all nations, and a light of the Gentiles. He does not let the child remain alone in the small, narrow corner of the Jewish land, but gives him to all, even to those who do not know him.
are of Abraham's seed and blood. The Jews boast as if they alone share in the promise made to the fathers, but Simeon attributes this king not only to the Jews but also to the Gentiles. Therefore it is well said and a prophetic piece that he calls Christ a light to enlighten the Gentiles. Although I, as a Gentile, am not a brother of the people of Israel according to the flesh, I am nevertheless a co-heir of this grace and blessing, that Christ is also my Savior and light.
(21) Now this could be written out in many words, if the time would allow it. But let us note this time that with these words everything is excluded as impossible for righteousness and salvation before God, which is not Christ. I would like this article to be understood correctly, because I know that the devil is on the way and that he is under the obligation to cause trouble, as he cannot celebrate. Whoever has learned and grasped this article of Christ, cannot err; much less will he cause riots and sects. For Christ is the light, and will not cause us to err; he is the only Savior, and will not cause us to perish or perish. We see this in the old Simeon; he has rightly known Christ, and is so full of this knowledge that it is all Christ in his heart. He says nothing of angels, nor prophets, nor of the Virgin Mary, nor of John the Baptist; but sings to us only of this little child. Do not ask what the chief priests and scribes, the emperor at Rome, or other princes think of this child, but confess openly and say: This child is not only mine, but also the Saviour of all nations and the light of all the Gentiles.
22. third, he calls it a prize
of his people Israel, that is, the people Israel will have this child's great honor. For Israel was the people to whom the promise was made that from them the Savior of all nations and the light of the Gentiles would be born; as Christ says, Joh. 4, 22: "Salvation comes from the Jews". In this the Jews precede us Gentiles; as St. Paul says, Rom. 9, 4.: that to them belongs the adoption, and the glory, and the covenant, and the law, and the worship, and the promise etc. All that Christ brought for treasures and goods belong to the people of Israel. We Gentiles do not have the promise, but yet we have the benefit of it. Though we cannot boast, as the Jews do, that Christ is our cousin, brother, and blood-friend according to the flesh, yet the benefit is ours, that he is as much our Savior and light altogether, as he is of the Jews.
(23) This is the little song that Simeon sang to us today, and he will go on his way in peace, for he has seen so much that nothing can frighten him. Because he has seen the Savior and the light prepared by God, he no longer sees sin or death, and is ready and willing to die. "Now you let go, Lord," he says, "your servant in peace," that is: Now I depart with all my joyful heart. I see no death, neither can it be called death, but call it a journey in peace. He does not say, Now I will die; but says, Now I will go in peace. He did not have such a song only in his mouth, on his tongue, on paper, but in his heart. May our dear God and Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ His Son, grant us His grace through His Holy Spirit, that we may sing after dear Simeon and also journey in peace, amen.