First sermon.*)
Luc. 1, 5-80.
In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest of the order of Abia, named Zacharias, and his wife of the daughters of Aaron, whose name was Elizabeth. Now they were both devout before God, and walked blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes. And they had no child: for Elisabeth was barren, and they were both of them of a sound mind. And it came to pass, when he was ministering before God in the time of his ordinance, according to the manner of the priesthood, and it was his duty to burn incense, that he entered into the temple of the Lord. And all the multitude of the people were without, praying under the hour of incense. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, standing at the right hand of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was afraid, and fear came upon him. But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elisabeth.
*) Held in the house, 1532.
will bear you a son, whose name you shall call John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; he will not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother's womb. And he shall turn many of the children of Israel unto God their Lord. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the unbelievers to the prudence of the righteous, to prepare a ready people for the Lord. And Zacharias said unto the angel, How shall I know this? for I am old, and my wife is aged. And the angel answered and said unto him, I am Gabriel, which stand before God, and am sent to speak unto thee, to shew thee these things. And, behold, thou shalt be silenced, and not be able to speak, until the day that these things shall come to pass, because thou hast not believed my words, which shall be fulfilled in their time. And the people waited for Zacharias, wondering why he tarried so long in the temple. And when he came out, he could not speak to them. And they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he beckoned unto them, and was silent. And it came to pass, when the time of his ministry was expired, he went home to his house. And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five moons, saying, Thus hath the Lord done unto me in the days that he looked upon me, to take away my reproach among men. And in the sixth moon the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, which is called Nazareth, unto a virgin, which was trusted unto a man, whose name was Joseph, of the house of David: and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, blessed art thou: the Lord is with thee, thou that givest gifts among women. When she saw him, she was frightened by his words and thought: What greeting is this? And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bear a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be called great and the Son of the Most High, and God the Lord shall give him the throne of his father David; and he shall be king over the house of Jacob for ever, and his kingdom shall have no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be? for I know of no man. The angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, thy friend, is also with child with a son, in her old age, and now goeth in the sixth moon, which is in cry, that she is barren. For with God no thing is impossible. And Mary said, Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord: be it done unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. And Mary arose in those days, and went up into the mountains to the end of the city of Jude, and came into the house of Zacharias, and greeted Elisabeth. And it came to pass, when Elisabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, and cried with a loud voice, saying, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence cometh it unto me, that the mother of my Lord cometh unto me? Behold, when I heard the voice of thy greeting, the child leaped with joy in my womb. Blessed art thou that hast believed, for that which was spoken unto thee of the Lord shall be fulfilled. And Mary said, My soul exalteth the Lord, and my spirit rejoiceth in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaid. Behold, from henceforth all the children shall call me blessed. For he has done great things for me, who is mighty, and whose name is holy. And his mercy endureth for ever unto them that fear him. He wieldeth violence with his arm, and scattereth them that are arrogant in their heart. He pushes the mighty from their seats and lifts up the lowly. He fills the hungry with goods and leaves the rich empty. He remembereth mercy, and restoreth his servant Israel, as he spake unto our fathers, unto Abraham, and to his seed for ever. And Mary abode with her three months; and after that she returned again. And the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. And her neighbors and friends heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they rejoiced with her. And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the young child, and called his name Zacharias, after his father. But his mother answered and said, By no means; he shall be called John. And they said unto her: Surely there is no man of thy friendship so called. And they beckoned unto his father what he would have him called. And he called for a piece of paper, and wrote, and said, His name is John. And they were all amazed. Immediately his mouth and tongue were opened, and he spoke and praised God. And there came a fear upon all the neighbors, and this story was known throughout all the mountains of Judah. And all who heard it took it to heart and said: What do you think will become of the child? For the hand of the Lord was with him. And Zacharias, his father, was given to the Lord.
He prophesied and said, "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people. And hath raised up for us a horn of salvation in the house of David his servant. When he spake in time past by the mouth of his holy prophets: That he would deliver us from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us, and shew mercy to our fathers, and remember his holy covenant, and the oath which he sware unto Abraham our father to give us, that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, should serve him without fear all the days of our life, in holiness and righteousness that is pleasing in his sight. And thou child shalt be called a prophet of the Most High; thou shalt go before the Lord, to prepare his way, and to give knowledge of salvation unto his people, who are in the remission of their sins; through the tender mercies of our God, whereby the going forth from on high hath visited us, that he may appear unto them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and direct our feet into the way of peace. And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the wilderness, until he should come forth before the people of Israel.
Of the Conception, Birth and Sermon of John the Baptist.
Every Christian should know the right reason for celebrating this day, so that we do not have such foolish joy as the world tends to have, as if our Lord God had given birth to St. John only for the sake of eating, drinking and dancing, and other such foolish joy for love.
(2) Therefore let us take the gospel before us, that not only our bodies may be filled, rejoice, dance, and leap this day, but also that our hearts and consciences may rejoice.
The very first thing in this history is that God performs great miraculous signs with this conception and birth. For there we hear that father and mother had been married for so long, and yet had not conceived a child, and are now at such an age that they no longer have any hope of having a child. In addition, the mother was not only outdated, but was also crying out that she was naturally barren. God did a great miracle and gave them a son and sent His angel Gabriel from heaven to bring the news of such a son. The father Zacharias became mute until the child was eight days old; the mother gave the child a name and said: "He shall be called John; which name she had not heard from any man. Then the father began to speak again, confirming the mother's word and saying, "His name is John." The neighbors were all amazed, and the father preached a beautiful sermon about the child out of the Holy Spirit.
(4) These are all great miracles, that God may show that this Son will be a great and excellent man; as all who hear these things marvel and say, "What do you think this child will become? And Christ Himself says that among the sons of women there arose none greater than John the Baptist.
But why he is praised great and above all the children of Adam, the angel shows in the first message, and the father. Zechariah also shows it in his song of praise. The angel gives the reason and says: "He will be great in the sight of the Lord; he will not drink wine and strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother's womb, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to God their Lord. This, says the angel, is why he will be so great: not only that it will happen so strangely at his conception and birth, but that he will have such a great and high office, yes, the greatest and highest office among all the children of Adam. God will make him so great and put so much on him that no one has had nor will have such a great and high office as John, Zachariah's son. He will be the greatest before all, except the Lord Himself, who, though he is the least in the kingdom of heaven, yet is greater than John. This is also what the angel said to Zacharias just before: "Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, whose name you shall call John; and you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.
(6) The angel tells of two joys. One is the joy of Zachariah the father and Elizabeth the mother, who no doubt rejoiced that they should have a son in their old age. But especially Elizabeth will have rejoiced, who was so long in lamentation that she was barren. For in the Old Testament it was a curse and a disgrace if a woman was barren. Because Elizabeth had to bear the shame of being barren for such a long time, and because other women had to flee like owls from birds and were not allowed to go among them, it was a joy to her that she gave birth to a child in her old age. As she herself confesses, boasts, and says: "Thus hath the Lord done unto me in the days that he looked upon me, to take away my reproach from among men." This is a natural joy and gladness that the father and mother had over this child, and this joy is not evil either; for the angel praises and proclaims it.
7 But the other joy is greater, that not only father and mother, but also others should rejoice in this child: not because of his birth, that he is born with such miraculous works; but because of his ministry, that he should lead such a joyful, comforting ministry. This is what the angel means by these words: "Many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord." And his father Zacharias interpreted these words, saying, "You will be called a prophet of the Most High; you will go before the Lord to prepare His way and give knowledge of salvation to His people, who have forgiveness of their sins. As if he wanted to say: You child will be the great, excellent preacher who will teach the people how they must be saved. Until now we have had Moses, but he has left us all in sins and evil conscience, we have not been able to escape death, there has been no help, no counsel. For just as it happened to us under the papacy, when this one ran to St. Jacob, that one to Rome, one flagellated himself, another fasted himself; when one had tried and done everything, then
the conscience was not yet helped, the poor, miserable, afflicted people knew not where to turn, could have no comfort nor rest against sin and death: so it was with those under Moses. But now, says Zechariah, things will be different. For God has given us a child who will be the man who will show the way to forgiveness of sins.
(8) "Thou child," saith he, "shalt be called a prophet, which shall give knowledge of salvation unto the people. You will be such a preacher that the whole world will rejoice. All who see and hear you will rejoice, thanking and praising God for having such a comforting preacher appear, pointing with his finger to the Son of God, and promising forgiveness of sins through him to all who accept him and believe in him. Oh how blessed are the fingers that point to Christ! How blessed will be the ears that hear the voice: "Behold, this is the Lamb of God, who bears the sin of the world! Oh how blessed eyes will be, which will see the blessed finger, which finger will point to the sacrifice, which is to be offered for the sin of the world! With these words, the dear John has also sweetened the hearts of all people, so that they now know from his sermon how to be freed from sins and become eternally blessed.
(9) For he saith thus, Behold, the Lamb of God, which bareth the sin of the world. Now every man must confess for himself that he also belongs to the world. Therefore John makes the hearts of all men glad with this sermon, if they will only accept it, and shows them the right consolation against sin. The sin of all the world, he says, yours, mine and everyone's sin, none excluded, is on this Lamb of God. Sin shall no longer lie in the world, shall no longer frighten us, condemn us, nor kill us, but shall be taken away from us and lie on the Lamb of God. This is the real joy that John brings such a message to the world first, pointing to Christ with his fingers, exhorting and stimulating everyone to cling to him and to follow such a message.
Grace should wait from him. Such preaching has never happened from the beginning of the world.
(10) Other prophets also prophesied of Christ, how he would come and make the world free from sins; but there is neither Isaias nor Jeremiah, who could have said, This is he whom ye shall receive, who shall do it and bring it to pass. John is the only one who let the first voice go and showed the person with fingers where forgiveness of sins could actually be found.
(11) This then is the proper cause of this feast, that St. John's day should be celebrated, not for his stern life, nor for his miraculous birth, but for his dear finger, and for his word and ministry. For such ministry and preaching was never heard before in the world. No man has ever had such fingers, nor seen such fingers, as John's fingers are, to show the little lamb of God, and to say that this is the true Savior, who will save the world from sins. Whoever then is oppressed by sin, whoever is to die, whoever is frightened by the devil and death, let him look at this preacher's mouth and fingers, and he will teach and instruct him rightly, so that he may receive forgiveness of sins and be satisfied with God. And this is the joy that all the world, not only Zacharias and Elisabeth, shall have in Johanne.
12 And of joy also Zacharias the father saith in his song of praise, when he is filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesieth, saying:
Praise be to the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people. And hath raised up for us a horn of salvation, in the house of his servant David. When he spake in time past by the mouth of his holy prophets: That he would deliver us from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us, and shew mercy unto our fathers, and remember his holy covenant, and the oath which he sware unto Abraham our father to give us, that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, should serve him without fear all the days of our life, in holiness and righteousness that is pleasing in his sight.
(13) Dear old Zacharias rejoices at the birth of his son, not only because of his person, but because this is now happening, which God promised so long ago through his prophets, that he would give David a son to save him from all enemies, that is, from the devil, sin, death and hell, who want to devour and condemn us. This, he says, is now coming to pass, since all the prophets have written of it and cried out that it would one day come to pass. Now it is here, praise be to God forever and ever! It has been promised and all the prophets have been promising it, but they have not been able to bring it to pass, nor to preach it as my son John will preach it, who will point with his fingers to such salvation and point the people to it. Now the dear word will start, which will proclaim forgiveness of sin publicly.
And thou child shalt be called a prophet of the Most High; thou shalt go before the Lord, to prepare his way.
(14) The dear father rejoices greatly, and yet does not praise the holy, strict life his son is to lead, as the angel said, but only praises his word and preaching. And call him not badly a prophet, as the other prophets were; but such a prophet as shall walk hard before the Lord. For he himself, the Lord, will now come and preach himself. But before he does so, this infant John will appear and say, "Look! This is the man through whom all the world will be saved. Whoever has this man, who has a gracious God, shall be fearless and without fear all his life, through this man alone. No prophet ever did this before, pointing fingers at this man.
15 John will prepare his way for the Lord; as a prince, when he goes, the next servant goes first, the prince does not go first; but when the servant is seen, everything gives way, and everyone gives place. So will my son be. He will go first and cry out: Give way, the Lord is coming, he is following hard on my heels.
Soon after my sermon he will appear and preach, suffer and be crucified, and rise again from the dead, send the Holy Spirit, and proclaim publicly to the whole world what I am preaching now.
(16) Now this is the joy that we should have today, that we should rejoice for the sake of John's mouth and finger, so that whoever is afraid of his sins, whoever is afraid of death, may look here at this blessed finger and hear this joyful, comforting voice: "Behold, this is the Lamb of God who bears the sin of the world. This finger we are to praise and thank God today for the sake of dear John's ministry and his comforting word. For he is the paragon above all prophets and preachers; no more comforting word and finger comes, than John's word and finger is.
(17) Here think back and tell me if we have not been great fools in the papacy? For all the praise in the pulpit and all the joy have been interpreted to mean that John lived such an austere life, drank neither wine nor strong drink, ate locusts and wild honey, and covered himself with camel skin. But what good is this to you and me? What is the use and service of it for us? Isn't it true that whoever wants to consider John only for his person will not be able to draw comfort from it? For although God has therefore laid out such a hard life for St. John, so that people should pay all the more attention to his preaching and believe all the sooner, because he was not a bad man, but led a special life above all others, in honor of and for the advancement of the Gospel: nevertheless, this does not help us today, it gives us no special joy. But the word and the sermon of John comforts and rejoices the whole world, who only wants to accept it, that he comes with such a finger and points to the one who is all joy and comfort, namely, to the Lamb of God, who bears the sin of the world. He shows such a little lamb with his finger, not to geese, cows, stone or wood, but to us humans, who are poor, afflicted sinners, that we should accept it and be comforted and rejoice in it.
And goes on to speak of John's preaching, what a new sermon it is that he will bring into the world, saying:
And give the knowledge of salvation to his people, which is in the forgiveness of their sins.
(18) That is, to preach comfortably, and to teach men aright how they shall be saved. The Jews had the law, which is such teaching and preaching that one knows what one should and should not do. This is also a wonderful, great knowledge, but it is very bad for us, because we cannot follow it. For since we know that God has laid His ten commandments upon us and wants us to keep them, and yet we must confess that we cannot keep them nor keep them, it follows that such knowledge of the law has no more effect in man than that he must fear God and await His wrath and punishment. That is why St. Paul says that the law causes wrath, the law kills and condemns, and is like a handwriting on our own neck. Rom. 3. 2 Cor. 3. Col. 2.
(19) Now John is to come and give another knowledge to the people of God, which is not a knowledge of sin, wrath, and death, but a knowledge of salvation, that is, such a sermon as teaches how to be saved from death and sin. This is an art of which the world knows not a word. In the priesthood, when I was a monk, I did not know the art either. I felt that I needed someone to help me from sin and death, but I did not know where to find such a helper. I called St. Annam, who was my emergency helper. John is supposed to be a master in this art and give people the knowledge of salvation, that is, bring such a sermon into the world, so that people learn how to be saved, that is, how to be delivered from sin and death.
(20) But how shall such things be done? What kind of teaching will it be? This is what Zechariah means when he says, "Who is in remission of sins. Whoever wants to know how to be saved must know that it is by grace alone, and by nothing else. This is also what John preached:
"Behold, this is the Lamb of God, which bareth the sin of the world"; item: "Of His fullness have we all received grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth were given through Jesus Christ. (Joh. 1, 16. 17.) Such sayings are very many in his sermons, from which one can see how he always pressed hard on Christ and on his grace. As if John wanted to say to us: Good works do not help to salvation; I have also fasted and lived so strictly that where good works should help to salvation, my works should also have helped.
(21) For John outwardly lived a holier life than Christ Himself, who stayed with the people, lay on beds, drank wine, ate meat, wore linen and woolen garments. But John lived in the desert, drank water, ate wild honey and locusts, wore a camel skin. Nevertheless, he says, such a hard life does not get you into heaven, but forgiveness of sins does. We should learn these things. It is true, we should be justly pious and keep ourselves in a holy life. But to be saved is only through the forgiveness of sins, that each one may know God to be merciful and to forgive sin, saying, "Lord, I cannot reckon with you; I do not know how to stand before you by my works. For John was much holier than I, and yet he did not build on his holiness. I would gladly guard against sins, be pious, live chastely and modestly, but that does not help me. This alone helps me, that you preached through St. John that we should be saved through the forgiveness of sins.
22 It follows that all the world is in sin, indeed, sin itself. For where there is no sin, there is no need of the forgiveness of sin. Again, where there is need of forgiveness of sins, there must ever be sin. Since the world is to be saved through the forgiveness of sins, it must follow that the world is full of sin. So it follows that all men are sinners and, as much as there is in them, are condemned.
But if they are to be saved, this is the only way, that their sin must be forgiven them. But this happens, as John teaches, only through the Son of God; he is the little lamb, where all our sins lie, which must help us. For if sin should lie upon us, and we should bear it, we should be eternally damned and lost, and no man should be able to go to heaven. But it is called forgiveness of sin that the Son of God had to bear the sin for us.
23 This means to understand John's sermon correctly and to know how to be saved, namely, only through the forgiveness of sins. But if we become blessed through the forgiveness of sins, then all other ways of wiping out sin are excluded. The pope and his crowd do not want to suffer this: they sing the Benedictus every day at Mass, but do not understand it; instead, they oppose and persecute it as the highest heresy when we teach that one must be saved only through the forgiveness of sin and not through good works.
But where does the forgiveness of sin come from? Who makes it? Then Zacharias answered very finely and said:
Through the heartfelt mercy of our God, through which the exit from on high has visited us.
I think that means that all merit and good works are cut off from the forgiveness of sins, so that one cannot say that one deserves it. The Virgin Mary was holy, John the Baptist lived an austere life, but did they have forgiveness of sins? No, says Zacharias here; but forgiveness of sins comes only from the fact that God is merciful, and out of such mercy sent and gave His Son to us, so that He paid for us and we should be saved through Him. Therefore, forgiveness of sin does not come from our merit, nor from our good works, but from the heartfelt mercy of God, who loved us on his own initiative. We deserved the hellish fire with our sins, but God looked upon His causeless mercy. This is the
Cause why he sent his Son and for his Son's sake now forgives our sin.
(25) And he preacheth greatly of our dear Lord Jesus Christ, that he giveth him a special name, and calleth him the "coming forth from on high," that is, above all creatures in heaven. As the brightness rises from the sun when it breaks forth, so the Son rises from the Father forever and ever. Thus Christ speaks of Himself, John 3:13: "No man taketh up to heaven, but he that descended from heaven, even the Son of man, which is in heaven." For his being does not first arise here on earth, when he is conceived and born; he comes down to earth from on high from heaven. He, he says, has visited us, has come to us on earth, and has given forgiveness of sins to us poor lost sinners, who otherwise would have been eternally condemned. This is pure grace and mercy.
26 Therefore we cannot boast that we have done word or work, for no one has known of such things. But John is the first to point to him with his finger and lead us to him, otherwise we, like the Jews, would pass by. The Jews saw him playing in the street like another child, they saw him carpentering, drilling boards etc.: who would have regarded him in such a servile form for the exit from on high and for the Lamb of God, if John had not shown him and made him known to us? The Jews were angry with him without this, and said, "Oh, this is the carpenter, the son of Mary, the poor widow's child; his brothers and sisters are all here, with us," etc., Marci 6, 3. Therefore, no one here can boast that he deserved it, because he did not know about it, nor would he have known him, if John had not proclaimed this and shown him with his fingers.
That he might appear to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and direct our feet into the way of peace.
27 Here Zechariah concludes his thanksgiving and joyful song, and does not grasp
He says that all the world is in death and darkness. For even if we live as long as we do, the last hour will not remain outside, our eyes will be closed at last; so that everything is under death and must die, no man is exempt or free. Those who are to go down to the earth and sit in darkness, God has lit a light for them, says Zechariah, to illuminate the dead under the earth and in death. If they have believed in this little lamb of God and have been baptized, they shall have a light, and a light of life, which shall shine unto them in death, and keep them so that the devil cannot hurt them.
28 This is the joy, not a foolish worldly joy of dancing and jumping, of eating and drinking, or of being lifted up by great money and goods or a worldly kingdom. It is about something greater and higher, namely: how we remain alive when we are dead and rotten in the earth; how we become pious when we are in sin; how we get from hell to heaven, from damnation to blessedness. For we must finally go down and see and hear the devil. This happens commonly at the last hour, when one wrestles with death; then every Christian must come to feel sin and death rightly. There is then no other help nor counsel, but to follow the finger of John, and to look upon the little lamb that bareth the sin of the world, and comforteth us, saying, He that believeth in me shall never see death; and though he die, yet shall he live again. From such great things, from sin and eternal death, from righteousness and eternal life, comes this joy, as we are to walk around on St. John's Day, thanking God for having given us such a prophet, seeing his fingers and hearing his preaching.
29. The devil and the pope have other fingers pointing to plates and caps and commandments of men; but it is the infernal fire. For as good works should help, so
they would also have helped John, and he would have been comforted by them. But he revels in his good works and hard life, and says to Christ, Matth. 3, 14: "I need to be baptized by you"; seeks and desires nothing else, but that God will be gracious to him through Christ; item says, Joh. 1, 16: "From his fullness we have all taken. Thus the Virgin Mary and all the saints were also saved by grace through Christ's righteousness and merit.
(30) This is St. John's preaching of the knowledge of salvation in the forgiveness of sins, such an art and wisdom that every Christian should know that the forgiveness of sins is the only way to salvation. John was the first to preach this message to the world, pointing out the Lord Jesus Christ with his finger. For "John" is the name of one who is in grace, a kind, loving, friendly man, to whom everyone is kind. He is a pure John.
hannes, his sermon is pure joy. He should be called by the name of his office, not by the name of his life or person, otherwise he should be called "Sour". But his life helps us little, brings us no joy; but his teaching brings comfort and joy.
(31) You young children and you great men should know that this day is celebrated, not for the sake of dancing, eating and drinking, but so that St. John may teach us how to be saved; so that everyone may give thanks and praise to God for having given us the beloved John, and for having sent through him the joyful word and the blessed finger, so that we may know where to find salvation and eternal life. So the feast is to praise God and His mercy, and not St. John's person; so that God may receive thanks from us that He has given us His Son and such a comforting sermon that we may fear neither sin nor death, but that God's goodness and grace may comfort us for eternity. May God grant this to us all, amen.