The blessing,
When one speaks after Mass about the people, from the fourth book of Moses at the sixth chapter, interpreted by D. Martin Luther.*)
Preached probably in 1527, published in 1532.
Deut. 6:22-27 And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron and unto his sons: Thus shall ye bless the children of Israel, saying: The LORD bless thee, and keep thee. The LORD make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee. The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. For they shall put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them. The LORD bless thee, and keep thee.
1. the first part of this blessing concerns bodily life and goods, as Genesis 1:28 and elsewhere is often said: "And God blessed them, saying, Grow, and be fruitful." Hence also in Scripture (Gen. 27, 34. 36. 38.] the common way is to say, "Give me a blessing." "Hast thou no more blessing?" that is, Give me something, as goods, bread, raiment 2c. For all things are the gift of God, and by His blessing we have what we have; and therefore also is called a blessing,
that is, a gift from God that He gives us through His blessing.
2 This blessing wishes the people that God may give them happiness and all good things, and also protect and preserve them, namely, that they may first of all be fruitful in their own bodies, have a faithful spouse, food, clothing, and everything that is necessary for this bodily life, be it house, farm, field, livestock, and servants. And when he gives it, and we have it, that he also keep it and preserve it; as, the body from sickness and plagues, the cattle, house, field from fire, water, storms and all kinds of damage.
3 And such blessings teach us that we should be thankful and realize that our body and life, together with all goods and necessities, are not made or won by our work or labor, nor are they preserved or maintained by our diligence and care, but it is all God's blessing, God's guard and care [Ps. 127:1, 2],
In the twenties, Luther preached continuously on all five books of Moses, as we can see from the beginning of the book: "Auslegung über etliche Kapititel des fünften Buches Mose". However, nothing is preserved from the sermons on the third book of Moses, and from the fourth book only the present writing. It appeared in 1532 under the title we have placed above it in two individual editions; one with Nickel Schirlentz in Wittenberg, the other with Kunigund Hergotin in Nuremberg. If this writing belongs to Luther's continuous sermons, we can assume with considerable certainty that it was preached in 1527. In determining this time, we base ourselves on the following: In Buchwald's "Andreas Poachs handwritten collection of unprinted sermons by M. Luther" we find Vol. I first half, p. XXIX in the index to Poach's lost sermons in 1528 twenty sermons listed, which Luther preached on the fourth book of Moses: on March 8, 1528 he preached on the 15th chapter of this book, and on December 13, 1528 he stood at the 31st chapter. Therefore, we may conclude that Luther preached on the sixth chapter in 1527. Because Luther preached only in the afternoon on the books of Moses, but the index in the years preceding the year 1528 only rarely mentions an afternoon sermon, so the news about it is missing in it. In the collections we find this writing: Wittenberger (1556s, vol. V, p. 245; Jenaer (1566s, vol. V, p. 480d; Attenburger, vol. V, p. 956; Leipziger, vol. IV, p. 89 and Erlanger, vol. 36, p. 155. This writing is also translated into Latin and is found in the Latin Wittenberger edition (1554), Vorn. Ill, col. 11I>. We give the text according to the Erlangen edition, which brings the original print, comparing the Wittenberg and the Jena.
Not that we should therefore walk idly, neither working nor tending, but should do our part, working and tending, yet knowing that God must give prosperity and good in our work and care, as St. Paul teaches 1 Cor. 3:6: "I planted, Apollo watered; but God gave the prosperity."
(4) For we see how innumerable sicknesses and infirmities can befall our own bodies, wives, children, and servants, how innumerable journeys and plagues can befall the cattle, how innumerable damage and vermin can befall the fruits and other goods, and befall them daily, that it is not possible for us to preserve or keep a chicken or a piglet, or even a grain or a small stalk, by our power or wit, let alone that we should make or create it. The Creator, who creates and gives it all to us, must also keep and preserve it all; without our having to work, and not to be idle nor idle.
V. 25 The LORD make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee.
The other part concerns the spiritual being and the soul, for cattle and goods are not susceptible to such blessings, but remain in the first part, since they have the common blessing with us after the body.
(6) And here we must learn Hebrew, and be accustomed to the language. For it is nothing at all in German when I say, "God enlighten his face upon thee. And yet it cannot be given in any other way, nor can it be translated, so we must repeat it in Hebrew and leave it at that. And in German so much is said: God the Lord show Himself to you kindly and comfortingly, do not look at you sourly or angrily, do not make your heart afraid, but laugh at you cheerfully and fatherly, so that you may be glad and confident of Him, and have a joyful, heartfelt confidence in Him. This happens when he forgives our sin and does not reckon with us, but by his Word and Spirit absolves our sorrowful, stupid conscience, so that our heart may feel how God will not look upon our sin, but will forget it forever, and will always be gracious, kind, comforting and gentle toward us.
7. just as the dear sun, when it shines on
When she goes and scatters her rich radiance and mild light in all the world, she does not do otherwise than illuminate her face over all the world; that is, she shines brightly and joyfully, and delights not only men, but animals, birds, and everything that is in heaven and earth, she makes light and equal to newly created. But when she hides her clear, lovely face or goes down, all things look sour, sorrowful, gloomy, black, as if they were dead and in hell.
8 So you should also understand the text of the blessing here. When God gives His word, He makes His face shine joyfully and brightly upon all consciences, and thereby makes them joyful, bold, light, and as new hearts and new people. For it brings forgiveness of sins, and shows God as a gracious, merciful Father, who mourns and pities our sorrow and grief. But when he takes away his word, then he hides his face, then it becomes dark, black, afflicted, sorrow and grief in the conscience, then one feels vain anger and no mercy.
(9) This blessing (if I may pronounce it in German) desires that God may make His gracious word shine abundantly to us and thereby make our consciences joyful, that sin, conscience, law and devil do not frighten us, nor make us despondent, stupid and sorrowful, that we do not feel His wrath, but His favor and love in our hearts. This is the right, spiritual, great blessing that gives spiritual and eternal life, which cannot be given to animals, cattle, birds 2c.
10 But he adds, "And be gracious to you," and does not let it be enough that he makes his face shine or shine upon us. For there are also two parts in this blessing, which St. Paul is wont to call differently, gratia et donum, grace and gift. The first is grace or favor, when he turns his wrath and looks upon us graciously through his word, and forgives us all sin, and so makes our heart secure and joyful toward him. After this he also gives the rich and various gifts of his Spirit, by which we do much, both in ourselves and in all the world; as, teaching, comforting, counseling, helping, baptizing, administering the sacrament, performing miracles, and the like; as 1 Cor. 12:4 f. Paul tells us.
(11) Just as the sun, when it rises, not only makes all the world happy with its lovely, beautiful light, but also works, gives, and helps so that both men and animals can do all kinds of things, work, walk, stand, and use all their limbs; it warms and drives all kinds of plants and fruits until it makes everything ripe and perfect. So the blessing also says here that God not only wants to shine brightly for us with the word of grace, and make us happy through the forgiveness of sins and the display of His favor toward us, but also to be gracious to us, that is, to graciously press upon us, to strengthen us with spirit and gifts to do all His will. Therefore this word "to be gracious" means as much as to pardon or to give graciously; as the archfather Jacob, Gen. 33, 5, uses this word, and says to Esau: These are my children, whom the Lord has pardoned, given, or graciously given to me.
(12) And this blessing teaches us once again that we should be thankful and realize that we cannot get rid of our sin by any merit or work, nor can all the holiness and wisdom on earth, all the other preachers and teachers, whoever they may be, still or comfort a single conscience in the least sin, but the light of the divine word alone must do it. Not that we should therefore do no good works, or live wickedly, but that we should practice good works, and yet know that a happy conscience comes from no other way, for where God lets His face shine upon us, that is through the forgiveness of sin, out of pure grace and mercy; Nor are we able to preach or confess, nor to undertake, much less to accomplish, any truly Christian work or word, where He is not gracious to us, that is, where He does not graciously grace, strengthen, and drive us with His gifts.
V. 26. May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
The third part also concerns the spiritual being and the soul, and is a desire of comfort and final victory under the cross, death, the devil and all hellish gates, along with the world and other evil lusts and desires.
of our flesh. For although he has been gracious to us, forgiven our sins and graced us with his spirit, we still have to fight against the devil and other sins.
For the devil also, when he perceives that we have God's gracious word, and are plucked out of his kingdom, and become the children of God, he also becomes mad and foolish, and sets upon us the power of the world with sword, fire 2c., and the wisdom of the world with heresy and error, and the holiness of the world with false brethren and hypocrites: that it is necessary not only to begin to enlighten us, and to give us the Spirit, or, as St. Paul says in Romans 8:23, the firstfruits of the Spirit, but to continue over us, that we may obtain the fullness of the Spirit, and at last all the victory. For not he who begins, but he who perseveres will be saved, Matth. 24, 13.
(15) And here we must learn to speak Hebrew, for it is nothing in German when I say, "The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee afar off. And it cannot well be given in German. For the opinion should be this: If God lets His face shine upon us, then the temptation and persecution of the devil, of the world and of our flesh make such a storm in our hearts that it seems to us that the dear light of the divine word wants to go down and leave us in darkness.
16. Just as when the sun rises beautifully and finely, shines joyfully and shines sweetly, and yet a cloud and storm rises against it and takes away its light, so that one no longer sees the sun, and it is as if it wants to sink, and let the storm overcome and suppress it, so that one may well say to the sun: Hold fast, dear sun, and do not let the clouds and weather oppress you, or turn the day into night; but raise your beautiful light above all clouds and weather, and preserve the day for us, so that the clouds and weather do not retain the victory with their darkness, but you prevail and retain the upper hand with your beautiful light. So here also this blessing wants to wish that God the Lord will raise the light of his word over us, and thus keep it that
that it shines higher and stronger in our hearts than all the temptations of the devil, death and sin, despair, despondency, fright and all misfortune can be. For if he does not do this, the devil with his weather and clouds is too powerful for us, and darkens and obscures for us the dear light of his word that we have begun with, and brings us so miserably about it that [it] becomes worse with us afterwards than it ever was before; as we see and experience daily in those who fall from the word, pressed by force or seduced by heresy.
For, as Christ says, "When the unclean spirit has been driven out, it comes back with seven worse ones, so that it is necessary to bless and pray, to call and wish that God would lift up His face over us, that is, to keep the light of His precious Word in our hearts and let it soar against the murderer and liar, the devil, who wants to suppress and dampen the same Word in us through murder and false doctrine.
18 And this third part of this blessing also comprehends two, namely. Lifting up of the countenance, and peace. For he desires not only that we be strengthened and comforted by the lifting up of his countenance against the devil, 2c, but that he also give us a peaceful heart and good courage in such struggle and turmoil, so that we may not only endure and finally succumb, but also have peace in the midst of the struggle and turmoil, praise and thank God, and not grumble nor become impatient against his divine will, as St. Paul says. Paul [Col. 3, 15] teaches: that peace should have the victory in our hearts, that we should do nothing against God or man through impatience, but both inwardly and outwardly, toward God and man, quietly and peacefully.
until the final and eternal peace comes.
19 This blessing is not far from the other common blessing given in the Latin language, which in German reads: God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit bless you, Amen. For to the Father is committed the work of creation, which this blessing of ours also touches, and expresses more clearly, as it says: "The Lord bless you and keep you," that is, he graciously gives you life and limb, and all that belongs to it. So, to the Son is assigned the work of redemption, which this blessing also touches and declares, saying, "The Lord make his face to shine upon thee," 2c., that is, he help thee from sins, and be gracious to thee, and give thee his Spirit. And to the Holy Spirit is assigned the work of daily sanctification, comfort and strength against the devil, and finally the raising from death, which this blessing also touches and declares, saying, "The Lord lift up his countenance," 2c., that is, he would strengthen and comfort thee, and finally give thee victory, as said above [§ 13 ff].
20. But the fact that God commands them to use His name over the children of Israel when they bless, is due to the fact that He wants to forbid the blessings of the idols, such as the god Baal, the god of Dan, and the like, with which the false prophets, under the appearance of the true God, used to bless the people, as one hears lamented from time to time in the prophets; just as in our country the priests and monks have blessed us by the holy names, as one finds in the collections, where they pray unashamedly: May God give us this and that for the sake of this and the saint. These are idolatrous prayers and blessings that are not made in the name of God alone, as they should be 2c.