The sixteenth chapter.

V. 1. Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came to him, tempting him and demanding that he let them see a sign from heaven.

As we have often said, there is nothing more hopeful, nothing more presumptuous, nothing more proud than the most wicked kind of men, the hypocrites, who arrogate to themselves wisdom and righteousness before others. See how they come to Jesus, not that they want to be taught by him (for they themselves want to be doctors and not disciples), but that they make of Christ a barker and a jester, who does signs as they would have him do, by which rather they themselves would be confirmed in their teaching, because they would be such people, who would have such a great artist at their disposal.

2. after that they ask "that he may let them see a sign from heaven", just as if

The miracles that he had done so far were nothing, because they had only happened on earth. As if they wanted to say: Oh, these earthly miracles are nothing! if he showed that he was powerful in heaven, then one could believe him. Not as if they were willing to believe then, but they blaspheme these miracles in such a way, which are far greater than those they wanted to see from heaven. For to raise the dead, to give sight to the blind, surpasses all the signs that can be shown in heaven, as much as man, who is the image of God, surpasses heaven and all fleshly creatures, and eternal life surpasses corruptible creatures.

3 Therefore the evangelist reports this carefully, that they had demanded this sign from him "to tempt him", that is, more maliciously, slanderously, deceitfully, than the desperate boys. And they

want to suppress him among the people, because he does not do such signs that they themselves choose and prescribe; on the other hand, they do not respect the signs that the Father has given and wants to have done through him. God shall do as they will, or he shall not be God. God wills that they believe as he wills, speaks and does, or they shall not be his people, nor he their God.

4 This is how it is done today. If our doctrine did all the miracles of Christ and the apostles (although many more of them are done daily), but if it did not do such miracles as they themselves chose, it would be nothing. Again, if what they themselves had chosen were to happen, the slander would immediately be there that it was done by the devil, because they (who alone are the Church and children of God) cannot do such things. Let it be done as they wish, or everything will be wrong. But if what they themselves want happens, that is only catholic, if it so pleases them, because they are the Lord, who does everything (Factotus) in heaven and on earth, without God, except God, over God.

(5) Therefore, I have never wanted a sign to be done for the sake of doctrine, because I am sure that nothing would be accomplished by it, and because everything would be attributed to the devil by this damned race of hypocrites. I am content that they are convicted by the power of truth and must condemn themselves in their own conscience.

(6) But the signs of which such people are worthy are the perverts, namely (as they say) the taken (passives), by which they must push themselves, fall, break, be entangled and caught (as Isaiah, Cap. 8, 15., speaks) and thus receive the reward they deserve in themselves [Rom. 1, 27.]. Because they do not want to be built up on Christ, who is glorious by word and miracle, so that they may be saved, it is very just that they should be angry with Christ, who is weak and humiliated by the cross, and that they should fall to pieces and perish. Thus our hypocrites are judged justly, because by the word of truth (which they receive) and by the works of righteousness (which they cannot deny) they have

They will not let us build them up, they will be annoyed by our lives and by the annoyances that are rampant without our will, and they will have to fall.

V. 2. 3. But he answered and said, In the evening ye say, It shall be a good day, for the sky is red. And in the morning ye say, There shall be a storm this day; for the sky is red and cloudy. You hypocrites, you can judge the shape of the sky; can you not also judge the signs of this time?

7 See here how angry Christ himself is against these wicked hypocrites. He says: "You hypocrites, you can judge the form of heaven, but you do not judge the signs of this time. You know what it means when the sky is clear in the evening and cloudy in the morning, but you do not consider what the signs mean that you see and hear them being done publicly by me.

(8) He speaks all things in images and signs. For just as when the sky is clear in the evening, it is a sign that the following day will be beautiful and clear, but when it is cloudy in the morning, it is a sign of a sad and rainy day, for this is also expressed in our language by the proverbs: Evening red, morning fair; and again: Morgenroth leuget nicht, dicke Magd treuget nicht; ist's nicht Regen, so ist's Wind; ist die Magd nicht fett, so ist's ein Kind.

(9) Thus the signs of Christ have double power. For they bring resurrection and the joy of justification to the godly, but the sorrow of the wicked, and the tempestuous storm of eternal death; for the godly are made better by them, but the wicked perish by them.

010 Thus saith he, Those signs of heaven ye understand; why then understand ye not these signs also, which are done unto you unto salvation, if ye believe them; but unto destruction, if ye believe them not? For ye have now a bright evening, from which ye may have hope of the day to come, which is bright and salvific; but there shall follow a dreary morning, in the which ye shall see the

have to fear eternal destruction. For my signs, and this time of grace and wrath to come, are no less clear, and shine as the heavens themselves with their evening and morning; if ye would but look into the prophets that prophesy of this time, and consider aright the things which ye see. But ye are not moved by the promises of the scriptures, nor by the things that are actually come to pass; and are only drowned in these temporal things, as happy or sad days shall come. Therefore you respect nothing; and yet you demand other signs. Yes, you shall have signs, because you slander and blaspheme what you see in many ways.

V. 4. The wicked and adulterous kind seeks a sign, and no sign shall be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet.

011 Ye are an adulterous sort, strangers, and so now no more the children of Abraham and of the fathers: ye shall have no other sign, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. This is an evil sign, in which ye shall not be edified (for ye will not be edified, but mock and revile him that edifieth you), but ye shall stumble, fall, be broken, and perish. This sign (I say) will be given to you, so that because you are not moved to believe by the signs of glory and power, you will be angered by the aversions of the cross and weakness in me. And you will neither understand my suffering nor my resurrection. For you could be attracted by these signs of glory and power to believe that I am from God, because no one has done so before; and if you had thus become my disciples, you could hear the secrets of my suffering and cross. But because you do not believe the signs of glory, it will happen that when these cease, I will appear to you as one who is weak, crucified and dead; then you will be able to believe in me much less, because you have been angered by such a great pain as the cross is. After that, when I will be resurrected, you will be able to believe in me most of all.

least believe in me, and so you will perish from righteous judgment, because you have despised the signs of this time, which are so glorious. Thus Paul says 1 Cor. 1, 21: "Because the world by its wisdom did not know God in His wisdom, it pleased God by foolish preaching to make those blessed who believe." Those who do not want to become good through the benefits of God must become worse through the ruths of God. Those who despise the wisdom of God are lost through the foolishness of God. He who will not laugh when God whistles must be angry when God scolds. If he does good, it is despised; if he does harm, it is blasphemed. He can nowhere do as we wish, therefore we must be lost, for we cannot be helped, neither with sweetness nor with sourness, neither with laughter nor with weeping.

(12) Therefore they shall have no other sign than the sign of Jonah. Not in the sense that they do not have all the other signs of Christ, because they have seen them all and blasphemed them, but this sign of Jonah will be peculiar to them, because it has been powerful in them to cause trouble and destruction (as they were worthy). For all other signs were with them not only ineffective and vain, but also devilish and very evil etc. For they made themselves a deadly poison out of the healing medicine.

But how Jonah was a sign of Christ, he himself explains above in the 12th chapter, v. 40. Only this is something wonderful, that in both places it is said that Christ is a sign of Jonah, while Jonah himself was a sign of the future Christ. But the art of language easily answers here that Christ is called a sign of Jonah, because Christ himself becomes a kind of Jonah-sign (signum Jonale) to the Jews, that is, something similar (to Jonah), as he himself explains: "Just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the midst of the earth. Days and three nights in the midst of the earth." Summa, Christ, who was delivered into the belly of the whale, that is, into death, and on the third day was cast out again and raised from the dead.

This will be an annoying sign to the unbelieving Jews.

(14) Whoever wants to treat the story of Jonah here and decorate it with ornaments will find in it the glorious doctrine of faith in the resurrection of the dead, or of life in the midst of death, so that we may learn that God's miracle and power are presented to us here in Jonah, who dies a threefold death, namely by water, by the whale, and by the wrath of God; and yet he does not even die in this way, but lives forever. But this does not belong to this passage.

And he left them, and went away.

(15) He left the tempters, says the evangelist, and went away, because with such people all that is done and said is in vain. For this is not their purpose, that they may learn, but that they may try, and then blaspheme the best words and works. Therefore, we too must follow this example, leaving them who only search us out, not so that they may learn from us, but to tempt us, knowing that they will find such signs and temptations worthy of them.

V. 5, 6: And when his disciples were gone over, they had forgotten to take bread with them. And Jesus said unto them, Take heed, and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

16 This is written for the instruction of faith and doctrine. For when the disciples were troubled because they had taken no bread with them, he answered them, that they should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, that he might remind them that they must hold fast the word and faith against the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. As if he wanted to say: "Why are you worried about the bread for the belly? Take heed that ye be anxious for the bread of the Spirit, that is, for the word and faith against false doctrine and faith. Seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, so that you will not enter the kingdom of God through evil teachers.

of the devil and of error. You must be concerned about this true bread.

V. 7 Then they thought to themselves and said: This is why we did not take bread with us.

(17) But behold how gross and weak the apostles are. For by this remembrance they become nothing better, neither do they understand it; but, being taken up with the mind of the flesh, they are now more grieved for the belly. Furthermore, they are already afraid that Christ himself will also freely accuse their carelessness and negligence; so that I may say: They do not understand that their care will be punished, but let themselves dream that it is rather demanded of them.

(18) So we see here that Christ deals most kindly with those who do not tempt him, but are willing to be taught by him in a simple way. For behold how much patience he has with the apostles because of their ignorance in the word and their weakness in the faith. He does not go away and leave them, as he does the Pharisees; but he tolerates and corrects their foolishness in the most friendly way, and has to explain to them, as to children, in clear words what he had said, and to submit to their ability.

V. 8-12 When Jesus heard this, he said to them: Ye of little faith, why are ye troubled, because ye have not taken bread with you? Do you not yet know anything? Do you not remember the five loaves among the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up? Nor the seven loaves among the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? How do you not understand that I do not tell you about the bread when I say, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees? Then they understood that he did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

19 "Two miracles," he says, "you have seen, by which I have gained so many people in the world.

You still doubt whether we will have bread even in this emergency. If you had paid attention to those miracles and understood them, you would have thought that I was not talking to you about bread, but that I could find bread again just as easily. You have such a weak faith and understand nothing. And I have spoken diligently not of bread, but of leaven; and moreover of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. By these words ye might have been moved and reminded that I speak not of bread, because it is not the custom to eat leaven. But you do not understand anything, because you do not have faith, which would have become stronger by miracles. According to the account of Marci, Cap. 8, 17 ff., he attacked their ignorance and carelessness with harsh and sharp words, saying: "Why do you care that you do not have bread? Do you not yet understand anything, and do you not yet have understanding? Have ye yet a stout heart within you? Have ye eyes, and see not; and have ye ears, and hear not; and think not?" This is a rather sharp sermon, and yet he is patient with their ignorance and weakness, he does not abandon them or push them away. And even they do not throw away their love, trust and reverence for him because of this, but as righteous disciples they gladly suffer the chastisement of their master and are improved by it.

20 We should also do this when we are punished from within or from without, so that we do not immediately think that this is due to God's wrath and that we must be rejected because of it. But the conscience is an extremely delicate thing, which finds it very difficult to retain this confidence in the face of temptation.

21 He names two kinds of leaven, namely the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Marcus writes, Cap. 8, 15: "And he commanded them, saying, Watch, and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herodis." This is the same thing. For Herod was an epicurean sow who, like the Sadducaeans, cared nothing for the future life with God.

22 He spitefully calls their doctrine not bread, but leaven, and that leaven of the most wicked people. The leaven of the Pharisees consisted in this: They had received from Moses the pure teaching of the law and the promises; but they taught, first of all, that one must keep the law only outwardly; as sufficiently appears from the 5th, 15th and 23rd chapters of Matthew, where he condemns their understanding of the law. Furthermore, they nullified the commandments of God through their human statutes, which they increased infinitely. One must be on guard against both of these things, as against a plague, but especially against the fact that they taught that the promises of God from Christ must be given and received only according to the belly, that is what I say, and according to the temporal. And in this they completely agreed with the Sadducees, only that they believed in the resurrection of the dead, but only to the same bodily belly glory.

But what shall we say today of the leaven of our Pharisees and Sadducees or Herodians? who, first, have abolished the faith in Christ and, as Peter says, 2 Epist. 2:1, "deny the Lord who bought them"; second, have devastated the church with their doctrines of the devils, of the prohibition of marriage, of purgatory, and of the redemption of the Lord.They have devastated the church with their doctrines of devils, of the prohibition of marriage, of purgatory, of pardons, of vows, of superfluous merits, of indulgences, of pilgrimages, of the adoration of the saints, of masses, of the sacrament of the altar, which they have robbed of its one form and turned into a spectacle. But who can enumerate, I will not say, all the leaven, but the infinite monstrosities, which are not human, but truly diabolical? Here, here it is most necessary to hear the Savior who warns and commands: Beware of the leaven of the papists, who would be the church and rule the church, as the Pharisees and Sadducees rule the synagogue. For he speaks not of heretics, but of the lawful bishops over the nations, who sit on Mosi's throne. For these have the rightful authority and the key of knowledge,

are most damaging to the church, as Christ says Matth. 23, 13: "Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites, who shut up the kingdom of heaven from men; you do not enter, and those who want to enter, you do not allow to go in. Therefore, he teaches us to be concerned for the preservation of the pure doctrine of the Word, because he so vehemently chides the statutes of men.

V. 13 Then came Jesus into the region of the city of Caesarea Philippi, and asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that the Son of man is?

(24) This passage is the head and source of all evil in the church. For therefore the pope has arrogated to himself the keys alone, and thereby made himself lord over heaven and earth and hell. Christ, as has already been said, condemned the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees; the pope, on the other hand, raises up by this passage not only much leaven, but also filth, and that the filth of the most wicked and godless people, as has been partly told above. But this matter is far greater than could be explained by brief remarks, and is worthy of being elaborated in full interpretations.

(25) Meanwhile, let us build up our faith in simplicity. First, Christ asks what people thought of him. And by this he gives us an example of good conduct, that we should take care to have a good testimony, even among those who are outside, as far as it is possible without breaking the gospel, so that no one may suffer among us as an adulterer, or murderer, or thief, or malefactor, or one who takes hold of a strange office; as Peter commands [1 Epist. 4:15].

26 Then he took the opportunity to reveal to the apostles that he was the Christ, the Son of God. Therefore, after they had told him various and uncertain opinions that the common people had about him, he asked them: Who did they think he was?

V. 14. 15. They said: Some say, Thou art John the Baptist; others, Thou art

Elijah; some said you were Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He said to them: Who do you say that I am?

27 Peter answers in the name of all (for he had asked them all, and he speaks to all without distinction and without regard to persons):

V. 16. Then Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Therefore, it is of no use for you to have a human opinion of Christ, that he is a righteous, holy, good man or prophet, even if he is the greatest of all, but the revelation of the Father from heaven must also be added, that he is Christ, the Son of God, that is, true man and true God, then also the promised King and Priest.

And in these few words the whole teaching of the Christian faith is summarized. For that he is a son of the living God, this indicates the living God, which the Scriptures elsewhere prove more extensively. But that he is a man is evident in itself. For because he walked among men, he was also found to be a man [Phil. 2, 7.], and as he calls himself the Son of man: "Who do men say that the Son of man is?" But because he is at the same time the Son of God, he could not have been born in sins, just as the other men are born in sins who are begotten of a man. Therefore, he was born of a virgin, without a father, of the Holy Spirit. Then he was mortal as a man among men. But because he is God, he necessarily could not remain or die in death. So much for the word: "You are the Son of the living God.

30 Furthermore, because he is Christ, that is, an anointed priest and king, it necessarily follows that all that he was was offered as a sacrifice for the sins of men, as the prophets foretold.

31 Therefore, in these words, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," the

the whole Apostles' Creed included; that he is the Son of God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth etc.., and that our Lord Jesus Christ was conceived full of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered for us, died and rose again, and sits at the right hand of God the Father, because he is the Son, the Judge and Lord of all; that he dispenses forgiveness of sins through the Holy Spirit, to the resurrection and eternal life. Now Christ answers Peter and says:

V. 17. Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.

Here is the statement that the doctrine of faith is not a philosophy or wisdom of human reason; it can neither be invented nor retained nor judged by it, but it is a heavenly doctrine revealed by God the Father Himself. Just as a light shines in the night, or a torch in the darkness (when the sun is not there), but because the sun shines in its power, the torch neither shines nor glimmers, but is obscured by the majesty of the sunlight: so faith is a completely different light, by which the light of reason is obscured and extinguished.

Accordingly, every man may rejoice who can repeat Peter's word in like faith: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God"; I say, in faith that is not fictitious, and that he knows he has the revelation full of the Father in heaven, and that he is truly a Christian, blessed and free from sin, death and hell. What more do you want? Flesh and blood do not know this, nor do they understand it.

What is flesh and blood but men begotten of flesh and blood, even the best, the wisest, and the most excellent? You will not find such things in the books or in the wisdom of the worldly beings, of the poets, of the orators, not in the rights of the emperors, not in the Callöllian right of the popes, but "my Father," he says, "in heaven has given it to you.

revealed", while the Gospel had not yet been spread by the apostles.

But it seems as if this was spoken by Christ quite confidentially, lovingly and kindly, as he is wont to deal lovingly with his own, as if he said: "Certainly, Peter, you speak great and wonderful things; you seem to me to be an exceptionally wise man. Where does this wisdom and knowledge of hidden and heavenly things come from? Certainly, my father has revealed it to you, and no other man. And yet he affirms it in everything. Seriously, that those would be blessed who have this wisdom from the Father. For Christ's happiness and kindness can always be seen in his words and deeds. Just as Paul ascribes to him a lightness, gentleness, meekness [2 Cor. 10:1] in his dealings with people, which, however, were seasoned with a sweet seriousness without frivolity or improper joking, and at the same time attracted people to him in the most powerful way and served them for instruction.

For this reason, I gladly believe what is written about St. Peter, that he wept so often after Christ's ascension that his eyes were completely devoured by tears, and he always used to wipe them with a cloth. And when he was asked: Why did he weep so much and ruin his eyes? he answered: He could not refrain from tears as often as he remembered the most friendly contact with Christ. 1)

Now show me a successor of Peter who has such faith and makes such a confession, who has such a revelation from the Father in heaven. Do you think that such a one, rejoicing in this heavenly wisdom, would tolerate, I do not want to say, wish for or seek to erase the filth of the kingdoms of the world, that is, of the flesh and blood? which the Roman popes, the successors of Peter (as they want to be considered, while in truth they are more the successors of Romulus, Julius or of the flesh and blood), have so far so impetuously supported by all the evil arts of the world.

1) The same narrative is also found in the Table Talks, Cap. 7, 164. Walch, St. Louis Edition, Vol. XXII, 348.

gwffe and shameful treachery seek. Because they follow what flesh and blood shows. That which the Father reveals and Peter confesses, they have ridiculed for many hundreds of years until this time, and still, by the devil's grace, they are Peter's successors.

38 Therefore, it must be stated, first, that the Roman popes have nothing at all to do with Peter, and Peter, in turn, has nothing to do with them. For they have nothing similar to Petro, nor does Peter have anything that belongs to the papacy. Peter confesses and teaches Christ, the Son of the living God; the Pope teaches about himself, his glories and his power. The former requires faith in the Son of God; the latter requires obedience to his devilish laws and habits of avarice. The former teaches about the life to come; the latter about temporal tyranny. In sum, the Roman popes have beautifully and bravely overhauled this faith and confession of Peter, they have not had it engraved or painted on their coats of arms or on their fisherman's ring, but they have seized the keys, which have been falsified by their tyrannical interpretation, and thus made themselves successors of Peter. But they would have done better and right if they had the bag and pouch of Judas Iscarioth engraved on their coat of arms instead of the keys of Peter. For they are actually his successors, because under the name of Christ they rob and steal everything that is in the world, and they would gladly take to themselves all the riches, power and honor of a hundred worlds (if there were so many of them) under the name of Christ, as he, their father, stole under Christ's name what was sent.

39) Furthermore, it must be stated that the Church and the bishops are the true Church and Peter's true successors, who (as Christ himself says here) have the faith and confession of Christ, that he is the Son of the living God, and that by the Father revealing him in heaven, that is, in truth, by the Holy Spirit teaching them through a faith that is not fabricated; which afterwards, through the Word of God, is the truth.

of the apostles, because it is the confession of the mouth of Peter that should have resounded throughout the world. But those who, apart from this faith and confession of Peter, teach something else or argue against it, can obviously be declared neither for the church nor for bishops. Since the papal church not only teaches without this confession of Peter, but also teaches against it and persecutes it, it is clear that it is not Christ's nor Peter's church, but a school of the devil and of Judas Iscariot, a cesspool and a puddle of dung.

40 Let this be enough for now, because it should be only short remarks. Now let us see what Christ promises and gives to these people like Peter (Petris), his disciples and confessors. For his words extend to all, just as Peter answers on behalf of all.

V. 18. And I also say to you, You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Let us leave behind the various thoughts and quarrels that many have had about these words. The opinion of Christ is briefly expressed in this sentence: This is my church, which has this revelation, which you, Peter, confess here. As if he wanted to say: "Truly you are right, for all things are revealed; this is my church, which has this revelation that I am Christ, the Son of the living God. Upon this rock I will build my church. There it shall stand, whoever shall be saved; there it shall remain, even though all the gates of hell should rage against it. For I am Christ, the Son of the living God, therefore no one shall snatch them out of my hand, even though the gates of hell are predatory, and rage against me as well as against you; but they shall not prevail, because you, Peter, have said, and rightly so, that I am the Son of the living God and Christ. Therefore you are blessed, and all are blessed who believe this and persevere in it; and I say that these are the conquerors of the gates of hell, that is, of sin, of death, and of the Holy Spirit.

and hell, however much these gates rage. For I am the completely reliable and insurmountable foundation of the church (that is, of those who, like you, believe and confess). For through me they will overcome, in me they will have peace, and they will be able to do everything.

From this it is clear that Christ is speaking of a completely different thing than the pope and his followers dream of. Christ speaks of eternal life, full of victory over the gates of hell, of the devil's raging, and of the preservation of the church and the blessedness of the faithful. On the other hand, the pope understands it full of his power and tyranny, or of obedience to his most foolish and godless laws, which do not teach about the faith in Christ that overcomes the gates of hell, but about temporal things, honorary offices, riches, and in the best case ceremonies that must pass away with this life. Such things can also be taught by the pagans and epicureans without this revelation of the Father of Christ, the Son of the living God.

For this reason, let us disregard the old teachers that the pope and his followers cite for this passage, and follow the single and simple opinion that St. Augustine has of it, which is both similar to faith and has the testimony of linguistic art for itself. For a passage of Scripture necessarily has only one actual, certain and true opinion; the others are doubtful and uncertain conjectures, from which one must beware in the holy Scriptures.

44 St. Augustine's opinion is that Christ speaks differently. First of all to Peter himself, when he says: "You are Peter," which must be understood according to the usual and loving complacency of the Lord Christ toward his disciples; that is: "Well, you are Peter all right, 1) because you hit the rock and the right ground, where it stands and must stand.

45 Secondly, he speaks to himself by saying:

1) The Wittenberg edition has here: "Petras.

And upon this rock I will build my church.

(46) "Upon this rock," that is, upon me, not upon you. For he does not say, Thou art Peter, and upon thee, Petrum; but "upon this rock" (that is, upon me) "I will build my church." So also Augustine says: Christ does not say, I will build myself on you, but you on me, because Peter himself must necessarily be built on Christ, the rock. This opinion of St. Augustine is clear enough, and the real opinion. For the word "build" cannot be understood as if Peter were to be built upon; for he does not say: upon thee, but: "upon this rock.

But what need is there of many words? The church must necessarily stand founded and built on a living, eternal foundation, and on such a rock, which endures with it until the end of the world, and be a side-winder of hell. But Peter, the apostle, besides being a sinful man, died like all the other saints, and was also himself built upon this rock with the church. Therefore, this passage has nothing to do with papal tyranny.

When they cite the revelation of St. John about the twelve foundations of the city of the new Jerusalem [Revelation 21:14], and St. Paul, who speaks of the foundation of the apostles and prophets in the letter to the Ephesians [Cap. 2:20], one can answer this recently: in these passages, Peter is not called the only foundation, but all, not only apostles, but also prophets. According to this conclusion, one would finally have to invent one of the old prophets as the head of the whole church. But grammar easily finds counsel here, and shows that the foundation is called that of the apostles and prophets, because they first preached and confessed that Christ alone and the only foundation is. Just as Paul calls the gospel his gospel (Rom. 2, 16.], while it is united and only Christ's gospel, namely because he planted it through his preaching ministry. Thus the apostles are the first stones on this unified rock, on which or on which

The confession of which the rest of the saints also shall be built up, every man in his own order, until the house of God be finished, which is founded on the one rock [Eph. 2:21, 22].

(49) It is therefore the greatest wickedness and impiety to say that the church of God is built on the pope (who is the most impious man and a Satan), that is, on the statutes of men, which were invented by himself, since these not only do not overcome the gates of hell, but are invented by the gates of hell against the rock of the church and the kingdom of heaven. For the statutes of men most of all contend against this rock, teaching that we must rely on our works in such a way that we may still retain some of them and sell them to others for the attainment of blessedness. This is the papal rock, this is what they teach, this is what they defend; this is what their deeds, their words, their decrees, their works, their books and examples testify to.

V. 19. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

Dear God, how tremendous and terrifying "You" 1) the devil has made in this passage through the pope on the whole earth; yes, even in heaven, if it pleases God. For according to the linguistic art and spelling of the Roman See, this is the meaning of this passage: To you, the pope, I will give the keys, that is, the power that you shall be God's governor on earth, that is, that you can do whatever you want. One could still have tolerated if he had pretended to be a governor of God, if he had not only made himself but also those like him governors, but especially if he had faithfully fulfilled the office of a governor, that is, if he had not taught anything other than what the Lord Himself had commanded and had taken care of it; as governors are rightly supposed to do and are obliged to do. But now he not only does not teach and does not care about what the Lord has commanded him to do, but he also does not teach and does not care about what the Lord has commanded him to do.

1) In the words, "I will give to you."

who" he teaches and does strange things, yes, which are contrary to his Lord. Therefore he is not called a governor of Christ, but rightly a governor of the devil, an adversary (άντϊζό/κος) and an antichrist.

Therefore, the "you", of which he boasts so highly, does not concern him at all, but Peter, as a confessor of Christ, the son of the living God, but not Peter, the fisherman of Bethsaida, who is called a Satan by the Lord himself below [v. 23]. The pope certainly does not want to be taken for his successor; and his majesty would truly come off badly if he were to become such a fisherman. Judas Iscariot, who was also present at that time and wanted to become pope, is much less concerned, because he stole and robbed bravely [Joh. 12, 6.] and gave an example to his successors at the Roman court, and did not care about the confession of the Son of God, which Peter made. And no doubt he also laughed at the foolish Peter, the confessor of the Son of the living God, at himself, just as today the pope and the cardinals laugh at the true Petros, or confessors of the Son of the living God; indeed, they consider it a laugh and a game when they kill and destroy them. But where does my zeal and displeasure take me? This is a matter that should not be merely briefly noted, but dealt with at length.

52 Let us now return from the godless and wicked to the Lord Himself, who said to Peter, that is, to the confessor of the Son of God, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. But since a private person (as Peter was) can fall, as he also fell more than once later on, Christ must be understood in this place in such a way that he does not speak of the private person, but of the public confession, which Peter makes here, that is, of the ministry of preaching, which lasts until the end of the world against all the gates of hell.

Therefore, the word "you" is not properly understood by any person, not by any bishop, but by the Church itself, which endures and has the ministry of preaching, which endures.

54 Therefore, let us defend our faith against the lying papacy: First, that Peter here is a public person of the whole church or of the preaching ministry. For the private person of Peter, Christ soon after [v. 23] calls a Satan, that is, a person who is not holy. But this cannot be understood of the church, of which Paul commands to believe that it is holy and subject to Christ (Eph. 5, 27). The best fathers agree with this opinion, who say that Peter answered in the name of all apostles, just as Christ did not ask Peter, but all apostles. Therefore, this word "you" also belongs to all the apostles, equally and in general, whom he had asked.

55. Secondly. Even if he had said it to Peter alone: I will give them to you, it does not follow that the Roman pope is Peter's successor, partly because spiritual goods are not hereditary, like the goods of this world; otherwise it would also follow that, just as Peter was holy and chosen, so all Roman popes must certainly and necessarily be holy and chosen; On the other hand, because Peter was not a bishop of the Roman Church alone, nor even a bishop of any church, but an apostle of many churches, who made others bishops over them. Therefore, this succession, which the Roman bishop alone arrogates to himself among the other bishops who are like him, belongs to all the churches that were established by him.

Finally, if the Roman successor of Peter was equal to the apostle Peter, it would follow that Linus or Cletus (who are said to have been appointed bishops of the Roman Church by Peter) would have been higher after the death of Peter than the apostle and evangelist John, who was still alive at that time. But who would admit this, that a bishop is above an apostle? Otherwise, if now St. Paul or St. Andrew were to return, they would have to be under the Roman Pontiff, even if he were a greater villain than even Julius the Second or Clement the Seventh had been. But it is known that the apostles were not under Peter, but like him.

What nonsense is it of the papists that they want the apostolic churches to be subject (even in temporal goods) only to the One Roman Church of St. Peter, since Peter himself has also destroyed many other churches, of which he is called apostle for just as valid reasons, especially since the Roman Church to this day neither has the body of St. Peter nor knows where it is?

Thirdly (this proof is a posteriori, that is, taken from the success), the very impudent lie of the papists is refuted by the matter itself and by experience. For neither the apostles have ever been under Peter, nor the churches throughout the world have ever been under the Roman pope. All histories testify to this. Now, to say that Christ promised the subjection of all the churches to Peter and his successor, the Roman pope, is just as much as to say that Christ was a liar because he never fulfilled the promised (as they pretend) subjection. Therefore it follows that he did not promise it, as the arch-villains, the papists, brazenly lie. What is it, then, that the frenzied people not only lie, but also blaspheme the Lord, teaching that he promised something he did not keep, or rather that he promised what he did not promise, since the obvious experience in this matter testifies to the opposite?

For how many parts of the whole world have been under the pope? Yes, to this day not even Europe has ever had him, and in Augustine's time not even Africa, yes, not even Italy; but India and other larger parts of the world (in which there must necessarily be Christians) have perhaps never heard the name of the Roman pope. But to condemn all these parts of the world and to reject them because they either do not know about the tyranny of the Roman pope or do not want to accept it, that is much more than diabolical.

60 Therefore, let us despise these obvious and satanic lies of the pope, and learn that Christ comes from a far superior place.

The words are clear: "I will build my church," and "I will build my church. The words are clear: "I will build my church." He does not say he will build a worldly kingdom or temporal dominion for this life, but "my church," that is, the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of the life to come.

61 Furthermore: "On this rock", not on a man, or on transient power, as the pope seeks it. For by this power the church is not helped up, but suffers persecution from it; nor is eternal life promoted by it, but prevented.

The church is not a temporal kingdom, so much so that it does not have to fight with flesh and blood, but with the gates of hell. The gates of hell are not worldly power, but the power of Satan, the kingdom of sin and death. These are the enemies of the Church, with whom it contends and against whom it triumphs. She does not fight for the city of Rome, not for Sicily, not for Naples, not for Bologna, not with the powers of this world, as the popes do. For Rome, Naples, Bologna are not sin, death, the devil, namely the true enemies of the Church; but they are stones and wood, earth, water, gold, silver etc., desirable things for unbelieving and lost people, the like of which God is wont to grant to His enemies and even to the devil. To the church he gives a better and more excellent good than such dung, namely righteousness against sin, salvation against the tyranny of Satan, life against death etc., which the pope does not respect. And in the meantime he knits a net out of this most spiritual saying of Matthew, with which he tries to catch the great whale fish in this sea, that is, the kingdoms of the world, by the devil's powers, instigations, and deceptions.

Therefore, it is to be noted here that Christ describes His Church in revealed words as an armed battle array and warrior heroine against the gates of hell, that is, against the temptations of sin, death and hell. Therefore, a far greater and more difficult work lies ahead of us Christians.

If we use this title in earnest, it is more important to bring the kingdoms of the world under our rule through deceit and lies; we must fight against the gates of hell. The devil can also accomplish the former, and he can do it far better than we can. For he is a prince and god of this world, not only now, but from the beginning and always and until the end of the world. The church therefore contends, overcomes, triumphs and reigns against sin, against death, and against the author and lord of both, namely against the devil or the gates of hell, as Christ here promises, and encourages and comforts such soldiers that they should be brave and certain of victory, as long as they remain with the church, which confesses this rock, and as built up on it.

V.19. And I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Because in this alternating and dangerous struggle many must necessarily fall or be wounded and fall into danger, he decrees a remedy for this, namely the remission and retention of sins, which he calls the keys of the kingdom of heaven. The one, as I judge, is to close the kingdom of heaven to the impenitent, but the other is to open it to the penitent, so that by the two keys he seems to understand both powers, to bind and to loose. But I do not argue with the quarrelsome. For the key of knowledge, which Lucas, Cap. 11, 52, and Matthew, Cap. 23, 13, do not belong to these keys of which Christ speaks in this place, but the key of knowledge is there called the power to teach, or the office and power to instruct the people by the law. But here the keys are the power or office to bind and loose those who, having already been taught and instructed, have subsequently fallen and sinned.

(65) And these keys we accept in a broad sense, so that they take place in all places, at all times, and with all persons.

(if only order and discipline are not confused), that is, that not only by the public voice of the gospel are the sins committed in the church loosed and bound, according to the saying, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned" [Marc. 16:16], but also that each brother may punish and comfort the other (especially in time of need), according to the saying, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" [Matt. 18:20], so that the public preaching of the gospel or the ministry of the keys is not despised. For it shall not be lawful in the church, for the liberty of secretly using the office of the keys, that the public administration of the same should be mocked. For this would be to create a riot, and to draw the grace of Christ into disobedience.

Therefore, the pope does not have the power, just as St. Peter did not, to usurp kingdoms, to remove and install kings, and to plague them according to his will. For Christ is speaking here of the binding and loosing of sins, that is, of eternal death and life, not of worldly crowns and majesties. For he is talking about the church, that is, about faithful confessors of the rock, not about earthly worldly regiment.

67 And it is surprising that, when he mentions the keys, he does not mention their function, namely, to close and open, for that is their true function, but to bind and loose, which actually belongs to cords and chains. But in order that the keys might be understood in a more subtle way, not for something material, he wanted to call these two powers in this way, so that the retention and forgiveness of sins would be indicated all the more easily and clearly. For chains and cords would rather represent a binding than a loosening, or rather only a captivity. The binding and loosening, however, actually represent the retained and remitted sin. Therefore he wanted to represent them by the keys, which should make both present. For a key is not only used for locking, but primarily for unlocking, and the key is used almost exclusively for this purpose, in order to borrow with it.

Christ and the Church are more inclined to loosen than to bind. Or say something better in response to this question.

(68) This passage should also be noted against the Novatians, who said that the fallen had no hope of forgiveness of sins after baptism. That is to take away the keys of the church altogether, especially the most important part of it, namely the forgiveness of sins. They know nothing of original sin and its power; furthermore, they know nothing of Christ, that he is the reconciler and an eternal priest [1 John 2:1, 2 Hebrews 7:25], pretending that he can only save once and not forever. We let these go.

For us orthodox believers, this passage is full of comfort and instruction, namely, that Christ has left in the church the power to judge, condemn, and separate the stubborn, trustworthy, and secure sinners, whether they be manifest or hidden. For even those who are secretly wicked must be afraid, both of public condemnation in preaching and of secret condemnation from a brother. So also they must fear the special administration of the office of the keys, which is also public, but different from the general, because the general administration does not name a person; but this special one acts against one or more certain private persons. Thus the wicked, Sichern etc. have to fear something, namely the binding of the church.

On the other hand, for the frightened and contrite he has left the power to absolve them, to comfort them, and to accept again both the secret and the open sinners, so that the earth may be full of the goodness of the Lord [Ps. 33:5.], that the humble may have something to hope for, namely, the redemption of the church, both publicly and secretly, both in general and in particular, yea, even for every individual person, not only from One Sin, nor from One Kind of the same, but from all sins of all kinds and sorts. And it is a great comfort to know that the judgment of the church is nothing other than the judgment of God in heaven itself.

Therefore, a stubborn and sure sinner can be sure that it is in vain for him to be sure and despise the Church, if he misses finding the solution of sins and the grace of God elsewhere than in the Church. And a contrite sinner can also be sure, when he hears the Church or a brother absolving him, that he hears nothing but the voice of God Himself from Heaven, addressing him in a confidential manner, personally and specifically.

This should have been diligently inculcated and insisted upon, namely, to instruct and rightly guide the consciences; not the blasphemous things, the power to rule and tyrannize in worldly matters, as the pope has done. But this horrible abuse of the keys has been spoken of elsewhere, and must be spoken of emphatically and at all times. Besides, I have also said many things about these things in the 18th chapter, which can be used for sermons. Therefore, what I have put here should be enough for these short remarks.

V. 20. Then he forbade his disciples not to tell anyone that he was Jesus the Christ.

He wanted his disciples to know that he was Christ before he suffered, so that after the pain of the cross they would be convinced that he was truly Christ, even though he was executed by such an ignominious and painful death. So also after his resurrection the angel repeats the words with which he foretold that he should be crucified [Marc. 16, 7.], so that they would know that he suffered of his own free will, as a lord of death, not out of compulsion, as a servant of death. For he wanted to die of his own free will, not by force; but we are forced to die against our will. For he is the master and conqueror of death; but we are servants and prisoners of death. Only through him are we also freed from death and made masters of death through faith.

V. 21 From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples how he was to go to Jeremiah.

salem, and suffer much from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and rise again the third day.

Furthermore, Christ forbids that he should not be known as the Christ before the fulfillment of his suffering; indeed, he publicly foretold the suffering itself, admitting that it must be foretold, lest afterwards, when his suffering came, they should doubt that he was the Lord and the Christ, since he had foretold it, and not think that he suffered by chance or according to human will (as it appeared in the eyes of the unwise). For the disciples, as future witnesses of Christ in the whole world, were very anxious to know this.

But Christ does this mainly to show his disciples that his kingdom is not temporal or earthly, because he predicts just the opposite to them, namely, that he himself, even in Jerusalem itself, as well as the chief priests and princes, should suffer and be killed. As if he wanted to say: One must not hope that my kingdom is a temporal kingdom, that I myself must be crucified and destroyed full of those who are the highest in this kingdom and even in the chosen place of the kingdom, namely in Jerusalem, and that the people of the kingdom will be my and my kingdom's enemy. Now if my kingdom were temporal, I would certainly want to be made king by the princes and in the most distinguished place. But I have another kingdom, which is not of this world; for I shall rise again after three days, after I have overcome death. Therefore, my kingdom is eternal life after death has been overcome and abolished by my death.

This is when he says, "He must rise again on the third day. These are words of life and blessedness, which are presented to the believers for comfort. But see what flesh and blood holds full of these things.

V.22. And Peter took him, and addressed him, saying, Lord, spare thyself, lest this befall thee.

Here Peter is vehemently angered (no doubt the other disciples were of the same opinion with him), after he had heard the angry prophecy that Christ (that is, the King, the Messiah, the Son of the living God) was to be crucified. For he hoped that the kingdom of Christ, the Son of the living God, would be a temporal kingdom. Therefore, he speaks in utter dismay, "Why do you speak like this? You are a king and the Son of God; you will not be crucified and stabbed, for we believe in you as the Son of God and our King! Be far from you! God forbid this! Spare yourself! etc. And Peter does not speak here for himself as a private person, but in the person of the whole synagogue and all those who hoped that the Messiah would be a temporal and worldly king. All of them thought and wanted exactly what Peter thinks and wants here, as the Jews still think today. And this is the ground on which all Jews stand who are born of the flower, that Christ will be a temporal and visible king of the world. Therefore it is written here about Peter that he gives this answer, not as if he was called to it, asked for it, or as if it was commanded to him, but out of his own impulse and sense of the flesh he goes forth carelessly, so that it may be shown that his answer is not commanded in the word of God and does not come from the revelation of the Father, like the above answer, but has flowed from his own inclination of his flesh and, as one is wont to say, from his own devotion, without the word of God. Therefore, with a hard word, but without hardness of heart, he is also dismissed and rejected by Christ, in such a way that he is also called a Satan, that is, an adversary of Christ Himself and of God, as the words immediately following indicate.

V.23. But he turned and said to Petro, "Get thee, Satan, out of my sight; thou art vexatious to me: for thou meanest not what is divine, but what is human.

78 But this is the opinion of Christ, in a serious, but against a

Peter, you answered rightly when I asked you and all that I was the Christ, the Son of the living God; but now that you hear that I am to be crucified, you do not understand the wonderful counsel of God, and fall on flesh and carnal thoughts, and without the revelation of the Father speak only your own, that is, foolish and carnal things. Therefore, "remove thyself from me"; far be it from me that I should prefer this thy carnal wisdom to the will of the Father; much rather would I lose thee and all, than that I should disobey my Father at thy plea. Here you are entirely a fool, and do not understand what is to be accomplished by the Son of the living God, whom you have confessed.

(79) Here it is well to be noted that no person besides Christ is to be trusted in matters concerning salvation, even if it were Peter himself, the highest apostle (as is supposed). For we see here clearly, and by a manifest example, that Peter himself, with the whole company of the apostles, speaking apart from the confession of the rock, and of his own, speaks not only foolish things, but also such things as go against the rock, and that he is expressly called a Satan by the Lord himself. In this we are made certain, as in an exceedingly powerful truth, and for the certain assurance of our conscience, that we are to hear only that which Peter, together with the other apostles, as a confessor from Revelation, with rejection of all universal vision of the person, even of the apostleship, as a confessor, teaches from the revelation of the Father, namely that Christ is the Son of the living God, whereas everything that Peter speaks with the entire college of apostles from his own mind, and not from the same confession of revelation, is to be considered devilish and contrary to Christ. Paul also says, 1 Cor. 3, 11: "No one can lay any other foundation than the one that has been laid, which is Jesus Christ," and 1 Cor. 16, 22: "If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, maharam motha," that is, anyone who loves something else (who also teaches the same thing).

something else), let him be accursed. And to the Galatians, Cap. 1, 8: Let him be accursed who teaches anything else, even if it were I, or Peter, or an angel from heaven; and 2 Pet. 1, 19. f.: "We have a firm prophetic word." Further, the Father Himself speaks from heaven, "Him shall ye hear" [Matt. 3:17.]. And Christ himself [Joh. 8, 12.]: "I am the light of the world." [Joh. 10, 8.:] "All that came before me were thieves and murderers"; and Joh. 8, 36.: "If therefore the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."

80 Such sayings are found everywhere in the whole gospel and the epistles of the apostles; and yet they could not, and still cannot, bring it so far that Peter's and the apostles' successors did not want to be the successors of Satan or of the carnal Peter. For what is the papacy today but the very kingdom which the Jews hope for from Christ and which the apostles hoped for at that time? namely, the most worldly, most hopeful and most tyrannical kingdom. Furthermore, what is the teaching of the pope other than a man's own delusion, even against the rock or the confession of the Son of the living God?

81. If we now (as is fair, just and true) consider Christ our Lord to be the highest of all prophets, so that all his speeches and deeds are not only the teaching or interpretation of Scripture, but also a prophecy of what is to come, then we must necessarily assume that here in this place he modeled for Peter and his apostles the future history of his entire church; namely, that some true confessors of Christ would be in the Church, as the best bishops and martyrs, who confessed Christ, the Son of the living God, pure and true, and taught according to the example of Peter, who spoke from the revelation of the Father.

82) But because the same Peter and the apostles soon became carnal-minded, even devils (as he himself speaks), this history also indicates that after the successors of the apostles and the very good bishops, satanic bishops would come; and at last he would come who would

would only want to be the successor of the one Peter, who, instead of the revelation of the Father, would follow Satan and would not seek God's kingdom, but the kingdom of the world. And we see this prophecy fulfilled in a tangible and terrifying way.

Therefore we must constantly confess that these words, "Get thee, Satan, out of my sight; thou art vexatious to me, because thou meanest not what is divine, but what is human," are spoken against the successor of the carnal Peter, or the Pabstacy. For the papacy is a Satan, that is, an adversary of Christ, and an offense to the Christian church, full of pernicious sects, 1) which are directed against this one and true confession of the Son of the living God. For what does the papacy mean, what does it teach, even if it teaches best, but tyranny over the church of God and over the majesties of the world, according to its own head and will? That is, it means nothing other than what is human. It does not teach the faith and the cross of Christ, and the death of the flesh, but it teaches about the worldly kingdom, about freedom, dominion, tyranny over everything that is divine and human, and everything that is against Christ. For that which Christ denied and shunned, namely worldly kingdom, power and glory in this world, it seeks furiously and furiously, and demands it as things that would be owed to him, and that by putting forward Christ, who not only did not seek such things, but was also crucified and killed by the rulers of the world. But here is neither the place nor the time to deal with this abomination. Consider for yourself, dear reader, the words and deeds of Christ, and hold them up against the words and deeds of Pabst, and you will see, if you have a clear idea of Christ, the manifest and perfect form of the Antichrist, who is hopeful and raging under the pretense of the name of Christ.

1) The Jena edition offers: seetarum, perältionls, but the 'comma after seetarnm is to be deleted according to 2 Petr. 2, 1.

V. 24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

First of all, there is a promise here, when he says, "If any man will come after me," that is, "Whosoever will be my disciple, and be where I am, and come whither I go, and abide with me, let him do a very different thing from that which he hath hitherto detested. For men have hitherto been under the delusion that if they did the law, or (as Paul says [Rom. 9:31]) were inferior to the law of righteousness, they could attain to the righteousness of the law. But I say unto you, that ye must first despair of your works, and then take up the cross. For these are the two parts of the Christian life, namely, to despair of oneself, or to deny oneself; then to take up one's cross.

Here it is necessary to explain what it means to deny oneself. But the true denial of oneself does not only consist in leaving one's goods and houses, as the monks have falsified this passage to the worst by teaching that whoever wants to follow Christ must leave his goods and parents, go to a monastery, and lead a solitary life, and serve God alone. That is why so many vows and orders came into being. But, I pray thee, what denial was this, since, when they had left their own bodily things, they found strange and greater ones, yea, sought them by fraud, hypocrisy, and all manner of wicked artifices? In the meantime they have nevertheless retained, nay, increased, that which is the main thing in true denial, that is, presumption and confidence in their own righteousness and works. Therefore, they also brazenly sold their superfluous righteousness and good works to others and, which is a terrible abomination, made themselves equal to Christ, even preferred them.

86. But Christ deals here especially with the head of the serpent, namely, the confidence or presumption in righteousness from the law and the works

may trample on the one they cherish the most. For Christ wants us to deny completely everything that we are, what we are able to do, what we do. But how do I deny myself, if I deny nothing but the outward larvae, namely the garment, the food, the place, the customs, the manners, and retain and strengthen the will and the mind, or the delusion of my holiness and knowledge in works? That is bringing God the husks and eating the kernel itself. Dear, what kind of denial is this, since I rob a hundred times more than I give? I give to God a cap, a certain place, a reputation of the person, certain customs (or rather, I only change them), and meanwhile seek something better than this, reserving for myself the wisdom and righteousness of the works. This is not what Christ calls denying oneself, but the true denial is described thus, namely, that you submit your will and mind, that is, righteousness, wisdom, works etc. and say with Paul, "That I should not have my righteousness which is of the law" [Phil. 3:8, 9, 1], even that you should regard it as filth, that in Christ you may be wise, and righteous, and alive, but in yourself a fool, a sinner, and dead.

Accordingly, to deny oneself is as much as to deny oneself completely, not only any part or the bodily, as clothing, food, place, etc., but you, you must be killed completely and become nothing, and keep nothing, on which you would rely before God. This will not happen unless you also deny that which is highest and best in you, namely, righteousness and wisdom, and become a sinner and fool, ascribing righteousness and wisdom to Christ alone. Then you will be truly righteous, because he "who died is justified from sin" (as Paul 1) says [Rom. 6:7, 1). For such a person, who despairs of himself in this way, God must be gracious to him through Christ and grant him all good things.

Finally, the one who has denied himself for the sake of Christ must turn to the

1) In the Latin editions erroneously: "Petrus".

Send temptation. For he who denies, condemns, punishes the works of his own righteousness, and opposes the hypocrites and false deniers, must prepare himself for death, for the world can suffer and hear nothing less than that the works of its own righteousness are condemned.

The words: "He takes up his cross" have been interpreted quite wrongly. For to take up the cross has been understood to be the same as to choose a cross, that is, to scourge oneself as the monks do; but we should suffer nothing at all from those who impose a cross upon us. For by their scourging and harsh ceremonies, they have made a pretense to the world in order to gain glory and honor in the world, and meanwhile nothing has been more impatient than this kind of people. For they are full of vengeance and hatred; as befits hypocrites.

90 Therefore, it is necessary to describe exactly what it is to take up one's cross. But it is to take up the cross, for the sake of the word and faith, to voluntarily take up and bear the hatred of the devil, of the world, of the flesh, of sin, of death etc. Here it is not necessary to choose a cross. Only begin the first part of life, and deny yourself, that is, punish works righteousness, and confess the righteousness of faith, and immediately the other part will also be there, namely the cross, which you should then take upon yourself, just as Christ took upon Himself His own. But because the hypocrites condemn the first part, and defend their own righteousness, they not only do not take up the cross, but they themselves become crucifiers and murderers of the blessed who bear the cross. In the meantime, they wear their sclerotic robes, their fasts, their sacrifices, their vigils, their disciplines, etc., but with great applause and admiration of the world, and to the special delight of the devil.

91. But he adds strangely: "his" [cross]. For he does not teach that we should bear that cross which he himself has borne; but he says, "Let each man bear his own cross. Each one's cross is already prepared, that is, according to the measure of the strength of each one (for

we cannot all suffer the same, because we are not all equal to one another in faith and in the power of the Spirit). However, remember that you bear yours, another his, the third his, and so on. For a weak man's cross, though in itself the lightest of all, can be as heavy as St. Paul's cross, which was the heaviest of all. The difference in strength makes all the crosses of all men equal, which are nevertheless, one to the other, very unequal. One man's prison is easier than another man's contempt or blasphemy; one man's death is easier than another man's deprivation of part of his goods. Therefore, each one has his cross, that is, the cross that is proper to each one, according to the time, the place, and the strength of the one who suffers it. Thus Paul says [1 Cor. 10:13], "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above your ability, but will make an end of the temptation, that ye may be able to bear it."

(92) Therefore, let each one consider the cross with which the Lord has weighed him down; only do not grumble if another seems to have a lighter burden. For this one has less strength, and a load that is so exactly adapted to his strength, as if it were measured according to geometrical proportions. A man carries a hundred pounds, a child only one. Therefore a man is not angry that he carries a hundred pounds, and not, like the child, only one pound.

But Christ adds this mark to the carrying of the cross: "and follow me. For it is not enough to take up one's cross for the sake of the word, or to deny oneself, if one does not also follow Christ. For not he who begins, but "he who perseveres to the end, the same shall be saved" [Matth. 24, 13.). Therefore, you too, with your cross, follow Christ, who bears his cross, to the end. Many begin well, but in the middle they grow weary, and in the end they fall away; like the seed that fell on the stony ground and among the thorns [Luc. 8:13, 14]. For in looking back, either to peace, or to the kingdom, or to the

If they do not have the riches or other advantages of the world, they lose the intended goal of the heavenly calling. Thus Demas finally left St. Paul, because he loved the world, although he had well begun etc. [2 Tim. 4, 10.]

V. 25 For whoever wants to keep his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

He reinforces this statement with two seemingly strange sentences (paradoxis). For it sounds strange to the ears of the flesh: He who loves or preserves his life will lose it, and he who loses it will preserve it. But this is why he speaks such strange words, so that they may stick all the more firmly in their memory. For strange speeches encourage and strike the ears all the more, because they seem to be impossible.

95. He now says, "Take heed that you do not refuse the cross for my sake, and seek peace and honor and good days apart from me. For I tell you that if you seek peace in this way, you will run into an eternal cross; and if you refuse the cross, you will lose eternal peace. On the other hand, if you take up the temporal cross, you will find eternal peace; and because you despise this temporal peace, you will escape the eternal cross. Thus he says [Luc. 6, 24. f.]: "Woe to you who are rich, for you have lost your comfort. Woe to you who are full, for you will hunger. Woe to you who laugh here, for you will weep and wail." Whereas [v. 20. ff.], "Blessed are ye poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. Blessed are you who hunger here, for you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep here, for you shall laugh. Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and shall separate you, and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, because of the son of man. Rejoice then and leap; for behold, your reward is great in heaven."

Thus these two strange sayings, one a threat, the other a promise. The threat is: "Whoever wants to preserve his life will lose it."

The promise is, "He who loses his life will receive it."

97 But one must pay attention to the little word "for my sake. For many of them lose their lives wantonly; as soldiers, miserly men, arrogant men, who run into the greatest misfortune, even into death itself; but for money, honor, and other causes, not for the sake of Christ. And the heretics also suffer much (as they make themselves believe) for the sake of God; but in fact and truth for the sake of their arrogance, and to let their wisdom be seen. But blessed is he who suffers for the sake of Christ.

For to lose one's life here means not only to die, but also all suffering, all crosses, all adversities, all dangers and temptations, by which the pleasant life and peace of the flesh is disturbed, which it seeks in riches, honor, and pleasure. That therefore to lose one's life is the same as to suffer for Christ's sake; and to preserve one's life is the same as not wanting to suffer anything for Christ's sake, but wanting to have his riches, his honor, and his pleasure unharmed, his will and all that is good.

V. 26. What good would it do for a man to gain the whole race and yet have his soul harmed?

Now Christ speaks as an orator, saying: "What is it that man so much seeks peace and flees from the cross? Suppose the whole world were to be his, with all its goods, apart from me, against me and without me, what profit is there for him, since he is running away to eternal damnation? Why does he seek so much the drops of peace, or the small parts of the whole world, if the whole world full of goods should be eternal damnation for him? This peace that one seeks is short, then also small, because it is the smallest part full of peace or of the good of the whole world. On the other hand, the cross is also short and the least part of eternal damnation; and yet, through a short and small peace, those run into an eternal and infinite cross; and through a short and small cross, these find eternal and infinite peace, as Paul also says:

"Our affliction, which is temporal and light, creates for us an eternal glory, which is above all things, which we do not look upon as visible, but as invisible. For what is visible is temporal, but what is invisible is eternal," 2 Cor. 4:17, 18.

Thus, it does not help a man if he also possesses the whole world. What did the rule over the whole world help Alexander? Likewise, what did it help Julius [Caesar], Augustus and their successors? They lived a short time in happiness (floruerunt), zero they are lost forever. Thus saith the 92nd Psalm, v. 8. "The wicked green as the grass, and the wicked flourish all, till they be destroyed for ever and ever." But who considers the brevity, the smallness, the uncertainty of this life, this peace, this glory, this pleasure etc.? then also the eternity, the infinity, the certainty of death, of the cross, of shame, of pain? On the other hand, what pious man ever considers the shortness, the littleness, the lightness of the cross? then also eternity, infinity, the certainty of life, joy, bliss? O flesh, how art thou so mighty to darken these things even in the saints! Further he adds:

Or what can man give to redeem his soul?

(101) As if he wanted to say: It would not be so much to wonder or to sigh if people lost the future life for this one, if the future damnation was such that one could be redeemed from it again, or if one could return from hell again. Now a lost soul cannot be redeemed again, but the certain law remains that there is no redemption in hell except through me. But those are lost without me, not for my sake; therefore they do not have the ransom, which is me, and so they are lost for eternity without hope. And this they knowingly, deliberately, surely despise, and would rather perish than be saved, only so that they do not bear the cross for my sake for a very short time.

V.27. For it shall come to pass, that the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels; and then shall he reward every man according to his works.

(102) As if to say: Although they are secure in this world and have good peace, and therefore do not worry about the future, it is certain that they must stand before my judgment seat, although they do not believe it now. And then I will repay each one according to his works. But it will be a judgment seat of glory, and such that no one can escape, for it will be in the glory of the Father and in the presence of his angels.

With these words he discourages the peace of the world and exhorts to patience in the cross. For what is the use of enjoying peace here, even with the approval of the emperor, if it were certain that one would be condemned there before the majesty of the Father and all the angels? O, what a great consistory that will be, which will be held in the presence of the divine majesty who will appear there, and in the presence of so many thousands of angels! And the greater the majesty will be, the greater will be the terror and the shudder of the wicked.

104 When he says, "Then he will repay each one according to his works," it should be noted, first of all, that in this life there is no repayment for true godliness or for ungodliness, but it is saved for the judgment seat of Christ. For the godly are oppressed and trampled underfoot, while the ungodly flourish and reign. Consequently, godliness does not receive its reward in this life, just as ungodliness does not receive its punishment and vengeance, but in everything the opposite takes place.

Secondly, whoever wants to be godly must decide for himself that he expects his hope in the world to come. He who will not do this, let him remain wicked, like the others, and leave Paul, as Demas did, and love this world etc. In sum, godliness or godlessness cannot be judged before the tribunal of the emperor.

because the world does not know either and does not understand either what is godly or what is ungodly, condemning godliness and approving ungodliness. The world does judge the lesser things, that is, the deeds that are done against the second table, such as obvious murder, adultery, theft, injustice etc. But how bad is this judgment, if one compares it with the great misdeeds, which are committed against the first table, and against the second table with the heart and in secret! It is a beggar's judgment, and not the ABC of the judgment of God, for it judges only things that are manifestly proven before men, that is, the outermost bark of the tree etc.

106 Thirdly. These words, "He will repay each one according to his works," are taken in a high sense, that he will also condemn those works that are praised and sanctified in this world, and that he will, on the other hand, approve what is condemned in this world. As if he wanted to say: Because the world judges the godly and the godless unjustly, therefore I will judge and reward differently, not as men think etc. Thus it will happen that he will approve of John Hus, who was condemned at Costnitz, and condemn the pope with his followers, who justify themselves, because they did not reward John Hus according to his works, but just the opposite of what he deserved. Therefore, I will also do the opposite and repay him according to his works and make him blessed, and those also according to their works and condemn them.

(107) From this it is evident how inconsistently the sophists falsify this passage, and draw it to justification, that is, that we are justified or condemned by works, when Christ does not speak of justification, but of his judgment seat, before which he will judge the righteous and the wicked. For here he does not teach how we are to be justified, but how the just and the unjust are to be tested, whether they have been just or unjust.

From the works.

(108) But because the sophists do not care for the clear and proper meaning of the passages of Scripture, according to the matter of which they speak (secandum materiam subjectam), but, when they find only the word "works," immediately cry out, Behold, according to the works, according to the works! We too will digress a little and speak of works, but not for their sake, but for ours, although ours are to be reminded that they are not to admit that such passages of Scripture, which have nothing to do with justification, belong to the matter of justification; and on this they are to insist and persevere. When this is established, they may engage in a general disputation of the works (though this is not the place for it), and so say:

First of all, the Scripture has two parts: one is the promise, the other is the law. This difference is certain and is not doubted even by the opponents. Furthermore, it is certain that the promise does not demand that which we owe to do, but it offers us that which God gives us.

(110) If this difference is established and acknowledged, then it necessarily follows (as it must) that all speeches or citations of works and rewards belong to the law, not to the promise. If they belong to the law, it necessarily follows that they do not teach what God promises us without the law, but they show what we are to do. But by showing what we are to do, they summarize the whole of life as it should be. But life cannot be whole unless it includes in itself, along with works, the will, the reason, and all the powers, both of the soul and of the body. For example, the commandment: Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal etc., requires not only the works, but also the heart and all the limbs; as Christ explains Matth. 5, 21. ff. Here nothing is said about what God wants to do, but what we must do. Therefore, there is no promise here, but rather

law alone, which requires the whole person.

Secondly, since the law requires the whole man in such a way, it is rightly said that each man is recompensed according to his works. For it is necessarily understood by this that retribution also takes place according to the heart, according to the movement of the mind, according to the will and according to reason, from which the works flow and arise. These relate to each other like cause and effect, like a composite being; for without heart or reason no work would take place, neither a good nor an evil one.

(112) Therefore one must have great abhorrence of those who force the sayings of the Scriptures concerning works as if they could be done without reason and will, whereas reason and will are the most noble, the first and greatest part of works, and are necessarily included in all sayings that speak of works. For this is a fallacy in composition and division, that is, they divide that which should be combined and joined together, namely, works and reason.

(113) When we have received this, that the work necessarily includes in itself, nay, has reason or the will (that is, the whole man) for its presupposition, then it follows easily and of itself: before the work the person or reason must be right and good. For if reason is not first right and good, it is impossible that a right and good work can be done.

(114) Now ask a worldly wise man whether right reason alone, without works, makes a person good? Here he is forced to answer: before works, and without previous works, reason must be right, for works do not make reason, but works come from right reason. Consequently, by right reason alone, without works, the person becomes right; then, when the person has become right by reason, the works take place. Thus it happens that not the right works

But right reason makes works, and reason is right without works and before works; indeed, they are effects of reason, which is right before works. Therefore, in moral philosophy, too, the judgment must be made that a good work without reason is nothing, and that man becomes good only through reason, without works, and before works.

If this is true in moral philosophy, how much more must it be true in theology, where a heavenly gift is required in addition to natural reason. For just as in moral works right reason is necessarily required beforehand, which makes man good before works and without works: so in Christian works faith is required before all things, which makes the person good. For what reason is in moral things, faith is in theology, as in nature the tree is rather than the fruit.

For here also it may be asked: whether the fruit makes the tree, or whether the tree makes the fruit? Here one will answer from nature: If there is not first a tree that has its sap, etc. no fruit will be produced. So also in moral things; if a man is not good and does not have his sap, that is, the right reason, then no good works follow. So also in theology, if there is not the sap and the fatness of the olive tree, that is, faith and the knowledge of God, there are no faithful works.

(117) It is therefore true that the tree is good without fruit, and before fruit, by its sap and nature alone. The truth is certain that the moral man is good without works, and before works, by right reason alone. The truth is certain that a Christian is righteous without works of love, and before love, by faith alone.

118) What is it, then, that they insist so much on works and on the sayings about works, since they must confess that there can be no work unless there is first a worker, or one who works without works; and that the work necessarily requires

beforehand a person who does the work? Why then do they argue so much against us that we say that faith is without works and makes the person righteous, followed by works, which do not make the person righteous, but are done by a person who is already righteous; since they must confess that this happens in such a way, both in nature and in moral philosophy, or in the law?

(119) Now if the sophists object to this: God repays each one according to his works [Matth. 16, 27]; likewise: "Do this, and you will live" [Luc. 10, 28] and the like; then one must answer: These sayings are nothing else than commandments of God, which demand the whole man and the whole life, because they teach us what we should do, or what we have done. Just as St. Augustine says: by such passages of Scripture we are reminded of what we should do, but not praised for what we could do or what we have done.

120 Therefore, the conclusion is quite wrong: God rewards according to works; consequently, works either justify or condemn. And in truth, there is a fallacy in composition and division (fallacia compositionis et divisionis). For they maliciously separate from one another that which is summed up, since the word "works" is something summed up 1) which includes in itself the faith or believing reason by which the values take place etc. But they separate this summary, and set works alone, or a part of the summary, against faith, and want to be saved by works. And even the text of the Gospel does not suffer this erroneous division, for it connects the works with the person, and makes of him who does the works and of the works such a composite thing that must not be separated. For he saith not, He will recompense every man his works; but thus, He will recompense every man according to his works." "To every one," saith he, that is, as to the person,

1) Latin: cornxositum, i.e. it contains several terms in itself, is a collective term.

The person who does the work will receive the reward. Therefore, it is not the works that receive the reward, but the one who does the works. But the one who does the works is the one who is either good or evil before the work. Therefore, to infer from the work to the one who does the work is to infer from the part to the whole. Just as if you were to conclude: This animal has two feet, therefore it is a man; for two feet are a part of a man, but not the whole man.

(121) If this be too high for the common man to understand, let this simple doctrine remain: that the sayings of Scripture, which speak of works and rewards, are rules according to which the whole life must be arranged. They do not ask what faith is, what Christ is, what their ministry is, but only require that we keep them and live by them, for they command something.

But the sayings of the Scriptures, which deal with the promises, are teachings in which it is asked: what is faith, what can it do, what does it do? In short, it is quite another matter when it is said: Thus shalt thou live, or thus hast thou lived. For this doctrine comprehends the whole man and the whole life, and is taught by commandments and by law. Likewise it is another matter when it is said, Where shall this life be taken from, and what belongs to it? Immediately one says: Be pious, be righteous etc. Here you are not taught or asked whence or by what you are to be justified; but it is simply said, Be righteous, love, do good works. But this is quite a different question: by what shall we be justified? Here it is divided, and thus distinguished, that faith justifies without works. But if a person is justified by faith, then the whole thing happens, namely, that you are justified and do good works. That is, after you have first been justified by faith, you do works. Here are two different things, the faith and the works; and yet they are

One in all commandments, because all commandments require both. This kind of deceit occurs in all the reasons for concluding that works are contrary to faith, because they take the whole and conclude only one part.

V. 28. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

Of these "some" the Lord Himself was not one, since He did not taste death alone, but He tasted death for all, as if He alone should taste it, and having tasted it, He swallowed it [Heb. 2:9]. Almost all hold that Christ speaks of John the evangelist and of his mother Mary, who, it is believed, did not die. For this is what Christ says in the last chapter of John, v. 22, 23: "If I will that he remain, what is it to thee?" Here we can add what is written in his legend.

It is believable, and I believe it to be true, that Christ spoke these words in the fullness of the Spirit, and out of exuberant joy of heart, about his glorious resurrection, or about the power and effect of his resurrection. After this he knew that the power of death should be so subdued and subdued that many would die bravely in faith in him, despising death and its terrors, just as Peter, Paul, and all the apostles, and many martyrs, sang the song of triumph to death in mockery: "Death, where is thy sting?" [Yes, at all times, and even today, many die in Christ as if they fell asleep gently and without pain, and do not feel the horror of death at all. That therefore the opinion is this: Through me death is swallowed up in victory, so that also some who stand here will die without death or, more correctly, will fall asleep, in that they will not feel the power of death. As if he wanted to say: How you all do not know at all who is the one who will die.

be the one you hear and see here. Verily I say unto you, I am he by whom death is so overcome, that not only before, and after, but even now some of them which ye see shall die without the pain of death: That ye may know that in me all things are, and that all things depend upon me, when I shall be risen. "I am the resurrection and the life," so that though one die, yet shall he live. [For this reason he also declares in the following chapter [Matth. 17] by a clear appearance (visione) that those who believe in him live and die without pain, like Moses and Elijah, whom he presents to the apostles as they live in glory.

Therefore, these words are a preface to the following chapter, and with them the 17th chapter should begin. For what he has told them in words, he immediately shows them in reality, that is, in a glorious and clear appearance. Although the text says that this appearance happened only six days later, there is nothing between these words and the appearance, as if he had first prophesied with words about that which he wanted to present to them after six days. Just as He prophesied on the day of His ascension [Luc. 24, 49] that they would be clothed with power from on high, which He declared to them on the tenth day afterward by the sending of the Holy Spirit.

(126) This word, "Some of those who are standing here," can be understood in two ways. First, in such a way as to exclude the whole multitude, that is, to be understood by the apostles and all the believers who were present in the flesh at that time, even though they did not believe at that time but were to become believers later; that the meaning was this: "All who believe in me from this multitude of the people will die without tasting death, that is, they will live forever.

Secondly, that by this he would exclude some of the apostles and believers at that time, or those who would believe in him in the future. As if he wanted to say: There are some here among the believers, and who are my disciples either

or those who are to become of this multitude in the future, who will not taste death, until etc., that the understanding is this: Many of these my present and future disciples will indeed fall asleep in death without pain: but not all. For the rest, though they shall be saved, yet shall they feel and, according to my example, taste the terror of death; for they shall not all conquer death in the same manner, nor die in the same manner, or with the same sensation. This mind pleases me best, because the prophets also complain of the fear of death and of the pains of hell, as, in the sixth Psalm and many others. For in one the power of the resurrection is stronger than in the other, after the Spirit communicates the measure of faith as he wills, for the benefit of the church and of the individual believers.

Until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.

(128) Here the question arises: What do the dead do or suffer until the Son of Man comes? Of those at least who die without pain and do not taste death, it is not doubtful that they will suffer no evil until Christ comes. For Christ must speak the truth here, "They shall not taste death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." The same is testified by Isaias, Cap. 57, 1. 2. "The righteous are taken away from calamity, and they that have walked rightly before them come to peace, and rest in their chambers." And this is enough to know of the saints who fall asleep in Christ. For what peace and security they have, we cannot understand. And it is sacrilegious to assert something without God's word, which seems to us to be drawn out by a good inference. For it does not follow: Peter lives; therefore he eats and drinks. His soul lives; therefore it believes or hopes. For he may live, and yet neither eat nor drink, but sleep, or do any other thing that I know not. And so in other things also.

About Purgatory. 1)

But what shall we say of those who do not die without pain and taste death? Here the papists would make two orders; one of the damned, who always remain in the taste, or rather in the stupor (ebrietate) of death, that is, who are tormented with the rich glutton in hell; the other of those who are to be blessed, who are to go into purgatory, and taste death for a time, until they are delivered from it. But the rich feast does not serve our purpose, because we are talking here about those who are to be saved. For whether the damned begin their hell immediately or on the last day is not part of the question, and does not concern us, since they have already been judged by their eternal sentence. But of the others, because purgatory cannot be proved by certain sayings of Scripture or of the Fathers (though the reputation of the Fathers is not enough in so important a matter), one may without danger have this opinion, that after they have tasted death, and the body has been dissolved, they cease to taste death, and then rest in peace and safety until Christ shall come to judgment. To this the Revelation of St. John clearly alludes, Cap. 14, 13: "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth; yea, the Spirit saith, that they may rest from their labor." For he speaks of those who die in the Lord, whether they taste death or not. For those who die in the Lord are blessed. Therefore, if they rest, as the text says, it follows that there is no purgatory. Unless we were to say that those who taste death when they die do not die in the Lord, but in the devil, and they die apart from, or without, and against the Lord, like that rich glutton. But if they die in the Lord (even if they taste death), they certainly rest from their work, much more from their torment. Or you must deny the words of Revelation altogether.

130 The Papists and the Contradictors

1) The Wittenberg edition has this superscription somewhat later, almost in the middle of the paragraph.

boast that I have claimed purgatory. And I still claim it, but that purgatory which often occurs in the Psalms, where the saints praise God for having saved them from the lowest hell, from the darkness and shadow of death, from the hand of hell, from the danger of hell, from the borders and gates of death, and what is more; but not by the sacrifices or works of the mass apostles, the most wicked, impure and godless people, who sold their masses for money in a malicious way and mocked God and men with their mere outward works (operibus operatis). Finally, this purgatory is also not a fictitious purgatory (as theirs is), and which is only claimed by human opinions (should it also be those of the fathers), but it is something real, and something exceedingly serious for those who learn with the prophets and all the saints in Christ's school this hard lesson: "He leads into hell, and out again; he kills and makes alive" [1 Sam. 2, 6.].

131. but I have elsewhere, enough of

the papal and bogus purgatory. For the fathers, whom they praise, did not have the thoughts of these arch-villains, nor did they teach them, much less suppose that they should be taught in the church.

(132) But Abraham and Lazarus are surely alive, and are seen of the rich slave, and they speak with one another (Luc. 16:23 ff.). I answer, Yes, they are certainly both alive; but with what tongue they speak, with what ears they hear, with what eyes they see, what the arms and bosom of Abraham are like, who understands, since their bodies with their limbs have become dust and ashes in the grave? Finally, who knows what that time is like, since it is not this time of ours under the sun from which they have been taken away? Be it as it may, it is enough that we know that Abraham and Lazarus are in peace and in rest. Therefore, from this apparition, purgatory is not proven for those who fall asleep in the Lord. But I have said more about this elsewhere in a sermon etc.