Since we have come together for holy baptism, let us also ring a bell for it, that is, let us speak something about this holy sacrament, to praise God and to instruct ourselves, and take before us the third chapter of Matthew, about the baptism of John and Christ.
Text: The third chapter of Matthew.
At that time John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of the land of Judah, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And he is he of whom the prophet Esaias spake, saying: There is a voice crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight. But he, John,
had a dress of camel hair and a leather belt around his loins. His food was locusts and wild honey. Then went out unto him all the city of Jerusalem, and all the land of Judaea, and all the countries that were by Jordan, and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sin. When he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them: Ye vipers, who hath shewed you that ye shall escape the wrath to come? Watch, do righteous fruits of repentance. Only do not think that you will say among yourselves, "We have Abraham for a father. I tell you, God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. The axe is already laid at the root of the trees. Therefore, whichever tree does not bear good fruit
*) Prince Bernhard of Anhalt, son of Prince Johann II of Anhalt, was born on March 17, 1540 (Joh. Christoph Beckmann, Historie des Fürstenthums Anhalt, Theil 5, Buch 2, Cap. 16, S. 178 f.), and after his baptism (which took place on the first day of Easter, March 28) Luther, who was also among the godparents, preached these sermons. In the same year they were published in Wittenberg (Walch, Vol. VII, Preface, p. 8), and again in 1541 by Nickel Schirlentz under the title: "Zwo Predigten l). Wart. Luther on the infant baptism of the young Herrlein Bernhards, Prince Johansen von Anhalt son, in the presence of the same brothers and the Bishop of Brandenburg, at Dessau, Dornstags and Fridays in Easter fl. and April 2, 154(Z happened. Item, a beautiful sermon on the following Sunday Quasimodogeniti D. Mart. Luth. on the saying of John on the 20th As the Father has sent me, so I send you, etc. Wrttemberg 1540." (Dietz, Wörterbuch, p. DXXX.) In Collections: Wittenberger (1553), vol.IV, p. 359; Jenaer (1568), vol.VII, p. 394d; Altenburger, vol. VII, p. 430; Leipziger, vol. XU, p. 161; Erlanger, first edition, vol. 19, p. 52; 2nd ed, These sermons were translated into Latin by Johann Freder from Köslin, who was then preacher at the cathedral in Hamburg, and were accompanied by a letter to the princes of Anhalt, Johann, Georg and Joachim, brothers, dated February 1543. There is a mistranslation in the title: I'sris Quarts st Quinta k'nssdas instead of: Vsr. V st VI. The sermons are dated with the wrong year (1541 instead of 1540) in the Jena and Altenburg editions and in Seckendorf, nist. Dmtb, Ud. Ill, § 93, p. 380. The translation is found in the Latin Wittenberg edition, Dona. VII, toi. 367b. We give the text according to the Jena edition, comparing the second edition of the Erlanger and the Wittenberger. The first edition of the Erlanger Ausgabe is only a reprint from Walch's old edition. Compare our notes on s 2 and s 5 of the second sermon.
will be cut off and thrown into the fire. I baptize you with water unto repentance; but he that cometh after me is stronger than I, to whom also I am not sufficient to bear his shoes. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. And he hath a shovel in his hand; he shall sweep his threshingfloor, and gather the wheat into his barns: but the chaff shall he burn with everlasting fire.
This is the text that should be preached and diligently held up to the Christian people, teaching and instructing them where baptism comes from, who instituted and instituted it, so that it may be held and praised all the more highly and gloriously for the sake of the founder.
First of all, we want to talk about the baptism of John. The baptism of John was instituted and confirmed by God just as the baptism of Christ was. For Luke 3:2 is written: "The command of God came to John son of Zachariah in the wilderness" 2c. and John 1:33: "Who sent me to baptize with water" 2c. Otherwise it would not have befitted him to do something new in the people of Israel, which both, with its kingdom and priesthood, had been chosen and established by God Himself.
Now John was called and his ministry was directed to preach (as Lucas writes [Cap. 3, 3.]) the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And he was to preach this, not to godless Gentiles, or only to public sinners in the Jewish nation, but in general to the whole nation of Israel, which at that time was God's only nation on earth, to whom he had entrusted his word, Ps. 147, 19. 20. To those who often went out to him in the wilderness, from all surrounding towns, cities and countries, he said: All of you, whatever your state and name, repent; that is, turn from your ungodly ways and sinful lives, repent and amend your ways, and prepare the way for the Lord, who promised and has now been sent to bring you all grace and blessedness; otherwise you will escape God's wrath and judgment, and have a share in the kingdom of heaven, which is now at hand. Such earnest and hard
John preaches from God's command that the people should be baptized and hear and believe God's judgment about them, namely that they were all sinners before God and condemned because of sin, and had nothing that could help them, neither circumcision nor the law, none of which was given so that they would or could be justified by it. For the more Moses pursues his ministry, the greater and more powerful sin becomes.
(4) John also came at the time when they also did this about their inherent sin, that they not only boasted and exalted that they were Abraham's seed, but also wanted to be praised as righteous and holy, that they were called God's people and were circumcised, kept the Sabbath and worshiped God. In particular, the Pharisees wanted to be the nucleus and the paragon of this people, because they led an outwardly strict, holy life and did something special in front of others, which they had chosen for themselves out of good opinion and their own devotion, almost like the monks in our country. Such delusion and presumption made them, as all hypocrites and works saints do, put their abominable sin out of their minds and hearts, even considering it great holiness and defending it, and afterwards persecuted and strangled Christ and the apostles because they punished them for it; thinking that they were doing good by it, and that they were doing God a special service. 2c.
John comes to such a people and preaches to them that they should repent or know that they are condemned, if they were still once called 4) Abraham's children and God's people. He especially speaks harshly to the Pharisees and Sadducees, because he also sees them coming to his baptism, who had a great reputation because they were the rulers and governors of the people, although these were Epicureans who believed nothing, but those were hypocrites who outwardly led an unpunishable life, and with such an appearance of holiness deceived the common people, who did not know otherwise, because they were pious, faithful shepherds, who rightly fed their flock and showed the way to salvation. That is why he scolded them so severely,
1) still once - once again.
they are called snakes and poisonous worms, where the others are bad frogs and oxen.
(6) Moreover, he also takes away their word of defense, so that they could boast and adorn themselves gloriously. We are (they said) God's people, whom he chose before all the peoples of the earth and gave circumcision; so we have and keep the law, visit God's temple at Jerusalem, and practice the holy service that God himself established. In sum, we walk in the spiritual and temporal regiment, as both were established and ordered by Moses out of God's command, and are of the blood and lineage of the holy patriarchs: Abraham is our father 2c. What can we lack, then, that we should not be pious and holy, pleasing to God, and blessed? All this, he says, does not matter. For God does not care that you know how to boast much and highly of the law, the temple, the fathers 2c. He wants you to fear him and believe his promise, to obey and accept the one he promised you and is now sending you. If not, then he will reject and cut you off, with all your glory, with which he himself has gifted and adorned you until now, before all nations. He will see to it that he raises up another people in your place. Yes, I tell you, he is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones that lie scattered here in the wilderness (as no one respects them); that is, from Gentiles, whom you consider despised, rejected people and damned sinners, like stones, because they are uncircumcised 2c., he is able to choose and accept a people for him 2c. And even if you argue that it is impossible, because God made a covenant with Abraham that he would be God forever and that his seed would be God after him, Gen. 17:2 ff, it does not help you. For the time is now at hand when Moses' reign, with all its glory, must cease and have its end. Which, in God's opinion, was not instituted to last and remain forever, but for a time, until Christ. When he comes, Moses, the servant, should leave and give place to his Lord, as he himself prophesied, Deut. 18:15: "A prophet like me,
the LORD your God will raise you up, and you shall obey him" 2c.
7. But now you should know that Christ, the Lord, who promised Abraham, is near; yes, he is already in your midst, and yet you do not know him. He will accomplish and give what God promised to Abraham, namely, to bless all the world, that is, to redeem it from sin and death and to make it righteous and blessed. He will abolish Moses' rule and bring and establish a different doctrine and worship than before; he will not force people to circumcise, nor urge them (like Moses) to keep the law, but he will preach repentance and forgiveness of sins in his name, and baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
(8) And if ye will know it, I am the voice that calleth, and the angel sent before the Lord, to proclaim unto you that ye should prepare the way for him, the Lord, who followeth my foot. Now therefore, put aside everything that may hinder his way. Put away both the gross, public, but above all the spiritual sins, which have a semblance of holiness, which most hinder him from coming to you, and receive him with joy, obey and believe in him, and be baptized: if you do so, you are blessed before God, have forgiveness of sins, are now truly God's people and true children of Abraha, holy and blessed. But if you do not let yourselves be told, but want to stand and persist in your old ways, then it will soon be over with you, for the time is coming when the beautiful, glorious tree that God Himself has planted (that is, you, together with your kingdom and priesthood, most beautifully arranged and ordered), shall be cut down, and so cut down that it shall be thrown into the fire. And this will happen sooner than you think. For the axe does not lie under the bench, nor does it hang on the wall, but it is already laid at the root of the tree 2c.
(9) Even so the man of whom I testify, and point you to him, is not so weak and contemptible as you will look upon him. Yea, I say unto you, he is stronger than I; even so great and holy, that I am not worthy to undo the thongs of his shoes. For he is
the Lord himself. Now he comes to you with grace, to help you out of all distress, to make you righteous and blessed. If you accept him, farewell! If not, he will make short work of you. For he already has the shovel in his hand, and he will winnow and sweep you who are in his threshing floor and who, as you say, belong only to his barn; and he will separate the wheat, that is, the pious among you who obey, from the chaff and gather it into his barn. But the chaff, that is, the great ungodly multitude, which remaineth obstinate, and suffereth not to be told, shall he set on fire, and burn with everlasting fire. This much is said: If you want to obtain forgiveness of sins and become righteous and blessed before God, and thus escape the future wrath, that is, such horrible punishment and eternal damnation, repent, be baptized and believe in Him of whom I testify. He alone is the one who forgives sin, baptizes with the Holy Spirit, brings righteousness, life and salvation 2c. Nothing helps to be Abraham's seed and circumcised, to bear the name of God's people. "Therefore, do not think long about whether you are sinners, but confess in all seriousness that you are overflowing with sins and need help, and that you desire and seek it with all your heart, so that you may be counseled and helped.
(10) And such help (he says) is already available. For I am sent to preach unto you, not of a baptism that purgeth away filthiness of the flesh only (which are many and various things commanded in the law of Moses), but of such a baptism as shall be called and be a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Therefore, if you wish to receive such help, repent, confess your sins, and be baptized for the remission of sins 2c. If you persist in the delusion that you are pious and holy for yourselves, for the sake of circumcision, law and worship, which you are commanded to keep, all help and counsel is lost on you.
(11) So we also must say to our people, "It is not good, dear man, for you to think of attacking yourself hard, becoming a Carthusian, or otherwise accepting a hard order, and to give up your life and limb.
with watching, praying, fasting 2c. woe, then God will look at such hard repentance and blood scourging, forgive your sin for it and take you to heaven. You err and deceive yourself. It is far too small a thing that your and all men's deeds, be they what they may, and be they what they may, should take away the very least sin. For to be freed from sins and to be justified must be done in a more arid way, namely, that they are forgiven you out of pure grace of God, for Christ's sake. Now, if you are to escape God's wrath and the eternal punishment that you have earned through your sin, you must come to it through that way, and no other.
12. Therefore repentance means that man knows and confesses from the heart that he was conceived and born in sins, as the Scriptures say, and is therefore a child of wrath by nature, guilty of eternal death and damnation; and that all works here are lost, and only make evil worse, because it is thought to be due to Christ alone, the one mediator between God and man, who sacrificed himself for us all, so that we might have forgiveness of sins through him. If you believe this, you have it; if not, you will never get rid of it, even if you torture yourself to death. For it is called forgiveness, not payment for sins, a gift, not merit. But what God gives you out of pure grace, for the sake of Christ, you poor maggot sack cannot pay, buy or earn from Him. This is what Lucas means [Cap. 3, 3.] when he says: John preached the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
So Saint John, with his preaching and baptism, overthrows the Law of Moses with his worship, as it could not take away sin, nor cleanse the conscience and satisfy it before God, nor is it given to do so, but that it reveals sin and, if it touches the heart, only makes it greater and more powerful, showing man his condemnation, and thus inciting vain wrath. He also chides the Jews, not only as transgressors of the law, who have never kept most or the least of it, but also as not understanding anything about it. For they stood up
under the delusion that if they kept the law and worship outwardly, slaughtered and sacrificed much, they would be pious and holy, and God would have to give them heaven. This was not the opinion of the law. He severely punishes this error, false delusion and presumption of theirs, and makes the great saints condemned sinners, saying that they should repent, confess their sins and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins, and believe in the one who will soon follow him, the one who baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire. But if he should come to them, they must leave off their false confidence, arrogance and presumption, otherwise he could not come to them with his grace and help.
(14) So also now the gospel rumbles and rumbles among monasteries, convents and the whole priesthood, saying: If you want to escape the wrath to come, do righteous fruits of repentance. Only do not think that this is the end, that you let it become sour for you (I am talking about the best), do not live, eat and give like other people, keep chastity, wear hard clothes, sing, pray, watch, fast a lot. (This) is vain work forgiven and lost. For God has neither commanded nor ordered you; indeed, you yourselves have chosen it, without and against His word and command. Therefore, either let go of presumption and trust in your own righteousness, crawl to the cross, and recognize yourselves from your heart as poor and damned sinners who cannot help themselves; and believe in Christ, God's Lamb, who bears your sin and the sin of all the world, died for it, and has done enough, and comfort yourselves that you were baptized in his name, and in baptism put on him with all his goods; Or else hear the terrible judgment upon your necks, that you are vipers and evil, poisonous worms, who with orders, caps, plates, masses, and what is more of the brazen armor, so that you intend to beat the devil, shall be cast into the abyss of hell, and burn there in the eternal fire.
15. but they will not and cannot hear (as little as the Jews in those days) that they are sinners and condemned; much less that they are serpents and poisonous worms.
should be, who poison both themselves and all who follow them with their false doctrine and help to damnation. For this reason, they have hitherto had the name and fame among all the world (like the Pharisees among the Jews), that they were holy people, who lived in a spiritual, perfect state, in which they could accumulate so much good works and merits that they did not need them all for their person, and could share the rest with the common Christians (whom they called laymen and worldly people), and thus earn heaven for them also. For they pretended that because the laity were burdened with the care of the house and other business, they were in a wretched state in which they could not serve God. The world believed this, bought the rest of their earnings from them, and in return not only filled kitchens and cellars abundantly, but gave them heaps, until they were granted lands and people, and became great lords (like mighty princes and kings), and held the best part of Christendom; but under the pretense, as said, that they were the spiritual, chosen people, so that the others would plead against God, and help them to heaven 2c. Thus, instead of the holy gospel and the sacraments of Christ, they have proclaimed their false lies of 1) caps, plates, purgatory, invocations of saints, pilgrimages 2c. to all the world. And finally they brought it to the point that the faith in Christ was completely extinguished, and the dear baptism was not only unknown to the Christians, but they also did not know otherwise, that it was no longer of any use when man falls into sins. Thus they have caused a much more horrible mess in Christianity than the Pharisees and scribes among the Jewish people.
16 But now that the holy gospel reveals and punishes their blasphemous lies and abominations, and threatens them with eternal hell fire if they do not repent, they do not care, indeed, they surely despise it. They go about it, blaspheme and condemn the dear truth, burn and strangle, as much as is in them, all who adhere to it. They dare not only to maintain their doctrine of the devil by force, but also to consider it right and proper.
1) Erlanger: "and" instead of "of".
to divinely defend themselves. They also know how to magnificently boast that they are God's people and the right church (like the stubborn Jews in Christ's time), and cry out against us as against arch-heretics and the worst enemies of the church, blaming us for forbidding good works, disrupting all His order, breaking up the unity of Christianity, and destroying the beautiful church services. 2c.
(17) Well then, how shall we do? They are not the first to blaspheme God's word and persecute His servants. We preach the same thing that John preached to the Jews: one should repent, and if one wants to be rid of sins, one should believe in Christ and let himself go 2c. John had to be scolded and blasphemed for having the devil; what he spoke was a lie 2c. Therefore it is no wonder that we have to hear such things now. But soon afterwards it was 1) found who was right. Those who believed John's sermon and were baptized, accepted Christ and believed in Him, were the true church in the sight of God, from which the gospel was planted and spread throughout the world. The other, blind, stubborn, great multitude, who would not hear, nor recognize the time of their visitation, but kept the rule of the law by force, had to go to the ground (as John had threatened) with law, temple, worship, kingdom and priesthood. The Romans came, were our Lord God's axe, cut down the tree, and set fire to the chaff, when the wheat was threshed and gathered into the barns 2c.
Now God did not spare His own people, whom He Himself had chosen as His own, trusted His word, established their kingdom and priesthood, and from Abraham's time until Christ's kept them so wonderfully over them, and protected them against all the heathen's bitter hatred, raging and ravings; who, in addition, had their coming from high, holy people, to whom Christ was promised; from whom also the most excellent, holiest people (patriarchs, prophets, kings, apostles 2c.) who ever lived on earth are descended, and Christ the Lord himself, according to the
1) Wittenberger and Jenaer: "find". Erlanger: "findt".
He will much less spare us, who are Gentiles, and will not have such honor and advantage, if we will not accept and believe John's testimony and sermon, which is now, before the other and last coming of Christ, again on the scene, and confidently cries: "Repent. .
(19) Therefore, the preaching of repentance before God condemns and condemns all the world, not only those who are public sinners, but much more those who want to be pious and holy for the sake of their works and their own righteousness; tell all men at the same time, no one excluded, whether they are Pharisees, scribes, priests, Levites, 2c, 2c. that they should repent and know that all their deeds and lives are not fit before God, indeed, that they are vain sins, and must become different. From this it is easy to notice that repentance cannot be or be called if I want to do enough and pay for sin by my work (as the papists teach about repentance). For since I am a sinner and a child of wrath by nature, as the Scripture says, I will not wipe out sin with sin, but only make it more.
(20) But this is called repentance, when I believe God's word, which tells me and accuses me that I am a sinner and condemned before God, and am heartily afraid of the fact that I have always disobeyed my God, that I have never really looked at or considered his commandments, much less kept the greatest or smallest of them, yet do not despair, but let myself be directed to Christ to seek mercy and help from him, and also firmly believe that I will find it. For he is God's Lamb, eternally provided to bear the sins of all the world and to pay for them by his death. So John does both: first, by his preaching, he shows us all our ruin, and then he shows us where we can find help.
(21) And such preaching is not without fruit; it always finds disciples who are converted and corrected by it. For the evangelist Matthew says that many people from all the surrounding cities and countries came to John in the wilderness and were taught by him.
690 Erl, (L.) LOK, 481-483. Two sermons on the 3rd chapter of Matthäi. W VII, SSS-S9S. 691
were baptized in the Jordan and confessed their sin. As also St. Lucas, Cap. 7, 29, reports and says: "All the people who heard John and the tax collectors agreed with God", that is, they believed his words, which John preached to them, that they were sinners and damned 2c. "But the Pharisees and scribes (says St. Lucas further v. 30.) despised. God's counsel against themselves, and would not be baptized of Him." For they thought that they were pious and holy enough beforehand; therefore John's sermon was none of their business; indeed, they thought that they knew much better beforehand than he could tell them. Therefore they despised God's counsel, which He had decided and commanded to proclaim, that they should accept such preaching and baptism of John, and in this and no other way obtain forgiveness of sins and be saved, except by repenting and being baptized, believing in Christ (whom John preached) for the forgiveness of sins.
At that time Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him. But John refused him, saying: I have need that I should be baptized of thee, and thou comest to me? And Jesus answered and said unto him, Let it be so now: for so it behoveth us to fulfill all righteousness: and he suffered him to do it. And when JEsus was baptized, he came up straightway out of the water: and, behold, the heaven was opened upon him. And John saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him. And behold, a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
22 Therefore, as John preaches and baptizes (Matthew continues), Jesus comes to him from Galilee at the Jordan and desires to be baptized. This is strangely reversed. The Pharisees and scribes, who are full of sin and condemnation, do not want to have sin, do not want to know about repentance, and do not want to be baptized. On the other hand, Christ, who is without sin, and who alone has the rhyme and title of never having committed sin, and all his words and works are blameless, yea, holy and wholesome, for this reason
he who has no need of repentance, baptism, or forgiveness of sins, comes and desires to be baptized by John his servant. The rest all were conceived in sins, born and live in them, therefore they ought to repent and be baptized, and John also is there for their sakes; yet there are many of them, especially the Pharisees and scribes (as I said), who will not; and he who is innocent and holy does so.
(23) But why does he come to baptism, since there is no sin or uncleanness in him that baptism should take away? This will be a blessed baptism. John gets a sinner here, who has no sin for his person; and yet he is the greatest sinner, who has and bears the sin of all the world. Therefore he is baptized and confesses with this act that he is a sinner. But not for himself, but for us. Because all, especially the trustworthy saints, do not want to be sinners, he must become a sinner for all; he takes on the form of sinful flesh and, as many psalms testify, laments on the cross, in his suffering, over the burden of the sins he bears, and says Psalm 40:13."My sins have taken hold of me, that I cannot see; theirs is more than the hair of my head." And Psalm 41:5: "Lord, be merciful unto me, heal my soul: for I have sinned against thee." Psalm 69, 6.: "God, thou knowest my foolishness, and my debts are not hid from thee"; item v. 10.: "The reproach of them that revile thee fall upon me."] And Psalm 22:1: "My God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
(24) In these and other psalms Christ speaks in a sinful person. With what then has he sinned, or how does he come to be in sin? So he comes to it, as Isaiah 53:6. says of him, "The LORD cast upon him all our sin." For when we (says the prophet) were all going astray, like sheep, God found this counsel, took away all. Men's sin, and laid it on his neck (who alone was without all sin). So he becomes the great, yes, the very greatest and the only sinner on earth, and no one else. For the text says: the Lord has
All our sins were cast upon him. Because he has now become such a sinner, who has all our sin on him, he may truly be baptized and must be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. Not for his person, which is innocent and undefiled, but for our sake, whose sin he bears. He puts them into baptism and washes them away from himself, that is, from us, in whose person he is baptized, so that they must perish and be drowned in his baptism.
(25) So John is ordained to bring people to the baptism of repentance, but his ministry is primarily and most importantly to testify of Christ and baptize him. Therefore he is actually and truly called the Baptist of the Lord Christ. For if Christ were not baptized with us, even for our sake, we are lost. Since God the Lord has placed the sins of all men on him, so that he must bear them and be sufficient for them, he comes to John and is baptized by him for the benefit of me, you and all the world, so that he may cleanse us from sins and make us righteous and blessed. So he also sacrificed himself on the cross, becoming a sinner and a curse, when he alone is the blessed seed through whom all the world must be blessed, that is, redeemed from sin and death. But that he hangs on the cross between two evildoers, is counted equal to them, and there dies an ignominious death, he does this for the good of the whole human race, that he may redeem it from the eternal curse. He is therefore both the greatest and only sinner on earth, for he bears the sin of all the world; and the only righteous and holy one, for no one is righteous and holy before God except through him. So also John himself testifies of Him [John 1:29], "Behold, this is the Lamb of God." That must be holy, pure and innocent. But what does he say further of him? "Which bareth the sin of the world." If he bears the sin of the world, he is certainly a sinner, yes, a sinner alone. For the Holy Spirit is not joking when he says through the prophet, "The Lord cast upon him the sin of us all." And through John: "Behold, this is God's Lamb, who bears the sin of the world."
(26) Whosoever therefore believeth that his sins and the sins of the whole world are upon the dear Lord, and was baptized therefore, was crucified.
And there he shed blood for us at a high price, so that he, the bearer of sins and the penitent, cleansed us from sins and made us holy and blessed, who has forgiveness of sins and eternal life, and Christ's baptism, cross and blood become his own. For since He is pure and innocent in Himself, He could have been superior to be neither baptized nor crucified. But in this way he has served the whole human race. He who believes it, has it.
27 Therefore St. John the angel, of whom Malachi prophesied, was sent before the Lord to testify of him and to baptize him, that we might be cleansed from sins by his baptism. And those who were baptized by John into Christ, who would soon follow him and bless the whole world, have been saved. Just as from the beginning of the world all the saints have been redeemed and saved by the same faith, that they should be washed from sins and cleansed through Christ.
28 The prophet David speaks of such washing and cleansing from sins in Psalm 51, v. 4: "Wash me well from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Item v. 9: "Sprinkle me, O Lord, with hyssop, that I may be clean; wash me, that I may be white as snow." "For I know (saith he v. 5.) my iniquity, and my sin is ever before me. In you only have I sinned, and done evil in your sight," that is, I am nothing but a sinner in your sight, and what I do is evil, and can find nothing in me that can stand blameless in your sight. I say these things therefore [v. 6], "that thou, O Lord, mayest be justified in thy words, and not be punished when thou art judged." That is, if I would not confess and say that I am nothing but a sinner before you, then I would give the lie to your word and condemn you, as the hypocrites and works saints do. Therefore I will not, like them, be so presumptuous as to say that I am not a sinner. For that would be to deny you, O Lord, and to give the lie to your judgment, which you have pronounced against me, and thereby to condemn all my doings and being. Therefore I confess myself a sinner and a reprobate, that thou mayest be justified.
and that your word remains true and unchallenged, even if it is challenged and persecuted. For the hypocrites want to make themselves self-righteous through their own work, and forcibly carry out their thing against God, punish them with lies and thus condemn his word. But it is said: Ut vincas, cum judicaris, thou shalt nevertheless remain before them, finally being justified and subject to judgment, and destroy them in their sins 2c. ,
(29) As happened to the Jews, because they would not believe John's preaching, nor repent, nor be baptized, but despised God's counsel. John must have had the devil, and what he preached on God's account must have been wrong and false. Therefore they had to be overthrown, go to the ground, and perish in body and soul; but God was right. For as far as his word and judgment are concerned, he alone shall and will be right. Now his word is that all men are sinners before him. So the verdict soon follows: that they are also guilty of death. Do not punish him; give him right and you wrong. But if you want to be right, seek it in other things. Go into the worldly regiment, there you may well be right, against your enemy, who does you harm, takes what is yours 2c. There you may appeal to the right, seek it and demand it. But if you are to deal with God and stand before his judgment, then only think of no right, but give yourself wrong, and him right, if you want to find mercy otherwise. This is what you do when you say with David and all the saints: Dear Lord, I confess, feel and believe that I am a condemned sinner; therefore I ask you to absolve, wash and baptize me for the sake of Christ, so that I know that you are merciful to me, that I have forgiveness of sins, and that I am pure and white as snow.
(30) Now John's baptism is not far from Christ's baptism, and he himself shows the difference when he says, "I baptize with water; but he that cometh after me shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire." As if to say, "I am not the man who forgives sin and gives the Holy Spirit, but I baptize the same who does, who will soon come after me.
will be. Therefore, those who were baptized by John and died before Christ's baptism were saved. For they believed that Christ would come with his baptism and baptize them with the Holy Spirit and fire, that is, that he as the true lamb of God, sacrificed on the trunk of the cross, would die there for the sin of the whole world, so that all who believe in him would have forgiveness of sins and receive the Holy Spirit, who would enlighten, sanctify, comfort and strengthen them 2c. Just as the holy fathers (David and others) before them also believed.
(31) Therefore there is no other difference, except that they believed in the Christ who is to come, and we believe in him who is to come. Both they and we have one Christ, who is yesterday, today, and forever, Heb. 13:8, but the time is different, that they are before, but we are after. Whoever then believes with us the testimony of Saint John that he is the Lamb of God who bears the sins of the world and baptizes with the Holy Spirit 2c. will be blessed with us, God granting that he comes before or after, it is one faith. For what those who were baptized by John believed about the future Christ, we now believe about the same one who has come, and both have received the same grace.
(32) But there is great power in our believing that he is now come. For the Jews, and we Gentiles also, always want to have a Christ who is yet to come. The Jews do not believe that this one who has come is Christ, but firmly believe that he is yet to come; they make a mockery of our faith and baptism. So also the pope and his crowd say that Christ has come and died for our sins, but in the bottom of truth both of them, with their doctrine and life, do so as if no redemption had ever taken place through Christ's death and bloodshed, nor as if no baptism had ever been given by him; in sum, as if he had never come. For they teach that by their own works they atone for sin and do enough for it 2c. Therefore (I say) there is great power in whether one believes in the Christ who has appeared or in the Christ who is to come. So David
or other fathers in their time had believed that Christ had come, they would have been condemned just as now the Jews, who do not believe that he has come, are lost and condemned.
33. Further, the evangelist describes the glorious revelation (the like of which has never been heard nor seen before) that visibly took place at the baptism of Christ, namely, that all the divine majesty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit appear at the same time, and such a great miraculous work and divine clarity is saved for the very time when Christ is baptized; over whom heaven opens, and the Holy Spirit descends upon him in bodily form, like a dove; and God Himself lets Himself be heard from heaven, saying: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased"; and he, Christ, stands there in his holy humanity.
(34) All this was done and written for our sake, that we should esteem dear baptism highly and praise it gloriously, because we see here that Christ the Lord not only instituted and commands it to be administered, but also accepts it from John his servant himself, lowers himself into the water, and touches it with his holy body, so that he not only confirms baptism with it, but also sanctifies it and makes it full of blessing. Therefore we should not doubt that where and when baptism is administered according to Christ's command, heaven is open and the whole holy Trinity is present and baptizes itself 2c. The text is rich and delicious, of which much could still be said; but the hour is now over. Also, it was preached more before and has gone out through the printing. Whoever wants to, may read it; now we want to leave it at that, and call upon God for His grace.