Held on the day of St. Matthew, February 24, 1527.
This is a comforting gospel, in which the Lord first comforts Himself, and then comforts us in Him. Which comfort is of great need to us who are still under the devil's kingdom. Lucas says [Cap. 10, 21] how the Lord rejoiced in spirit and leapt up for joy. The reason for this gospel is that the Lord had been preaching in Galilee for almost three years, and
The wise men considered it foolishness and a mockery, as it is according to this day, and so it shall be, that the wise men of this world shall despise, mock, and condemn the preaching of the gospel.
2 Therefore Matthew writes here before how the Lord punished and scolded the cities.
*A single edition of this sermon is available under the title: "Interpretation of the comforting words of Christ Matthäi 11: I praise you, Father', to the end of the chapter. By Mart. Luth. at Wittenberg in 1527." No place or printer. Quarto. Another edition in octavo is in the library at. Berlin No. 5101. In the collective editions: in the Eisleben one, vol. I, p. 401; in the Mtenburger, vol. Ill, p. 679; in the Leipziger, vol. XII, p. 431; in the Erlanger, 1st ed. vol. 16, p. 275; 2nd ed, Vol. 17, p. 268, According to Aurifaber's statement in the Eisleben edition, this sermon was preached "on the fifth Sunday after the holy Epiphany," that is, on February 10, 1527; but more probably on the day of St. Matthew, February 24, since the text of it is prescribed for that day. We give the text according to the second edition of the Erlangen edition, which provides a reprint of the single edition given above. Seckendorf, List. I^utU. in the third register under the year 1527, urtheilt that this is one of Luther's best sermons.
preached therein, and did miracles, and yet wrought nothing among them, and said thus [v. 21 ff], "Woe unto thee, O Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If such deeds had been done to Tyro and Sidon as have been done to you, they would have repented before times in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, that Tyro and Sidon shall fare worse in the last judgment than you. And thou Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be cast down to hell. For if the deeds had been done in Sodoma, which were done in you, they would still be standing today. But I say unto you, that it shall be worse for the land of Sodom at the last judgment 1) than for thee."
(3) These words are now followed by today's Gospel, in which Christ first says to God, His heavenly Father:
V. 25. I praise you, Father and Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and have revealed them to babes.
(4) Behold, whether we must not also do as Christ does here, and like him take the words out of his mouth, praise and glorify God, that he now also reveals his word to the wise and prudent, to the pious and holy, in this world, and reveals it to babes and sinners. We preach and cry out that Christ alone is our salvation, redemption and satisfaction, and that faith alone makes us blessed. The wise and holy people dispute this, and the more we give cause to our preaching and bring the truth to light, the more angry they become. If one threatens them with the judgment of God, they despise it; their heart is harder than an anvil, which does not ask for a blow, one can beat it as much as one wants. So do the wisest, the most learned and the holiest in the world, and so do the enthusiasts. If a man has a conceit in his heart, he will not be driven by it; deal with them as you will, and they will remain on their heads.
But what does Christ do here? He lets them go, and turns away from the temptations.
1) We have given the text of the Bible. Erlanger: "Sodomites" and "go more tolerable.
praise and glorify God, his heavenly Father, and yet have joy enough that he reveals it to the little ones. He does not want us to rely on men, nor to rely on ourselves, but to stand on God alone and trust in Him alone. If our God laughs, what do we fear from men? Why do we ask that people be angry? Do what Christ does here, praise the Father, and preach forever; let him who takes it take it. It is God's work; to whom He gives it, he has it; to whom He does not give it, he must not agree with Him about it. For he is not obligated or indebted to anyone. God, in short, does not want to leave his way for the sake of the wise. His way is to make something out of nothing, life out of death, righteousness out of sin, honor out of dishonor, wealth out of poverty. And Summa Summarum, what is small, with it he wants to have to do [Psalm 113, 6. ff.]. We have such a God. But the devil does the opposite, makes death out of life, sin out of righteousness, dishonor out of honor, and summa summarum, what is great before God, he wants to make small.
Now that we know that our God wants to help those who need help, why should we worry? Why are we not confident and joyful? For if He would have all wise men, angels, saints and pious people, where would we poor fools and wretched sinners be? For this is God, even according to the word of the Gentiles, who is able to help us in our troubles. 3) If this is God's way of helping, then it must follow that he helps when there is no help. The wise and prudent in the world do not know this.
(7) But the wise and prudent are called by the Lord here, who are fine and skilful men, who know how to govern, to acquire money and goods artificially, so that they rely on their wisdom alone; they will not depart from their prudence a hair's breadth, even in divine things and spiritual things; they will have their thing evil undamned, and they will not be condemned.
2) ichts ---- something.
3) In the Eisleben edition: "Heathens, where there is fear and accident, who can help out of these distresses."
not at all unwise in the sight of God. For they think that they alone are wise according to their wisdom, and summarily they do not want to be fools, but wise. God alone wants to be master and remain just. So they rise up and run after one another; they do not want to be disgraced, so they do not come to the Lord.
(8) Thus says Christ: "Father, I praise and extol you, for you alone are wise, and you alone are a good God. For if ever wisdom perish, let her wisdom perish. It is better that you accept the poor, who let you alone be wise, and let the wise go [, whom you can never make comfortable]. 1) O father, you do right by them, that you do not praise their thing and let it be considered as if it were right and well done; you also hide this secret from their wisdom. This is very comforting to us, as I have said, for otherwise where would we fools and ignorant people remain? Paul also says this in 1 Cor. 1, 21. 22: "Because the world through its wisdom did not recognize God in His wisdom, it pleased God through foolish preaching to save those who believe in it. Because the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks ask for wisdom." This is their cover, the same wise and prudent, pious and holy people: they gape up and open their mouths and ears, would gladly hear the gospel, if God preached to them that their thing was also valid and right; as the papists do, they would gladly let their caps and plates, masses and other juggleries also count for something. These are the wise.
(9) But again God comes and will accept only the poor, the miserable, the underage, the foolish and the unintelligent. This then becomes an iron wall before their eyes, that they cannot understand such things. So did the heretics Axiani, and now our enthusiasts also; they have their own conceit, that they say, Eh, should Christ's body be eaten in bread, and his blood in wine? Should Christ be in the bread and wine? How does it rhyme
1) The words in brackets are in the Eisleben edition.
this? What is it necessary? And such pointed, venomous, hateful words more. So they go about in their opinion, and are not worthy to see or understand the words of Christ. Therefore, if they are condemned because of the stubbornness of their goodness and stubbornness, because they will not let anything be said to them, we should do nothing else about it, except what Christ is doing, and we should command God, praise Him, and say: He is right to have revealed this mystery to the lowly, the foolish, and the underage, and to have hidden it from the wise and prudent of the world.
(10) There are two things here in which Christ rejoices. The first is that God has hidden such a secret from the wise and prudent. The second is that he has revealed it to the little ones, the foolish and the underage. As if Christ wanted to say: The wise and prudent do not want it, but the foolish and underage do. These are the children and babes who do not speak against the word of God, who do not grumble against the will of God, but as He works and does with them, so it pleases them. These are all those who are not wise in themselves, nor have understanding, nor do not fall with reason into God's work and word. They are not talkers and scrubbers, as is the way of the gushers, who drive themselves to preach, uncalled and unsolicited, then say that the Spirit drives them. 2) This is certainly a sign that they are not wise nor understanding, nor do they fall with reason into God's work and word. This is surely a sign that the devil calls them to preach; and if you find one of them and want to teach him and show him the right way, they open their mouths and speak a hundred words before you speak one.
(11) But a true preacher is not so loquacious, does not burst in as if he were full of art, presents himself as if he could do nothing. As he certainly thinks he does, as if he knew and could do the least. Here the Lord calls them minors. For they would much rather listen and be disciples themselves than preach to others; they do not want to be wise, like washers, who only turn their hearts and minds to teach other people, but they do not want to teach anyone.
2) Thus the Eisleben. Erlanger: drives.
830 Erl. (L.) 17, 273-275. interpretations on the evangelist Matthew. W. VII, U89-NSI. 831
And even though they sometimes show themselves lowly before people, they still have an adamantine head and a defiant spirit that will not yield to anyone; in short, their opinion is the best, and no other. But those who are righteously lowly gladly yield, and let themselves be guided into the right understanding; indeed, they are glad and thankful that they have come to the right understanding. Thus 1) St. Augustine was dragged out by force, would much rather have remained a minor and a disciple, than that he should teach others; but he had to come forth and preach to the congregation. That is why he was the best doctor in his time, and also accomplished something with his teachings and sermons, more than anyone else has done.
(12) But the talkers and the ignorant cannot agree. The lowly and unintelligent are despised and bitterly persecuted by the wise and prudent. But how shall we do to him? There is no other consolation nor defiance, but to know that it pleases God to hide such a secret from the wise and prudent, from the chatterers and well-wishers.
13 Secondly, we are also comforted and rejoiced to know that our preaching is not without fruit. The underage gladly accept it, because the Father reveals it to them. So we do not learn in our hearts, but God is the Master of all, who reveals it to whom He wills, as and when it pleases Him. But he does this through the outward word, which he has ordained for this purpose, as a means and as a reed, through which he brings this into the heart. Now there is not much to it, if you do not see the disciples or hear them speak much about things; here you hear that they are minors, do not soon break forth, do not throb greatly with their spirit and great art. God has well reserved his disciples for him; he also knows how to find them. As he said to Elijah, who thought that there was not a pious man in all Israel, and that he alone remained: I have left me (said the divine answer) seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee.
1) Taken from the old edition of Walch, Erlanger: war.
before the idol Baal, 1 Kings 19:18. 2) Romans 11:4: So God still does today, when we think that it has happened for the gospel, when so many mobs rise up: Dear one, do not be afraid, do not be dismayed; God has scattered His disciples in many places that we do not see or know; therefore we should only sincerely take the matter home to God, and say as Christ says here:
V. 26. Yes, Father, for it has been well pleasing in your sight.
014 As if the LORD would say, O Father, this is the only cause that pleaseth thee. But what kind of God is this? is it pleasing to him that people should be blinded? Is he a God who does not want the death of the sinner? [Ezek. 33, 11.] Yes, it is true; but the Scripture says Ex. 33, 19. Rom. 9, 15.: "Whom I am gracious to, I am gracious to him, and whom I have mercy on, I have mercy on." God is not indebted to anyone; therefore He does not wrong anyone if they remain in their hardening. But God's way is to help the lowly, and He does not inquire much about the great and the wise, no matter how much they rage about it; He lets them remain in their hardening. Therefore, if you see them angry, raging and furious, command God and say that it is God's good pleasure who, out of pure grace, without merit and without any works, reveals this secret to the poor, despised little crowd; as Christ also said to His disciples Luc. 12, 32: "Do not be afraid, little crowd, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
(15) But these are not the little ones, who outwardly are lowly and poor in life and walk, or who are ignorant of the Scriptures. For if they were to remain rude, unlearned, and pretend to be unlearned for the little ones, the lowly, and the underage, despising even those who are learned in the Scriptures, it would be nothing. Yes, these same hopeful, proud bullies are the right wise men,
2) In the first and second editions of the Erlangen edition, as well as in Walch: "19, 8."
3) Erlanger: forst.
Those who inwardly exalt themselves and think highly of themselves, despise others and think that they alone know it. And that is why God hides it from them and does not want to reveal this 1) secret to such arrogant bunglers. For it may well be that a beggar in a granite felt and long beard can have a more hopeful 2) spirit than ten princes in golden garments.
God looks at the right, inward, humble heart, which considers itself condemnable, and desires God's help by grace alone; God also opens his will to these. But those who want to be wise before God and do not want to have their things condemned, he rejects them and shows great power against them, so that such a poor, small group should not fear him. For if he hardens the heart of the prudent and holds it in his hand, he can much more prevent their fist and all their attempts. For God does not want to praise their works and wisdom, he does not want to leave them any glory. There has never been a saint who has done a miraculous work for the sake of a human work; but it is always written that he has called upon God and believed 2c. Continues in the text:
V. 27. All things have been given to me by my Father.
(17) This is a real great glory that Christ does here, that he is truly God and a natural son of God, since he says that all things are given to him. Here he excludes nothing. In short, whatever is not God is under him. Our faith also teaches us this, and nothing is excluded here, neither angels nor devils, neither sin nor righteousness, neither death nor life, neither shame nor honor; everything that can be called anything is all under Christ, and everything must be subject to him. Now if Christ is set over all things, and all things are his, he must be something higher than a creature or a created thing, otherwise all creatures could not be his own, and he could not be a creature.
1) Thus Walch. Erlanger: "the".
2) Erlanger: highly colored.
3) Erlanger: des.
lie under his feet. No creature may appropriate this to him, for only this Christ, the true Son of God, has been given all things, even after humanity. For according to the Godhead he was beforehand a Lord over all things, and all things were beforehand his. This is the glory that is equal to God's glory, which he gives to this Christ; therefore he is truly God, and a natural son of God. For thus says God in the prophet Isaiah 42:8: "My glory I will give to no other." So God's glory is nothing else than to be over all creatures, to give life, to cast the devil under his feet, to trample death and sin underfoot. These are true divine works that belong to God alone. He has the honor; he also wants to keep it alone and not share it with anyone. But to whom he gives it, he must also be truly God. The devil is indeed the master of death and sin in the ungodly and unbelievers, but he cannot bring anything to life.
18 Although Christ had all things under Him from eternity, yet He was not a man from eternity, but in due time He became man [Gal. 4:4, 5], as promised in the prophets, and was manifested by the Holy Spirit, full of all things for our sake [Eph. 1:21, 22]. The word is for us, for I must know a place where I will find God and all things. So Christ says to me: If you want all things, seek them in me; for in Christ are all things [Col. 1, 17. f.], and they are all subject to him, and all good things are in him; also in him dwells the Godhead bodily, Col. 2, 9. and in him you will find all good things. All believers must be justified and saved in the one Christ. Therefore the Lord speaks further in the Gospel:
And no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and to whom the Son wills to reveal it.
19. O Lord God, who would have thought that this despised Christ should be the Son of God? For with this little word "no one" he excludes all things that are not the Son of God.
4) Erlanger: him.
Christ is. Reason cannot understand that all things should lie under this Christ, and yet he should die so shamefully and contemptibly on the cross. What kind of a Lord of life and death is this? Does he let himself be looked upon, as if he could not preserve life itself, that he should die so ignominiously? (Matth. 27, 50.) Slips 1) into the jaws of death, so that all the world thinks that he has devoured him and that it is now over with him. He is still the Son of God, who alone knows the Father, and no other creature, so let the Son reveal it to him. To whom the Son does not reveal it in his heart, no work, no merit, nor any preparation will help him in eternity. It is only God's way and work that he has mercy on the miserable and teaches the unintelligent.
20. The Christian faith and the Christian life stand in the one word: revealed by God. For where this is not present, no heart will ever truly know this mystery, which has been hidden from the world [Eph. 1, 9. 3, 9.2 ). Now God reveals it only to His eternally chosen saints, to whom He will have made it known; otherwise it will remain hidden from everyone and remain a secret. What good will the free, yes, the servile, captive will say about it? Where will it come to this light and secret from its own resources? If the almighty, strong God hides it from him, he will not be prepared for it with any good works. No creature can come to this knowledge, Christ reveals it to him only in the heart itself. There all merit, all powers and reason come to nothing, and count for nothing before God; Christ alone must give it. Now continue in the Gospel:
V. 28. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
21. egg, how strange a store is this? Why does he not call the strong, rich, healthy, scholars, kings, princes and lords? What does he want the poor, troublesome
1) Erlanger: Schleust.
2) In the first and in the second edition of the Erlangen edition, as in Walch: "3, 3".
and burdened people? Nothing else, but that it may please him. If your unbelief, hunger, poverty, shame, or other afflictions afflict you, where will you go? Christ said before that he has all things in his hand; now he calls you wretched to him. He promises here, as he can do it, so he will do it gladly; to you, he promises it, you only come to him.
(22) Fie on the great sin, it is shameful and sinful that the sun should shine, that we should pass over such sweet, fatherly, comforting words, and look elsewhere, where there is neither understanding nor good. All good is to be sought in Christ alone; for in Him God has superfluously poured out and hidden all the treasures of all wisdom and all good. We should run on shear blades after such a kindly helper, who only calls and lures the weak, afflicted, and troublesome people to Himself. We should hurry to him without exhortation and demand, so he himself must first lure, call and demand us miserable, weak, wretched [people] to him.
(23) What is the cause that we throw such words to the winds, and do not look to him for help, nor run to him alone, who has all things in his hand, and will give all good things sufficiently? This is the reason: The person of Christ is too small, no one believes it, no one trusts him to be able and willing to give such things. Our cursed unbelief does not do him this honor, that he believes he can do it; therefore we also gain nothing. And it serves us right that we remain poor bunglers, both in body and soul. God has placed all good things in the flesh, including the true Godhead, as I said, in this Christ [Col. 2:9], so that whoever has need of anything, whether in body or soul, let him come to him; he will find it much more abundantly in him than we can ask or think. Whoever then despises Christ, and wants to seek forgiveness of sin, or a good conscience, eternal life, health, righteousness, blessedness, or whatever that is and may be, in the monastery, in Rome, to the holy grave, or elsewhere in his works, denies Christ as an impotent Redeemer, and mocks his blood, death and
He is not helped either here or there. For he putteth Christ out of the way, that we alone might and should come unto the Father, and unto all good.
(24) Therefore, only because of this ingratitude would it be good for God to make us scratch and scrape day and night in the sweat of our brow, and yet in vain, so that the earth would yield nothing but thistles and thorns; as He will surely do, not only in bodily food, but also in words. Let each one of us look at himself and see how we act so wildly and despondently when we are supposed to give a penny for God's sake into the common box, or otherwise bring it into the house of a poor person; it does not want to come from the heart at all, much less from the box. What is the cause? That is it, money is our idol; that is why the heart always lies there. If the eternal, true, natural God were in us through faith, oh how an oven full of Christian love would burn in us!
(25) If we believed that Christ, who is mild, kind, rich, and powerful, is not able to do this alone, namely, to help us in all our concerns in which we call upon him, as he said above [v. 27], "All things have been delivered to me by my Father," but also wants to share it mildly and abundantly with us and gladly give it to us, it would soon become better for us. For he saith ever, Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you." As if he should say: Come here for nothing, without merit, therefore do not fast much, or work, do not do much work, or bring much merit with you [Is. 55, 1.], go to me only with the faith of the heart, consider me such a kind, gracious Savior, as I speak to you, then there is no need. Come, I will refresh you, it shall soon be better for you. It will not be hypocrisy, I will make your heart and spirit brave against hell, sin, death and the devil, so that you will feel it. You are now lying in an evil conscience, completely despondent and pining away; you are miserable, poor, weary and troubled; there is no one who can or may give you advice, comfort or help. God's wrath is too powerful against sin, before his
Righteousness must bend heaven and earth, and no one can be justified before him but by me alone. Therefore I show you the next way, only come here, recognize your miserable, evil life, that you are damned and sinners: such disciples I desire to have, such people I demand to myself; with the healthy I have nothing to do, with the righteous and pious I have no fellowship, my kingdom is a hospital of the sick, there I am a doctor. Therefore, whoever desires health, a peaceful conscience and a quiet heart, let him not wander far to this place or that; let him come to me, for he is a right guest in my hospital who recognizes his illness and feels the compulsion of sins. To the other, who desires help and comfort from my heart, and believes that I want to help him; whom I also want to cheerfully and constantly refresh, so that he will never die of death, Joh. 8, 51. And further says in the Gospel:
Take my yoke upon you.
This is the reason why one does not run to Christ; he puts a yoke, that is, the cross and many tribulations, on the neck of the old ass, so that the old Adam grumbles and does not want to be spurred on, nor does he tolerate the killing of his will. Yes, if Christ would give him a bag of red florins and promise him a chest full of money, he would willingly and gladly run to Christ. But Christ says here: Do not be distressed by this, do not worry about it; take my yoke upon you, and I will help you out of your misfortune. Let it suffice you 1) that I take away your soul's toil and labor, plus an evil conscience; only be patient while I armor the old donkey; he must be killed if you 2) are to be refreshed by me in any other way. This is the way and manner of my kingdom, that those who are in it, or want to be in it, must always die to the lusts of the old Adam, and be renewed in spirit through the increase of faith [Gal. 5:24]. This also holds baptism in itself.
27 And is it not said here of the yoke, that Christ made us a lesser law?
1) Erlanger: you.
2) Erlanger: foll er.
because Mosi's law has been. The yoke here is called Christ nothing else than the strangling of the desires of the old man. If we only let it suffice that we are cleansed in conscience and satisfied before God through Christ, then the yoke of the old Adam will not hurt us. If the prince or emperor wanted to cut off our heads, it would be of little use to us. (For in Christ there is life, even in the midst of death.) Yes, we would gladly do that, and accept death with joy, if we thought that Christ was such a man as this gospel portrays him to be. That is why he continues in the text:
V. 20. And learn from me. For I am meek, and of candles humble. So shall ye find rest for your souls: for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light,
28 This is a sweet and very comforting text, that we must not excuse ourselves and say: Yes, I would like to come to Christ, I do not know how I can please him, I do not know what he wants from me? Listen, here he opens what he demands from his pious disciples. He does not present you with a heavy, long, great, incomprehensible lesson; you can only believe him, use only so much of your reason here. For this is the right art, if we learn in this way, as he reproaches us there, namely, that he wants to be with the least and most despised, who build nothing good on themselves, but trust in Christ alone, and if we learn from him to be gentle; not like some who are outwardly gentle, but inwardly they are biting, poisonous, envious and the greatest husks. Beware of the hypocrites.
29 Christ teaches differently about meekness, which is not to give evil for evil [Rom. 12:17, 1]. For Christ's yoke is such in him that our enemies take from us what is ours, so that we become angry and resentful, wanting to avenge ourselves, to curse, to rebuke, and are impatient about it. But Christ says: "Here, learn from me not to be angry or revengeful when you are angry, when you are deprived of what is yours.
1) In the first and in the second edition of the Erlangen edition, as in Walch: "12, 19".
Do not be angry or impatient until you are meek and of good courage. Do as I do. For I let myself be reproached and despised, and yet remain cheerful; do likewise to him. Because you have me in faith, you will have joy and peace enough. It does no harm if the old Adam does not have his way. For so I must dampen his reason and make his prudence foolishness; him whom I love, I thus, like my dear child, use to cut off [Heb. 12:6, Rev. 3:19]. I take away the creature from him, that he may learn for certain that there is no continuance in creatures; therefore also not to rely on them. There is one more thing that makes the world restless: that is hope, that one will rise above the other, because he is ordered by God. Therefore Christ teaches here the other little piece, and says:
Learn from me, I am humble.
(30) Do not learn from me to walk outwardly in contempt, in gray skirts and a long beard, for I ask nothing of such things; but learn from the heart to be humble inwardly, not to exalt thyself above others. For as I cast thee into a state, so shalt thou also outwardly know how to walk rightly in humility, and not exalt thyself above thy neighbor, but shalt always esteem thy neighbor better than thyself. Therefore you will grant him from your heart what God grants him, and what you would have granted yourself from everyone. The world cannot do that, it always wants to rise, it does not allow itself to be satisfied with what God gives it. If a man is a burgher master, he wants to become an earl; if he is an earl, he wants to become a prince; if he is a prince, he wants to be a king; if he is a king, he wants to become an emperor; if he has a country, he would like to have two, three, four more; and so there is neither satisfaction nor sufficiency in the world.
(31) But Christ teaches here, saying, "If anyone desires to receive refreshment from me, let him be meek and humble in heart; however he may be offended, let him bring it home to God, and he will avenge it in his time. As Christ himself has done
In his suffering and disgrace he was quiet and gentle, and did not speak a word against it, yet in the end he achieved great honor and was highly praised [Phil. 2:9]. We must also become like Christ, be gentle and humble in heart, so we will be refreshed and find rest for our souls. As St. Peter exhorts us to follow this example and model of Christ, since he says in his first epistle in the other chapter, v. 19 ff, thus: "This is grace, if someone for the sake of conscience bears grief to God, and suffers with injustice. For what price is this, if ye suffer strokes for iniquity? But if you suffer and endure for the sake of good deeds, 1) that is grace with God. For to this you were called. For Christ also suffered for us, and left us an example, that ye should follow in his steps. He who has not committed sin has not been found guilty in his mouth. He who did not rebuke when he was reproached, nor grieve when he suffered. But he brought it home to him who judges aright. Who himself offered up our sin in his body on the wood, that we might be without sin, and live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye would have been as sheep going astray: but now are ye converted unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls."
But those who do not want to suffer according to this example and model of Christ, nor let themselves be despised, nor have any satisfaction in their position, will be eternally restless and never satisfied, and no sorrow, nor revenge, nor raging, nor raging will help them. That is why the world cannot bear Christ's yoke and burden; it is angry and unpeaceful in itself, does not allow itself to be satisfied with what comes before it, wants to climb up forever; that is why it cannot be satisfied, nor have good courage. For this reason, she does not want to accept the yoke of Christ, despises Christ with all that he has and all that he offers her.
1) Erlanger: tolerated.
2) Erlanger: at peace.
3) Erlanger: for hands.
4) Erlanger: des.
have peace here nor there. For Christ alone can and will make the conscience peaceful and joyful, and refresh the sorrowful spirits.
3.]. So now we have three things and three main things in this gospel. Firstly, what Christ was given to us by the Father for, and what we are to expect from him, namely, that he draws us to himself and brings us, not with bold witnesses, nor with armor and swords, but with kind and gentle words, as the 47th Psalm says.
34 Secondly, he shows who the disciples are whom he calls and entices, namely, the weary, poor and burdened sinners, whom their conscience and God's wrath oppresses, and who would gladly be rid of sin; whom he calls to himself here, and calls those blessed who thirst and hunger for righteousness; but those who are full and full, he does not call to himself at all. Now if thou wilt be satisfied and refreshed, know thy sorrow, thy trouble, and come to Christ, believe him; for he calleth thee not in vain, he will help thee greatly, as he saith, he will refresh thee; fear not, he is able and will do it. Do not think that he will first send you to Rome for absolution, or that he will push you over and strangle you. Nor does he want to impose a heavy penance on you, with fasting, praying, almsgiving, going to prayers, making pilgrimages, giving your money and goods to churches and monasteries. No, he does not; but he says, "I will refresh you, I will make you joyful, your soul will have peace, and be of good cheer, calm and freed from sins.
Third, we are to learn only from Christ, not from men, not from your reason. But what shall we learn? Not that which the world exalts; not that which has been esteemed of old. For Ezekiel 20:18 says, "Walk not in the steps of your fathers, which shall defile you: but this shall ye learn of me, to be meek, and lowly in heart, not in outward conduct only. Let every man abide in the estate wherein he is called [Cor. 7:20], waiting for it, until I have given him a
5) Erlanger: him.
interpret others. And do all this in a lowly spirit that does not exalt itself in my gifts, seeking its own glory, despising others.
36 If any man then would find rest for his soul, let him learn this lesson from Christ, that he may be meek and lowly in heart. For he himself says Matt. 5:5: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." Strife does not gain much land or people, nor does it last. Even if it lasts for a while, it soon goes to the ground, what is conquered with quarreling and strife, or with the sword. Blessed are the meek, gentle and peaceful. God also says in Isaiah, Cap. 66, 2: On the humble and bruised spirit that accepts my word with trembling and fear, there will I dwell. As also David says in the 51st Psalm v. 19: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and bruised heart you, God, will not despise."
(37) Whoever does not want to learn these two things, but wants to be revengeful, to give in to no one, to be proud and insistent, to be arrogant, insolent, and celebrated, and to be
He rejects Christ's sweet yoke and light burden, which are easy and sweet for the pious. For if they willingly surrender to it in faith, and break their will, it is easy and sweet for them, and they gladly bear it. For Christ helps them to bear such a yoke and burden; indeed, he bears the heaviest and greatest part, for he has fulfilled all that they should do and fulfill. Whoever has such a helper, even a great burden is easy for him; and as they say, "It is good to walk with a good companion, for one helps the other to bear his burden. But he that will not accept this helper shall have misfortune, anguish, trouble, and strife, and distress of conscience. Therefore Christ says: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened," seeking only help and comfort, you shall be refreshed; you shall not come from me unreconciled and unrequieted, but even in the midst of death and the cross you shall be refreshed and 1) remain joyful. Let this be said of this gospel. God give us his grace that we may learn to grasp it and believe it, auras.
1) The bracketed words are in the Eisleben edition.