(Held June 23, 1539.)
Text: "In the days of Herod king of Judea there was a priest of the order of Abia, named Zacharias, and his wife of the daughters of Aaron, whose name was Elizabeth. Now they were both devout before God, and walked blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. And they had no child: for Elisabeth was barren, and they were both of them of a sound mind. And it came to pass, when he had ministered before God in the time of his ordinance, according to the manner of the priesthood, and it was his duty to burn incense, that he entered into the temple of the LORD. And all the multitude of the people were without, praying under the hour of incense. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, standing at the right hand of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was afraid, and fear came upon him. But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; he will not drink wine or strong drink. And he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother's womb.
Spirit. And he shall turn many of the children of Israel unto God their Lord. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers unto the children, and the unbelievers unto the prudence of the righteous, to prepare a people ready unto the LORD."
We have kept this feast among all the other feasts of the saints, of which we have had so many, and this is the reason: not that we celebrate St. John for his person, as St. Barbara and Catharine, who were called as if they were gods. We leave St. John his holiness and other saints their value, who are not equal to St. John. For one should distinguish not only the person, but also the office. Apart from John the Baptist, no one had such an office. So Mary also has an office, that she is a mother of God and remains a virgin before birth and after birth. Now many other virgins, also the archmother Sara, have been great saints. But they are nothing compared to the Virgin Mary, not as far as her person is concerned, but as far as her office is concerned, that she is a mother of the Lord and Creator of heaven and earth. Therefore, she is celebrated for the sake of the Son.
*These sermons are printed here (for the first time in a collection of Luther's works) from: "Elf bisher ungedruckte Predigten von D. Martin Luther gehalten in der Trinitatiszeit 1539. Nach Zwickauer und Heidelberger Handschriften zum ersten Male veröffentlicht von Georg Buchwald, He. tüeol., Dr. xkil. Werdau. Published by Kurt Anz. 1890." They are a part of the "Lutherfund", which Buchwald made in the Zwickauer Rathsschulbibliothek. The same sermons, which are available in Zwickau in a mixture of Latin and German, were recently found by Dr. Enders in the library in Heidelberg, in a series of manuscripts translated by Aurifaber into "consistent German". Buchwald's treatment is based on the Heidelberg manuscript, but he has used the Zwickau manuscript for criticism. The statement of Dr. Buchwald in his preface that "especially in the second half (he means the Trinity period) of the year 1539 there is a considerable gap in Luther's preaching activity known to us so far" is erroneous. As can be seen from the chronological synopsis given by us according to the Jnhaltsverzeichniß of this volume, Luther gave more than thirty sermons on the Gospel of St. Matthew and St. John in the given time.
for the sake of it. Thus, no saint is exalted as high as St. John. For no patriarch, prophet or apostle has had the office that he has, as the Lord Christ also testifies when he says (Matth. 11, 11.): "Among all those born of women, there has not arisen one greater than John the Baptist. There have been many other saints among the fruit of women, but all of them are not like John. Therefore, we celebrate John the Baptist not only for his person, but also for his ministry.
St. Lucas described this, that it was preached and that it was well known among Christians. Now we will tell you about his conception, how he was conceived by his father and mother in his mother's womb. Tomorrow we will hear how he was born. The first is the great miracle, that he was born so strangely. This concerns his person. The other is the sermon Gabriel preaches, which concerns his ministry.
God wanted this man to be conceived and born in a strange way. The parents must be old, both unfit to bear children, and the angel must come, and he also comes with his preaching, and the father with his prophecy. All this is so that John will be held high and everyone will know his legend for the sake of his ministry. The parents are both well aged, since no children can be born. For she is barren, and even if she were still young, he is an old man. Therefore, they have remained apart and despaired of having children with each other. For this reason, she was ashamed when she conceived, and she mocked him by staying away until the sixth month and not showing her face.
This must be written and preached that John is born so miraculously, even if it happens naturally from father and mother, only that it is a miraculous sign, since they are both old and unfit. But the long sermon that the angel has with Zacharias is too long. The miracle is described that she is to become a mother and does not hope for it, nor does she ask for it, but only that God will find his people, come and he will give her a child.
loosen them. After that they cried and shouted. Therefore it is said here, "Your prayer is heard," and of all the people. How? Did he ask for a son? No. He truly did not believe, but said, "Who? Me? Shall I have a son? And my wife become a mother? Therefore Zacharias was punished. Therefore he alone asked, which is fulfilled here. And Zacharias obtains much more than he had thought. He thinks that God will find and save his people and send the Savior. This has been his prayer. Then he thinks: Where is the father and the mother, who should help to this birth and fruit? He will come over hundred and two hundred years first. But Gabriel says: You shall be the father of the child and Elizabeth its mother, which shall go before the Messiah. These thoughts never came into his heart. Then Gabriel wants to say: You have received more than you asked for. And' a woman who is not considered a mother, she shall be. Therefore one should not cease from prayer, and St. Paul also says to the Ephesians (3, 20. f.): "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or understand, according to the power that is in us, to Him be glory in the church which is in Christ JEsu for ever and ever. Amen." Truly, this is what has happened to us; and if we do not stop praying, such a great thing will happen to us, which otherwise would seem impossible. He could give it without prayer, but he will not. Therefore, knowing that he will not give it, we call and cry out to him, seeking and knocking, as Matthew says in the seventh chapter (v. 7): therefore we must pray, seek and knock. We are to stop, seek and not let go of the door. If one does not tire in prayer, God will fill and make the desire so that it will not be understood, just as it did not go into the hearts of Zachariah and Elizabeth. Because the heart prays, it is too narrow to understand such things; but if it is there, then one says: I did not hope for so much. We have against us the Pope, Turks and devils. But God will and can give us more than we can understand.
This is the miracle, that from an old, unfit woman, who has now pretended to be unfit to bear children, John is to be born. Therefore she hides herself for five months, as if to say: Should it be said to me that I am a mother? So Sarah also says, "Yes, I am a fine woman to sleep with a man. So Elisabeth was also lukewarm about her husband, so that one might say, "Yes, the old fool, she still sleeps with a man! So she is ashamed that she is not allowed to go outside the door. But she consoles herself that God has taken away her shame. Not only the laity, but also the priests had to take wives, and it was a great honor to be legitimate. But now it is an honor to live celibate.
Now this is the miracle that God wanted this man John to be conceived supernaturally. For Zacharias did not ask for a wife, so she did not pay much attention to a husband. And yet it is natural. For he was born of parents. God willed this, and it was done for the sake of John's ministry, and yet he is a natural and biological son.
The other piece is from the office. There the angel says of: "She will bear you a son." Before that, people celebrated St. John's Day with crowns, St. John's bonfires and song dances. But so we do not celebrate. This holiday pleases us well, first of all for the sake of its office. For we are not to rejoice only in the joy we make with dancing or wreaths, but that he would be an excellent, great man and greater than ever was on earth. And will the angel say: Your Elsa, who is mocked, shall be a mother of the greatest man that ever was on earth. Because the barren ones were considered as cursed people. For Gen. at the 1st, when God created male and female, He said (v. 28.), "Be fruitful and multiply!" The Jews diligently practiced these words. He who does not bear fruit is not blessed. Therefore a man or woman without children is blessed and unblessed. So Elisabeth may also complain that she is rejected and mocked by the world, because she is barren. Now holds
It is considered a blessing if one has no children. But Elizabeth shall now be called the most blessed woman, except Mary, who is not a woman but a virgin. There her curse is gone. For the son of Elizabeth is said to be the greatest of all, and the Lord Christ also says of him (Matth. 11, 7-10.): "Why did you go out into the wilderness to see? Did you want to see a reed that the wind weaves to and fro? - This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my angel before thee, which shall prepare thy way before thee."
What is his ministry? "He will be great." Before he is born, he will have the Holy Spirit. Also he shall be a Nazarene 1). The Jews had a law of Moses. Some were betrothed temporally, some eternally. If one wanted to do a special service to God, he vowed that he would not drink wine. Some vowed not to drink wine for fourteen days or four weeks or half a year. They were called Nazarenes. But they themselves did not choose to be Nazarenes forever, as Samson was. What this means, go his way now! He should not drink wine, vinegar, beer and other things that make drunk, and he had to be the real Nazarene, of whom Moses had said that he should do something special. What? "He will turn many of the children of Israel to God their Lord. Here is the ministry for which we celebrate him. Therefore he was born strange, that he should have a ministry, when the Lord Christ came and began the new testament. It was a difficult thing that Moses and the Old Testament were to be abolished, the law, the precious rule, the temple was to come to an end. A preacher really belongs to this! How sour it is for me to leave behind what I have been accustomed to from my youth in the papacy! Our people still say: "There has been a fine chaste life in the papacy, item, a fine being with the masses and vigils. Everything was done peacefully. We can hardly come to that, if we hear and act the divine word at once. But the
1) Nazarene - Nasir, Gen 49:26.
beautiful figure, and the fine, chaste nature moves us. Who would not wish that every servant of God lived chastely without a wife? Item, the bishops walk in their majesty and have a beautiful regiment. Now our Lord God does not want it. But we cannot come from the filth. How should the Jews? They have God's commandment, which has set the house rules and everything. The law of all nations is child's play compared to it. According to it Moses has ordered the very finest laws for discipline and ceremonies.
The man is to pick up all this and convert the people. We cannot yet bring ourselves to renounce that which we ourselves devise and choose. What would the pope do if he could boast of what the Jews could boast of? For they could say: Here we have the law of Moses given from heaven. The Pabst's canons do not have this glory or honor. For what are the Concilia or the Fathers in comparison? But I ask: whether God has commanded it? If not, then I will willingly wear a cap, as for fine discipline. But if one wanted to force me to it, I would not want to wear the cap. So let a bishop wear his staff and inful as a discipline. But if the pope wants it kept, or if I refrain from it, that it is a sin, then I let it all go. All the maledictions of the papists are based on the fact that they force me and you. We do not have the law of Moses and the glorious' beautiful laws, the temple, worship, priesthood, kingdom, in short, it shall have an end. You can still see how the Jews are still fighting over it, just as the pope is still doing, that one does not keep his laws. But Mosi's laws were commanded! But for how long? In the 11th chapter of Matthew (v. 13) it is said: "All the prophets and the law prophesied until John. John is supposed to point to Christ. John is the greatest man on earth. For he is set against Moses, who must give him up, and lay down his book, saying, Now hear ye John, saying (John 1:29), Behold the Lamb of God, which bareth the sin of the world." The prophets prophesied about this man. The New Testament begins, and
John wants to say: I am the first who knows and indicates these things.
Now one wants to become mad and foolish that we do not worship the Canons. Why then should not the Jews be vexed and offended that their thing should go to the ground? For John's sermon wants to abolish the law of Moses and to set up a new sermon against it, since the Pope's canons are nothing but cobwebs against it. There it is God's commandment, given from heaven. But this helps John: God says it from heaven: It should not stand any longer, until the Lord comes. Then Moses and the prophets should stop and God the Lord wanted to speak himself, but he wanted to send an angel shortly before, who should prepare the way for him, as Malachias had prophesied (3, 1.).
"He will convert." Gabriel calls Christ stately, namely GOD, says: "to GOD their Lord", and is to "go before" the GOD of the people of Israel. He calls him clearly and plainly GOD, and a true GOD of the people of Israel, that he might turn them from the law to GOD. Before whom shall he go? Who is he? He is a forerunner of Jesus Christ, as it is said in John (1, 30.): "After me comes a man who was before me.
"The children of Israel", who have the beautiful temple at Jerusalem, the kingdom and priesthood, founded by God through Moses. Of the same he shall convert them, saying, Hitherto hath Christ been spoken of, who should come. Now he is come, let Moses go, hold nothing of the priesthood, of the laws, turn away from Moses and turn to your God, of which Moses preached. For he is now come, to him cling! Where then do we find him? "Behold," he says, "this is God's Lamb," before whom I go. This is the great and excellent ministry, not the shabby canons and lousy monastic rules or laws of the fathers, which are like cobwebs, because they are soon torn through. But to overthrow Moses, there belongs another office.
"To God their Lord", that is, to Christ. He is not to be the bodily Elijah, but to come "in the spirit and power of Elijah". How? I mean: he is supposed to "open the hearts of the
Converting fathers to children". The fathers had such hearts that they believed the Messiah would come from Abraham. They should come into wisdom, as if he should say: You have heard from Moses, also from David, that from your flesh and blood the Messiah should come. Now he is here. So he will convert the hearts of the sons to the hearts, that is, to the wisdom and the glanben, of the fathers. So he revealed and converted the hearts of the fathers to the children.
"The unbelievers", that is: those who did not know. John is to be the man who is to gather together the children who are now living and the fathers who lived before, so that he may prepare the way for the Lord, that is, prepare an obedient people who will abandon the law and accept the preaching of grace.
This is the ministry of John the Baptist, for the sake of which we celebrate this feast.