The seventh chapter of John.

The first sermon.

Saturday after Ascensionis Domini [20 May 1531]. 1)

V. 1. After this Jesus went about Galilee, for he would not go about Judea, because the Jews sought his life.

This chapter does not have much preaching, teaching or words of the Lord Christ, but it is a chapter that describes some history and stories of how the Lord Christ fared in his preaching. 2) We will therefore speak of it recently and not spend a long time on it, as we did in the sixth chapter. Therefore, we will speak of it recently and not spend so much time on it as we did in the sixth chapter. But St. John mixes it up, so that he partly describes the sermons he preached, and after that the histories, how it happened to him, when he preached the sermon of the sixth chapter, about his flesh and blood, at Capernaum, namely, that Jesus stayed in Galilee, went now and then into the villages, preached, but avoided the Jewish country with great diligence, and did not want to wander in Judea, for the reason that the Jews wanted his life.

2 For in Judea sat the right hand men, the rulers and prelates, his worst enemies and adversaries; but Galilee was over against the Gentiles, because Herod had authority, but the Jews of that country had no authority; as with us there are some countries where the bishops have no authority, as here at

1) In the original in the margin, but there "after" is missing.

2) the history --- what has happened, the factum.

Wittenberg, where the angry nobles are not allowed to do anything to us, even if they would like to. So the Lord Christ is also in the land of Herod, since Herod is lord and king, and the priests and elders of Jerusalem were not rulers over him, as they were in Judea. And the evangelist indicates the reason that he shunned the Jewish country primarily because the Jews pursued him.

3) Now this is written of our Lord Christ's life, how it happened to him, and is not reported in vain, but as an example to us. Nevertheless you see that the Lord Christ avoids his danger, and does not presume 3) lest he tempt God. For where I have not been challenged, there I shall not give myself; as some foolish fools, my adversaries, also say to me, Why do you not go to Rome, to the bishop of Mainz, to Dresden, or to Leipzig? Yes, you are afraid! But it is not because of fear. If I had God's command to preach there, I would have a good conscience, and would do it and preach there confidently; but because I do not have God's command to preach there, it is not because of fear, but it is called not trying God [Deut. 6:16].

4 The Anabaptists also teach that one should sell everything, leave wife, child, house and farm, and even not have wives, as the monks have also prescribed;

3) In the original: measurable.

and the desperate boys and peelers deprive the people of everything they have. Now it is true that for Christ's sake we must put aside life, limb, possessions, honor, stocking, stick, wife and child, and all that we have, for the Lord Christ said Matthew 10:37: "He who loves his wife and child, his field and his body, more than he loves me, is not worthy of me. Item, Christ says [Matth. 19, 21.]: "Go, and sell all, and follow me." It is all true; we all know these sayings well, And know them well, that for Christ's sake we should lay all on the line. But this is not what Christ said: "Run straight away from your wife and leave her on the begging pole. But he sets it in the case, that is, if it comes to this, whether thou love me more, or thy wife, body or life. Non est comparationem, sed oppositum ponere. He does not say, "Put yourself wantonly in danger, run away from your wife, or leave your own. No; but when it comes to the point that the tyrants want to punish you and drive you out for the sake of the gospel, or that they want to force you 1) to take a form of the Lord's Supper, then be bold and prove that you are a man, that you say: No, bishop, prince, priest, devil, you shall not be able to do this. If he says, "I will take your neck, wife and child," you say, "You can take that.

(5) Christ the Lord says, It shall come to pass, that these things shall befall you: for whosoever shall rather have his wife, and his body, and his goods, and his life, than me, it is determined that he is not worthy of me. But whosoever shall take it, and leave it, shall receive it again a hundredfold; and as long as he liveth here on earth he shall have enough: but if it be ever taken away from him, he shall have remission of sins, item, the Holy Ghost, and be a child of God, and heir of eternal life. So it should be understood when Christ says to love him more than anything else. But if there be no need, let every man abide in his place, in his estate, and in his profession; and let him not depart from his own, but let him abide together, every man where he belongeth. But if it should come to pass that one must leave his profession or station, or Christ

1) Erlanger: me.

Deny, all, before I deny Christ, I say that I will let go my neck, also house, yard 2c.

(6) This I say against the Anabaptists, who willingly make their own suffering and leave everything, and then boast that they are martyrs, seeking their own glory. But do not consider your own suffering; neither you nor anyone else is commanded to put himself in danger of life and limb. God has therefore given so many creatures, and made so many ways and means, that he may help thee; he maketh fields to be planted, that thou mayest not suffer hunger; he giveth also so much wool, that thou mayest not suffer cold; he giveth also so much wood and stones, all manner of thunderstorms 2) and gifts, that thou mayest care for thyself and thy body, and maintain them, and be in health. Item, he has given you inheritance, wife, child, house and farm, money and everything, so that you and your wife should stay with each other.

(7) So the first thing is to take care of the body; this is God's will. So he has given you a husband or wife, saying, "What God has joined together, let not man put asunder" [Matt. 19:6]; let it remain so. But if God separates you, who has given you the wife or the husband, it is right. This happens when you are to leave either GOD or His word; there you can say, if this intervenes: I will stay with you, my God, and leave the other, and say: Dear Lord GOD, you bound me before to house, farm, servant, maid, wife, child, body and life, but now you divorce me; for the sake of your word I must leave my possessions, otherwise I would gladly stay with them. God himself separates. He says: You shall love me more than anything else; otherwise you shall not harm the body, nor injure it, but preserve it and take care of it and wait for it, as God has ordered, so that you may remain healthy. He has given you two eyes, which you shall not pluck out or injure, nor two legs, which you shall not cut off, but if they become sick and unhealthy, use medicine and heal them; but if it comes to this, that you are struck by tyrants' deaths and

2) Thunderstorm -- weather.

If you suffer persecution from others, stand by and let God take care of it.

8 St. Augustine had much to do with the Donatists of old, who were also such companions and seducers that they asked, and called it the great Hansa, that they should be killed, that they might become martyrs, and if no one else wanted to lay a hand on them, they threw themselves off the bridges, or fell from houses, broke their necks, and relied on this saying: "He who loves his life but me is not worthy of me. There was a great deal of murdering and such murderers in their own bodies. They condemned the worldly regiments, which one should leave standing and remain, and also help to maintain and promote, so that one might have protection for the body and remain with wife and child.

(9) But leaving house, farm and goods is done in two ways. First, that I do it willingly for myself, and put it out of my mind, making my own devotion to it; that is the devil's teaching. Secondly, that I have to suffer it, and it happens to me without my thanks. I do not choose and seek it, but another forces me to it; it is not my doing and my doing, but I must suffer, and what I then suffer, that another does to me, and forces me from what is mine. Whether I would like to stay with my wife, 1) house and farm, if he does not want to leave me with them, then I must let it go, suffer it. I have brought this on myself to no avail.

(10) Therefore the monks are almost as good as the Donatists; although they do not strangle themselves in this way, they are also the devil's servants, for they say: If you want to be perfect, go and sell everything, leave father and mother, wife and child, the bridegroom leave his bride, and run away to the monastery; then you lead a Christian state and life. This is not the Holy Spirit, so you are called, but it is the devil on your cops. Therefore always with him into the hellish fire. For God does not drive you away from your father and mother, husband and wife; he wants you to stay with them; you choose such things.

1) In the Eislebenschm edition: "Leibe".

yourself, that you run away from your own. If you are forced by another with the sword or by force from your parents, wife and children, house and farm, that you would not like to do it, then you have God's word, then you can say: Before I would deny the word of God and let Christ go, I would rather go into misery, or be buried ten cubits deep in the earth, or have four plates shaved and ten caps put on in the monastery, for the sake of the Lord Christ and his word, then it would be a [right] opinion; that would have been his monks.

11 Thus the martyrs were driven out of the cities by the Romans, driven into the islands or into the forests and wildernesses, had to suffer hunger and sorrow, leave father and mother and lurk in the forests, become hermits; not that they did it intentionally, but they had to suffer it for God's sake. That is why it is vile doctrines of the devil to choose monasticism out of one's own devotion and power, and not to do so for the sake of God and His word. But when it comes to the point that there are tyrants who want to force us to do against God, or to leave Christ and his gospel, then say: Here is the saying [Matth. 10, 37. f.]; I suffer it and leave my house and farm; I would rather stay with it, because I love my father, my wife and child, but Christ much better. If then I should leave one thing, I will leave all that, and keep only Christ; for then there remaineth unto me the best and the most, even Christ and his word.

(12) Then thou shalt not do it, but another shall do it, and so thou art the sufferer; otherwise thy devotion and thy suffering shall be mire where thou doest it. Choose not a divorce, nor a monastery, nor any other new thing; but if the authorities take thee, and drive thee from thy goods, suffer it, if it come to thee without thy fault. In former times, in the papacy, the servants and maids left their masters' service, the women left their husbands' obedience and housekeeping and went on pilgrimages, became monks and nuns; these were true Donatists. The Anabaptists are raising it again. But beware and learn,

how you should talk to them, whether they are to be converted; for they run away out of their own devotion; or that the mouth of blasphemy might be cast at them, if they would confirm their devotion and holiness by this argument.

13 Christ could have gone to Judea, as it happened soon after that he went up again. But he remained in Galilee, and did not want to put himself in danger and tempt God until he had to do so, and it was due to his divine office. When he was forced to do so, he did so; but first he took the matter into consideration, saying, "I will not go into Judea, for they would have killed me. And is Christ in this himself an example, that without profession and office I should not go into a prince's country, putting myself out of my own devotion into temptation and danger, 1) knowing that a prince and lord will slay me. No, I do not have to put myself in danger. But if I must go in, or if I am in, then let me be bold and suffer, and let my neck be broken. That does not mean to do it of one's own choice. There is a bridge over the Elbe, so you must not wade through it, lest you drown. But if someone forces you to wade through the water, dare to do so and say, "I do not like to do it, but I must do it and cannot avoid it. So Christ does here also. He does not want to dare it out of his own devotion, forwardness or courage, and in vain prove an unnecessary miraculous sign in that he is to go into the Jewish land.

V. 2: Now the feast of the Jews was near, the feast of the tabernacles.

14 This is the other history or story. We have dealt with the first, how he went into Galilee and stayed there, and did not want to tempt God. Now comes the other story of what he encountered when the Jews were celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles, which was held in the month of wine or autumn, when they were commanded by God to leave their houses and towns on the fifteenth day of that month and to live in the fields for eight days,

1) Erlanger: set.

were not allowed to sleep, eat and drink at home in heaps, but had to fetch may from the woods and make huts and live under them. God commanded them to do this in remembrance of their departure or exodus from Egypt, when they wandered for forty years in the wilderness, on the road, and never came under a roof, never ate a morsel of bread, nor drank in houses.

(15) God wanted to keep this miraculous sign with the Jewish people, so that they would not forget this good deed; but we can see in ourselves how they have kept it. For it is common that we soon forget good deeds or good things, but we always remember evil, when someone does us harm; we do not soon forget anger and evil. So we do not remember today the goodness and kindness of God, which we have in the Gospel, if we should be forgotten, as it would have happened to us under the papacy. The Lord Christ well saw this forgetfulness and contempt of God's goods, and therefore gave the sacrament of the Lord's Supper in remembrance, and there instituted his body and blood to remind us how he had redeemed us from sins, death, the devil and hell. In the same way, the Jews were commanded to keep the Feast of Tabernacles for eight days, so that they might speak of this miraculous work of God, preach and give thanks to God for it, and remember the forty years they had been in the wilderness.

16 Such remembrance was necessary and useful, just as all our sacraments are Eucharistic, so that one not only remembers the good deeds of God and does not forget them; God was also concerned with them so that they did not fall into idolatry, but remained with the God who had led them out of Egypt and did not accept a foreign god. But the prophets indicate how they did it, just as we have done with the mass. In the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, one should preach and not forget the Lord Christ, because the Lord's Supper was instituted for the sake of preaching, so that no other Christ should be worshipped; but this did not happen. Christ has instituted his memorial there, and the preaching of the Lord's Supper.

But they have nevertheless so perverted the Mass, and put the preaching of the Gospel under the pew, and have sought out and practiced indulgences, fables, fairy tales, and other nonsense, that nothing but the name of the Mass has remained. If the mass were properly restored, there would be no need, for it would keep us with Christ the Savior and the main article of the justification of faith in Christ, that we believe in him alone and seek help from him, and adhere to the death of Christ; thus his memory and testimony would be kept right, and we would not fall into idolatry, which otherwise has gone out over it. For no more harmful abusus or abomination has ever been on earth than the mass, and the last day must destroy it itself.

(17) This you must know about the feast: They were strictly commanded that every man come to Jerusalem three times a year, at Easter, at Pentecost, and at the feast of tabernacles, at the festum tabernaculorum. These feasts lasted fifteen days, so that they had to stay together in Jerusalem. Since Christ does not want to go up to Judea, the time comes when he must go up, as a man, to this feast; before he did not want to go up, since he did not have to, so that he would not tempt our Lord God; but since he had to, he went up freely, more boldly than he had ever been before, and nothing happened to him anywhere; the poisonous, evil worms were not allowed to harm him.

Then his brethren said unto him, Arise thou from thence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. He who wants to be free in the plan does nothing secretly. If thou doest these things, manifest thyself before the world. For even his brethren believed not on him.

(18) It is as if his poisonous brethren spoke these things out of bitter gall, as if they thought him a fool, and would gladly betray him to the unrighteous people, the Pharisees. They are poisonous, evil worms; they want to say, "You do many miracles and preach many things, but if you were bold, you would go into Judea. Just as they said to me, "If I were bold, I would go to Dresden or Halle and preach there.

and let me hear. So these are also such defiant, scornful boys, letting such words run, which indicate, as if they consider all his sermons and miraculous signs to be nothing, and even despise him.

19 And yet the text calls them all "brethren" who follow him, not his next of kin. For the Holy Scripture says that all the Israelite people were brothers among themselves; one called another his brother, and one woman called another woman her sister; as is still the custom among us Germans in some places, especially in Saxony. Rather, they were called brothers who were cousins, mothers, wives and other blood friends; as these were the blood friends of the Lord Christ, perhaps his cousins and ohm of his mother. They should believe in him the most, love him more than others, and listen to him more diligently, considering that he was their flesh and blood, and so closely related to them that he could not have been closer to them as friends and relatives than if they had been his bodily brothers. Therefore they should have clung to him for the sake of blood friendship. But they are so scornful of him here, and say to him: "Defiance, arise, go up into the Jewish country, let yourself be seen in Jerusalem, you will have many listeners there; you have been preaching in Galilee until now, now you will get many disciples among the Jews, just let yourself be seen. But the sow teaches the cook here.

V. 4. They speak: He who wants to be free on the plan does nothing secretly.

20 Thus it must be that God, who is to be the Master of the whole world, must become the disciple of the whole world. There has never been a sermon or teaching in the world that has had so much mastery as the very word of God; all fools must cling to it and want to become knights; there is no one who would not let himself think that he could master God's word, and that he must oppose it, and that he is wiser than our Lord God. Now, if one dreams a little, it is called spirit, spirit! they can do it all, everyone wants to be God's master, and he must be everyone's disciple.

be. So it is here also; they say: "Who wants to be on the plan" 2c. As if to say, "Are you creeping with your miracles into a corner of Capernaum or Galilee and want to be a prophet? If it were right with you, you would go up to Judea, where there are also people who have teeth in their mouths and know and understand something. You want to be seen much in Galilee alone, and do many signs in the corner there, but do it also in Jerusalem. It is foolishness and fool's work with you, they say. Christ must suffer and hear this with his teaching and divine miracles.

(21) This is an example, by which we see how the gospel must also offend, that our blood friends, sisters, brothers, mothers and brothers-in-law, and other closest friends, should be hostile to us, and also consider us to be vain knaves, and should set themselves against us in the most pointed manner, so that they cannot reproach and ridicule us pointedly enough. For those who want to be most like the gospel and do the best they can, let them consider it a laughingstock and say, "You crawl into corners, shy away from the light, fear and do not want to suffer anything, do not want to come forward with the teaching.

22 Now Christ does not mean that I would presumptuously have my neck cut off; that would be tempting God; it would be presumption and the devil's boldness to want to fly before one's wings grow. Therefore it is nothing if they cry out, "Oh, shun the light!" You must answer that Christ did not want to do it either; he did not want to do it in Judea before he was required to do it. Yes, if one is required, appear, and then be confident; as we have often done.

23 Alfo the gospel is still regarded by our nearest friends, as Christ the faithful teacher was in Capernaum before the eyes of his disciples; though he perform miracles, yet is he blasphemed and reviled for it; his disciples turn not to it, they think him a knave, not bold in his doctrine, and say that he dealeth in hypocrisy and hypocrisy, that he may be safe from the Pharisees, saying, "Reveal thyself to the world." They are defiant words, they are not so pious as.

Those other fools, Luc. 9, 46, 1) who would have liked to have honor from him and gain power through him. These here are peelers and deceivers, thought nothing of it, thought that if there was something behind it, you would go to the light, and stand out, and reveal yourself to the world.

V. 6. Then Jesus said to them: My time is not yet here, but your time is always here.

024 So the Lord Christ answered them, saying not that he would remain in Galilee, and not go up to Jerusalem, or that he would shun the light; but saying, I will go up to Jerusalem yet, I may yet come into the light, and stand before the world; but ye shall not tune me the time, neither shall the sow teach the cook. When my time comes, I will do it well; but because you now think that I am afraid, therefore, for the sake of your pointed, loose, frivolous words, you should not bring me to that point that I should be presumptuous, I will meet the time well; and still interpret it as you will, call it stupidity or fear 2c., I do not care.

My time is not here, but your time is everywhere.

025 This is another blunder which he giveth them, that he may pay them again. As if he should say: You are fine fellows, you have gracious high priests, they do you no harm, you defy their power and favor, that they have a large following and covenant, Annas, Caiphas, Herod, Pilate and others, it all depends on each other; but if you were to lead my word and sermon, you would leave it well alone, and not be so bold, you must not worry about any danger now. Similarly, the fools, the adversaries, also say to me, and want to cite me before the emperor: I will dispute with you on the fire. But they do not want to go to us; there, with their own, where there is no danger, they are evil and brave heroes; we shall come to them. First they throw you into the tower, and then they want to argue with you, if they have dealt with you according to all their defiance, their own iniquity, and their own bravery; yes, that is a fine thing.

1) In the original Luc. 4. which, however, does not fit.

That is where they would like to lure us. But Christ says under their noses: "I am as bold as you are; when my time comes, you will know it; but you will never dare, even if your time has come. You are desperate boys, and would gladly sacrifice me to the flesh bank, that I might be subdued, or fall away from God; what do you boast about, because they do you no harm? Ye are hypocrites with them, and ye have well wrought; come ye when ye will, and ye shall be dear children, good godparents to the Pharisees, chief priests, and scribes; for they have known them, and loved them. It is no wonder; why should they be hated? for they speak what they like to hear.

V. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, for I testify of it that its works are evil.

(26) If I spoke what pleased the world, I would be their good friend; so would I go to Rome, to Halle, to the bishop of Magdeburg, if I spoke what the papists liked to hear. But they hate me," says Christ [John 15:18], "therefore I will not go there, for I am called. For I do that which ye will not do; I bear witness of them that their works are evil. You follow me in this! Defiance, my dear nobles. Yes, not for a long time; they leave the world well satisfied, for they are the children of the world. In spite of the fact that they told the pope a word he does not like to hear, namely, that he is a rogue; they still decorate and cover his roguery. Should he not love them? But do as I do, and tell him only one word, and you will see how bold you are. Tell the Bishop of Mainz and Duke George only one word, namely that they deny and persecute God's word. But you keep silent and smoke the pipe. Because you are silent about the truth and speak against it and do what the world wants, shouldn't it be good for you? You are good at shouting and banging, one mischievous man with another, one crow does not scratch out another's eye; so it should be a cold winter that one wolf eats another. Go ahead, testify that the works of the world are evil, and be so meager, preach the truth, see then how bold you are.

are. This is what I do. I do not hypocritize anyone, I tell Annas, Caiphas and the other chief priests and Pharisees that they are enemies of God, and act and live falsely against God's word and God's commandment, and I do not like their life and nature. This is not pleasing to them, so they want to kill me.

27 If I wanted to court D. If I wanted to court the pope and pretend to Martin Luther, I hoped to obtain a bishopric and great wealth as easily as they do; but because I do not want that, they are all enemies to me. How can the world hate those, since it has its good glow and everything from them? As long as you keep silent about the truth and do not punish anyone, the pope and the world can tolerate you; if you only resist the truth and blaspheme it, you are well off and will be held in good stead. But if you want to punish, then all friendship is over. Thus it shall be said: Mr. Annas, you teach rightly, you are pious people, but Jesus is a knave, he deceives people with his preaching. Oh, if one loves and praises one, Annas and Caiphas cannot help it; he must go away and love those who reproach and blaspheme Christ, for he sees well that Jesus wants to make him unhappy with his teaching, that Annas does not teach rightly. So does the pope. If I speak against him, and call him the Antichrist, he does not love me, but he seeks my life and limb. So that blacksmiths, jokers, and snotty bastards, 1) along with other of our adversaries, praise him, he gives them praises and domes for it. For it shall be so. But the world does not hate you; but it must hate me, for I do not hypocritize it, but tell it the truth.

(28) This is an example for us to learn, that we do not turn away from it and get angry if the world gives us insulting words, blasphemes, desecrates, hates, and exerts its will on us, because we tell it the truth; on the other hand, praises and loves those who pretend to you for the sake of lies. It does good,

1) Blacksmith is Faber von Costnitz (St. Louis edition, vol. X VIII, 1736. Tischreden, cap. 38, §§. 12. 15. vol. XXII, 937. 940. 943.). On Witzel, see Tischreden, cap. 28, § 16-19. vol. XXII, 943 ff. Rotzlöffel is Cochläus. Tischreden, Cap. 28, U 1. 2. 7. vol. XXII, 936 and 938. vol. XIX, Introduction, p. 30b.

when the pope gives such goods to a boy, and it frightens one very much when other God-fearing people are deprived of theirs, and they still have to be persecuted and live in exile; it is annoying. But the Lord Christ says: "The world cannot hate you, for you are boys and its sons, it must give you money, goods and honor enough, because you are peelers, as the bishops are, are in cahoots with them. So one of them says: "If you do not have enough for one pen or prebend, you shall have two or three more; yes, you take ten or twenty incomes, and even lie yourselves to death. But I, because I speak the truth, must be a Jesus who has neither house nor farm. But let Hannam and Caipham, and the like of them, pass through; they will soon find their host.

For their works are evil.

(29) The works he calls evil are not only gross sins, such as disobeying the authorities, robbing, stealing, fornicating, but also the most holy works they have done, which he punishes here as an ungodly being. As if I say to the pope that he is a knave, that he has corrupted and entangled the goods of the church with harlots and knaves, I do not hurt him, he can bear it that I punish such gross vices and sins; and the princes can also bear it that they are punished in this way. But if I say that their best life in the priesthood is hypocrisy and sin, when they have taught the people to trust in the mass, monastic doctrine, and their good works, to build monasteries, to go on pilgrimage, which is most profitable for them, then they become angry, want to become nonsensical, and cannot bear that this should be punished for evil and wickedness, which they otherwise considered to be the very best.

30 So Christ punishes Matth. 5, v. 20 and Cap. 23, 13. ff. the Pharisees, that they preferred the sacrifices to the works of love and the silver to the altar; item, if they denied food and drink to the parents, it would not be a sin, if it was only given as a sacrifice. All these things were called by them delicious works, which they taught. When he punished these human statutes, they became angry with him, and could not

suffer. Just as if I say to the pope, "You have broken the Ten Commandments and sinned evilly with your shameful life," he will take no notice and suffer it. But if I say, Monks and nuns and other clergy are of the devil, and their best life is sin, that bites and vexes them; for I testify of their works that they are evil, that their wisdom, art, and excellent good works, that they may lead men to heaven, are of no account; that is vexatious.

(31) This is how the Lord Christ answers, that ye have well said, ye cannot deserve evil as I do: for ye hypocrites bear witness that their works are right and good, and suffer them to please you; ye protect and defend them in their ungodly things, therefore it is no wonder that they love you: but because I bear witness that their works are evil, it is no wonder that they hate me. Yea, he saith unto them in addition:

V. 8 Go ye up to this feast; I will not yet go up to this feast: for my time is not yet fulfilled.

(32) He does not deny that he does not want to go up, for he has decided that he will go up, but he does not want to go up at this time, but he will go up when obedience urges him to go up, but he does not want to go up because of their suggestion or because of human advice. We are not to do it either, precisely because they say so. This is the cause of this saying, "My time is not yet fulfilled." He says clearly that he will go to Jerusalem, but he will wait until his day and hour come, so that he may go by command, and be sure that he will do it with God and his word, and that nothing will be done out of human boasting, reputation and approval, but out of divine calling. But these go up before the feast, and are pious, holy, delicious people; but he is not, but comes after, as follows:

The other sermon.

Saturday after Pentecost [June 3, 1531]. 1).

V. 9, 10: And when he had said these things unto them, he abode in Galilee. But when his brothers were

1) In the original margin.

When he went up, he also went up to the feast, not openly, but secretly.

33) It seems as if he went to Jerusalem without his disciples, alone, and completely secretly, that he appeared there before they were aware of him; or [before they were] 1) aware of him, he came sneaking 2c.

(34) Next we heard how the Lord Christ quarreled with his disciples and brethren about the feast of tabernacles, because they said, why would he not also go up to Jerusalem, and manifest himself there to the world with his miracles; but he met them with this answer. He did not have to go up when they wanted, and stayed a while in Galilee; but when his brothers had gone up, he also went up to the feast, not openly, but secretly.

V. 11. 12. Then the Jews sought him at the feast, saying: Where is he? And there was a great murmur of him among the people. Some said: He is pious. Others said: No, but he deceives the people 2c.

35 In this text the example is presented to us that Christ often poses weakly, as if he were fleeing, and gives space and room to his adversaries, so that they may be proud and boast as if they had won. So here also he does not pose boldly, goes up secretly after them, and lets them throb, defy, laugh, boast. He is nevertheless obedient to the law, and goes up fearfully at once, feigning weakness. By this we are to learn, though our adversaries roar, rage, and rage, and we are weak and fugitive, that we nevertheless are undaunted and undaunted. For thus our Lord God finally overcomes 2) the devil and casts him under Himself; just as Christ here also presents Himself as weak. As God Himself tells St. Paul in 2 Cor. 12, 9, when he endured much and great struggle and cried out to God: "Be content with my grace, my power is strong in your weakness; it wants to work in your weakness. If we are not weak

1) Inserted by us.

2) eventually--finally.

Christ does not need his strength in us. If it were our strength and power by which we resist our adversaries, we would have the glory, and not Christ. But from experience we learn that we are not the ones who have helped ourselves, but God must do it; thus God comes to glory in our weakness. Therefore, when the adversaries strive and defy us, but we are weak, His power is shown to be strong in our weakness.

For this reason, Christ is also seen here as weak and creeps up to Jerusalem as if he were afraid of them. But he is not so afraid that he would leave the commandment and the word of God in abeyance because of their defiance and fear, but he keeps the commandment of God that he preach the gospel, goes up and preaches. And even if he is so timid about it, he still goes out by the power of God. Since they had defied him before, they were not allowed to do anything to him and remained silent. But he goes up weak and silent, and returns home with glory or power; but they go up with a triumph, and come down weak.

With this the Lord Christ comforts us, that we know that it is not otherwise with us, but that we are sometimes weak, our enemies and adversaries, on the other hand, become strong and glorious thrones3) ; but still Christ leads it out. It wants to be so that we are stupid and fearful, and yet what we weak preachers teach must happen. It must go through, even if all the devils would work together and try to prevent it. God is so minded that He delights in strengthening the weak and making the strong weak. For he is called Creator, who makes everything out of nothing; in turn, can make nothing out of everything. Therefore, even if our adversaries are everything and we are nothing, he leads us as a creator who makes everything out of nothing; but those who want to be everything, and are holy, wise, learned and wise, must be destroyed as if they were not; he can make the fearful into joyful people, and the strong into weak.

3) Thraso, a boastful officer in Terence.

make despondent sissies out of iron eaters; as St. Paul says Rom. 4, 17: Ea, quae non sunt, vocat, ut sint. But there is an art to it, that Christians learn it; for this purpose these examples are described, that we may learn to recognize the grace of our Lord God, that this is His way. It happened to Christ himself in his own person in such a way that he was weak, stupid and fleeting, he also felt the trembling and throbbing of his heart; nevertheless it continues, he penetrates and overcomes everything.

V. 11. 12. Then the Jews sought him at the feast, saying: Where is he? And there was a great murmur of him among the people.

38) They are defiant, fierce, sure and joyful words; they speak mockingly and scornfully, they want to say: I mean yes. Defiance, that he may come to the feast. They do not say, "Where is the prophet?" so that they give him an honest name; but scornfully, "Where is he?" As if they wanted to say: The proud Bachant, he will probably stay outside, let him come here, he is evil. So contemptuously they can speak of the man that they almost don't want to call him, speak: Why must he remain outside? He has sensed and noticed that the Jews are likely to sit down against him and shut him up, that is why he is ready to be afraid of our words; what will happen if they attack him once, that the blows will follow afterwards? I mean, he should then keep quiet, he will then probably stay at home.

39 At Augsburg, at the Imperial Diet of 1530, the papists also boasted and rejoiced as if they were quite sure that they had the game in their hands. For they pretended: Oh, if only the emperor comes to Germany, he will teach the Lutherans mores; of this they were also certain, as the fiddler has it by the handle. So they also say of Christ, "He is not bold to come to Jerusalem and be obedient to our Lord God; the city is closed to him, the preaching ministry is laid aside, he will become a prankster, and will not carry out his preaching ministry; everything will be destroyed and fly away with him. Where are you now, who praise him so? Where is he? Vanished, dispersed, over all mountains; he is not yet attacked or condemned, and

yet fears a mere name, or suspicion of the Pharisees, or a basin where the sun shines in.

40 Nevertheless in his defiance he comes not only to Jerusalem, but he also appears; not alone, but in the midst of the Jews' feast. This is a great defiance against their defiance. Otherwise he should have run away from Jerusalem and the whole Jewish land because of the great defiance his adversaries had; but he is joyful, and appears at God's command as an obedient one; he should be before nothing at all, and since they boast greatly, he is already there, and appears freely. Thus our Lord God sets the fools at work, and brings all their courage to naught and to shame. The Thrasons should have been ashamed when he came and stood there and preached before their eyes, but they did not care, even though they were ashamed of him a thousand times over. Therefore, when at the feast and at that time there was a great murmuring and shouting from him, and they said, "Where is he?" he lets the shouting go all over, and makes them think it is as if he were fleeting; and yet he is so near them.

This is called God's weakness, since God's strength can finally be seen in human weakness. And beware of God; when he presents himself weak, it is to your strength. God's weakness is in defiance, but he laughs and mocks at it. He lets his children and preachers act as if they could not open their mouths; but in the oppression and defiance of the mighty men he is not far behind, he hears it and laughs at them that they pretend to be so defiant, and lets his strength be seen, as it says in the text.

V. 14. The next day at the feast Jesus went up to the temple and taught.

42) He went up secretly, which made them proud; but he is obedient to God, and fears nothing from their defiance, and goes not alone to Jerusalem, but enters into the midst of the temple, into the place where the priests and Pharisees, his worst enemies, ruled, when they had their own power in the same church. And so he enters the game, putting aside all stupidity, asking nothing of it.

even if they did not like it. He does not look at the spiritual or secular state and government, whether they want to allow it or not, so he steps up with all joy into the spiritual power and government, lifts up and preaches; he does not say: Squire Annas or Caiphas, I want to preach, but for himself he submits to the preaching ministry. He must have had a heart to stand before them; those who before had boasted much of his fear and stupidity, and had defied him, must now stand before him, and hear him speak and preach.

St. John describes this as a consolation, that no one should turn to it, nor hold to it, when God is weak, and the world boasts and throbs greatly; you must be used to it. Item, whether the Christians, but especially the preachers, are often weak and stupid, and against it their adversaries, the great, mighty Hansen, sharpen and threaten. It is not new, and it does not happen to us alone, but it happened to all prophets and apostles that they stood weakly against their tyrants, but in weakness they were strongest; yes, it happened to the Lord Christ himself, who is the Lord of all prophets and apostles. So he presents himself weakly, as if he wanted to leave the preaching ministry and not be obedient to God, and as if he was very frightened, but in the same weakness he passed right through.

Some said: He is pious.

(44) It is terrible to hear that although there were some people who considered him to be pious, they were not allowed to do so; but the greater part considered him to be a deceiver and an evil-doer, not a right but a false preacher. This is the highest disgrace and the greatest evil; one cannot reproach and revile one more highly than to call him a deceiver who blasphemes and defiles God by taking away God's honor and robbing people not of their body or their goods, but of their soul. For this reason, no one can be scolded more severely than when it is said to him under his eyes, "You are not a murderer of the body, but a robber of the soul; the desecration does the greatest harm.

45 Christ therefore went out against the terror and fear of the Jews, and did not look upon the fear; he was as weak as he would have been. But the pious men kept silence; the other wicked men had occasion and room to pretend to Caipha and the other chief priests. And the wicked have the word alone; the pious over there are not allowed to open their mouths, even if they murmur secretly. St. John describes all this to show how great the fear was, and that Christ goes up to Jerusalem so stupidly, knowing that no one will stand with him; no one was allowed to be heard speaking anything good about Christ, but the greater and several crowds consider him a deceiver.

46. But regardless of the fact that he is weak, he continues to teach and preach, and does so much with the weakness that they must leave him satisfied. God does the same to us when we and our cause fall before the world and fail. We are publicly weak before the world, or each one of us in particular wants to fall to the ground; [then each one should keep himself in such a way that] 1) he does not become frightened or fainthearted, but learns from this that our Lord God is serious; he [God] does not joke when he presents himself as weak. He means this, that he wants to beat down the strong with the weak and lift up the weak. But we must not look at this with the eyes of reason, as is commonly done, for then one would be lost; but know that God wants to lift up the strong with the weak. We are to believe this and close our eyes straightaway.

47 At Augsburg, at the Diet, they also contended thus: "There are two cities and five princes," they said; they counted them on their fingers, and judged them by sight and by reason, and thought that they had us in the bag. We were so weak that we could not be counted against the whole Roman Empire. But what did they achieve with their tyranny and violence? In our weakness, his power grew.

1) This insertion is made by us to make sense. We have also made changes in the punctuation of this paragraph, for the same reason.

God has put their defiance to shame; the longer our teaching goes on, the more it emerges, and they perish. So the Lord Christ goes to Jerusalem stupidly and secretly, and is a little frightened; but he lies above and wins, preaches publicly, performs miracles with all joy, undaunted; but they, on the other hand, become fainthearted, and their defiance vanishes unawares.

(48) Now it is a hard thing, yea, a hard art, which must be seen with the eyes of faith, to see something higher and different in Christ, than weakness and temptation. For though ours are few, but the adversary's are many, God's power and strength are great, and his word endures forever. The Word is not a human weakness or strength, but something higher. He [God] does not ask that one who belongs to Him be weak, or that one who acts against Him be strong and powerful; for He can turn it around finely, saying, "You who are weak are strong, and have the kingdom of heaven for yourselves; but you who are strong are weak, and have the fire of hell for yourselves; weakness is for His sake. If one has to suffer something for the sake of God and his word, or [we] are otherwise challenged by flesh and blood, by the world and the devil, then there is no need, especially if it is God's cause; just as our cause is also God's cause.

49 This is the boldness of the Lord Christ, that he goes up to Jerusalem, and preaches publicly before them, without regard to temporal and spiritual government, when before he was greatly afraid and dreaded; but now he despises it all, and tramples it under his feet, and is obedient to God. This is a clear example of the weakness and strength of faith. The evangelist does not say what he preached, but only points to the glorious miracle, the boldness or earnestness in Christ, that he was allowed to stand in the temple and preach in such terror, and yet was not forsaken by God. But what do the Jews do about it? The text speaks:

V. 15 And the Jews were astonished, and said: How can this man know the Scriptures, since he has not learned them?

The angry nobles, who wanted to eat him before, are now astonished. For this defiance is made a terror and fear in them, so that they are terrified of him, or wonder where he must have gotten the mind and the thoughts. So who turns the page? Before, they defy him, because he was not present, that he was afraid of them, and would be very stupid; but now, when he attacks the preaching ministry, they go about, and fear him, saying, Verily he preacheth, and knoweth not the Scriptures; what spirit shall the man have? there shall be something behind him, because he knoweth no letter, and yet preacheth. Now there is another appearance, and he has come into another world; before he was afraid, and they were defiant; now he is courageous, but they are afraid.

51 So you see that they are afraid of the soup. But it is not the work of man, but God, whom he obeys, makes him bold, and turns back the heart of his enemies; for it is in vain to do anything against God. And so it is with the Christians: If one trusts in God, then the enemies do not have to be so evil, if God wants to protect us, that they have to harm us, because he has their hearts in his hand, and directs all their thoughts, as the 33rd Psalm, v. 10, also says: "The Lord makes void the counsel of the heathen, and turns the thoughts of the nations. Our Lord God can soon turn it around, defiant emperor, pope, that they bring out what they have in their hearts! there is a peg put in front of it, which is called: Defiance, that you complete your plots and thoughts. God gives them another sight in front of their noses, so that it does not have to be guessed. If they could keep the thoughts they have, we would be in a bad way.

52.. The Pharisee's heart and thought is actually this: We want to strangle Christ. Now God sets the Lord Christ before them to preach; then the thoughts fall away, and [they] marvel, saying, "How can this man preach the Scriptures?" So he takes away their hearts. Therefore to war with God is evil, because he takes away the heart; but it is good to hope in him. And these are evil enemies that take away the heart. If I can take a man's heart, then I have

I will soon defeat him, he will not do much fighting. So God also takes away the courage and heart of his enemies, so that they must despair. Again, to those who hope in him, and are foolish or despondent, he gives them a courage that they can tear through. These are beautiful examples and vain miracles, although they do not seem so great as cleansing leprosy, giving sight to the blind, or raising the dead; but it is so great that he can take away the thoughts, pride, defiance, and heart of emperors, kings, popes, or proud princes and turn them around; again, he can bring forth the poor and stupid so that they are not afraid of anyone, yes, other people must fear them. These are called divine miracles.

How can he learn the Scriptures if he has not learned them?

053 Who told them that he had not read them? Answer: The Jews had registered and inscribed all the people, and knew where they were at home; but especially they had to hear and learn the Law of Moses from the Levitical tribe, for which purpose the Sabbath was appointed, so that those who did not know the Law themselves should learn it from Aaron and the Levites. And the Levites and priests were set apart from the other Israelites, and had no land, people, cities or government to govern; they had nothing to do with such toil and labor; they were above the troublesome worldly government, waiting only for their cattle and tithes; God spared them the worldly government, this toil and worry; commanded them to study for it, to read in the prophets, and to teach the common man. Yes, it should still be so that those who were to become pastors should be allowed to study; the others, as the common man, cannot wait for books; otherwise one must also have rulers and farmers. Therefore they could well have known that he had not read the Scriptures. Christ is of the laity, of the tribe of Judah, and not of the priestly tribe, and begins to preach, when only the priests were commanded to study the Scriptures; wherefore they marvel and are afraid that he of the tribe of Judah, and not of the tribe of Levi, is of his own room.

The priests, who had not waited for the priests' handicraft, lay themselves down against the priests and preach, and can do their art better than they can, and so their defiance falls and is transformed into amazement.

V. 16. Jesus answered and said, "My teaching is not mine, but His who sent Me.

054 He taketh a cause from their words, that they said he was not learned, saying, His doctrine is his father's, and attacketh the priestly ministry. They do not boast that he is not of the tribe of Levi, yet he preaches; they soon let it happen, for they knew well from the prophets that one would come from the laity who would preach as well as none had preached in the priestly office. Therefore he answered them about his teaching in this way: You may not blame me, but God is to blame; I am not the master, you may not blame me. He does not want his teaching to be seen with reason, nor does he want to leave the honor to himself, but he wants to lead and draw them up to the one whose teaching is, namely God, the heavenly Father, to whom one should give the honor of his teaching.

The third sermon.

Saturday after St. John's Day [July 1, 1531.] 1)

(55) This part, that they marveled, may be understood in two ways, as of the pious and the wicked. First of all, the pious were surprised that they thought that he, as a simple, bad man, who was educated like a layman, should preach better than all the other chief priests and scribes, as Caiphas, Annas 2c., who had learned it from the books, and should teach the people. For the priesthood was ordained for this purpose, that they should preach, and they had their goods from it, that they should study. Thus they were often astonished at the prophets, and we often read in the Gospel that they were astonished at the teaching of the Lord Christ;

1) In the original margin.

for he would have taught mightily, as Matth. 7, 28. 29. is written.

(56) The others are the wicked men and the scoundrels, who defile and blaspheme the known truth and doctrine. They feel and sense the power of Christ's teaching, that it is the holy Scriptures and the Word of God, and cannot resist it, saying that it is the right wisdom and well founded; but we still will not accept or listen to his teaching, but blaspheme it, saying that the devil has taught him this way and given it to him, so that he may interpret the Scriptures. These, methinks, the Lord especially toucheth herewith. For this is the way it is commonly done, when one cannot do anything to the doctrine and truth, or one does not want to believe in it, then one says: They are heretics, the devil can also use the Scriptures, so that he sets his errors; must therefore have the name that it is the devil's doctrine, which comes from the devil's inspiration. Although it is publicly stated that it is God's truth, they are still such fellows before they should become disciples and give way to the truth, before they should trample the truth underfoot; they thought it would be a disgrace for them if they should learn anything.

(57) The papists and the fanatics are doing the same thing nowadays. Because they did not invent our doctrine, it is not right; because the pope and the monks did not start our doctrine, it must be called the devil's doctrine, and the devil started it. Such peelers also wonder, but nevertheless blaspheme the doctrine. But he still answers neatly, and indicates where it comes from, because they want to say, as if he had it out of his head, and speak this doctrine of the devil.

My teaching is not mine.

(58) He answers neatly, indicating that he understands well and realizes that they blame him and blaspheme him, as if he had the teaching from himself or from the devil. For he that speaketh of himself speaketh of the devil. To this he answers and says, "My doctrine is not mine." But how does this rhyme? If it is not his, why then does he preach it and push it, and take it so much to himself?

hard, and yet refuses to honor? Why does he not say, "This is what I preached"? Does a Christian usually say: This is my preaching, my baptism, my Christ, my God; item, my gospel; and yet it is not his, because he did not make it, it does not come from him, it is not his work; and yet it is his, his gift, it is given to him by God. Just as I say: The child is mine, the man or the woman is mine; and yet it is not yours, because you did not create it, it is someone else's work, given and given to you; I did not cast it or carve it in this way, but it is given to me in this way. In the same way the Lord Christ also says of his teaching.

(59) I say the same thing: The gospel is mine to distinguish from all other preachers' doctrine, who otherwise do not have my doctrine. Therefore I say: This is my teaching, Luther's; and yet I also say: It is not my teaching, it is not in my hand, but God's gift. For, dear Lord God, I did not invent it from my own head, it did not grow in my garden, or spring from my well, nor was it born of me, but it is God's gift, and not the gift of man. So it is both true that it is mine, and yet it is not mine, for it is God's, the heavenly Father's, and yet I preach and teach such doctrine.

60 He interprets it in this way himself and says v. 17: "If anyone wants to do the will of him who sent me, he will know whether I speak from me or from God"; my teaching is not mine, for it is God's, and I preach it now.

(61) This is a necessary article, and even a beautiful text, that one should speak in the house of fields, meadows, gardens, cows, butter, calves, cheese, etc., as it does not concern the soul and the future life, because these things are subject to reason, and say, "This is mine, since it does not concern the soul and the future life, as one pleases, since these things are subject to reason, and say: This is mine; but in the ministry of preaching, since it concerns the divine word, this is what Christ says here, that no one preaches some doctrine, unless he has defiance and ambush with him, that he does not preach his own thing or doctrine, but that he is sure that he is called by God to the ministry of preaching.

(62) The others also all say that they teach the Word of God. No devil, heretic, or spirit of the mob comes out and says, "I devil or heretic preach my doctrine," but they can all say, "It is not my doctrine, it is God's word; each one wants to have the name that it is God's word that he is preaching. So also the pope and the priests do, "Let everyone see to it that he is sure when one is to speak of things that do not concern the worldly, but the salvation and conscience, that one knows where to leave the soul when we depart from here into another life, so that every preacher and listener can then say: I did not invent this teaching, it is not my gloss, interpretation or pretence, but of Him who sent me.

Let everyone in Christendom be sure that preachers, teachers, pastors, and all who speak the word are sure that their preaching is not their own, but that they truly know that it is the word of God; or if they doubt that it is the word of God, that they keep silent and do not open their mouths, for they are sure beforehand that it is the word of God. A man is a man, and soon dies, and with him die also his words and all his thoughts; as it is written in the Psalm [Ps. 146, 4.], when it is over with him, so is his word, his teaching, works, thoughts and powers also over. For a mortal man's word is also mortal. If a man cannot have eternal life through his preaching and teaching, then he should keep silent, and hear God's word alone; for there is no life unless God's word is with it, so that one can say: I did not get it from men, though I got it through men. For the word of God abideth for ever: but the word of man perisheth, and cannot be relied on. And if one is to die, one has no consolation or help from man's word, rule, works and teachings; everything is gone from Carthaeus' order and other monks' rules; and, if God's word does not come to teach him something different and better, he perishes, for man's words cannot hold the sting. Therefore, a Christian, whether he is a preacher or a listener, should be sure that he is not speaking his own word, but God's word, and that

Otherwise, it would be better if one of them had never been born, and priest and listener, one with the other, had to go to the devil.

Therefore the pope with his brotherhoods and teachers is of the devil, that in matters concerning the soul he preaches that which he himself has composed. That should be by no means. Secular authorities, princes, lords and lawyers can make law, give rights and teachings about house, farm, villages, grain, wine, land and people, and everything that is subject to people on earth; but in matters of faith, and concerning the soul, act and want to do as one does with external and physical, with oxen, with house and farm, that is not to be suffered.

65. If now the pope comes trolled, teaches his own thoughts and words, or a worldly lord wants to have his hand in the sod here, then I say: Let it suffice thee with the things of the flesh, that thou mayest deal with emperors, kings, princes, countries, and people, setting them down and setting them up as thou pleasest, and know how to answer for them; thou mayest set one as high as thou wilt: but here remember and give me a baptism which thou hast not made, that thou and I may say, The baptism is not thine, nor mine. So give me also the sacrament, which is also ours. Lord God's, and is not yours. Item, the gospel or a sermon and teaching, which is also not yours. Item, the comforting sayings from the Scriptures; they are not called your sayings, but God's sayings. Therefore say, Give a doctrine that is not thine, of which thou mayest certainly say: This doctrine is not thine, nor the priest's, nor the bishops', but the doctrine of him that is in heaven: that thou mayest give me a saying and comfort in time of trouble, which is not thine, but God's. This is what he means in these words:

My teaching is not mine, but His who sent me.

He puts his profession before them, and speaks of his ministry as a preacher, and not as a god. Otherwise, he is the Son of God and the Son of Mary; that belongs in another sermon. But we do not speak of the person of Christ now, lest someone should say: If the sermon is not his, ei, then he is not Christ, but speaks of his

30 Eri. 4s, iss-r". Interpretations on John the Evangelist. W. vn, 22L1-22L1. 31

Office. The boys or students speak of it in two ways, and use to distinguish between the office and the person; just as the Elector of Saxony is a man, who has body and soul, from which he is made; after that he has an office, that he governs land and people, and can be a prince. There one speaks differently of the office than of the person. This is also the case here; the teaching that Christ leads does not apply to the person, who is God, but to the office. He wants to say: I am a preacher and have an office to teach; but the preaching is not mine, it is not from myself, I have no lying teaching, but, as the office is commanded me, so also the teaching of the divine word is commanded me. I preach another man's word and will, and not my dreams, which I would have invented; my heavenly Father has imposed the ministry and the word upon me.

67 Now this is a fine preacher who has the two things, namely, the ministry and the word. For a preacher should have these three virtues: First, he should be able to perform. Second, he should not be silent. Third, he should also be able to stop again.

The first thing is that he has an office, that he is certain that he is called and sent, and that what he does he does for the sake of his office. I am not to preach without being called, I am not to go to Leipzig or Magdeburg and preach there, for I have neither a calling nor an office there. Yes, if I hear that nothing but heresy is being preached in Leipzig, let them do so anyway; it is not my business to let them preach as they wish; I have sown nothing there, so I am not allowed to cut anything in. But if our Lord God would have me do it, I would do it, and I would have to do it; as I am called here to preach, and am forced to preach.

69 Secondly, he should also be certain that he is teaching and preaching the Word of God and is not teaching the doctrine of men or the doctrine of devils. Then it is right for a preacher to first be certain that he not only has the Word of God, but that he also has the ministry. For otherwise all misfortune comes from the fact that the two parts, the ministry and the word, are now transgressed and overflowed, as can be seen in the enthusiasts who boast much about the Holy Spirit.

But they come of themselves, no one asked them, throwing around, sneaking in and saying they are called by the Holy Spirit. Yes, by the devil. I do not want to see a preacher in office, even if he does miraculous signs, unless he is sure that he has a right teaching and word, and a sure office, so that he knows that he is sent.

(70) There must be none without the other. For even if one has a profession and office, such as the pope, bishops, who are spiritual, they sit in office just as I and every preacher and pastor sit inside; nevertheless, it is not enough that they should also have God's word before them. On the other hand, even if one already has the word of God before him, and is learned, and knows that it is the word of God, he should keep silent and not take hold of the office, nor preach, unless he is called to do so. It is not enough to have the word, he should keep silent and not preach, and expect the calling.

(71) Moses was more learned than any man that ever lived on the earth; yet he preached not at once, but the Lord told him six times, saying, "Go. He still quarreled with God, and strove against it, before he accepted the ministry; and God overtook him six times, but he excused himself much more, saying, "I cannot speak"; until he was forced in a rage by God, and went up and preached. He might well have said that he wanted to preach, for he was learned enough to do so; but he waited until he was called to do so. He could have done it before the call, but he refrained and kept to himself [Ex. 3, 10. ff. 4, 1.]. In the same way the father of the house calls the servants, Matth. 25, v. 14 ff., and gives them his money or pound, so that they should trade and advertise with it; the servants did not take the money themselves from the master's hands, but waited for the profession. The monks also came creeping along, saying: I have God's word, I have a pound, I am a doctor, I must preach or be damned and lost. But it is not enough that one has a pound, but I must also be called, that is, one must be sure that God has placed me there. If then you have a pound, see to it that it is not a

Quintlein be. One must first be called; but if one wanted to do something against the calling, it would be better that he had never been born, so that the devil would not say to me: You have taken this seat wrongfully, it is not commanded to you by God, you do not have the right to do it. After that, one must also have the word of God. If the devil then comes, let him oppose one who is stronger than I am.

This is the answer of the Lord Christ to the Jews this time, and he will give them to understand: If ye despise me, ye despise him that sent me: therefore despise not my word, lest ye despise another. I am sent; you cannot blame the ministry; the command, the hot one, and also the word are there; I have come to preach this doctrine. Yes, how do we know? Do thus unto him, and see if it be right:

V. 17 If anyone will do this, he will know whether this teaching is from God or I am speaking from myself.

73 Thus you learn it, that you see it and judge whether it is my word or God's word; if you do the will of God the heavenly Father, then I may well suffer you to be judges of my teaching. But how does one come to this? It is a strange experience, and one will slowly come to the point that we do the will of the Father. We have said above [Cap. 6, § 142 ff.] what the will of the Father is: that one should judge the doctrine, 1) [That one keep silence, and only hear that he is sent by the Father; this is his will, that I teach, and you listen to me and believe. If you do this and do not resist me, the Holy Spirit will enlighten you and teach you that the Father's will is in Christ, that he sent the Son to be heard. As in Matth. 17, v. 5, on the high mountain Thabor the voice of God the heavenly Father was heard: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, and you shall hear him.

74 This then is the will of the Father, that men should see and hear what the man Christ is doing.

1) For a proper understanding of these words, compare § 80 of this chapter at the end.

and hear his word. Thou shalt not puzzle, master, or expostulate on his word, but straightway hear it; then the Holy Spirit will come, and make thy heart fine, that thou mayest heartily believe the preaching of the divine word, and say, This is the word of God, and the pure truth, and let thy life be over it. But if you want to be heard, and if you want Christ to spread out his word according to our reason, if you dare to be a master of it, to chew the cud of other doctrines, to investigate how it is to be understood, to measure and direct it, so that the words must be what you want them to be, and if you do not take it into consideration until you have doubts about it, and if you want to judge according to your own cops, that is, not to be heard, nor to be a disciple, but to be a master; So thou shalt never come to know what is the word of the Lord Christ, or what is the will of his heavenly Father.

Therefore, it is impossible for anyone to understand God's word who wants to master it with his thoughts. As then the pope and the spirits of the mob do; they take some saying from the holy scripture, slander it, carve it, play with it, and do whatever they like with it, until they are blinded by it. They make only a sign out of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and they also despise baptism. In such a way one never comes to understand it and can say: This is God's word. Therefore, shut up your reason and trample your wisdom underfoot, and do not let it grope, feel or think in matters concerning your salvation, but badly listen only to what the Son of God speaks, what his word is, and stay with it, for it is said: Hunc audite. To hear, to hear is the word; for this is the pure and good work of the will of our Lord God. And he promised that whoever hears the Son, he will give him the Holy Spirit to enlighten him and set him on fire, so that he will understand that it is the word of God; he will make a man out of him according to all his good pleasure. This he will also do.

76 Again, he that will do his own will, and his own pleasure, and preach what he pleaseth, and heareth what he chooseth and willeth, hath heaven shut up and shut out, and shall never smell.

34 Erl. i8, iis-its. Interpretations on John the Evangelist. W. vn, rrsr-ssss. 35

or taste a grain or tittle of what a saying or word from the Scriptures is. They may well shout it, item, make themselves think as if they wanted to improve the holy scripture; but nothing comes of it. In the same way it shall be with the pope with the enthusiasts, if they master the Scriptures, then the Holy Spirit and heaven shall be closed before them 1). It cannot and will not be otherwise, for God says: "This is the only one you shall hear, he shall be your preacher, your doctor and your comforter; you shall hear him, not master him, not give him a way, an aim or a measure; you shall neither reproach him nor find out how his words are to be understood, but the whole world shall be under him; remember and hear him, this is my will. If you hear him, I will make disciples, yes, real masters out of you, so that you can judge all teaching from my word.

(77) Well, a Christian soon seeks from afar where God's word is, or where man's doctrine is, that one speaks of himself; he sees from afar that the spirits of the wicked speak out of themselves, and out of men's heads and senses. They cannot escape me, Luther, I can soon judge and decide whether their thing is God's word or man's doctrine, for I do God's will, who sent Christ. I have heard the word of God alone, and I say: Dear Lord Christ, I will be your disciple, and I believe your word, and I will close my eyes and give myself captive to your word. So then he makes me a free heretic, yes, a fine doctor and teacher, who is captive to the word of God, and can judge that the faith of the Pope, the Turks, the Jews and the Sacramentarians is not right; they must fall down, I throw them all under my feet, and have become a judge and doctor who judges rightly. For though a heretic rages and rages for a time, yet at last he must come down. A Christian can separate doctrine from doctrine, and say: This is what God has said, this is not what he has said. Item: This is from God, that is from the devil. Therefore St. Paul says [1 Cor. 2, 15] that the spiritual man who has God's word judges all doctrine, yes, all spirits, and the teachers and spirits can be divided into two.

1) Erlanger: those.

They do not judge him. Even though they come here and judge and condemn, shout and bark, snarl and defy others, their judgment is still wrong, and it does not remain, as otherwise a Christian's judgment remains before God.

The Christian church has judged and condemned Arium, Pelagium, and all other heretics, even plunged the sea of heretics into the abyss of hell, by the divine word; not that she is a mistress over the word of God, but that she has surrendered to the word of God, that she alone hears Christ and does the will of him who sent him, and that she is a disciple of this man, his word or teaching. Therefore she becomes a master over all. And from this word she has decided that this teaching is right, but that one is wrong; item, that this one is a heretic and does not teach right. And even though I can distinguish which doctrine is of God or of man's origin, I do not have the power to rule over the word of God or to reject God's word, but because I am God's disciple, I become a master over man's statutes and doctrine with my disciple's office, but not over God's word and over God.

The Pope boasts that the Christian Church is above the Word of God. No, not so. We must be disciples, not masters; for the disciple need not be above his master. Therefore the Lord Christ says here: "If you want to understand my teaching correctly, accept me as a preacher sent by God. As if to say: If you want to understand my word, it is not the way to go about it; but rather, accept me as a preacher who has come from God, do not seek to understand it, but because God speaks it, be silent and let God's will be good for you. In the world, when a sovereign gives an order, it must not be changed, but when he writes and gives orders to a city, his letters and orders must be believed and not disputed. It is the same with a householder. The servant must not question the master's word and argue, but because the master has commanded it, he must believe it.

Therefore let the servant be silent and do what the master has commanded; let the servant say, "The master has commanded," and let it be done according to my master's will.

80 Here it shall be just like this. The Lord Christ wants to say: I am a preacher, and God himself speaks it through me, it is his word, my teaching is not mine, but God's, who has given it to me; therefore remember and listen to what I speak. O no, they say, should we have the GOD for a teacher? Should we be such simple-minded fellows? In paradise we also wanted to be wiser than God Himself is, that is why we have fallen so low. Well, this is the opinion: You shall become a judge of the word of God, but not otherwise, than that you obey, and hear the word of God, and do His will; if you keep to the word of God, you will judge all teachings, and see whether it is the word of God or not, for so it is decided. Now Christ speaks further:

V. 18: He who speaks of himself seeks his own glory.

As he judges, so do we judge. Whoever does not mean God's honor with fidelity and seriousness, and speaks of himself, it is impossible that he means well and speaks his word purely. For a servant who speaks his own word and not his master's command is a liar; if he is hypocritical, he will disgrace his master; he will not speak what the master has commanded. If this happens in worldly matters, it happens much more in matters of God and religion, when someone speaks and brings something different from God's word or command. He who speaks of himself is ambitious and idolatrous, and does not respect God, is God's enemy, idolatrous; he preaches of himself what he wants, and seeks only that he may be thought a learned man, and that he may be given much pay; he wants to be heard alone, wants to have all power, to be subordinate and to rumble as a tyrant; he does not ask where God and men's souls are.

Now, nevertheless, all heretics say they seek God's glory, all are silent about God's glory. But I hear the words well, and in essence it is no different than that a heretic

seeks his own honor, whether he says he means the honor of God and of the holy Gospel; for they speak of themselves, and then want to adorn themselves with it, so that they do not want to cause trouble. But seeking God's glory must be done differently, namely, in such a way that God's glory is preferred with all our faithful heart and earnestness, yes, with righteous faith that it is the Holy Spirit's request and not our own. For the devil also wants to prefer God's glory, but not in the same way. It does not have to be devilish or invented, but the work of the Holy Spirit and his inspiration in the hearts of the believers.

The fourth sermon.

Saturday after Visitationis Mariae. [8 July 1531]. 1)

So far we have dealt with the two things, that, first, whoever wants to know something certain, must lift up and believe. In other arts it is so, that he who hears and sees much is taught; but in theology and in divine wisdom neither hearing nor seeing, neither typing nor groping, applies; but this alone is the beginning, that one hears and believes the word of God. Whoever does not begin in this way will fail, and he will not be able to do anything or preach rightly, even if he has the wisdom of the whole world. This is the beginning of being taught in spiritual and divine matters; the beginning is called believing the word of God. Secondly, no one who wants to do things right should teach and preach from himself, but he should do nothing else but God's word. That is, the disciples must be kept together, and disciples and masters must be bound together, so that whoever is a disciple and listener must hear nothing but God's word; and again, the preacher must preach nothing but God's word, otherwise it is error and damnable what is done outside of this on both sides.

Who sent me.

84. this doctrine cannot be unjust, nor can the man preach unjustly, who is

1) In the original in the margin, but there "after" is missing. The Visitation of the Virgin Mary was on a Sunday in 1531.

Z8 Erl. 48, i4s-ik>y. Interpretations on John the Evangelist. W. vn, 2262-22W. Zg

Seeking the glory of God who sent him. But this is the glory of God, to preach and praise God's grace, mercy, benefits and works alone, to everyone's salvation. But he who preaches that we are justified by our ability and works is lying like a wicked man, for he seeks his own honor, and preaches his works and abilities so that he may be praised and honored, and does not praise God's work, who sent his Son into the world to die and be crucified, so that he alone might have the honor of doing it and making us blessed without our doing or piety. This is called honor.

But the unruly and sinful 1) nature cannot let it go, it wants to get right with our Lord God, and to impose its good works on him and to raise something against God, so that one can say: I have done this, I have preached so much, I have fasted, I have prayed, and thus I have lived holy like a pious man, woman, servant, maid. That's the point. This filth still hangs on us from Adam and Eve, implanted in us in paradise, who also wanted to have God's honor. Adam and Eve, our forefathers, were after God's honor; everyone wants to have a piece of the divine honor. But his own honor is sought, and God's honor is weakened, so that I also want to have a hand in the sod, since God alone should be given the honor. I also complain about myself. But he helps us again out of pure grace, that he forgives our sin when we die.

The Jews and the pope cannot stand it either; so all the monks and nuns oppose it; so the senseless, foolish, common man also opposes it; and we also come up against it with difficulty. However, we have the advantage that we let the doctrine go and remain; even though we cannot do with our lives that we give God the glory so purely for the sake of our flesh and blood, God has nevertheless given us the grace that we preach rightly, and love the doctrine, and say: It is the truth. And the Holy Spirit also follows this, saying, Let it be grace, and let it be no other, but that we may preach the truth.

1) extensional - stretchable, tough.

Without our works, by pure grace, we are saved. And even though we do not like to live according to this teaching, it still says, "Forgive us our trespasses. This sin remains while we live; but forgiveness of sin also remains, so that sin may not harm us, and we may praise God's glory with preaching, thanksgiving, praise and confession, and also with life, as much as we can, and God gives grace.

This is the summa: The disciple hears God's word, and the master teaches God's word; both must give themselves captive here, they are both captive, bound to God's word, which to preach and to hear, may not turn aside to the right or to the left. Now if one steps out to one side, he is wrong. He who does so 2) is he who seeks the glory of him who sent him; and if sin remains in us, it does no harm. In him we are true, and there is no unrighteousness in us, because we teach purely, and preach of his grace, and receive his word by faith. Therefore this unrighteousness is gone, it does not harm us. In doctrine there is no falsehood, there we are pure and true through and through, doctrine is righteous, for it is a gift of God; but in life there is still something criminal and sinful, but it is given to us and not imputed to us; it is not written in the register, but it is struck over it remissio peccatorum, thereby sin is blotted out.

So we want to be called holy for the sake of doctrine, and we truly are. For such is a righteous baptism, a true word of God of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, the holy Scriptures, and the Holy Spirit, and other gifts of God more; thereby we are holy. In the papacy we were weak saints with our good works. But if life does not want to go on, we may crawl or creep. And even if we are frail saints in life, that there is a lack, as that we do not fear, trust and love God enough, we do not commit public vices, because we are not fornicators, adulterers or usurers. And even if one falls into it, we are still in the word

2) "He who does", namely: he who gives himself captive under God's word.

God again, stop sinning, because the word of God is pure in itself, delicious, loud, and the truth itself. There is nothing wrong in it. For this is what the text says:

V. 18 But he that seeketh the glory of him that sent him is true, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

The half piece, as, the life, is half pure; but the dear prayer comes to it, which cries and sighs for forgiveness of sin. But the other piece is completely pure, half of the teaching.

Thus the Lord Christ answered the Jews, who wanted to judge him according to the appearance and pretense that he had not read the Scriptures, and they looked upon him as a fool, thinking that he was not learned, because he had not learned their art, but they alone knew the word of God.

90 And now he comes to this, that they were after his life, and would have killed him, because he had healed the poor man on the sabbath day: and the Lord Christ will excuse himself, because he hath healed a man on the sabbath day. For the Jews accused him of breaking the Sabbath, as we have just heard in the fifth chapter, v. 16. The Jews were hard on the Sabbath, and would not suffer him to heal a sick person on that day. And he had many disputes about it and was scolded as a heretic, Matth. 12, 2. 10. Marc. 3, 2. ff. And a Pharisee stood up once, and said unto the people, Come not on the sabbath day, but at other times in the week, and be healed: and the Lord Christ answered and said, Do ye not water your oxen and asses on the sabbath day or on Sunday, 2c. and silence them with their own example. So does he here also, excusing himself, and saying, Ye accuse me that I have broken the sabbath: this shall be the heresy and sin which I have committed, wherefore ye would put me to death: but if it be a sin, and worthy of death, ye ought to be put to death also, all of you: for ye break the law of the sabbath much more grossly than I do. And turn therefore the accusation which they brought against him upon their own heads, saying:

V. 19. Did not Moses give you the law, and no one among you keeps the law; why do you seek to kill me?

(91) He does not speak of the whole law of Moses, though it would not be a bad opinion if someone were to interpret it that way. But I take it that this is the opinion: Moses gave you a law of the Sabbath, why do you not keep it? You punish me for breaking the Sabbath, and you praise and extol yourselves for breaking it, and say that it is well done to circumcise a child on the Sabbath day. This was Mosi's commandment, to circumcise the babe on the eighth day [Gen. 17:12]. Item, he gave a law that one should not work on the Sabbath, and that one should keep it strictly. Now it often happened that the eighth day of the child's birth was on the Sabbath; for one child was born on that day, and another on another day, and many children were born on the Sabbath day; and you circumcise people on the Sabbath day, boasting that you keep the Law of Moses by circumcising a child on the eighth day; and yet it is against the Sabbath, for God has forbidden that one should do no work at all on that day; how will you bring this together?

92. so he turned their own question and blasphemy, and thrust it into their own jaws; saying, If it be lawful for you to circumcise a child on the sabbath day, it is lawful for me also to heal a sick man on the sabbath day; but if it be not lawful for me, it is not lawful for you. For Moses permitted an ass and an ox to be drawn out of the well on the Sabbath day. Therefore, to help a man from his sickness is also a good work. Therefore, if your works do not break the law of the Sabbath, neither will my good works break the law. I have as good a cause as you. If your works are good, so are mine. Ye have the law of Moses concerning the sabbath day, wherein ye shall do no work: but there is none of you that keepeth the sabbath day, or the law, because ye circumcise the little children that are born on the sabbath day. What will they answer to this? They excuse themselves by saying that they must obey Most, who has commanded it. Now therefore ye go on, and dissolve the law of Moses by

another law, and the sabbath must give way to circumcision; circumcision breaks the sabbath; therefore take yourselves by the nose, hold my work against yours, and they must kill you before me.

It can also be understood from the whole law that they have not kept it, but I think that the same mind is too high and too sharp, that no one keeps the law; because this is also St. Paul's teaching and opinion. But I now leave it pending that Moses gave the law, but Christ established and brought the truth and grace 2c. But this is the best understanding of the words of Christ, in which I stand, that he says, Ye break the law as well as I. For if ye would keep the law, ye must confess that I also keep it. If therefore I do a good work on the sabbath day, as good as circumcision, ye shall not punish me. If yours is good, mine is also good. Then the people said:

V. 20. You have the devil; who seeks to kill you?

It may be that there were pious people who liked this answer, that he convinced them that he had not done wrong, and therefore should not be put to death; but there are others among them, who are nevertheless annoyed, as hopeful, coarse asses, who cannot stand the truth, who say: Do you want to reproach us as slayers? Do you want to defile us holy people? Who wants to kill you? Just as our papists forbid, and do not want to suffer, that it should be said and held of them that they are murderers, or kill without cause, or persecute the gospel and truth. So these also will not have the name, saying, "Thou hast the devil."

95. like the murderers and bloodhounds who kill so many people, and yet want to have the honor of being able to boast that they have done God a service. Let it be said that they acted well, and whoever said or judged otherwise must have a devil. Nevertheless, one must tell them the truth: "Why did you kill? Then they say, "O wicked man, do you think we are killing you? They shed no blood for the sake of the gospel.

but want to defend the gospel; they want to have the name that they are God's servants and do right, do not want to have the imprint 1) that they pursue it, but that they represent it; despite that someone else says. It speaks Christ semer:

V. 21. I have done some work, and you all marvel at it.

96. He wants to say: You cannot give me one good work and give me credit for it, since you break the law yearly and daily. You can be silent about yours, and clean and decorate your works, but you cannot give me credit for one work.

Well, it is true that we and all Christians are still in the same situation, we also have to suffer it from our adversaries, there is nothing good with them, they are vain devils; there is unbelief, false trust, great contempt, the highest blasphemy, disobedience to authority, murder, thievery, fornication, their life is the sorrowful devil and hell itself. We must give them credit for this. But when they hear that one of us has talked too much, or taken half a monastery, or seized a spiritual good, they say, "Oh, that is a great sin. And even if we do good works, that we suffer, preach, give alms; still it is not right. In sum, the Lord Christ cannot be credited with a single work, but what they do, regardless of the fact that it is not fit for the dogs, or even belongs to the devil, is so holy and delicious a thing that covers up all their evil. Well, this is the world's judgment; the mote in our eye must come forth, they must wash their mouths with it; but their beam must be nothing. This is very grievous in the world. For we cannot be without sin, though it be one drink too many, notwithstanding that the world is full and drunken, yea, drowned in sins. But their vitia. should be nothing, they adorn themselves, do not want to let it be evil, color themselves with their baseless sins, and challenge the saints of God for the sake of a splinter, or for the sake of a small sin.

1) Imprint -- what one imposes on someone, reproach.

98 But this is enough, that Christ saith, He that seeketh the glory of him that sent me is true. We have this testimony, which the world, the earth, the angels, and all creatures must bear witness to us on the last day. In the meantime we must suffer that the world rages and rages against us, and does not let us do one good work, but blasphemes everything, and adorns all its evil works against it. They can do no evil, neither have we done a work that they praise; but we cannot and will not praise their works. We may be satisfied that we have a gracious judge in heaven; yet we shall have more consolation than they. I D. Luther know that my preaching will be witnessed by the birds, the stones and the sand of the sea, for I will have more comfort than all of them. The Lord pours out to them even better, and says:

V. 22. 23. Moses therefore gave you circumcision, not that it came from Moses, but from [the] fathers. Nor do ye circumcise a man on the sabbath day. If a man receive circumcision on the sabbath day, lest the law of Moses be broken: are ye then angry with me, because I have made all man whole on the sabbath day?

99. There were two laws of circumcision: one adopted by the fathers; the other given by Moses. And circumcision was kept more gloriously than the Sabbath. Cause the Sabbath had to give way to circumcision, and if a child was born on the Sabbath, it was done as if there were no Sabbath, and the law had to be broken from the Sabbath. Why then will ye be angry, that I have healed the whole man on the sabbath day? It is a strong answer, and probably the other way around. Moses must depart for the sake of the fathers' laws; why then do you press hard upon me that I have made a whole man whole on the Sabbath? Moses must go back for your sake, and you want to punish me. As if he wanted to say: You are blind, mad and foolish, you do not know what you are saying, you do it worse than I do. For my work is greater, to help a whole man on the Sabbath. I

I have not only circumcised him, but I have brought him completely to rights. So you are running nonsensically with it, you do not know what you are talking about. My work is much more glorious and greater than circumcision. It is ever so much more, to help the whole man, to love the man as oneself, to help him when it is necessary, God grant it be done on the Sabbath, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, or when he needs it. And if I should break the love of my neighbor for the sake of the Sabbath, I will not do it, saying, Troll the Sabbath. For when trouble comes, this commandment ceases. For there cometh another, which saith, Love God thy Lord, and love thy neighbor as thyself [Matt. 22:37, 39. 1] Ye may well say, Troll the Sabbath, when there cometh the law to circumcise a child on the eighth day.

(100) But it is of no avail, for Christ does not make a difference with it. Even if the Jews are overcome with the truth, they still say, "We will not do it. So do our young men, the papists, who also rage and rage against us in the name of the devil. Therefore we do not want to be better than our Lord Christ was; we are not worth better. If they despise these words of Christ, who answers so strongly, they will also despise our doctrine, and in this they will do as their fathers did, that they publicly resist the truth. It is enough that we have a witness for us who is greater than they are, and we should do as the Lord Christ does here, who only rubs the holy scripture and the divine word in their noses honestly.

V 24. Do not judge by reputation.

He chides and warns them that they should not judge according to their foolish head and discretion, and how they look at it. As through a painted glass that loses its color; so a blinded man does not look at anything rightly with his crazy thoughts, even though he has words of truth before him, for his heart is embittered and inflamed with hatred, it is like a colored painted glass: as he is in his heart, so he looks at another, namely as an enemy, whom he resents with all his heart.

and repugnant. You can adorn yourselves finely, and look at your date and work as a good cloth or precious stone without glasses; that is what the painted glass does. Why do you not also look at me with your eyes, so that you look at yourselves? My work is a hundred times better than yours, nor must mine be evil and wicked, but yours is good and precious; so your heart is corrupt, and your eyes are unclean.

This is how it is in the world: no one looks at another with pure eyes, except a Christian whose face is bright and pure. He looks at his enemy with eyes of mercy and grace, and does not allow him any evil; and if his enemy is equally bitter and evil against him, he thinks: This great Hans is a wretched man, he is already damned, what would you wish him still much evil? if he remains so, he is the devil's own. I have pity for him and would like to make him blessed. Others look at another according to their hatred, envy and jealousy; as they look at us as evil-doers. To this the Lord Christ says: "Judge not according to outward appearance, but judge righteously," that is, look righteously at the work and at myself.

(103) Now this is done for us as an example and comfort, so that we should not be dismayed when this happens to us. The truth is preached and heard, but one is also scolded as if one were a liar. And even if one answers in the best way that it is clearer and brighter than the dear sun, one must still be scolded and blasphemed about it; nothing else comes of it, we must let ourselves be condemned and looked at through glass eyes. Well, if it is not to be otherwise, then it may remain so; if one looks at it through a painted glass, then it is so; I will not make it better. The same happened to the Lord Christ; they called him a rebel, yes, they called the father of the house Beelzebub, therefore they will also call us devils [Matth. 10, 25]. And we suffer it justly. But as he hath brought it forth, so shall we bring it forth by his help.

1) Erlanger: "vollst.

The fifth sermon on the seventh chapter of John?

[Saturday, July 15, 1531.]

104) The Lord Christ, having done his work, excuses himself against the Jews, who punished him for having healed on the sabbath day, and puts circumcision under their eyes to show that they circumcised men on the sabbath day, so that they broke the sabbath day more than he did; and concludes, "Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteously. Can ye take it to yourselves, when ye break the sabbath day with circumcision, and water oxen and asses on the sabbath day, and when the priests light the candle, and slay the sacrifices, and have made fire, and laid wood? by which works you do not call them transgressors of God's Sabbath, ei, you should also give me credit for having done a greater and better work, because there is slaughtering, watering cows and horses, feeding or sacrificing 2c.

(105) The answer is enough for them, but it is of no account. For in the world it is said, What Christ does is never right, it is not good; but what the devil and the world do cannot be wrong. Therefore we are to learn that what Christians do that is right, delicious and good is not good. The cause is that one is hostile to the person, therefore one judges according to the reputation of the person. And if this happens, their [the Christians'] 3) deeds can soon be blamed, if what they do is equally good. 4) They were also enemies of Christ, therefore they could not stand what he did. What is finer and better than making a man well? But it must have the defect that it is done on the Sabbath. But their pruning, sacrificing, burning incense, burning wood, slaughtering every evening, that was not sin, because the Jews did it. If Christ had done it, it would not have been good and should have been a sin.

106 Thus it is: what Christ and the

2) In the original without time determination. Our date is derived from that of the next two sermons.

3) "of Christians" inserted by us.

4) "thun" put by us instead of: "thut".

Doing his own is and must be wrong, but what the devil and his do must be right. Do we not also see it with the pope? All the good we do is evil done; and though they do not publicly blaspheme, yet they say, O, all heretics also lead such good appearances, serve everyone gladly, and do it for this reason, that they draw people to themselves and seduce them. But if public lies and sin are found among them, yet they have forgiveness of sin daily; they are pure, but among us none is pure; our daily sins must be the greatest sins, even mortal sins, and have no forgiveness. In sum, one must be prepared for this: if one does good, it is punished, it is judged evil; but if they do evil, it must be of the very best thing. Again, if the world does the greatest sin, it must be right. So now also the pope does with his princes; they lie, deceive, and steal, and all must be well done. Well, one must suffer it.

107. But we know that even though we have weakness and sin in us, we expect forgiveness of sin, not from the world, but from God. If I do something good, it pleases God. We must set our good works so that they will be judged as good works in the sight of God; we must make them presentable to him. But if we are punished by the world, let the devil strike at the world. If I do something that is infirm, I pray to my Lord God to forgive me, I crawl into the Pater noster and say: Dimitte nobis debita nostra. With this, the world should throw its mouth away; it has enough to do with its sins and must not wash its mouth with us. Now follows how they have held themselves against this sermon of the Lord Christ.

V. 25. 26. Then said some of Jerusalem, Is not this he whom they sought to kill? and behold, he speaketh freely 2c.

In the beginning of this chapter, the evangelist St. John writes that the Lord Christ no longer preached in the Jewish country, because the Jews wanted to kill Him; for this reason He fled from the devils and remained in Galilee until the feast.

When the same thing comes, he goes up to Jerusalem and preaches so freely that the people were amazed and said, "How is this? Earlier they were after him because he could not stay in Judea, they did not want to suffer him, but should be killed; now he preaches publicly in the temple in front of them: how is it that they do not attack him? do not speak to him, keep quiet about it, since they wanted to strangle him before; I mean, they should almost take him for the Christ, believe in him and convert. We do not know what kind of people they are, whether they are pious or wicked. He goes up into Judea, from which he had fled before. It seems as if they were more afraid of him than that he should be afraid of them, who had previously chased him out of Judea. Truly, it is a great miraculous sign that he teaches and preaches in the temple, as if no one were there to do him any harm; this may be called courage. I think that the Pharisees have now certainly learned that he is Christ, but it sounds as if they were flying theids and speeches. Neither this nor that is smelled, and they themselves go back and speak:

V. 27. But we know from whence this is. But when Christ comes, no one will know 2c.

(109) So they conclude, and this speech will have become obscenities among the common man 1) although it has been clearly expressed in the holy Scriptures. Therefore they knew that Christ should be born of the seed, lineage, and lineage of David, and they certainly knew that he should be born out of the city of Bethlehem. This much they knew; the people were persuaded that Christ was to be expected from the land of Judah and from the tribe of David. This was the prophecy of Christ, and there was a clear text of it. There was still talk among the Jewish people that the Messiah would come secretly, so that no one would know where he was coming from.

(110) But I hold that this saying or discourse is from the prophet Micah.

1) Zote-Zottel.-to zote go-hasten, root in.

as it is written: His coming forth is from eternity 2c. [God wanted to hide the birth of His Son so that He would be born in Bethlehem, but where and how He would come from, no man would know nor be able to calculate. They wanted to interpret the prophecy that Christ would come from somewhere other than David, that it would be strange, and that it would be a miraculous future; just as his mother also became a strange mother, he had a strange, miraculous arrival. Now, they have known the city as Bethlehem, the country as Judea, and the lineage, namely David's, from which Christ was to be born, and yet they are not to know the person. And I think that this saying among the people, that one would not know from where the Messiah would come, originated from the fact that the coarse, unintelligent people interpreted it as if one should not know from which city, from which parents he would come.

(111) These two things were well understood by the prophets, and by the fathers that read the prophets, that he should be conceived of a virgin, and be born of the seed of David, and yet be from everlasting; but that it should be in secret and in obscurity, that no man should know it so soon. Therefore this speech remained among the people and was formed in them, that he would come secretly and miraculously, that no one should know where, how, or from where he would come; he would be born miraculously. This is what the Fathers 1) meant in the Gospel, that if the Messiah appeared in the world, no one would know where he came from, namely, that he would be born of a virgin; he would also be a preacher, so that no one would know anything about it. Therefore the Jews say: We know him, we know his brothers, sisters and Mariam; but we are not to know where the Messiah comes from, but this one we know, therefore he is not the Messiah.

112 So it's loose students, they may well hear ringing, but do not beat up.

1) "The Fathers" are here the just mentioned believing Israelites before Christ, who read the prophets; "in the Gospel" - at the time of the Gospel.

He that heareth not well, he that believeth not well. They have heard that Christ should come in such a way that one does not know from where; but they have not understood correctly that he should be born of God from a virgin, and thus come secretly into the world, as Micah says; therefore they have led the saying of the fathers wrongly, and wanted to comfort themselves with the fact that he is not Christ. On this speech of the people Christ starts a new sermon, which reads thus:

V. 28. 29. Then cried JEsus in the temple, teaching, and saying, Ye know me, and from whence I am, and of myself I am not: but he that sent me is the true, whom ye know not, but I know him: for I am of him, and he hath sent me.

St. John sums up this sermon briefly with few words, but the Lord Christ will have expressed it much more abundantly and beautifully. And John adds that Christ shouted and cried with a full voice, and preached strongly. The sermon is: You know me, and know from whence I am. It seems to me that he meets their wrong thoughts and minds, so that they think they know where he comes from. But I do not want to defend any opinion or understanding, but let it remain so; however, the following words indicate that they do not know his future.

It is a truthful one who has sent me.

(114) As if to say, Ye know not of whom I am: for if ye knew, ye would know him that sent me: if ye read your scriptures, ye would know whence the Messiah was. So it is: Because you do not know the one who sends the Messiah, you do not know the one who is sent. Therefore it is mockingly said, "You know from whence I am." And how well ye know it; for ye know not him that sent me, how shall ye know me, and whence I am? Though it be true, and ye know it, that I am come from Nazareth, out of Galilee and Judea; yet that same coming is not enough, unless some more be known of it. Just as if I alone knew that a message is over the Elbe bridge from

Brata 1) and Kemberg come to the city of Wittenberg, and I wanted to say that I wanted to know the message of it; but what is this knowing? Not yet, it does not follow, one would take me for a fool, if I wanted to say, where it would be from, because it would have come over the Elbe, because it goes daily much in over the Elbbrücke. They are just as clever in this chapter. Therefore he takes an occasion from their words and says: "You do not know at all where I am from, but it is important that you know the one who sent me and who I am. This art is preached to the people, and Christ speaks:

I hm not come from myself.

115 As if to say, Ye shall know me otherwise than that I come from Galilee, and from Nazareth: for many other Jews also come from Nazareth, but they come not as I come: for I come as a preacher sent to preach the ministry and the word which is commanded him. But it is necessary for you to know him who sent me; we are arguing about this, that you may know him from whom a message is sent and him who is sent. If we know this, accept the message; though you do not know the face of the messenger, take the seal and the letters from him, they are known. Whoever does not believe that God sent me and that I am from God, does not believe me to be a preacher; but whoever knows it is easy to talk to, and I can deal with him, because he will look at me with different eyes and accept me, and will not believe me to be a bad Nazarene. So he also said above [Cap. 6, 37]: "Whoever hears it from the Father comes to me" 2c. Item [Cap. 6, 44.]: "No one comes to me, the Father draws him." It is almost one opinion.

(116) It is essential for anyone who wants to become a Christian to know that Christ was sent by the Father, so that I may know where he came from. This is the sermon and the argument, for which we must accept Christ and cling to him in such a way that we

1) "Brate", the next village to Wittenberg, beyond the Elbe. - In the original, "Kemburg" instead of Kemberg.

We do not speak or act of God, for we have this man before our eyes. Be mindful that I have preached it; let others speculate sharply about God, Creator of heaven and earth, about the angels and other creatures, how God created heaven and earth; let them do so, sing about our Lord God, dance and jump. But when one begins to speak of our main article, which makes us Christians, it is even necessary that I take hold of Christ, who is sent by the Father, and also learn to recognize the Father, to understand Christ's office and word; otherwise, if this is taken away from one's eyes, then one is lost. You will not become a Christian by knowing that God created heaven and earth; this knowledge does not redeem you from sins or from the devil, nor does it make you blessed, for otherwise even the Turk would be a Christian. And if you want to be saved, your good works will not make God look at you and your good works; but learn to become a Christian in this way, so that you do not know how to do it, but put down your hands and feet and all your arts and works, and badly lift up your ears and hold them, and badly hold on to the Lord Christ, and hang on his mouth and listen to his words, because they have been put into his mouth by the Father.

Notice it, hang on to it, and believe it. So I am a Christian when I have attained that which is the chief article. After that I go and preach about the righteousness of the law, about worldly authority, about obedience, how one owes father and mother, how one should honor them, and also preach about other things, about all other things that God has also commanded, such as not killing, stealing, committing adultery, etc., which also have their time and place. But here, if one wants to act as a Christian and become pious; item, get rid of sin, death and the devil, I should not disputing about the righteousness of the law, how to do good works, become obedient to father and mother, give alms, or enter a monastery.

2) "that has its decision" - that happens at its place and time. Compare the following paragraph: "which also have their space and time."

run 2c. Here belongs especially that I listen to the preacher alone. As the Lord Christ also says to Martha in the Gospel [Luc. 10, 42.j: Maria optimam partem elegit, et unum est necessarium etc.]. You, Martha, are diligent, you do a lot, you work delicious, good works, you rule house and court, you are a mayor, a servant and a maid, or a preacher; but it does not work. Mary hit it, the rhymes 1) added, she sits at my feet, and hears my word, so she hits it, goes 2) straight. That is the handle, alone hear me; the piece thut's alone. After that, Mary will also do what you carefully do Martha, the same will also be found afterwards.

118 This is the reason that we may distinguish the righteousness of works from the righteousness of faith; and he who learns this well will preach better than I can preach. Therefore we are called Christians; otherwise we would have enough of Moses, who teaches us how we should live, and it is finely found in Moses. But the man, Christ, comes for the sake of this article, preaches, baptizes, establishes the word, preaching ministry and the sacraments, and has given himself. Now we have to: 3) hear his word, and actually recognize and believe that God speaks through him. Therefore, if one is to deal with conscience, sin, life, death, or even with God or the devil, remember [the word of Christ] 4) and leave everything in the world. Let Martham go to the kitchen, wash pots; let Martham put away, and become M[aria] Magdalene. For Mary remembereth, It is mine not to seek works and merit, but only to listen to his mouth, and believe his word; then it meet, his mouth then speaketh vain sweet words, which comfort, refresh, and refresh her heart; for he saith [Luc. 19, 10.]:- "The Son of man is not come to condemn any man, but to seek that which was lost." Item

1) "rhyme" here is probably as much as: hit the target. Cf. "geramen", Walch, St. Louis Edition, Vol. XIX, 1941,? 2.

2) "goes" is missing in the Erlanger.

3) "There it is now:" put by us instead of: "That is now," and so on.

4) Switched on by us.

[Matth. 11, 28.] "Come to me, all you who labor, and I will give you rest."

(119) So he also is called a savior, that he may save. When he speaks the same words, this is the art of learning where the man and these words come from, and to conclude and say: He does not speak these words from himself as a man alone, but it is the true word of God, and I know no other God. So the article hits the conscience particularly, that one hears only what the man, Christ says, and let the God now go, who pretends to honor the parents, to be obedient to the authorities. When one hears this man in matters d'conscience, that is "to know". For in this way one hears and recognizes the true God who sent Christ, and one then also recognizes the Christ who was sent.

120 The Lord Christ teaches the Jews, saying, Ye know me well; ye know that I am come out of Nazareth unto the gate: but ye shall learn whence the person is, and whence he bringeth his word, and that his word alone is to be hearkened unto. He does not send you away to another, nor put another in his place, but says, "Listen to me, believe in me, I point you to me, I am sent by my Father; so I preach to you, I come to you as a preacher, bringing a word from the Father: do not doubt it, and you will know who I am and where I am from. But if thou believe not, and suppose otherwise, thou shalt not know me, nor him that sent me, neither shalt thou know whence I am. Then he said:

I did not come from myself.

The sermon is there, and yet always points to another, indicates from whence he came. I have not come from myself," he says; "but from whence I have come I will tell you: you will not know, and are mistaken, you do not know from yourselves, from whence I have come. Ye know me, from whence I come, yea, that I come in at the gate; but that doth not, it profiteth you nothing that ye know it: for no man knoweth him that sent me, but by

my mouth, that my word may be heard; it must be made known to you by my word and mouth. And says further:

But he is a truthful one who has sent me.

This will have been a beautiful sermon, which can be seen in the words; they have an emphasin. He does not name him, but they understood that he meant God; however, they are good fellows, 1) and did not understand. He goeth to the words, and saith, The words that I speak are the truth itself: for he that sent me doth not lie, but is true; whatsoever he speaketh is the truth. Do not say, God sent me, whom you do not know; he does not say this, and yet he means it. As if he wanted to say: If I preach the truth to you for a long time, then I must lie to you; my word, which is commanded to me, will not be heard. Our Lord God must always be a liar and a disciple in the world, and let himself be mastered by its reason. This still happens often, as we also read in the Gospel; everyone lets himself think that they are the people who are supposed to judge and master God's word. That is also where the spirits of the sects come from, and what Christ says must be a lie and a forgery. The Lord Christ still comforts himself here: Even though I must be a liar, God sends me to you, and I know him and know that he is true. As if he should say, "My office and the word that I speak is the truth, for I know it; and because it is preached to you, you do not want to hear it, so you remain liars; and [it] goes as the prophet David says in the 51st Psalm, v. 6, "That you may be right when you are judged."

This strife of the devil with his limbs, against God, remains in the world, that when the devil speaks, it must be called truth, and when God speaks, it must be lies, since God is the truth. The world does not want to be wrong, nor to be mastered, but to quarrel with God, to speak: We are learned enough, as these ungodly drops

1) As the context shows, the word "good fellows" is taken here in an evil sense, for instance for: Hypocrites; in ? 123, Luther calls them "godless drops.

and say, "We know from whence you come. But the Lord Christ answers: You know, alas, too little of it, if God would have you know it! you know it), that God may have mercy on you! if one wants to tell you, you do not want to hear it. Therefore, I say, the world disputes with God; his word must be the devil's word, and their word must be God's word. Let this be the right fruit for me.

Dear, what does the pope do with his companions, and also the spirits of the rotten? They go about, and are called deceivers, preaching and teaching God's word; this must be the truth. If we say that we are from God, and that in our preaching God Himself is heard, and that the grace, goodness and mercy of God are offered, they say, "Where do you come from? It must all be no, it must be the devil and vain heresy. This is because they do not know Him whose word we teach and guide, and who sent us, therefore they cannot do the will of the heavenly Father. The Lord Christ insists on it, as do we; but he cannot obtain it, as we cannot obtain it either. Therefore we let it go as it goes; we are excused.

Now some have believed that his word and doctrine is the Father's word and doctrine, who does not lie, saying, "We know this man, and we know that he is from God. He who stands on this, and who can thus praise Christ's word, and believes it to be spoken by God, who is true, can boast and insist on the word (it is true), and make the heart firm, and say: God is nevertheless true, and should the world be so much annoyed by it, or should it immediately have heartache over it. He who believes this, that he makes no doubt of it, is well, for therefore he is called a Christian; for he does not deal in commandments and works, but with Mary he bears himself to his neighbor, that is, how he may become a Christian. For thus are we Christians, when we hear the word, and accept the same, and believe that the word is sure and true.

Then I learn where Christ came from, that Christ is the Son of God, sent by God, and then through the Holy Spirit.

Holy. Spirit and was born of a virgin. And I find and learn everything in his word. For everything is in his word, which God speaks through his mouth. We become Christians through the Word, and through the Word sin is remitted, for it preaches forgiveness of sins. His words serve that one may be freed from sins, attain blessedness and eternal life; we are thereby delivered from the devil and death, for his words all go against sin, the devil and death, and give eternal life. One has forgiveness of sins and all good things from it; he also makes us righteous, for his word deals with righteousness. Then a Christian knows that Christ is the Son of God, born of a virgin.

(127) When I deal with my sins, I find no good work that I have done, but hear all the works that Christ does, and gives me his grace. I ask nothing here of that which I do. They do not know this, they do not know the one who sent him, therefore they will not accept his word and cannot be saved. In sum, they cannot be Christians, because they hear their own word, and must remain in the devil's prison, because they completely despise Christ. Thus God has bound us to the man, Christ, and He has always been concerned about this word of Christ. Mary therefore sits at the feet of Christ and listens to him teach the word of God. In the piece (which makes Christians) there I recognize Christ 2c. The other things may also be done with Martha, washing, sweeping, cooking and being busy. Follows:

And I know him, and am sent by him.

I have the nature of him from eternity, as it is written in the prophet Micah [Cap. 5, 1.] I am his only begotten Son, born of him from everlasting; he also sent me into the flesh, that I should be born of the virgin man, and sent me to be a preacher, and to preach this ministry. If you can believe that he is the Son of God, and that his preaching ministry is the Word of God, then you have done well, and abide in these words, and know that you are the Son of God.

sin, death and the devil, because you know the Christ who is sent by the Father, and you cling to this person alone. When you hear the same, you also hear the Father, from whom the Son is sent; then you hear words of grace, and I can say: I hear that God speaks nothing through man but grace and forgiveness of sin; there is no wrath, no example of disgrace, nor punishment for sinners, but grace reigns [Ps. 117, 2]. This is the sermon that he, Christ, is of God; and he himself interpreted it, what it is to be of God, and that he knows God. And they also understood it well, but they would not let it be known; therefore they were angry and wanted to seize him, but he got away.

The sixth sermon.

On Saturday, M. Magdalen's Day 522 July

129 Next we heard how the Lord preached against the Jews, saying: You do not know me, who I am, I did not come from myself, he is true who sent me 2c. Then you have heard that the opinion of these words is that they know neither Christ nor the Father, for they do not accept his message and word which he teaches and brings, thinking they are wiser than he. But if they had accepted him, they would have known that he was sent by God. Well, what do they do?

V. 30, 31 Then they sought to lay hold on him, but no one laid a hand on him, for his hour had not yet come. But many of the people believed in him, and said: When Christ comes, will he also do more signs than this one does?

130 John says that the Jews decided to seize him, because he preached a shameful thing, that they did not know him who sent him. This was an insulting sermon, because they did not know who he was.

1) In the original in the margin, but there it is erroneously written "after" M. Magdalenen-Tage. The Saturday after Maria Magdalma in 1531 was July 29, the same day on which the seventh sermon was preached, "Sonnabend nach Jacobi".

had sent him, and who he was. So mock them: "Yes, you know very well where I am from. I went in the door. That was said in German: You are rough asses, unlearned, you know nothing of the holy scripture. You preachers, Levites and priests, your title is, you know nothing of God and His things. This is not to suffer, it is too high hewn that the chips fall into your eyes: They want to be masters, to sit in office and lead others, and yet they shall know nothing, they shall not know him, nor him who sent him; as he says here to them.

That is, to wrestle with misfortune, to punish the high priests who were in office, and who came from the tribe of Levi, chosen to preach, and were earnestly commanded that the people should obey and follow the teaching of the priestly estate. The sacerdotium was our Lord God's order, commandment, and strict earnestness, for which many thousands were slain before it should perish. 1) And he, the Lord Christ, comes straight against the commandment and order of God, takes away their glory and obedience, and says: "You do not know him. As if to say, You are not worthy to teach; you are not worthy, able and skilled to teach; you are vain knaves, deceivers of the people, deceiving the people with dead, false doctrine and hypocritical living. That is to reach into the rinds and the wool. Just as it is said to the pope and bishops to this day: You do not preach rightly; you are in office, but you cannot preach; you are not worthy of office; you deceive and corrupt the people. That means preached high, and the hair ruffled, that the rind cracks. It is very daring.

You do not know me, where I am from or where I come from.

132 This is one of the things that John says has displeased the Jews, for he has touched their hearts and made them feel it. It has affected them more than it seems to us, because he condemns all their art and doctrine, and has torn off and withdrawn the people from

1) The meaning is: God rather had thousands slain than that he had suffered that his priesthood was disregarded.

Their obedience, when they had orders to be obedient to them. Just as the pope and his bishops are also in office, but nevertheless they deceive the people. That is why they should be brought down; they should be told that they do not know Christ and the heavenly Father. They have orders, we also have orders, the Jews also have orders, Christ also had orders. Therefore, we must go up fearlessly, as Christ does here, and say to them: "You have the name of the Christian church, you have baptism, sacrament, Bible; yet it is not right that you teach and preach. That is to say, wrestled after blows, and there one should certainly carry off a bloody head.

133 Well, he must do it, it is commanded to the Lord Christ, he has the office, he must attack them. And he also does what he is supposed to do, it is done by him. If someone else had done it, it would have been fair to strike him; but he has the office, otherwise he would have been 2) thrown into the fire; he would also have deserved, according to reason, to be struck. For it is a great thirst and presumption that he attacks such high, great people, and punishes their teaching, preaching and life so violently and bitterly. This was called preaching sedition. But Christ asks nothing of it. If you do not want to preach rightly, says God, then I will find someone else to preach, and I will make you as bad as the painted bishops; you may have the chair and the honor, you may also eat and drink from it, but I will give the name and the office to someone else. He has made this true here.

But no one laid a hand on him, for his hour had not yet come.

This is a beautiful and wonderful text. There is a saying in German: An eigener Gedanken und gespannttem Tuch geht viel ab. Item: Eichene 3) or own strokes

2) "him" by us instead of: "one", because we assume that also here, as otherwise almost without exception, "them" stood for "him" in the original.

3) For understanding we put here what Dietz, Wörterbuch zu Luthers Schriften, s. v. "eichen" from the prophet Habakuk states: "as one speaks, it is an oak touch, since one wants to say, it is an own touch, just as one speaks: oak leaves stink, since one wants to say: own praise stinks."

rarely turn out well. It has also never happened to me in my life according to my plans. I have taken many plans to do so, but if it has not been the word and work of our Lord God that urged me to do so, then many of them have remained. So God has kept it all in his hands, so that no one on earth may direct his thoughts; indeed, thoughts shall not do anything, if one asks him beforehand for advice. The chief priests of Jerusalem had a great people among them, and were mighty lords, and would attack him, and Annas and Caiphas were about twenty thousand strong; yet the poor man Christ stands alone for his own person, and goes to Jerusalem in the midst of the feast, and stands in their face and in their noses, asking nothing of their great honors, dignities, and glory, and scolding them besides, saying that they are fools and deceivers; and a single despised Perfon shall punish them. Well, they do not lack fists, power and wisdom, there is enough right strength and power; nor do they lack good will and thought, that they did not seize him; and yet they had to leave him satisfied against their thanks.

No one laid a hand on him.

135 Who is his patron? Who is there to defend him? No one, but the text says: "His hour was not yet." Listen, only one hour, that is a low, bad patron. He does not say that he had so many thousand horses on his side and thirty thousand men on foot to protect him, but one hour is all his armor, which was given him to be crucified, that was not yet there, and because it was not there, all that his adversaries undertook against him was of no avail. Thus also the wise man says, Ecclesiastes 3:1 ff: "There is a time for everything, sowing and planting" 2c. If any man begin out of season, let him see how it turneth out, if the hour be not; though thou rend thyself, and bite thee to death, it will not avail. So, whoever starts something in the church out of time, gains nothing from it. Seek the grain harvest around Christmas, break cherries in the cold winter of

the trees, also break the apples around Shrove Tuesday. You won't find anything there.

For God has so precisely conceived and measured everything that He will have all thoughts and works in His hand, that it cannot proceed unless the hour appointed by God comes. So also the Graeci have said: Ager non producit, sed annus; and if the field would do it, it would bring forth fruit every day, because the field is there every day; but if its time does not come, nothing will come of it, it must have its time. Item, one says: Time brings roses; and: Time makes hay, the meadows or the field do not make hay; for the meadow is also in winter and in spring, but there one does not make hay. God has made it so that everything in the world shall have its time and hour; he has set a fine, free hour for all things; that same hour is the enemy of the whole world, which must challenge it. The devil also shoots and throws at the poor little hand; 1) but in vain, for there it all stands on the little hour; before it comes and the little hand runs out, the devil and the world shall accomplish nothing.

137 A year ago, this was the counsel at Augsburg, that everything should now lie in blood with the Lutherans; but the hour is still there, and has not been overturned, the thoughts have gone back, and two or three cubits have fallen in on the stretched cloth, and many have fallen to the ground over it. Now the same Diet at Augsburg has become mud, and all the mocking has become a mockery. So it happens to all tyrants that their plots are disgraced, just as it happened to the Jews; it was only thoughts that they wanted to seize him. Now they must not lift a finger, for it was not in their thoughts, and the hour was not yet. Our Lord God said: "Dear chief priests and bishops, come on, ask me also if the hour has come; if you are planning something, ask if my hour or will is also there; if the hour has not passed, then it is all in vain. Yes, they say, what is the hour to us?

1) "Zeigerlein" here, and "Zeiger" in § 137 at the end stands for "Seiger", i.e. sun pointer or sand pointer. Cf. §143.

Let's do it anyway, and fish in front of the Hamen. Yes, you will see not fish, but toads. That is, rumbled through the pointer.

Thus, what the world wants does not happen unless it comes from God's command and order. What God has decreed goes by his command and his way, as when parents bring up their children, that is their hour. The rulers are to rule and punish evil; and this continues, because one has God's word and command, is also their hour; just as also building the field. All this is contained in the word "hour". But what is apart from God's word and work, and comes from our thoughts, goes the way of cancer and falls to ruins. Therefore, it is not enough for them to have thoughts that they want to take hold of Christ; they must still be satisfied and let him remain. So too, at the Diet of Augsburg, they wanted to suppress the Lutheran doctrine altogether and exterminate us. Who ever ordered it? No one. This is due to their own anger and their own attempts.

139. For this reason it is so here that no one lays a hand on it; they want to come before our Lord God before he has ever decided, and before the hour comes. Afterwards the Lord Christ says, when he was caught in the garden, when the hour came, and God took off the bar [Luc. 22, 53.This is your hour, and the power of darkness", otherwise you should not take hold of me even now in the garden, I wanted to remain safe from you, and you should leave me untouched; but the hour has come, and the Father has withdrawn his hand, and lets me fall into your hand, you should leave it well, if his will and hour were not there; the hour of light has been taken away, and the hour of darkness has come, otherwise you should leave me well satisfied.

140. summa, what one takes before him shall not go out, but back, unless God has commanded or decreed it; or if it goes out, it shall do ten times more harm. It is all in one hour; it must not strike before one, unless twelve have struck first; nor can summer come sooner, unless winter comes first;

Nor can it be evening unless it was day before; nor can you grow old unless you were a child before; so God has ordered everything in time. Thoughts shall not do it, God must give the hour.

This is a glorious consolation, and Christ is presented to us as an example, that he has dared such a meager thing, and goes up to Jerusalem to his enemies, who had previously condemned him to death, and he had fled before them from the Jewish land, because they had wanted to kill him. But now he goes to them, and well deserves to be killed, for he reads them a good text, and yet remains unharmed and unkilled, "for his hour was not yet come. This is also our consolation; we are also sitting like this on the hill, and as to the goal; every hour the devil tries to kill us all. Immediately after you are baptized, you have no respite from him. 1) If he could kill you in the womb, he would. He will not spare us a grain of the field, a fish or a morsel of bread, a cherry or an apple, or any good thing that may come to us. Much less does he spare us who expose our behinds to him; item, go under his nose, and preach what we should, namely of God's grace, and of the devil's works. He would rather break my neck in a moment than let me stand there and preach and storm his kingdom.

This is how it is in the world; this is how the devil rages when you hear God's word. The emperor, princes and bishops, if they could suppress us, they would. They are mortal and murderous enemies of us, they would like to exterminate us. They do not lack good will; and many tyrants have proved it by deed, as Pharaoh, Sennacherib and others. Well, they are more powerful, and theirs is also more than ours. Item, the devil is also more powerful; nor must he, nor they, do what they have in mind, and must have it sung by them: You are knaves, murderers and full of devils, you want to destroy the country and the people.

1) Meaning: The devil does not give you any respite; immediately he starts chasing you.

and yet they do not kill us. They must not lay a hand on us or take hold of us and do what they would like to do. Why? One might say, "Perhaps they feared a riot in the city of Jerusalem. No, there is another reason: "The hour has not yet come. That is the reason, dear disciples, popes and bishops; it is said: "The hour has not yet come"; so when the hour comes, my neck will not stay any longer, I will have to take my place.

But what is the use? If the doctrine perishes at one end, it rises again at another. The devil would have preferred to dampen it, and has done so from the beginning of the world, but he has not been able to do so. But where he has brought it through in one country, there it has gone, and there the hour has come; but the gospel has gone out again in another place. Thus baptism, the Lord's Supper, and the text of the Gospel, the ministry of preaching, remained in the world under the papacy; although many abuses were committed at that time, so that they wanted to suppress it. Do you think it is a small thing that the devil has gladly left baptism? Ask the Anabaptists about it. It still remains. Who will keep the Christians and the baptizers? Not I; no one can do it, I cannot receive a Christian or a sacrament. Who will do it? It is a little hour, a sand pointer, which God has in his hand and says: Dear, do nothing to him, unless the sand runs out. Do they then say: No, I must do it. Dear, hold on, the sand has not yet run out. If they have it in mind, there is still a secret force that hinders it, that we do not see how it will be hindered.

144 As these peelers have thoughts here in the Gospel, so it is also in our time. If our enemies, the princes, could drive the Elector of Saxony from his lands and people this hour, and kill us all, they would save nothing. That they now write to us in a friendly manner, as cousins and elders, is a lie; they have it in mind and have decided that they would like to exterminate us, which we could testify about them from their own words and deeds. I know their thoughts and intentions well, and even though they may have given us good

If they give words, they are lying. But this is our consolation, that all their practices and good suggestions have fallen to the ground, for their work has come too high, it has been hard-stretched cloth, and half of it has fallen in. Therefore we should joyfully continue with preaching, and command this hour to our Lord God, for he has it in his hand; and he has a finger a little stronger than our church pillar, as Isaiah says [Cap. 40, 12. 48, 13.] that the world hangs in God's hands, just as a drop of water hangs on three fingers 2c. And one of his fingers is greater than ten worlds, as one finger is greater than ten drops.

So we say, we will dare to do it, dear God, if you will have it, it will be done, otherwise they shall not and cannot do it. Meanwhile they shall plague and torture themselves with evil suggestions and thoughts, have no rest and celebration, ride together, and be their own devils, with their own thoughts, hatred, envy, biting and gnawing each other. This I see, and meanwhile I laugh at them as at fools, saying, Ye shall not do as ye will; press, push, run, practice as ye will, yet ye shall not accomplish anything till the hour come. That is why Isaiah Cap. 8, 10 speaks like this: Inite consilium etc., nihil fiet, congregamini omnes etc.. Well, you are fine fellows, yes, nothing will come of it, you should leave it; you great emperors, kings, princes and lords put your heads together and think, so and so we want to do it, but it will be in vain.

We Christians have this advantage, that a Christian remains with God, and adheres to His word, and then says like the 31st Psalm, v. 16.My life is not in my hands, but in yours; not in the hands of the devil, emperor, pope, bishop, prince, or some tyrant, whether pious or wicked, here or elsewhere; but this they shall have to do, gritting their teeth day and night, struggling, toiling and torturing themselves with their purpose, and thinking how they will kill me. This torture

1) Original: are.

I like them to have their devils with them, who torment themselves; but I go and pray an Our Father, eat and sleep 2c. They are my devils that afflict themselves; when the hour comes for them to eat me, their bellies will burst. This is our comfort, that every man may do what he is commanded. A Christian preacheth, believeth, speaketh, or doeth that which he is commanded, and putteth the hour in the hands of our Lord God; there it standeth most sure, to comfort me, and to despite the devil, and all mine enemies: he hath thus set the hour, when no other can set it.

We have seen this in our time in the imperial congresses and in all the histories of the holy scriptures. The example of Christ stands there as well. There is no lack of good will on the part of our adversaries; the poor little sand hand still stands there, and has not yet run out, and I can say: Wait, do not do it before, because the hand has run out. But if it has run out, then say: Because the hour has come, then we stand here, and let the head be taken, let us be eaten; but what they will gain from it, let them grease their shoes and wipe with it.

The seventh sermon.

Saturday after Jacobi [July 29, 1531]. 1)

V.32-34. And it came to pass before the Pharisees, that the people murmured these things of him. Then the Pharisees and chief priests sent out servants to seize him. Then said JEsus unto them: I am with you yet a little while, and then I go to him that sent me; and ye also shall seek me, and shall not find me.

The evangelist John writes how many of the people believed in Christ, and some had said, "When Christ comes, it will not be known from whence He comes," but the Lord Christ will say afterwards, "You will seek Me and not find Me. Then the dance began. The people began to praise Christ as if he were the true Christ, saying [v. 31]:

1) In the original margin.

"When Christ comes, will he also do more signs?" As if they were to say, "Of course he must be the Christ, for no one will do it before him; be he who he will, he will come when he will. This grieved the Pharisees greatly, for they understood it well; therefore it was not at all to their liking that they should conclude that he should be the Christ. Therefore, lest they should conclude that this man was Christ, they took hold of him, and sent out servants, and put their heads together, and thought how they had killed him, that he should be spoken of no more, saying, Ye see that the whole matter of all uncleanness, unpleasantness, and unhappiness in the clergy, is nothing else, but that this man should be Christ. Otherwise there was no sin among the people, because they, the chief priests, were so diligent in respect that they did not take the man for Christ.

This has always been the case in the whole world, and will remain so. Do, preach, and teach what you will, and how you will, and all will be well, except that Christ will not be preached; when Christ comes, all the noise begins, for they will not suffer him. Now this is not the fault of the Lord Christ, but their own; they will not tolerate him. The guilt is actually theirs; but the punishment shall be of the innocent Lord Christ. Christ is the Son of God, sent to them as a preacher, but they are guilty of not wanting to accept him, and he must nevertheless bear the guilt. It was the same with Abraham, Noah and others; it will be the same with us. But it is written for us as an example.

(150) That the pope hates me, and the princes are angry with us, we do not admit, but this is the cause, that we say he is Christ, and that we preach the word of God, otherwise we do them no harm; the fault is theirs, that they will not believe it, and are guilty of the word, and will punish us according to it. It is a fine rule, and very grievous, that he who is guilty should punish others, that they should be guilty, that they should be cast into hell fire, that they should not hear Christ, saying, We will not hear thee, therefore thou art not Christ; we will not receive thy preaching.

We do not like what you preach, therefore you are evil; and if we do evil, you are guilty and shall be punished.

151 Now Christ answers this wickedness to the scoundrels, and puts away such evil as is fitting, just as we are accustomed to answer, and want to answer better.

V. 33. I am with you yet a little while, and then I go to him that sent me, and ye shall seek me, and shall not find me.

These words are frightening enough, but the wickedness, the ungodly nature and the ingratitude of the boys is much greater. So one must answer them: "I am still with you a little while" 2c. As if he should say: It would not be necessary for you to hurry to kill and exterminate me, I will stay with you short enough without that.

So we also say to the pope, "It is not necessary that you should thus rage against us and tyrannize against the teaching of the gospel, for without this the gospel will remain with you for a short time, especially when we, who are now preaching the gospel, have laid down our head. After our death it will not remain, because it is not possible for it to remain. The gospel has its course, and runs from one city to another; today it is here, tomorrow it is in another place, just as a downpour goes on, and rains now here, soon in another place, and moistens the land and makes it fertile. As the Lord Christ also says Matth. 10, 14: "If you are driven out, go from one city to another"; and when the cities are all gone, then I will come with the last day. So, even though the gospel has now been accepted, it will not remain long in one place; people hate it, envy it, curse it, even starve it. Therefore Christ says: I will not be with you long, you must not persecute and condemn the gospel very much, I will soon leave you, without which there will soon be darkness hereafter, that you will know nothing. How will it go then?

You will look for me, and you will not find me.

These are frightening words, I do not like to read them. But how should one do to him?

It must be said. When the gospel is gone, the light, understanding and wisdom of faith and Christ are gone. So it will rise again, that one will seek this, another that; then they will all seek Christ, forgiveness of sins and grace, but in vain. They will run and seek to St. Jacob; the one will pray and fast, wear caps and plates, but the other will do something else. Then it will come to pass that they will seek Christ. Just as Christ was lost in the papacy, people went back and forth, looking for Christ, but did not find him.

So Christ remained with the Jews three years preaching in person, and after that they lost him. After his departure he preached to them by the apostles forty years, but the gospel did not remain with them more than forty years; so they lost Christ, and have now sought him more than fourteen hundred years, and yet have not found him, tormenting themselves greatly with many sorrows, and leading an austere life; as there is no more wretched, miserable people under the sun than they; and they say they suffer therefore, that the Messiah Christ may come and find them; but it is nothing. O a terrible word it is, that he saith, Ye shall seek me, and shall not find. 2c. That is, you will have much trouble, and undertake much spiritual life, endow services, torture yourselves to death, flog yourselves, pray and fast much; but it is all in vain, for he says, "You will not find me."

The same thing happened under the papacy. The whole world was full of monks and nuns; indeed, many thousands of sects and sects arose. For how many orders did the barefooted have, and did each one boast that he wanted to be better than others. There has been no other Christian who has not done something special to serve God. The world has been so full of seeking, and have driven the seeking with great burden to the body and expense to the goods, but have not found; it has all been in vain and lost. Therefore St. Paul rightly says from the prophet Isaiah [Cap. 55, 6.]: Quaerite Dominum, dum inveniri potest, et invocate

eum, dum prope est. For so he speaks in the other epistle to Corinthians Cap. 6, 1. 2.: "We admonish you that you do not receive the grace of God in vain; for he says: I have heard you in the acceptable time, and have helped you in the day of salvation. Now is the pleasant time, now is the day of salvation. "2c. [Isa. 49:8.] As if he said: Believe, honor the word, live according to the word of God, while you have it, watch, do not miss it and do not sleep on it, because it will not remain forever, it will not last long.

157 Therefore this is the very best counsel, that we think not that the gospel which we have now shall abide for ever; tell me again for twenty years, as it is. When the present pious, righteous preachers are dead, then others will come who will preach and do as the devil pleases. Behold, how the gospel has already been lost by many of the nobility and in the cities of this land, and in the great imperial cities it is already gone; and everywhere it will be so. People are getting tired of the word and think it will last forever. When a good beer is open, everyone runs to it and does not stop, for they know that it does not last long; one does not have it every day, therefore one fetches it while it is open; if it were open for a long time, our mouths would be spoiled, too, that we would not respect it. But here one thinks that the word will remain forever, if it remains and lasts even for a short time; but one comes to it; if one does not accept it with thanksgiving and reverence, then one is soon gone.

When the word is gone, you will not be able to leave it, you would like to be pious and saved, to have God's grace and forgiveness of sin and heaven; but it is in vain, you will not find grace, forgiveness of sin, life and righteousness, but everything will be condemned, even the best that I do. Behold the good works of a Carthusian, how he laboureth day and night in fasting for water and bread, and weareth hare shirts, or runneth in harness to St. James; yet shall it be called lost, and he shall earn hell fire therewith; he shall not find Christ, which alone is the Father.

reconciles us, forgives sin, brings God's grace, and leads us out of hell to heaven. This is the worst of all: when he is gone, I shall seek all these things and not find them. For if he is not there, then only pure reason remains, which will not do it, it cannot act like Christ, Christ is too high. But we act as if we had not experienced this, and as if we were not wise under the pope, and do not ask anything about it. But it will happen that we lose the word, because it goes away secretly, as it happened among the Jews.

As then the nobles and imperial cities, the sacramentaries and other enthusiasts have all ready lost it. Then they teach how it should be done, and then everyone will want to be pious; and yet they do not know that it is in vain, they will tire themselves out, and run around like mad dogs, losing life and limb over it, and will not obtain the right help, because they do not want it now. Now we are warned enough; the word cannot stand long, for the ingratitude is too great; so the contempt and the weariness makes it have to go away, and God cannot watch in the length. Before, people greatly honored the doctrine of rosaries, indulgences, pilgrimages, etc., and thought that it was God's word what they pretended, each had its paternoster. Now, when they preach about faith in Christ and how to live friendly among each other, they say: What is this? Then they soon despise it, and it must fail and fall to the ground.

160 That is, "I am with you yet a little while, and ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, ye cannot come. There are two things, first of all, much and great trouble. For when faith is gone, great spiritual works begin; but forgiveness of sin they obtain not. Secondly, heaven should also be closed in your devotion and holy works and being. You Carthusians with your masses, pencils, fasts, rosaries shall not come there where I am. That means arid, the heaven with vain adamantine stones walled up and closed.

He said this to the Jews, but it did not help. And it shall be given to all work-

sanctify nor thus go when the faith is lost. For what the Jews have obtained, that shall we also obtain. The world cannot be helped, it does not believe it; I am almost tired of it; but for my own sake and the sake of some pious people I must preach, otherwise it is in vain. One does not want to believe, but to experience. The Jews did the same. Christ, the Son of God, came himself, then the apostles, and warned them, but they did not believe. So Germany must also go there and hold out. So it will go over us, nothing else will come of it, we want to know.

The boys should be frightened by this, but listen to what the angry squires say in reply to the words that are so terrible; how arrogant, proud asses they are! They speak:

V. 35 Where will this one go, that we shall not find him?

163. egg, how ridiculous it is to them! He is only going, they want to say, who is holding the other? These are mocking words, as if they should say: We are the people, he must not teach us, we can well do without him, we have preachers enough every hour, we can preach and read ourselves; if he does not want to preach in God's name, let him do it in the devil's name. Just as they say of me now, D. M. Luthern: If he does not want to, let him, we have his books. I poor beggar and disciple, how many doctors I have made with my preaching and writing. They say: Just troll away, go to the devil 2c. It is ridiculous to them, but it is also an unbearable word that he refuses them so scantily. How hopeful, they think, is the drip; does he mean that it is nothing with us? can we be well advised; does he mean that it is such a big thing, if one looks for him, and also finds him immediately, or that one comes there, where he is?

It must be the same for us. If we preach for a long time, they laugh; if we promise them God's grace, they cheat and whistle at us; if we are angry and angry, they mock us and hit us on the head, laughing in their fists. That is part of it. Who does not want to expect it, and

If he has this thanks from his disciples, let him stop preaching. When Isaiah preached and punished the Jews severely, they opened their mouths against him and stuck out their tongues at him [Isa. 57:4]. The children also mocked Elisha and called him bald [2 Kings 2:23]. These are the true children of the world, the pious; so one should do when one hears frightening sermons of God's wrath, that one secretly sticks the tongue into the neck, drives the mockery out of it, mocks us in the teeth, says: Yes, yes! think they have smelled themselves well when they betray us, and drive the mockery out of it.

But we will let them do it all, laughing, mocking, and pointing fingers at us, and yet watch how they carry it out, how they sing out the song, namely, how the Jews sang it out. Now they have laughed and begged for fifteen hundred years, and at last they go body and soul to the devil into the hellish fire, because they despise Christ the Savior. So it was with Lot; his sermon was to them a joke and a child's play, it was spoken ridiculously to them, and yet it was serious, horrible and frightening words. Since they laughed it off, they had to experience it with the fire, that Sodom lay on the morning in the hellish fire. So they also considered Noah's sermon about the flood as fool's work, he must be a fool, that our Lord God should drown and drown the whole world with water for the sake of the old fool's sermon; he must be a fool and delusional for his age. Summa, they want to know.

Is it not still like this? But God cannot tolerate ingratitude and contempt. They turn a deaf ear to it and say: "Oh, if we had money enough to count for a while, we would have good courage in the meantime. But if today or tomorrow Germany will be swimming in blood, then what I have said and warned will come true. Now they say: What is he pretending? He has no need; do you think that we are such evil people? therefore let him only wash! 2)

1) i.e. mockery.

2) "wash" put by us instead of "grow", which gives no sense.

always go there! Well, we have been well warned. Non me Doctorem, sed te ge- heieris1 ) ipsum. I am worried, we will not deceive him; but many have been deceived about him.

It is written for our comfort that we do not abandon the confession of faith, of our Lord God and His Word, even though the world persecutes it, ridicules it, and scornfully opposes it, saying, "Let us see whom it will repent of; let them not laugh and mock our Lord God in vain, for He will not lie to them. Meanwhile, let us listen to their defiance, watch their mockery and persecution; it is for a little while. Let them laugh now with confidence, but afterward let them weep. It happened to our head, the Lord Christ, to the apostles, prophets, Lot, Noah, Adam, Abraham and the other patriarchs; what should we have better than them? It will happen again in this way.

It must be a ridiculous sermon if we say: God will punish you; and they answer: You must not teach us how to go to heaven, I know it well myself. So they shall answer, and so our words shall come to pass and come to pass. If they are sure, then it is right; if they think it is ridiculous, then it is a sign that misfortune is on its way, and already created, when they have laughed, that then it comes to pass that they also must weep. So also it is said of the last day, when they shall be punished. 2) O, they say, we still have such a long time, so long the shirt here to the skirt. So they will be safe, they will eat, they will drink, they will build houses, they will be free, and they will let themselves be free, and they will live safely enough, as is being done now. When they have the glass in front of their mouths, play, wrestle, jump, lie with their wives, sit over tables, then the lightning will strike, and the last day will break everything into a heap and melt it.

1) xstisisris. The word "secret" - to fool, to mock, to deceive, is inserted into the verse with Latin inflection instead of: äsos^sris. Cf. § 130 of the eighth chapter. In the sixth chapter of the great interpretation of the letter to the Galatians, § 76, äslussris is written.

2) Erlanger: "shall be punished shall be." We have omitted the first "shall be" because it is too much.

So it shall be, and God grant that it may soon be so. Let us say Amen to it, and let us learn patience from the words when they say, "It shall not come to me; we will come higher than he; where shall he go? Then we will sing the Amen to it, so that it will not remain.

The eighth sermon. 3)

[August 1S31.]

V. 37. AVer the last day of the feast, which was most glorious, JEsus stood and cried out, saying, Whosoever thirsteth, let him come unto me, and drink.

The Lord Christ hath hitherto threatened the Jews, that he would go away unto him that sent him, and that they would seek him, but come not where he was. By this he frightened them, that they should be afraid, and take heed lest they lose him. For when he departs, he leaves nothing behind, for sin, sorrow, devils, death, sweat, toil and labor, he takes all good things with him. But they turned back just as much as one still does now. Nevertheless, he continues like this, and finally preaches with power and all his might, shouting loudly and saying:

If anyone thirsts, let him come to me.

This is the sermon that has pleased the afflicted hearts and the common people, especially the pious, because they praise Christ highly as a prophet and for the Messiah. But it does not seem that it is such a delicious sermon as the people praise; therefore he has put the words in such a way that they strike the heart and please those who need them; and here are comforting, kind and sweet words, which refresh, comfort and strengthen those who are thirsty. He has understood that if his word is not preached to the thirsty, it is more despised than accepted. And this can be seen in our time, just as it was with the Jews. The Jews were full and drunk with vain holiness, and did not want this drink; so now also

3) In the original in the margin, without time determination.

the common man, and the riffraff spirits; it is all full and great, that they spit upon themselves for great holiness, they have no thirst. But Christ says that his teaching belongs to the thirsty. Those who feel thirst have here a comforting preacher, Christ himself, who tells them where they can find drink and quench their thirst, namely, with him, the Lord Christ. They shall find the same drink in him.

But what is thirst, first of all, one must ask; then one will know and understand what drinking is, how one quenches thirst. But thirst is not a bodily thirst, as one drinks beer and wine, but the thirst of the soul, and a spiritual thirst, which means a heartfelt desire, yes, a sorrowful, miserable, frightened, stricken conscience, a despondent, frightened heart, which would like to know how it would be with God; as there are the stupid, fainthearted consciences that feel sin and know their weakness in spirit, soul and flesh, and look at God's forbearance, fear our Lord God, look at His law, wrath, judgment, death and other punishments. The same fear is the right thirst. For it happens naturally that those who are in anguish, temptation and distress thirst greatly because of fear; for in fear one's tongue becomes dry and dry, one becomes hot, and out of fear the juice is consumed, which makes one thirsty. How much more is it here, that the soul thirsts and becomes powerless, when the spiritual fear is there, and the sin and wrath of God pushes one under the eyes.

Therefore it was a fine, sweet, excellent sermon to them that were under the law, hearing Moses, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and other deceivers, which afflicted the people, and weighed them down with the law, and left them without consolation: they could not preach the consolation of the forgiveness of sins, neither had they any commandment of this sermon. Matth. 9, 3. They grumbled that he forgave the sin of the water addict, saying, "Who is the one who forgives sin? Item [Luc. 7, 47], when the Lord Christ absolved Mary Magdalene. They did not get so much comfort, juice and power from their preaching of good works. And still today

In the day the heretics wanted to abolish the forgiveness of sin by grace, saying: "We know that sin is forgiven by God, but if someone does good and does it right, then God will forgive the sin. This is the heretic's sermon.

The monks, nuns, and the pope have also taught that if you read psalms and confessed, you would have forgiveness of sins. Item, if one ran to St. Jacob, became a monk, said mass, vigils 2c., one would have forgiveness of sins; wanted to get forgiveness of sins themselves, pointed to us, said: Do this, do that, then you deserve forgiveness of sins. They did not deny that God was gracious and merciful and forgave sin, but that one had to do something for it oneself. This was the devil, and a Jewish teaching. Annas and Caiphas also taught in this way, saying, "Be righteous, and I will forgive your sins;" and they condemned man to himself, because his thirst was never quenched. But they should have said: Believe in Christ, ask God, and he will forgive your sin. One should have consecrated man from himself to God, otherwise no man will be sure of the forgiveness of sins.

Now the poor consciences would like to know, if they are to deal with God, that our Lord God once said to them: Remissa sunt tibi peccata, and they would like to comfort themselves, and say: I am sure that my sin is forgiven me; then the thirst is quenched. Otherwise the heart says: I do not know whether I have a gracious God, and whether my sins are forgiven me, because I have lived evil. Such a thirsty person can never know, even if he does good works for a hundred thousand years, that he would say: God says yes to this; I am sure that my sins are forgiven. Hilarion, the abbot, was also like that. He had been in the monastery in holy life for 73 years; when he was about to die, he was also afraid of death, but he said: My soul, why are you afraid, since you have served God for 73 years? The thief on the cross would have fared badly in this way, for he had no works or services to boast of. Well, in thirst must remain and be stuck, whoever does not rightly experience Christ and his word.

knows. But the pope, the Turk, the Jews, the common man, and the riffraff do not recognize him; therefore this thirst will kill them, and they must die within. But those who feel the thirst, recognize Christ, and hear and accept his word, marvel at it and say, "This is the right prophet and the right Christ.

In the papacy, people did not preach as they do now in our time. When the word of God first appeared twelve or fifteen years ago, the people listened diligently, and everyone was glad that one should no longer trouble oneself with good works, saying: Praise God that one has water to drink; for then we were thirsty, and the teaching of the Gospel tasted good, we drank from it, and it was a delicious teaching. But now we are full, and weary of drink, and weary that our Lord God must go away, and leave us to die of thirst; for he abideth with them that feel their affliction. But there are few of them who know it; the majority make a carnal freedom out of the gospel, a carnal refreshment and drink, so that they no longer want to fast and pray in this way, have gained a benefit from the gospel, do not care where the soul stays, do not seek comfort from it, it does not taste good to them anymore.

176 Therefore this was a sweet sermon, that he saith, Whosoever thirsteth, 2c. And the Lord Christ said, "Hitherto you have not received a drop from all your teachers, preachers and priests to comfort you and quench your thirst; there has been nothing but a hunted, tortured and frightened conscience, which is in such a thirst that it wants to pine away; there has been no one to comfort you, as there is still little comfort among the friars and papist bishops. Therefore the Lord Christ says: "I preach another doctrine to you, which shall make you alive, refresh you, water you, who are thirsty, who are also despondent, frightened, and doubtful in your conscience, and uncertain as to your condition with God. Just come here, I will not beat you over the head with a club or gouge out your eyes; come to me, I will water you, that is, in me and through me you will learn the words and teachings of God.

that will comfort and strengthen your heart, and take away doubt and make you certain that you are well with God.

177 Of the two things preach. The law makes one thirst, and leads to hell, and kills; but the gospel makes one drink again, and leads to heaven. The law says what we are to do, and that we have not done it, how holy we are; so it makes me uncertain, drives me into thirst. It says [Ex. 20:13], "Thou shalt not kill," drives me all into my works, says [Deut. 6:5, Matt. 22:37], "Thou shalt love God with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself. Not to commit adultery, not to swear, not to steal [Ex. 20:14, 15], and says, "See that you have lived this way, or that you still live this way. When you get there, you will find that I do not love God with all my heart, as I should, and you must confess and say, O dear God, I have not done this, I have not kept the law, because I do not love God with all my heart today or tomorrow, and confess one year as another, that I have done this and that. This confession will not cease; when will it end and your heart rest, and be sure of divine graces? You will always remain in doubt; tomorrow you will confess the same as today; the common confession will always remain. Where will you now rest and rest your conscience, so that you will know how you would fare with God? Your heart cannot tell you; do as much as you can. For the law remains, which says: You shall love God and man with all your heart. But thou sayest, I will not do it; and the law saith, Thou shalt do it; and the law maketh me afraid, that I must be thirsty, and be afraid, and tremble, and say, How shall I do that God may look upon me with mercy? I shall obtain God's grace; yes, if I keep the Ten Commandments, if I have good works and much merit? But this never happens, I do not keep the ten commandments, therefore no grace comes to me. Thus it is that man cannot rest in his good works, and would like to have a good conscience; he gains a desire that he may have a good, happy, peaceful, comforting conscience; he thirsts, he would like to be satisfied.

That is, the thirst that lasts until Christ comes and says, "If you want to be satisfied, have rest and a good conscience, I advise you to come to me, and leave Moses and your works; make a distinction between me and Moses. From Moses thou hast thirsted, he hath done his work, he hath done his office, he hath afflicted thee, he hath made thee thirsty; come now also once unto me, believe on me, hear my doctrine; I am another preacher, I will water thee and refresh thee.

(179) He who is able to do this art, or to make this distinction, may well be called a doctor. For the law and the gospel must be separated from one another. The law should frighten and make stupid and despair, especially the coarse, crude people, until they realize that they cannot do what the law wants, nor attain grace, so that they despair; for it comes to nothing that they could attain grace. As Doctor Staupitz once said to me: "I have lied to God more than a thousand times that I wanted to become pious, and I never did; therefore I will not pretend to myself that I want to be pious, because I see well that I cannot keep it, I will never lie. So it was with me: In the priesthood I was very serious about being pious; but how long did it last? Only until I had said mass. For over an hour I was more angry than before. This lasts until one becomes tired and has to say, "I will put piety, Moses and the law in another place, and go to another preacher who says, "Come to me when you are weary, and I will give you rest, and let the word, "Come to me," be dear to you.

This preacher does not teach that you can love God or how you should do and live, but says, if you cannot do it, how you must nevertheless become pious and holy. This is a different sermon than the teaching of the Law of Moses, which deals only with works. The law says, Thou shalt not sin; go thy way, and be godly, do this and that; but Christ says, Take thee away; thou art not godly, but I have done it for thee, remissa sunt tibi peccata. This

Two sermons must be taught and practiced at the same time. For if one teaching remains the same, it is not right. For the law alone makes thirsty, and serves no purpose except to frighten the heart; but the gospel alone makes full, cheerful and alive, and comforts the conscience. So that the teaching of the gospel does not only make lazy, gluttonous Christians, who think they are not allowed to do anything good, the law says to the old Adam: Do not sin, be pious, desist, do this 2c. But when the conscience feels this, and knows that the law is not a number 1), man is frightened. Then hear the teaching of the gospel; if you have sinned, hear the teacher Christ, who says: Come to me, I will not let you die of thirst, but I will give you drink 2c.

181 This sermon will have pleased the pious hearts very well, so that the people said, "Oh, if we had known that before, 2c. Yes, if such had been preached to me, Luther, in my youth, I would have saved much of my body and would not have become a monk. But now that it has been preached, the godless world despises it, for they have not endured the bath and the sweat in which I and others in the papacy are immersed. Therefore, because they have not felt the need of consciences, they despise it, for they have no thirst; therefore, they are now creating mobs and raving. It is true: Dulcia non meminit, qui non gustavit amara, those who have not been in thirst taste nothing. Thirst is a good waiter, and hunger is a good cook; but when there is no thirst, nothing tastes good, be it ever so good.

182 The doctrine of the law is therefore given, that one may be bathed in it, and sweat in the law as on a sweat-bed, and suffer anguish and distress; otherwise it is not good for the weary and the satiated. But let them go; it is not preached to them, for it is a sermon for the thirsty, to whom it is said, "Let them come to me, and I will refresh and water them. Then the heart must say, "He is certainly a prophet, yes, Christ himself; he is able to preach well,

1) digit --- zero.

there is no one else who can preach better, let it be whoever wants to, be it Annas or Caiphas, this man preaches much differently, his preaching surpasses all human teaching. Now he says in addition:

V. 38. 39. He who believes in me, as the Scripture says, from his body will flow rivers of living water. But this he said of the Spirit, which they that believed on him should receive. For the Holy Ghost was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

183. rivers shall flow, water that gives life. Whoever comes to me, I will prepare him in such a way that he will not only be fed and refreshed for himself, so that he can quench his thirst and be free from thirst; but I will make him into a strong, stone barrel, give him the Holy Spirit and gifts, so that he can flow to other people, water them, comfort them, strengthen them, and also serve many other people, as he was helped by me, as 2 Cor. 1:4 St. Paul says. So the Lord Christ wants to make a different man out of the one who comes to him than Moses would have done.

In the papacy, we mad saints have made one sentence after another, and there has been no end to the laws, have only frightened the consciences and made them thirsty, their preachers have only increased the thirst. How it cannot be otherwise. When the saints of works teach, they make one thirst over another, and one law out of another, so that there is no end nor cessation of the laws, as we experienced all too much at that time. Every year there was a new doctor, and the fools only plagued the consciences. When, that was a serious law, that one was not allowed to touch a corporal 1) or chalice, made everything full of mortal sin. A monk was not allowed to go without a shepherd 2) because these teachers could not do anything else, because they wanted to rule with laws. So from one law grew many other laws, nam casus sunt infiniti, and from one law a hundred glosses were made. It is the same with the jurists. It always changes, one

1) i.e., the white linen cloth used to cover the hosts.

2) Schepler - scapular, shoulder dress of the religious clergy.

will always mend and improve it, et sic multiplicantur leges in infinitum. Just as a snowball that falls from a roof or a high mountain starts out small, but as it falls it takes on more and more snow and becomes so large that if it fell from a roof or a mountain and a child stood on the ground and the snowball hit it, it would be killed. This is also how it happened in the papacy with the laws and human orders. First there was the order of St. Benedict; then the monks of the Barefoot; and after that, out of the Order of the Barefoot, seven different orders swarmed and became Mosi's servants. When they begin to thirst, they do not stop, they cannot quench the thirst.

(185) But Christ does the contrary, and never ceases to comfort, and not only quenches you, but through you he also quenches the thirst of others, which the law has caused. And the longer the gospel is preached, the more abundantly the thirst is quenched, and the better it tastes to the thirsty. Therefore, whoever believes in Christ and is watered can also water, comfort and refresh others. If all the world stood before him, he could give words enough to comfort them all. This is what the Lord means here, that he will water them; not with a spoonful, or with a tube and spigot, 3) but whole rivers of comfort shall they have, and with all power and riches shall they be abundantly full, for all that thirst. So a godly minister can comfort all who are in sins, that he takes away sin; however great and many they are, he blows away all sin with one saying; and when death and war come, a preacher can strengthen a whole army, so that they throw away death and respect nothing. That is why they can sweep it away and take it away with one word and one comforting saying. With what? With the water of life.

So he thinks that his preaching ministry is a stream of life, so that one may be refreshed. But it seems not, because it goes badly. You may only hear it, read it, preach it.

3) Tenon on a barrel.

I hear only a poor sound of a voice, I see a poor letter in the book, and I have the thought in my heart. This same word, which is preached, shall exercise such power secretly that it shall wash away from the heart with heaps of devils in the kingdom of the devil, where he reigns fiercely, as the Elbe washes away chaff. He knows well why he calls the word of God a river. For it does great things, and much, it sweeps away. So does St. Peter on the day of Pentecost, Apost. 2, 41, when he with one sermon, as with a river of water, rooted out and washed away from the devil's kingdom three thousand people, whom he redeemed in one hour; he washed them from death, sins and devils. It does not seem so, but the word has such power; the river has refreshed them and brought them here. Those who come to the gospel and to Christ should have the honor of being able to profit in this way. Father and mother can comfort and teach their servants, children and neighbors, so that they neither fear nor despair, and can help them, because living water flows from their bodies, which refreshes and revives the dear souls in all kinds of distress and suffering.

187. Note this saying against the Anabaptists and the revolters, or the shameful blasphemers of the oral word, who say that the spirit and faith are inward, therefore the spiritual word must do it, that if God does not comfort, the outward word is nothing, as the pope has also said; and cut off from our ears the bodily voice or the bodily word, saying that the sermon is only a poor cry in the pulpit; item, baptism is only bad water, and in the Lord's Supper is only bad bread and wine. But what does the Lord Christ say here? He speaks:

He that believeth on me, and cometh to me, and drinketh of me, out of his body shall flow rivers of living water.

What does a belly or body mean? That is, the same Christian man should be able to 1) advise and help other people physically. How can he do that? O! the oral word

1) "bodily", that is, by speaking God's word with his mouth.

can do more than you are worth seeing and noticing. Now where are those who say that the word can do nothing? You hear that it is a stream that gives life. The oral word is a living word, they have not tried it; but I know it well and have experienced it in hardships and temptations. I feel that life is given to me through the word; as in the 119th Psalm, v. 50, it is also said: "Your word restores me; your word is my comfort in my affliction"; one helps me with a word that I feel life. So I also counsel another with the word of Christ, and give drink to another, and he gets courage, and is healed, yea, converted, if he be in error.

Thus the Lord Christ calls the oral word to be living water in a Christian brother, so that if one believes, he is already comforted and strengthened; and the unholy drips still want to despise it, saying it is an outward thing; a sow also knows this well. But the word makes alive. Notice that when God's word comes from a believing mouth, it is a living word that can save a person from death, forgive sin, and lift him to heaven; and if you believe it, you are comforted and strengthened, for it is a river of life. Item, which is even more comforting and greater: A right Christian cannot preach falsely, Christ does not let him err, everything he teaches and speaks must be right water; they are living and comforting words. And he who believes, let him be sure that he will preach the articles of faith well; he will not preach evil. As it is also said in another place: He who believes in Christ, non dicit anathema Jesum. If then faith is righteous in the heart, the words will also be wholesome, for faith in the heart allows nothing to be preached but what is right and true.

190. Therefore the word of God should be held in honor and esteemed, for it produces much fruit. And though it does not do so to the crude and ungodly, yet it does so to the thirsty; those who accept it are made superfluous and refreshed with a river. Again, he who is not

Article lacks and does not believe in Christ, he must not think that he speaks a good word or preaches. Even if he is fine and pure, this living water is not. Therefore it is essential to know Christ well, so that we will not err, for this teaching gives life and comfort. Other doctrines bring poison, are no drink, and do not quench thirst, but are foul, stinking, murky and unpleasant waters or puddles of dung, as God says in the prophet Jeremiah Cap. 2, 13. also says: "My people commit a twofold sin, forsaking me, the living fountain, and making them beautiful fountains." But if we stay with the article, as in the faith in Christ, then we want to resist all kinds of sins, otherwise we will not be able to stand before a united one.

The ninth sermon.

Saturday after Bartholomew [August 26, 1531]. 1)

191 This is the other sermon which the Lord Christ preached at Jerusalem in the feast before the chief priests, and he hath set forth this sermon in much more abundant words. For John the Evangelist alone has put it into a theme or resolution, which is secret and special, as if he were saying, "Come here, I will preach something different and better than you have ever heard before, but it will be nothing. For they have never heard that the divine word should quench thirst, and that the word of God should make such people that whoever believes in it, rivers of living water should flow from his body. And it may well be that the Jews did not understand this sermon correctly. For it was their opinion that Christ would come as a king in the flesh, and as a lord of the world, who would deliver the captives, comfort the miserable, water the thirsty, and feed the hungry, and give the Jews all things enough that they might become lords and captains in this world.

192Therefore they have heard him on this opinion, saying, If any man thirst, I will water him, and give him enough, that springs and rivers also shall flow from him.

1) In the original margin.

flow, that also others should be watered by him and have everything enough. It reads almost imperious and royal, as if he wanted to be a lord who would help everyone, with whom they should also have good days and everything enough. To this carnal sense they have interpreted it, and still to this day, that Christ should be a worldly king, who would deal with good days, power and riches.

193 They were accustomed to these sayings, that in the Scripture it is written of lands, and people, and rivers of water: but John glossed it, saying, He spake not of these things, but of the Spirit, which believers should receive. Now Christ did not interpret this in this way, but John helps him. And these are called spiritual interpretations, as ye have heard, which is to drink and to thirst. And the Jews should also have interpreted it that way. For Christ did not interpret the fountain or stream of water; but this is the opinion that streams find the Holy Spirit, that those who have the gospel and have obtained the Holy Spirit can comfort, instruct, teach, warn, yes, be of use to the whole world, and help to destroy eternal death and obtain eternal life. This is the right understanding that John himself gives. As if he should say: The Lord Christ does not speak of the fleshly mind and opinion of the Jews, that it should fill the belly, and give all things enough, and refresh them; otherwise they had many dreams of it; but of the Spirit, which they alone shall have who believe. 2c. And follows:

Because the Holy Spirit was not yet there.

194 At the time Christ preached, he promised the Holy Spirit, and therefore the Holy Spirit was not yet there; not that he was not in his nature in heaven, but that he was not in his revelation and work. For this is the real work and office of the Holy Spirit, to reveal and glorify Christ, to preach and give testimony of Him. This ministry was not yet in progress; the ministry of glorifying the Lord Christ was not yet in progress, that is, the preaching of the forgiveness of sins, and how to be delivered from death, to have comfort and joy in Christ, so that it concerns us.

That salvation, blessedness, righteousness, joy and life should be given to us through this man, Christ, was not known at that time. He promises it here, and makes it clear that it is he in whom one should believe, and whoever believes should have what he promises. One should not fall into these nonsensical thoughts, as if the Holy Spirit was only created after the resurrection of Christ from the dead, but that it is written here, "The Holy Spirit was not yet here," that is, he was not yet in his office, the old preaching and the law were still there, of which we often say and always preach that one should distinguish between the preaching of the gospel and the law.

For when the law is preached, it is a sermon that makes sin; it is a poor and meager sermon, it makes hungry souls, frightened, afflicted, meager hearts and consciences that groan for God's grace. This sermon remains until Christ rises from the dead and is transfigured, where there is a great thirst, thirst and lack, yes, neither counsel nor help. For then it is said, Thou hast done this, thou hast omitted that, thou art in death and under the wrath of God, as we well know who have accepted it; for the common man does not much inquire what the spiritual thirst is, and whether the gospel is preached or not. So it was in the time of the Lord Christ, that if the preaching was good, he that would be saved should keep the law. But where to take the keeping, or how to be blessed, who had not kept the law and could not boast of works, no one knew, because the Holy Spirit was not yet there, Christ was not yet transfigured. Now follows a discord and disunity among the people.

V.40-44. Many of the people who heard this speech said: This is a true prophet. The others said: He is Christ. And some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? saith not the scripture, Of the seed of David, and out of the village of Bethlehem, where David was, shall Christ come? So there was a

Discord among the people over him. Some wanted to take him, but no one laid a hand on him.

196) It must have been a great and beautiful sermon that caused such a commotion and discord among the people that one said, "He is Christ," and another said, "He is not Christ.

So it is still going on today. It can be seen that it has happened as with the spirits of the mob; wherever they go, they look at you like this: You have heard many good sermons so far, it is true, but you have not yet heard the right reason; I will tell you the right truth. So, they can put it on. If one then has sleepy ears, then it happens that one thinks it is so; thereby the other sermon is soon put down, so that one says: "Well, I have not heard such things preached before all my life, I would not have thought that it was such a small thing. It is the same here.

198) Well, it is true that if it comes to pass, it is good. This man's judgment was right, for he had a command from God, and it was prophesied of him beforehand that he should do so; item, that Moses and the other preachers should yield to him. Therefore he says: You have not yet heard that which you are to hear. He had to speak this officially because of the prophecy and for the sake of John the Baptist, saying, "Hear me; I must stand out and open my mouth to the people and lead them to me. It behooves me, for I am to preach something special. And it shall befall him also, and he shall be judged to put down all other preachers, and against his preaching all other preaching shall be regarded as nothing. Just as when the sun rises and darkens the moon so that it looks pale, the moon and the stars lose their light and are no longer seen during the day, because the light of the sun is too great. Moon and stars would like to shine, but the sun is too strong with its brilliance and light. So it is in this also. The prophets are the stars and the moon,

But Christ is the sun [Malachi 4:2, Psalm 19:5], and if he comes and preaches and shines, his word is so great that the others are of no account, and are not seen before him; though the moon and the stars also shine and shine very brightly. So, Moses, the law and the prophets are well taught and fine sermons; but against the sermon of Christ it is all nothing, for they are not different, as if on a day, against the brightness and light of the sun, some wax light were lighted, whose shine is not seen at all before the sun's rays and brightness, but must fade away. So Moses and the prophets also hide themselves from the Lord Christ. For Christ alone must do it; we must hear his command, that he says: Now comes the right light, which is commanded to me, I must shine; you star and moon stop with your shine, show your shine to you; they stand still, but they do not shine.

(199) So it is with Christ, to whom alone it behooves him to preach. He cannot exalt himself too much, nor exalt himself too high, nor make too great a disturbance; for he is the true light that kindles the day and makes it bright. But they that will imitate him, being wanting, do evil, and will make disciples after them, as Christ and the Lord Christ's disciples did. But they come after the resurrection of Christ, and they are rotten, they are not one with Christ, they want to be the sun themselves, and to eclipse Christ, the true sun. As Christ Himself says [Matth. 24, 5. 23.]: There will come after me, who will say: I am Christ, see there is Christ, there in the wilderness; item v. 26: in chambers, but do not go out 2c. For they pretend that my doctrine and the apostles' doctrine are nothing; they want to be everything, just as now the sun obscures everything.

200 Thus it was with the great teachers when the gospel began. They soon wanted to imitate Christ, that as Christ had darkened Moses and the prophets, so they also wanted to imitate him and be everything, as we have seen in Carlstadt, Münzer, and other heavenly prophets. No, it is not because of prosperity, but because of the

Command. It still goes on like this; there is not a fool or a dautaut 1) of the rats and papists who does not want to follow it. For when they saw that the gospel had risen, everything that had been in the papacy was darkened. Even though a little remained in the papacy, as the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer; item, baptism, the Bible; but it shone as the pale moon, it has been eclipsed. But now they themselves want to shine, like the sun.

(201) Now this is a doctrine and a warning, which serve against the sects and cults. It was Christ's alone to preach thus, saying, "Whosoever thirsteth, let him come unto me." It is not fitting for any other man to say this, and it is not fitting for any other preacher, except I point to him and lead other people to his mouth, so that they hear his word and do not look at themselves, but open their mouths to him. He alone says: I am sent to be heard; as the heavenly Father also cries of him: Hic est filius meus dilectus, hunc audite [Matth. 3, 17.]; and the holy Scripture in the other passage, v. 7, testifies of Christ that the Father said to him: "You are my Son, today I have begotten you" 2c. You must not look at us preachers, but look at him and hear him; for I do not know how to do what he has done.

But the devil cannot help it; he has seen that Christ has come forth, and has declared that he is the Messiah and Prophet, and that he is to shine as the sun above the moon and all the stars, and to take the light from the stars, and he will do so, and he will raise up mobs who want to be the light, and will destroy and darken everything. But see thou out of it, and take heed, that thou find the right man and the right sun, and know them, and keep them. For there will be no lack of such scoundrels and false teachers; they have always been in the world. Many times more suns have been seen in the sky, yes, often three suns at the same time; item, that six or seven suns have shone; nevertheless, one must be the right sun; and shine

1) "Dautaffe" perhaps as much as: Deutelmeister. In Dietz's dictionary this word is not found.

94 Erl. 4s, 214-S17. Interpretations on John the Evangelist. W. vn, Ws-Lsss. 95

But all three are such that one cannot be recognized before the other; but the right sun must keep its place. So the same husks and the spirits of the wicked also come forth and shine, so that one almost loses Christ; they want to be bad Christ and boast of the Holy Spirit, other righteous preachers must count for nothing at all.

For this reason, let it be understood that it belongs to the man Christ alone, that he and his word may be heard. And all the Scriptures are directed that Moses should preach the law, but Christ should abolish this preaching of the law and make it dark, as the sun makes the moon and the stars dark. As you see that the stars do not shine now in the daytime 1) even though they are in the sky before your eyes, because the sun takes away their light. But when the sun goes down, you see the stars shining again; when the great light goes away, the little one begins to shine and shine. But when Christ, the sun, sets, God help us.

(204) But what befalls the man to whom it is due that he should make all things dark? He is to be the sun, and his word such a light of grace that one forgets all others; his preaching is to occupy the whole conscience, filling heaven and earth, so that my heart is free from the law, and knows no more to say than about Christ crucified, who is to be the day and the true sun, whom the Lord makes, as the prophets say. But how is he? Some say, "He will indeed do it; it has long been said that a sun will rise one day that will shine brightly; for the stars will not do it, they will not make a day. Now we have enough, we want to look at this sun, we wait for the blessed seed Abraha; he will do it, the man will be a prophet.

205. Others want to lift him higher, saying, "He is Christ." Some say: "A prophet cannot speak like this: To me, to me. He saith, Come, I will water you; he will refresh all the earth; he must have something to say.

1) From this place it follows that these sermons were held during the day, not in the evening. On August 26th the sun sets at 7 o'clock 2 minutes.

He will be higher than a prophet; it is the Christ who is promised. They want to go up and meet that they want to become great lords out of carnal opinion, and think that Christ will only be a carnal, fleshly Messiah and King. This is a childish, Jewish belief and delusion, just as we teach our children that our Lord God sits in heaven on a golden chair, has a gray beard and a golden crown; and yet with faith they are attached to the man, so that they come up and meet the man who has such a garment on; then, when they grow up, they are taught otherwise. So here the good people are also on this track, they want to go up. The apostles also worked on it, and thought he was such a man, who would rule there in the flesh; but there is nothing to it. The poor people want to go up, that the man should be Christ, who forgives sin and tears apart the devil's kingdom, and that he should darken the stars and the moon, so that he alone may kindle his light and let it shine; but it does not want to go anywhere, it has to block itself. Therefore they say:

Is Christ to come from Galilee?

It is an inconsistent thing, and they make believe that nothing more ridiculous and foolish has been said; they put a block in the way, make a hindrance, and push the poor people before their heads, so that they bounce back again, who were nevertheless on a right track; for they make believe that this sermon is too delicious, say that it is not possible that Christ should come from Galilee, otherwise that would be a bad Christ. But this is the wretched devil. In the 11th chapter of Matthew, v. 6, Christ says: "Blessed are those who do not take offense at me." This doctrine is and remains an annoying doctrine, if one wants to measure and grasp it with reason and get into it with our head and five senses, namely, that Christ wanted to be the light of the world and help everyone, when he went along as a poor carpenter who often did not have the dear bread in the house. Neither he nor his father Joseph had a foot of his own on earth, and in the end he was hung on the cross as the worst murderer. He was a poor servant.

This annoyance is too great, it does not rhyme anywhere with the words: "He who believes in me" 2c.

Thus, the word of God suffers an offence, apostasy, hindrance and annoyance everywhere, so that those who want to go to it are thrown before the head, as happens here. They use a seeming argument, which is still used by all the wise men of the world, and thus repel many of them when they say: "Should Christ come from Galilee? Now it is true, the holy scripture has said, he should come from Bethlehem, as Micah indicates, and also names the tribe and place where he should be born. So the scripture is in both places. Micah says [Cap. 5, 1.], "Thou Bethlehem art by no means the least among the daughters of Judah. "2c. And to David it is said [2 Sam. 7, 12.], A child of thy stock, flesh and blood shall be Christ. They knew that Christ would come from the tribe and blood of David and from the little town of Bethlehem. These sayings were proclaimed to the people that Christ would come from the blood of David and from Bethlehem.

But this man is of Galilee, where is not the tribe of David, neither was the city of Bethlehem in that same land. With this they are cast down to the ground, and lay all things low; and the wisdom of man also opposeth it mightily, because it cannot be denied; so can no man resolve it, and who shall rhyme it together? We know among the people where the Messiah comes from, they say above [v. 27. 1; both are known among the people. They knew both that he should come from Bethlehem and from Judah, and yet secretly, that they knew not whence he came, as the scripture had declared, that he should come secretly. Therefore John the Evangelist says that they themselves testified that he was born in Bethlehem of Mary the Virgin, of the tribe of Judah, and after that he went into Galilee. Some will have known this. But the others are good fellows, 1) speak here: Be evil and wise enough; you think we do not know the Scriptures? From Galilee no prophet arises, but from Jerusalem, and Christ shall arise from

1) Compare the note to § 122 of this chapter.

Jerusalem come. Therefore, because Christ is now going out of Galilee, and is entering his thirtieth year in his old age, he must not be Christ.

These are called the scandals and pleas against the dear gospel, as it is now said in the papacy that a doctor should come from nowhere except from Christendom and the church; so they stand up and rely on it as a goat on its horns. And it is true, there is no preacher outside the Christian church, that is impossible. It is decided that God does not want to make Christians, unless they are baptized and called by the Gospel. He wants to separate all who are called Christians from the world through the gospel and baptism. So there is no right preacher or prophet outside the church. This is what the Scripture says, and no one can deny it. Just as here the Jews say, "Out of Galilee comes no prophet."

It is a strong argument that moves many who know that our doctrine is right and can say nothing against it, and yet stand as a steady horse, saying only that the holy Christian church has not yet decided and approved it. With the word "Christian church" they capture both the simple and the great Hanses, just as this text pushes everything to the ground. Credo unam Ecclesiam Christianam. Item: Credo etiam in Spiritum Sanc

tum. Now, apart from this Christian Church, there is no salvation nor Holy Spirit, because the Symbolum says: I believe in the Holy Spirit, A Holy Christian Church. The Holy Spirit makes the Christian Church holy through His holiness, just as Christ also makes the Church holy. And here there is no need to waver or doubt, it is true, just as it is true that Christ came from Bethlehem and Judah. Therefore, no preacher should be sought or accepted who does not come from the Christian church.

211 How then is it done? they say: The Christian church has not yet decided, it is not out of Christendom; and then they wait for concilia and imperial diets, until the scholars come together and conclude there. Because this does not happen, they remain as they are. So now both the fools and the prudent speak, wanting to wait until it is decided by the Christian church, because one of them says

So, the other otherwise, the Christian church has not yet come to it; we want to remain with our fathers' faith until it is decided what is right; and so we thumb our noses at the simple-minded. Now, we do not deny that Christ should not come from Bethlehem, but neither do we say that he should not come from Galilee. So it is also true that he who is not in the Christian church, and whose doctrine is not decided by it, is a right false, unrighteous preacher.

This is preached enough, that God made a man out of a lump of earth, but the devil also took earth and made a toad or a monk out of it. Item, one says: Where God builds a church, the devil puts a chapel next to it. The Christian church is of two kinds. They call that the Christian church, which is not; and that is the right church, which must not be called the church. The question is not whether one should believe in the church? item: whether there is a church? but which is the right church, that is the question. . For whether there is a church, we are at one with the pope in the matter. We believe that there is certainly a Christian church, as the pope also believes; there must be a Christian church on earth, we believe this as firmly and strongly as he does. But this is the point, and this is the point of conflict, who is the Christian church? because the devil divides all the names, and falsifies them, as the pope also does. The Anabaptists say just that: they have baptism, and without baptism one cannot be saved. Now we do not ask, nor do we dispute, whether there is a baptism that makes one blessed. So it is also with the sacramentaries, where we confess that they have the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, there we are one; but about this the question is, which have the right sacrament? So also in the Christian church the gospel must be preached; but there is a dispute about which is the right gospel and who has it righteously? We are now discussing the same thing with the pope, whether they, the papists, or we are the right Christian church? whether they have and need baptism, the gospel, and the sacrament of the Lord's Supper rightly? They say: We have it right; so we also say that we have it right.

The quarrel arises over this. They persist in their delusion that we are heretics, as the Pharisees and Jews do here; then they cry out that they are good Christians, but we are heretics. We cannot and will not suffer this either; we suffer it with our hands, but not with silence. Well, the pope says that he is the Christian church; we say no to that, although there are some among the pope who belong to the Christian church, just as there are many among the Turks, in France and England, who belong to the Christian church; they are baptized, keep the gospel, use the sacraments rightly, and are true Christians. But that they now condemn us, and say that our doctrine is not right, and burn themselves white against it, and justify themselves with their laws, poems, brotherhoods and good works, and say that he who keeps these is a right Christian, and is the right Christian church, we say no to that.

(214) We allow this to happen, that they are in the Christian church, but they are not true members of the church; they have the chair, baptism, the ministry, the sacrament, and they are in the church, but they are not righteous. Just as there are many among us who are baptized, go to the sacrament, present themselves as Christians, and yet they are peelers in the skin, they are not righteous. Therefore we say: They are among the number of Christians, they have the name, appearance and vocation of the church and Christians, but therefore they are not.

215 You must therefore distinguish the true Christian church, which is the church in truth, from the church which wants to be the church and yet is not. The false church has only the appearance, but nevertheless has the Christian offices. For a prankster can baptize, read the gospel, go to the sacrament, and say the ten commandments; all this is and remains right; but he remains a bad prankster, and is not called a Christian, nor the Christian church, but is said to be in and under the Christian church, just as mice droppings lie under the pepper, and wheel under the corn, and help to fill the bushel. Just as in the human body there are fine, pure, healthy, righteous members, which man uses for his need.

can. But after that there is also sweat in the body, butter in the eyes, snot, scab, boils and other filth. These things are in the human body as well as the ears, stomach, heart, fingers or eyes; but the filth is also in the body, although it stinks. So the heretics, false teachers, or ungodly, even in the church, are not natural, righteous members, but the filth that festers out of the body. Therefore it is true that no one will ever preach rightly unless he is in the Christian church. He can preach, but that is not enough; he must also have the Holy Spirit, preach rightly and live. He cannot do this unless he is a true member of the Christian church.

2l6. Now that they say they will wait until it is decided by the church, let the devil wait; I will not wait that long. For the Christian church has already decided everything. Just as the members of the body are to be one body, and must not wait until the devil says or concludes whether the body is healthy or not. We want to know and learn from the members, and not from the urine, dung or filth. So we do not want to wait until the pope and bishops say in a concilio: It is right, because they are not one piece and pure, healthy members of the body, but they are Junker Unflath and snot on the sleeve, yes, the dirt they are, because they pursue the right gospel, which they know is the word of God. Therefore it is seen that they are filth, stink, and the devil's members. Therefore it is said: The Christian church has already decided it, because everywhere they teach this way, and all Christians who have been baptized believe as this teaching says. This decision does not involve an outward meeting, but is a spiritual concilium, and one does not need a convention for this. One may assemble and hold a 1) concilium to order how to fast and pray, and how to dress, and how to confirm and confess the right articles of faith, or to judge other things, as was done in the Concilio Niceno.

1) "one" put by us instead of "none" which seems not to fit us.

But to decide the Christian doctrine whether it is right, there 2) one may not concilii to, but I say: I hold over baptism, and believe in the gospel, that it is right and holy, believe and hold over the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.

Then they say, "Yes, you do not believe correctly. Then it begins, and the quarrel arises; there belongs a spiritual concilium to it, that as I believe and preach, so my brother also believes, yes, so all Christians believe where they are; they are unanimous. That means One Christian Church, which believes in Christ, and which wants to be saved by Him, not by our works or merits; and what the Holy Spirit says to us, He says to all Christians, wherever they are. This is the Bethlehem and the tribe of Judah where Christ comes from. So it is also true that outside the church there is no prophet, no Christian, or teacher and preacher, for it is a body and soul that clings to each other as the members cling to the body, for they are members of the body. A fist that is cut off is dead, does not live, does not cling to the body; so also a heretic is cut off from the Christian church by false teaching and unbelief, and is dead; for those who are outside the Christian church are dead.

218 The Christian church is not called a heap full of bishops' or cardinals' hats, and it may be called a concilium, or from them a concilium, but not a Christian church. For the same cannot be gathered together in one heap, but is scattered through the whole world; it believes as I believe, and I believe as it believes; we have no offence or disparity in faith, we all believe One Christian Church; outside this Church all is nothing. So I believe; about this then the dispute arises.

219 Therefore, since the argument is so strong, be prepared to say, "This word 'Christian church' has two meanings, as do other words, for some are the true church and some are the false church. Show me now the true church. The pope also says that he is the right church, but wherewith will he prove it? You have the

2) Erlanger: so.

102 Eri. 4s, 2S4-MS. Interpretations on John the Evangelist. W. vn, W-n-Ws." 103

Gospel and baptism; we also. But see who has the right gospel and the right baptism, or the wrong one. The one Christ is right, but all heretics make a new Christ. The words are twofold. Every heretic has a special word, and also bears the name of the divine word. Item, the name of God is the most diverse word; one has probably thousands of gods. Mammon is a god; Francisci and Carthaeus order is also a god; everyone has his own god. Behold now. As the name of God is of one God and yet is drawn elsewhere, so that the name of God is interpreted variously: so also the name of the Christian church is torn apart, drawn from time to time. You must not turn to it, that they say: Here is the church. You say: I know that there is a Christian church, and I know the word "Christian church," but whether you are, I do not know. You may well boast, but the beautiful names shall not deceive me, for the heretics shall come under the beautiful name of God, Christ, and the Christian church, and deceive the world.

(220) Therefore it is dangerous and suspicious that they thus boast the name of the Christian church, as if it were the great art, and no one knew anything else before them. But say thou: If you want to be the church and have the name, prove it. Teach rightly, as the holy Christian church teaches; so live as it lives; prove your faith and the fruit of faith, and prove that you are the Christian church. But that they do not want to have the office of a true bishop, but persecute whom they will, and want to be godly princes and to be the Christian church, we must say that they are the church of the devil, for the Christian church does not deal with doctrine in this way. So that the heretics frighten and deceive many people with the name of the church, just as these also did here in the Gospel, saying: Christ is to come from Bethlehem, but that he comes from Galilee must be wrong.

So they also say about us now. Whether we are the Christian church, nevertheless because we are from Galilee or from Wittenberg

come, and do not wait until they decide it, therefore it must be wrong. So we say: Ei, from Galilee and Nazareth also Christians come, who preach and believe what is not pleasing to you, so we do not have to be Christians. But so long will we not wait, nor preach what they would have. Let us preach of the man who after this life will also give us enough. If we wanted to preach to please them, we would have become great lords for a long time; but there is (as they say) no counsel in it.

The tenth sermon.

Saturday after [September 2, 1531]. 1)

222This is the dissension that arose among the people concerning the doctrine of Christ, that some said he was Christ; some, he was a prophet; others, they roundly rejected, saying: Out of Galilee there ariseth not a prophet. This discord among the people is stuck there. Now we cannot say much about this, but these are examples and histories that serve to show us how it is with the people who hear the Lord Christ preached, and we receive strength and comfort from it against the great trouble that is called making error in the faith. For this is the highest, if they blame us, that our doctrine is new, and they want to remain with the old faith, and so strife and discord arise from the doctrine. For some say: I will wait for a concilium, and what the emperor and bishops will decide with the princes that one should hold, that I will also accept. This is the greatest annoyance, which fills the eyes, ears and mouth, and is difficult to bear. Therefore we need comfort, that we do not turn to it; it should and must be so, we will not have it better than he. If the gospel could have been preached without such confusion and discord, it would have been the same with the man Christ, who could preach better than the apostles. But because it happens to him, the Lord Christ, that when he preaches, there is a delusion of faith among the people, yes, a discord over his sermon; they know themselves to be in the wrong.

1) In the original margin.

not to send into this new doctrine, one saying otherwise, the other so; this he, Christ, has done himself, that with his preaching he has misled the people.

223There are so many sects rising up, one wanting to go out here, the other there, that they make the people very suspicious and confused. Then you say: That there are so many sects, what can I do about it? A Christian who believes the word of God and preaches it does not have to accept it; there is no other way, so send yourself in, so that it will not be better in the world. If the sermon is God's word, sects rise up and proceed in this way, as we hear here.

The papacy had a fine reputation, it was all quiet; and although there were many monks and orders, it was all on one head, and in one man's fist, as the pope's, that there was only One Faith and One Doctrine. This is what one sees, and this is what one is still working towards. And it would be fine if there were one head to govern everything, but it is impossible, because neither Christ, nor a prophet, nor an apostle, has led it out like this. Therefore send thyself in, consider, that as soon as the gospel is given, there arises a strife and a noise, as the similitude in the gospel also shows [Luc. 11, 21. 22.]: When the strong-armed man kept his palace, his own remained in peace; but when a stronger came upon him, he divided his spoil.

Now the fault is not of the gospel, but of the enemy, the devil, who does not want to suffer the gospel. If we preached as the pope wanted us to, pretended to him and courted him, we would still have peace under the pope; but we served the devil. Therefore, there was peace under the pope; for everything was let go as it went, no one was against the other, the devil's teaching had to be God's word. The pope lay like a sow lying in the dung, and snores when it is scratched; but now he wakes up and stirs, because he is attacked and knocked on the skin; as such things now also come into our hands.

226 But let us be comforted when we see that many of them fall away; for there are

frightens people and makes them turn away, when they see that everything was quiet before, good peace everywhere, but now it is all full of mobs and sects, and such a horrible being that it is to be pitied. But turn it around and say, "This is what frightens you, but I accept it as comfort. For it is a sign and a sure seal that it is the true word of God. For if it were the word of the devil, it would go quietly and silently, as the serpent screeches along; but if mobs and sects rise up over it, it is surely the word of God. Because it must go thus, it will also go thus. It happened to Christ and the others in this way, and it will not happen to us in any other way. It also happened to Jeremiah the prophet, as he laments in chapter 15, v. 10, and cries out: "Woe to my mother, whom have you begotten in me? You have borne a man who is nothing but a quarreler; everyone in the country cries out against me; when I open my mouth, there is quarreling and unrest. I have neither lent nor borrowed on usury; nor does anyone curse me. He also says, "What shall I preach? I have determined to be silent and to preach no more, for if I preach long, I preach only my harm and shame. For this people brings God's word upon my neck; therefore I will be content, and let preach whoever wants to preach. Well, I would have liked to do it, he says, but your word was like a fire in my legs. The 120th Psalm also says, v. 7: When I kept peace, they began wars; when I opened my mouth, war and strife came quickly.

This does not happen when the devil preaches to his own; his doctrine is smooth, for he preaches what is easy for reason to understand; but here, since I am peaceful, and do not seek war, but would gladly bring all the world to salvation. When I preach the gospel, 1) war is already here, for the devil feels that people should be saved from his nets and yarns and led to the kingdom of the Lord Christ. Therefore he awakens

1) The preceding is incorrectly interpung in Walch and in the Erlanger: "is understandable. But here, since I am peaceful and do not seek war, but would gladly bring all the world to bliss, I preach" 2c.

what he can, and also wakes up himself 2c., wants to become mad and nonsensical. So the seeds of peace must have the name of waging war, must bear the name of discord; and again, those who break the peace, and raise war, boast that they are lovers of peace. Now let it be, the devil rages thus, and wants to make people stupid, so that they do not adhere to the gospel, and thereby insults Christ, the apostles and his own, so that they cause strife and discord. So they also accuse St. Paul in the stories of the apostles and say: "We have found this man harmful, and the rebellion arouses all the Jews in the whole world" [Apost. 24, 5.]. And Christ himself also says [Matth. 10, 34.]: "I have not come to send peace" or to make peace, "but the sword." I will make father and son at variance with one another. This is a piece and a consolation from the example, against the disgraceful agitation, and against the great washing and shouting, which even our adversaries are doing against us now.

V. 45. The servants came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them: Why did you not bring him?

These are not the words of the Lord Christ, nor a doctrine, but a history, which was preached after his sermon, against the trouble and against the useless mouths, because one must win this piece from them with patience. And here the Lord Christ shows how powerful he is with his own. The chief priests and Pharisees send out their servants to sing to the Lord Christ, and the servants want to be obedient to their lords and masters, and have it in mind to do their masters' bidding, and to seize Christ in the temple; and if the prison is very near to the Lord Christ, he could not have come nearer to it. He is commanded to be seized, and the servants come and have it in mind, wanting to seize him. Well, what happens?

229 There you can see what the human heart and thoughts can and do, how a heart is not at all powerful of itself and its thoughts. Therefore also the Psalm [Ps. 33, 15.] says: Qui fingit singulatim corda eorum, das

is, "He directs the heart of them all." Item, in the same Psalm, v. 10, it is said: "The LORD brings to naught the counsel of the Gentiles, and turns away the thoughts of the nations." Not only does God see their thoughts, but He also makes them change their hearts in an instant; He can turn away their thoughts and make others take their place. The servants are murderers, they want to catch an innocent man; their heart and thoughts are in the devil's obedience; but their thoughts they are not able to lead out. For when they hear him, it comes to pass that the thoughts depart, and get another and humble heart, and become the disciple and pupil of that master and preacher, whom otherwise they would have caught and killed.

230 This is a fine example by which we see that the angry nobles do not do everything they have in mind, nor do they lead them out. For where are they here? A year ago, at the Imperial Diet in Augsburg, it was decided that they wanted to dampen things in eight days, and they went along thinking that they wanted to wipe us out in a hurry, that this year should be our last. But what happens? When our Confession and Apologia were read, and they heard it, many fell back and said: We did not know this before, but heard that it was a doctrine that made all disobedience to the authorities, separated husbands and wives from each other, and caused all evil, sin, shame and vice, of which they had been told before. So when they heard it, their anger went away, although it still remains with some wicked people.

This is also the way it is done here. The servants become different people. Even though the Pharisees remain as before, they cannot carry it out, because it is not in their hands. They remain in their thoughts, which they have created, but they do not sing out the song. The servants have received pay, and are sworn to the Pharisees to be faithful to them, are obedient to their masters, come and want to catch him; but soon they turn the devil's obedience, and become obedient to Christ, but disobedient to their masters. They should have caught him out of fear; for they should ever be afraid of their masters, that the same should have

not throw him into prison, but it does not happen. What kind of heart is that? They become so brave and bold that they go back in disobedience to their masters, knowing that it will annoy their masters, and that they will be considered rebels and disobedient 2c.; yet they do not respect it all.

V. 46. The servants answered: No man ever spoke like this man.

232. they think, We will leave the man who speaks thus assaulted, and will not sin against God, and will let the neck go over it before. They become disobedient to their masters, defy their masters, and condemn them, become their judges, and say: Such a man ye make us to catch, and condemn his word, yet we say, feel, and know that here is vain GOD. We have never heard a man speak like this before. As if they should say: There is vain God in his speaking, and you take him for a devil, and condemn him. So the servants become strange teachers and doctors, who condemn the Pharisees, only from a few sermons.

233 And behold, Christ came not for peace, but to make mischief [Matth. 10, 34]. He separates masters and servants, and those who were at first well united, now go about in disobedience, and do the contrary, now become rebellious to their masters, and punish their masters with pretty words. Is this disunity not strong enough? They condemn what their masters do, and confirm the man's teaching, whose enemies they were before. The servants think: Our masters will be our enemies, may they counsel against us what they will, and may also have an evil purpose against us, it is not because of their thinking and purpose, but there is one in heaven who has it in his hand.

234 We also know that our adversaries still have plots and schemes, that they want to dampen our doctrine; this we may provide to them. Whether they give us good words, they still think to exterminate us and to reinstate their thing; they think that we do not know, and they think that they cannot miss it, so it must be to

meet what they have in mind. When they come together, they confer with each other about how they want to attack us, and they try to subdue us by force, because they cannot suppress it with cunning and art, and their thoughts and counsels are not hidden from us. But above all this there is one more thing, the most supreme. If they have been guessing for an equally long time, they have not therefore brought it out soon. There is still one who can turn it around. God comforts, and says: "If the hour does not come (come what may), and our enemies are as evil as death and the devil himself, they shall not lead it out and end it. We know well what the devil has in mind; not that he wants to make me a pope or bishop, and you a prince and mighty one, but he wants to destroy me altogether. As we see, then, that he sets up many mobs and awakens other ungrateful people, and would gladly set up a bloodbath so that everything would swim in blood. We have the advantage of saying, "Devil, you may be angry, but you will not be able to do it unless it is God's hour.

The servants are sent here, but not only do they become powerless, so that they, the angry Hansen, can do and create nothing, but they are also converted. The other great lords remain angry, but they can do nothing. It is a great comfort to know that we have such a strong hand over us, not only over us, but also over our enemies' hearts and minds. Our Lord God decrees that they creep together, deliberate and conclude how they want to chase and plague our sovereign, the Duke of Saxony, from lands and people; but let them be wise and wicked, if it goes to the meeting, then nothing will come of it. This we have before, that we know that they shall come to nothing.

No man has ever spoken as this one speaks.

It is a humble speech, but also a powerful speech. They do not say with hopeful words: You peelers, you want to kill the man who is of God; but they keep a servile humility with them,

Let them remain masters, do not take them by the sword and by the power, they remain servants, and in their state. The quarrel is not about bodily things; they do not exalt themselves higher than they are, even as servants; but the quarrel is in the spirit. This is the real strife and warfare, that their faith and doctrine is different from that of the Pharisees; they do not want to be one.

237 And so a servant shall not flee or run from his master, nor a woman from her husband, though one believes differently from the other, for God the Lord does not want the estates to be divided, so the estates shall not be divided. But they must be separated, and not mix spiritual and physical disunity, so that as far as the Lord's authority goes, it is good; then let a servant serve with his body and be obedient, namely, according to the outward, worldly rule, as far as his authority goes, and the house rule, city rule, or land law is able. Let not the servant oppose him, let him not murmur against him, but know that he is his lord. But over and above this, that they are in agreement outwardly, and the servant serves humbly, the servant has another lord, namely Christ, who is a lord over the conscience and over the soul, and he should also be served. For the master of the house is not a lord over the conscience of the servant or of the maid. The servant can say to him, "Lord, I have committed myself to you with my body, hand and foot, but not with my conscience; I take no reward for learning and believing the word of God; I am free, and this is someone else's business; I will be at ease.

238 Therefore, when they are divided, they remain distinct, being one outwardly in matters of the world, and divided inwardly in matters concerning conscience and faith. Thus a servant can well suffer a master who believes differently from him, and a master can well suffer a believing servant with him, if the servant does what he owes. But if the master is unbelieving and wants to force the servant to unbelief, he is a tyrant. Just as these servants do, saying, "What do you want with us? We have been obedient to you as servants.

But you want to go too far, you want to have servants here who do against their conscience, and sin against God's commandment, and should offend against this man, that is, do against the faith and against God's word; we do not want to do that, we are not your servants there; therefore we come and remain servants of the other Lord, whom you have otherwise commanded us to catch.

It is a strong word that they speak in humility. They honor the preaching of the Lord Christ, and they confess Christ freely. Of course, they know that their masters want him dead; nor do they honor his word. And on such faith follows such a mighty speech, and they make a beautiful confession, saying: Do what you will, but you cannot preach like this; no prophet has preached like this. That is to confess the faith mightily, and yet with all humility, that he is Christ, the Messiah. Do not push their masters out of their dominion, they remain servants as before. Here we see that the enemies cannot do everything as they would like.

Then the Pharisees answered them, "Are you also deceived? Does any ruler or Pharisee believe in him? but the people who know nothing of the law are accursed.

He who has respect for it sees that it always happens this way when one goes against the word of God. The longer one resists the word, the more nonsensical they become. This is the first foolishness, that they snort at the servants in this way; but the longer they go on, the more foolish they become. For now they let the servants and the Lord go, and defile the innocent people, saying: Where have ye seen that any of the rulers and Pharisees believe on him? What devil told you? Did not Nicodemus, Joseph, and others believe in him? But they blunder in like this, they do not know what they are saying. And if they knew it right away, how would it work and sound, that they say: You shall not believe in him? because the princes and Pharisees do not believe in him. Wise men! shall they preach like this, when they are ten times more senseless? Is that honoring the faith, if I believe what the Pharisees, rulers,

Princes and bishops believe? Even if one wanted to say: Harlots and knaves do not accept the gospel, therefore it is wrong. They should have ever read the holy scripture and know that it says: You shall not rely on princes, wise men and scholars [Ps. 118, 8. 9.]. What is this saying: Because we Pharisees do not believe it, it is not true, and faith is wrong? This is great wisdom, that if men believe not a thing, therefore it is wrong; and though thou hast God and His word, yet shalt thou not be sure that thou hast the right faith; but if men believe it, thou hast it; but if men believe it not, thy faith must be wrong.

241 So if they want to preach: What people believe, teach and do, you also do. What then do they do? Oh, they commit fornication, adultery, theft, usury and other sins, and live like harlots and knaves. That would be to lead the conscience on an ice, to point at people or men, as if men could not err; to despise, blaspheme and disgrace others who do not howl with them and blow the same horn. Thus human foolishness is poured out, that one should look around at people. But they will say many things, We Pharisees cannot err, therefore hold yourselves fast; we are without sin: whatsoever we speak, believe, or do, it is right and good, and without blemish.

But the Lord Christ indicates that when wise men begin to be foolish, a wise man does not commit a little foolishness, but the longer they rave and rage, the more foolish they become. Therefore we teach that no one is to be regarded, neither princes nor lords, doctors nor disciples, but my faith is to have no other foundation than the word of God. What the pope said in former times was called Christian truth, and were articles of faith, and were badly attached to men. It also happened that one sank into it and lost everything that is Christ and God's word. Therefore one should now say: Pope, Concilium and Doctors, we do not want to believe you, but the divine word.

They boast that such great people do not err. I let that go and pass in jurisprudence, that they do not err; let them also speak it, as jurists, that they do not err in external matters. For what do I ask about it, I may believe that they are not mistaken or mistaken, it does not break my leg; it is a worldly matter, does not concern my faith. But that they want to make it so that the pope cannot err in the Christian faith and doctrine, I say no to that, and I do not come to the sermon. We say outright: God has commanded that in matters of faith we should not look to any apostle, nor to prophets, nor to anyone else; for faith does not stand in human power, but on divine own power, and not on what the pope or emperor, the great crowd and Concilia believe, unless they have God's word for them, then I believe for the sake of the divine word, and not for their sake, and say: Prince to, prince to, let the Pharisees teach me nothing out, nor in. If they bring GOD's word, we say: GOD welcome. But if it is not God's word, we let them go; as here the servants let their masters be Pharisees, but do not believe and follow their teaching.

244 Then take hold of God's word with certainty, and you will know what you do or believe, or where you are at home, for a Christian alone knows what he believes or does. The others walk in darkness, and are quite uncertain of their status and nature, looking at faith as a calf looks at a new gate, and so one deceives the other, wanting to believe what the emperor or their priest believes. But believe then, you will see what you believe. I do not want to believe what the emperor, prince or Elector of Saxony believes, but what God's word is certain. So I know where I am at home, and I walk in the light, and I know where to wait for my faith. And will not bring me into the black hole, which is imagined for me, because I am uncertain, and do not know what is believed. And there faith is pure.

Otherwise, the others have made themselves God, and pretend they cannot be wrong. They are proud rogues. Fie on your mouth.

They condemn all the people as if they knew nothing about God or the law. Do they not know that there is a God who has forbidden not to steal? Item, that there is a God who brought them out of Egypt? O they must know nothing; they take it all from the people, and ascribe it to them. O the people, they say, know nothing of the law, therefore they are condemned and cursed; we know everything of the law, therefore we are blessed and blessed.

The devil himself should not come and speak so rudely. They condemn the whole people, all their works, life, faith and worship; so our Lord God must go with them. But God is in the people; and though the common man may go, yet among the people there are some who are pious; though the nobility and the princes are devils in spirit, yet among them are some pious princes and nobles. So the Lord Christ has also had His own here, even though the Laurians, the Pharisees, are vain thieves. Why would we even want to throw away the house, as they do? Nicodemus will also come into play. But here the Pharisees consider themselves blessed, and condemn the people with their God. This is what we do when we are against our Lord God, and rage and rage against him and his word.

The eleventh sermon.

Saturday after Nativitatis Mariae [Sept. 9, 1531]. 1)

This is the history of how the servants of the Pharisees were sent to seize the Lord Christ, but were converted by his preaching, so that they neither feared nor were afraid to confess and boast of Christ as their Lord. This is written for the comfort of those who believe, so that they know that it is not in the power of tyrants to harm us, for God can turn their heart, their word and their work. We also need this consolation, so that when it comes to moves 2) and encounters, we may be certain of what evil befalls us through the devil or through men, for the sake of the teaching of the gospel that

1) In the original margin.

2) "zun Zügen" to the last breaths, to die.

they would not be able to harm a hair of our head with their own strength, if it were not imposed by God, and God would have it graciously. As the Lord Christ says [Matth. 10, 30], that not a hair shall fall from our head without His will. It is lowly spoken, and the words have no honor, but it is highly spoken that not a hair of our head shall fall off. Reason does not understand it, and the contradiction is there, which even nullifies these words. For a Christian loses not only a hair, but body, goods, honor and glory, house and farm, so that it is even reversed, and so it would be said, "Not a hair remains for a Christian; so he is destroyed, he is condemned, and so he is cut off, so that not a hair remains there.

248 Christ turns it around and says: Not a hair shall perish; much more shall the body, goods and honor not perish. But the consolation is that we cling to the words, and confirm this saying with examples when trouble comes; otherwise there is no help. They have in mind and intend to clean up everything so that not a hair will be left behind; but God turns it around and makes it so that not a hair will be harmed, not a hair will perish; it is even the other way around. That is a beautiful comfort, they shall not pluck a hair out of our head without His will; they will not end what they have in mind. We must hold fast to this promise, that they shall not pluck a hair of our head, if he will have it; but he that loseth aught above it shall have it again. Now follows:

V. 50, 51 Nicodemus, who came to him by night and was one of them, said to them, "Does our law also judge a man before he is questioned, and know what he does?

They have caught themselves, the dear fools, that they say: Do also the Pharisees believe in him? There have fallen vain foolish speeches. As if to say, "You foolish, foolish people, how can you cling to this man with the mad, common rabble, who know nothing, and yet all the princes and Pharisees are against him? There they have

have gone astray. They do not say that they have one standing with them other than Nicodemus and Joseph, who were attached to him. And here the same Nicodemus confesses Christ, but in Nicodemic he defends him; he is the Lord's disciple, but secretly, and protects him in Nicodemic. He does not say whether he is right or wrong, as these servants do here, but he carries the tree on both armpits, does not want to say that he is a heretic or a prophet and pious; but wants to say that one should deal with this man according to worldly law and the judgment of reason, and first interrogate him before condemning him.

250 This is Nicodemus speaking. He is silent that he should be heard as a prophet and that his teaching is right; but it would be fair, he says, if one did not want to hear from the divine word and the holy scriptures, that one should not break the worldly law against him, that one should not condemn anyone unheard. This is what God and the emperor commanded; the law of nature also says that one should not punish or condemn, but first let one come to the answer, and that he is rightly overcome. So the imperial law and Portius Festus in the stories of the apostles in the 25th chapter, v. 16, says to St. Paul: The Romans condemn no one, they have first interrogated him, he has then come to the presence of his accuser to answer.

So he would like them to let the secular law go and apply to him at the least, because they do not want to deal with him according to the Scriptures. Politely and reasonably, he wants to reject them from their evil behavior, but he does not expressly defend him that he is right in his teaching. He only says that they are going too high against worldly law; he does not say: You are fools and unrighteous, you act against law and against reason; but he goes out stupidly and asks thus: I command you, think for yourselves whether it is fitting that he should be seized and condemned, since you cannot bring guilt upon him.

This is another comfort, and here it is presented as an example of how our Lord God comforts and saves His own, as it often happens. For God is a wonderful man. When the princes at times

If they come together, and are wicked in their counsel, and have evil in their mind, and agree together, and want to make it out in fury and wrath, then our Lord God shall often give a Nicodemum among them, who shall speak into the play, and destroy all their things, and make them astray; that it may be seen that he hath their thoughts in his fist, even their own hearts.

253 There are many such examples in the Scriptures. When David was driven out by Absalom his son, a council was held on how to overtake and seize David, and Ahithophel gave Absalom counsel, saying, "It is a matter of one person, namely, David;" and he offered to go after David with twelve thousand men and deliver him into Absalom's hands. Now this was wise counsel; but our Lord God sent Chushai into the midst of the counsel, and when he came into counsel, he turned it, and made them astray, saying, Do not do it, Absalom, but this I counsel thee: gather all Israel; for thy father David is an angry man of war, or thou shalt lose [2 Sam. 17:1 ff]. This is what our Lord God does. Chusai's counsel was sheer ridiculous; nor does he disgrace Ahitophel's counsel, who nevertheless gave wise and prudent counsel. Our Lord God is a master of this.

In church history, an emperor wanted to exterminate all the righteous Christians, and they were all to be judged outside the city. The captain, who was ordered to do so (whether he was a pagan or not), slowly went out to the city to be judged, and thought that the Christians should roll away in the meantime, so that he would not find anyone in the square. Then he saw that they were running out much more, and in particular he saw a woman with a child running toward the gate. Then he asked her, saying, "Where are you going? She answered, "Ad martyrium, that is, where they are going to judge the Christians, and I want to die with them. Then the centurion was astonished and withdrew with the people of war, not wanting to judge the Christians, disobeyed the emperor, and said: I will let myself be put to death before I kill another Christian.

255. thus our Lord God always sends it; if one thinks that it should now go to failure, then a Nicodemus or Chusai comes in, for example.

the game, he turns it. So he can endure through one man and one person, and make a whole country go astray, yes, he can make the whole world go astray through one person. But if he has no person, he does it alone, and takes their thoughts and heart, turns it around and prevents it; that he can do. Sometimes he takes single persons, and thereby hinders all princes, and says: Defiance. Thus our Lord God comforts us and defies the devil, which makes him angry: no worse mischief could be done to him than that our Lord God should attack him so ridiculously and shamefully.

The devil, who would gladly throw them all into one heap, makes the princes and great men furious and angry, so that they have much evil in mind; so they also have power to lead them out. But God, who sits in heaven, laughs and says: "What do they want to do? do they want to kill Christ, my Son? O I will make this wisdom foolishness, and will take away the heart of their servants, that they hurt not my Son. Secondly, I will send a Nicodemum to make them false in their counsels. That is, the devil's mocking in the teeth; the servants and a single person, Nicodemus, shall make them astray. By this we shall see his great power, how easy it is for him to help and save. He casts a Nicodemus among them, and makes the servants also other people.

257 If he can do this by a single Nicodemus, so that he makes all the great merchants mad, and the great rulers and angry nobles miss their attempts, what would he do, if he needed his angels for this? What would he do if he came with twelve thousand angels? But God will not do it, he does not need so many angels, but says: Only alone, my child, believe in me, and cling to my word, there shall be no lack of help; I will be strong enough for my adversaries, and meet them with a strong arm, and make all the counsels null and void, to comfort you, and to defy the devil. And you shall have this as an example and a sign: The heap of the great Hansen I will repel by a Nicodemum. It often looks at you as if everything wants to fall to ruins, to failure and to the ground.

Remember, then, that if God can do this, and make believers of so many servants who want to catch Christ, and ward off the grumbling and great violence of the Pharisees by a few Nicodemus, and postpone it, at little cost to him, he will also find some counsel. If he protects us through angels [Dan. 3, 25], well and good; if not, I have a comfort here and a sure sign that it is his gracious pleasure.

They want to wear me out, so that not a hair of my head shall remain; but this is my comfort, that they shall not turn back or bend a hair of my head. They have in mind to throw Wittenberg into heaps, so that not one stone will remain upon another; but we are not worth it, and can hardly suffer God to protect us from them; we would well deserve punishment. But God says: Yes, dear sirs, think only thus; but it would be well in the letter if you said: if God wills. But they say: We still want to do it. So God says, "I will watch," and if a Nicodemus or a Chusai should come in, he will mislead them, so that they do not know where to begin or where to leave it. The blues here and the wall of dirt will not protect us in Wittenberg, the Scharrhansen and Eisenfresser will not do it either, it is a paper wall; but the one above in heaven must do it, and send some Nicodemum or Chusai.

259 This is now this text, where we hear that if one should suffer something for the sake of the word of God and faith, that we do not become soft. For if something happens to us, and we only believe rightly, there is no lack of protection and shielding; he can easily do it if we only believe: "He resists the hopeful" [1 Pet 5:5], and will not dare much to protect us. He lets the devil pour out all his wrath, fury, malice and violence, but God laughs at it, and puts a word or a Nicodemum before their noses, so they are misled; or, if they think they have cut us all off, we have the consolation that they have not turned back a hair. Would to God that we were so pious that we would know it and be worthy of this comfort. Follows in the text:

They answered and said to him, "Are you also a Galilean? Search, and, behold, there ariseth not a prophet out of Galilee. And they went home every one of them.

How mocking and pointed they have been. Above [v. 48.] they say: The princes, rulers, and Pharisees believe not on him, but the common man, so cursed; but here they are even fools, saying, "Art thou also a Galilean?" They do not grudge the pious man so much as to say: Are you also a Christian, or a Jesus of Nazareth? but give him a mocking, derisive name: "Are you also a Galilean?" do not call him by his right name, do not call him a Christian, but say: He is a Galilean. Just as in our time, when someone is a preacher, they say. What is he? A Lutheran. That must be a shameful word, as if he were a Turk or a Jew, and not worthy to be called by his name. They can do nothing more. Nicodemus has pushed them with one word, that they are mad, speak: We have said above [v. 48.j that there is no Pharisee or ruler who believes in him; and you Nicodeme, 'as a Pharisee and ruler, would believe in him?

(261) Neither should they so condemn Nicodemum, if they had first questioned him; but he hath troubled their consciences, and made them mad, that they know not what they say; they can find nothing against it. If they should say, though it be true, It is against the law that we have condemned him; that would be too much. Now conscience is before their eyes, saying, We have done it, and ordered that he should be caught and condemned unheard. And the law is thus before their eyes; they had never thought of it. They are ashamed in their hearts that they have done contrary to the law. So they are still proud: even though they feel that they have done wrong, they do not want to confess the sin; they do not say to Nicodemo: We have done it, it is true.

262 No, a trustworthy saint, when he sins, does not come to know his sin, or say, I have done wrong; they do not. That is where you get

He may feel it in his conscience that he is stuck, and his conscience is moved to shame in his heart; but it is not brought out that the mouth said what the heart feels, they remain obdurate. They do not confess the sin, and yet they cannot hide the sin; they neither say yes, nor no, but the heart says yes; but before they confess it, they do something else, and go out, scolding for a while the good pious man, Nicodemum. So one should eat the truth in oneself, go out, and disgrace and blaspheme others.

Thus also do our papists: Because they have felt that we have thus shot into them with writings, and have not lacked them at all, that they cannot pass, they go forth, blaspheming and reproaching, and reviling us; but to the matter they answer nothing, that they have acted contrary to the law of God, and have condemned the unheard, as these wretches also do here. They should answer: Nicodeme, yes, yes, you are right, we have been hasty, and we have done wrong, we have done contrary to the law. Then they say, "Are you also a Galilean?" They feel that they have done wrong; but because they have no excuse, and cannot excuse it, it must go through the Nicodemum; on which they have a cover of shame, so he must have the title: You are a Galilean.

This is what the enemies of the gospel always do. They are so perverse that they do not immediately get right under one's eyes, but they always flutter aside. If you tell them about an apple, they answer about a Turkish penny. No one can keep them on the track. That is a sign that they have been hit; that is why they seek evasion, escape and all kinds of plots, so that they will not be disgraced, but they will be a stain on us who have hit them.

Now this is a confirmation nostrae doctrinae, they like to embellish themselves, because they feel that they are hit. For if they had not been hit, they would not have made themselves useless. But while they go about, and strike aside, this gives us joy, boldly, courageously, and confidently, that we see that they are wrong, and we are righteous. You can say: From your own

122 Erl. "8, S4S-W1. Interpretations on John the Evangelist. W. VII, MI-LM. 123

Confession and testimony I know that you are overcome. I have told you (Nicodenlus will denounce) that you do contrary to the law, so you reproach me a Galilean. Where do I come to this? I am not here to dispute whether he is right or you Pharisees: I consider that I have struck you, and that your conscience is caught and stirred; you have foxed yourselves in your hearts; I have told you the truth, my conscience is cleansed.

This is what our Lord God does for the comfort of his own, and he has written these three things: First, that he has our enemies' hearts, works and thoughts in his hand. Second, that he may have some man to make them go astray. Thirdly, that they may come out and testify by deed that they are unrighteous and fools. God disgraces them with foolish speeches; they must burn themselves out. If, for this reason, they do not want to go according to their thoughts, we have enough; it is a testimony of truth and justice.

There is no greater confession than when the enemy himself must confess that I am right and he is wrong. For this testimony, if the pope says that my cause is right, is much dearer to me than if all my followers, whom I otherwise have, said it. For there is this danger that they might confess my cause for friendship's sake, or for friendship's sake, and for other causes and opinions; but my enemy seeks with all his diligence how he may resist my doctrine, and yet can muster nothing against it. But if the devil confesses in the battle, and must say that our doctrine is right, who otherwise wants to devour and suppress our doctrine, it is a testimony that he is wrong and has been overcome, and we are well off. From this we see that our Lord God does not want to abandon those who are hard, he wants to help them so that they will not be disgraced; but the disgrace must go out on those who want to disgrace others.

Search and behold, out of Galilee no prophet arises.

268 They have been wise, and have well understood the Scripture, that Galilee has no

prophets. Just now [v. 42] they said that Christ was promised from Judea, and that he should come from Bethlehem, and they are such fools that they understand here that Christ should come from Galilee, when he only wanders and walks through Galilee. Because he traveled through Galilee, he should not be Christ. It is well known that his coming, birth and future are from Bethlehem, and not from Galilee; but they understand his future as going in at the door. How if he had come from Damascus or Antioch, should he not therefore be Christ? So, if he had gone through the door into the temple, they could also have said: This one is not Christ, for he does not come from Bethlehem, but enters through the door of the temple. But they are fools, and remain so.

This is what happens to those who resist and oppose the gospel. God tells them to bathe themselves in their wisdom, and to cut themselves off and disgrace themselves, and see that God easily changes this. He does not dare much to protect us, but takes some Nicodemus, or after that his own enemies, who must condemn and disgrace themselves, but praise and justify us, that there is no need for any disgracer or judge, but the wicked must become his own judge. This is the highest art, which Christ begins here. This is how it will be on the last day. He will not pass many judgments, but they will bring these consciences with them in public, which they have now; the heart will be revealed, how it now secretly condemns itself here, and how it is with these.

(270) Nicodemus does not come to frighten them, but they condemn themselves and disgrace themselves; they conclude about themselves. It is a fine judgment. It is for the benefit of those who believe and are subsequently challenged and afflicted by the devil and the world, that they may learn how our Lord God can help us with little, and mock the devil's great wisdom, glory and power. This should give us courage, so that we know that he cannot and will not withdraw his hand from us (because we believe and remain steadfast). This text should be good for us.