The first sermon on the eighth capitet.
Saturday before Michaelmas [Sept. 23] done, Anno 1531. 1)
V. 1-6. And JEsus went unto the mount of Olives. And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. But the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman in adultery, and set her in the midst, and said unto him, Master, this woman is caught in the very act of adultery. But Moses commanded us in the law to stone such, what sayest thou? And this they said, to try him, that they might have a cause against him.
1 Here another sermon begins. For we have just heard the story which took place after the sermon which the Lord preached in Jerusalem in the temple concerning eating, drinking, and the Spirit. Now when he sat down, before he began to teach, the Pharisees fell upon him, and brought a woman in adultery, and accused her before him according to the law of Moses, saying that she was guilty of death; for Moses had earnestly commanded this. Deut. 20:10.
2 This history is now described so that one may see a clear difference between the law and the gospel, or between the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of the world. The Pharisees had heard that the Lord had preached much about the kingdom of God, that it was a kingdom of grace, wherein was forgiveness of sins. Against this, the Jews had the Law of Moses, which threatened the transgressors of God's commandments with wrath, disgrace and punishment from God. Just as the worldly authorities have this power, that one should punish gross vices and sins and not forgive them. These things seem to be contrary to each other. For in the kingdom of the Lord Christ there should be no punishment, but only grace and forgiveness of sins; but there, in the kingdom of Moses and the world, there should be no forgiveness of sins, but only wrath and punishment; for whoever sins there shall be stoned and put to death.
1) In the original margin.
The peelers would gladly throw the rope and cord over the horns of the Lord Christ, bring to him a woman who has not been condemned by the judge, do it for mischievousness, leave their laws in place, bring her before the Lord Christ, try what he wants to say, think they have blocked his way on both sides, he says yes or no, then he is caught. If he should say no, then the commandment of Moses was there, which says that they should be stoned. Then they knew that he could not speak against Moses and say no to it, or punish Moses; otherwise it would have been against the majesty of Moses and rebellious, and Mosiah would have been caught in the regiment, who otherwise spoke from God; and God commanded Mosiah that such should be killed. Then they thought, his mouth is shut, he cannot say anything, otherwise he would be Mosi's worst enemy.
(4) Secondly, if he were to say that they should be killed and stoned according to the law of Moses, as they themselves say, he would be imprisoned again, and his mouth would be shut, and they could say, "Where is his teaching? He said, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are laden with sins, and I will refresh you" [Matt. 11:28]. He said to the sick of the palsy: "Be of good cheer, my son, your sins are forgiven you" [Matth. 9, 2], as if he were a preacher sent to teach forgiveness of sins. This glory, praise and honor they would gladly cast down upon him, and put his teaching to shame. As if they were to say, "We have presented him with a poor little hurdle, but in spite of his neck, that he might come out and say, "Your adultery is forgiven you. Thinking that he is now stricken, and let the people stick, and will now draw in the pipe; for the way is lost to him on both sides.
Where shall he go now, the poor man Christ, if the hole is thus made for him? If he is to remain silent, it will not rhyme. If he says yes, it is against his sermon; if he says no, it is against his sermon.
2) Erlanger: "the."
Moses. So they also say of us, scolding us, that we only hold a boys' school here in Wittenberg, that we teach forgiveness of sins; for it seems as if it is contrary to each other to punish sin and to forgive sin. Christ has a spiritual kingdom, and does not want to punish; he wants everything to be set free and counted free. Moses, however, wants to punish and not forgive. Now this is their opinion: Whistle, let your sermon be heard. This is what Moses says: He has commanded that they should be stoned. And here they practice a mischievousness, asking him for the right, which they knew well before; they do not want to learn anything from him, but only ask because they wanted to see him. For who commanded them, who told them to come to the Lord? But they sought that he might err, and fall into their judgment and right. What was it to the Lord Christ? If he is not a judge, nor a mayor, neither has he a sword. Therefore, because he sees their deceitfulness, that they try him in a matter that does not concern him and should be settled without him, but they want to defile his doctrine and make him a rebellious man, he also goes through that they must escape.
V. 6. But JEsus stooped down and wrote with his finger on the ground 2c.
He bent down and wrote on the ground for a while, answering nothing, as if he did not hear them. For he knew well that it was not his place to answer them, and so they were not worth answering, for this question was none of his business. Just as if a judge wanted a verdict from me about a theft, or someone else came to me and asked me what one should do with a lewd woman, I would think he was tempting me. Therefore the Lord also will say, What ask ye me? And will not give them his mouth, turning it elsewhere; neither will he look at them, nor answer them. But they do not let him go, and they want to disgrace him, and they insist that he should make a judgment and say either yes or no. Then he seizes them masterfully and speaks:
V. 7. 8. When they stopped to ask him, he stood up and said to them: Who among
Let him who is without sin cast the first stone at her; and stooping down again, he wrote on the ground.
007 So I also answered. Because they therefore go, and will not wait for their office, and perform the same as they are commanded, and will tempt him, and urge him, and compel him, he saith, If ye be not satisfied with your office, and desire to hear how things are in my kingdom, and how I judge, let him hear, He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her. It has been done right to them. They do not want to continue in their ministry, but to know his judgment, which is in his kingdom, so they hear it now. This is his judgment: If one is pious, then all the others are not sinners; and if one is worthy of punishment, then all the others must be punished. But if the sin of one is forgiven and remitted, it must be forgiven and remitted to all. But this is not how it is called in the worldly realm; there it is called thus: If he is an adulterer, he is guilty of death, and so is another. One is judged by his own work and piece, that where the deed is, there also belongs the punishment; otherwise, even if they are all wicked on earth, and one alone is an adulterer in his heart, the sword does not judge him, therefore he cannot be punished. Therefore, if you do not want peace, but want to hear a judgment from my kingdom, there is an adulteress standing before me, that is true; but there are many more adulterers in my kingdom. He does not deprive them of their right, and leaves Moses standing finely, saying neither no nor yes; but masterfully he tells them both. Why do you not do what Moses commanded? But if ye will judge according to my kingdom, let them stand. For my judgment is this: This adulteress is not alone; there is none of you who is not also as bad and wicked as this poor harlot may be. According to the law of Moses put her away, but according to my law let her go. But that ye will not judge her according to the law of Moses, I hear by this that ye ask me. So I say that yours is none, for it is as wicked as this poor harlot.
(8) Now this is a sermon that belongs to the spiritual kingdom of Christ, which says, "There is not a man on earth who is not guilty of sin".
No one is excluded, be he noble, learned, citizen or peasant, from the youngest to the oldest [Rom. 3:23], all of them, all of them, have been sold under sin and under the wrath of God, guilty of eternal death, hell and eternal fire; before God no one is righteous, but all of them have been sold under sin and are guilty of death, also eternally lost. Thus one preaches in the kingdom of Christ; and when this sermon comes, it raises up the sword, the judge, the chair of the magistrate, the town hall, the lawyers, the executioner and everything. For if one is righteous, they are all righteous; if one has sinned, they have all sinned. Therefore, if they are all alike, and there is no difference, there can be no judge: for she that sinneth is as pious as he that judgeth. Therefore in Christ's kingdom and sight there is no worldly kingdom or government, and no sword belongs to it; for they are already condemned, and the sentence is passed, that they are under the wrath of God, and under death, and could not be condemned any higher; there is also much higher and sharper judgment than is otherwise in the world.
(9) This then is the difference, that in the spiritual kingdom of Christ there is no executioner, nor law, nor authority; there they are all equal. Therefore, whoever wants to hear this, let him go and ask Christ, who says, "Which of you is without sin" 2c. That is, if ye would deal rightly with this question in my kingdom, and have a judgment of me, ye ask her that she may forgive you, and she ask you that ye may also forgive her; and ye all afterward ask me also that I may also forgive you. So are all of you beaten and pressed into one heap and cake; saying, Thou Pharisee, if thou wilt hear my question and judgment in my kingdom, which is spiritual, I say thus, If thou be clean and without sin in the sight of God, look and cast them. Yes, yes!
(10) So with this sermon he has run down and torn through their hearts. For these words are emphatic, especially when he speaks to their hearts and reveals sin, that God speaks to them, their sins become so great, and they become so afraid and anxious, and have so much to do with their sins, that they forget others, and think to themselves that they have sinned.
The other sinners are like saints to them. So they were startled with a thunderclap, and like a thunderstorm they were struck in the heart with lightning and lightning, and it became like hell; their whole heart was open to them like a register; they forgot this woman, and thought that their sin was written on their foreheads, and that what they had ever done was seen in their noses, and no one was allowed to look at the other. For they think that the stones look at them, and it has been a long time for them until they hit the hole and trudge out the door; They cannot lift up their eyes cheerfully, or look at a man, a house, the sun, or a dog, rightly and cheerfully, for their hearts are so crushed that they lose the five senses, and they can no longer suffer, nor look at others, but have had to run away badly here, and have stolen away from the temple, and have crept out, as a dog strolls out of the kitchen when it has burned its mouth.
This is how it is in Christ's kingdom. When thou comest thither, thou art as I, and I as thou, though we be not equal in the sight of the world. If I am an adulterer, and have stolen, 2c. and you are not, there is nothing in it; for I find much higher, greater knots in me, wherefore I am so afraid that I know not whither to go; for in Christ's kingdom it is said, "Let him that is without sin cast the first stone." Therefore, dear fellows, let the stones lie, I will not pick up any of them; let them lie and one another unthrown, let the stones fall, say: Dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris [Matth. 6, 12. Luc. 11, 4.]; they should say: Peccavi, pray God for me. There it is well laid; but they rush along much differently. If the rascals had remained in their regiment, they should not have heard this answer. But because they reach into the kingdom of Christ, he also shines forth as lightning.
12 In Mosi's kingdom and office it would have been different; there it has its opinion. The office is there; whether he, the judge, already has the same sin in him, that does not hurt; the laws, the law and office, or sword,
Gallows and wheel is not man's and ours, but our Lord God's [Rom. 13, 4]. God's is the sword, fire, water and other punishments, he has said so, he will have it so, he himself burns, executes and beheads the evildoers. Whether you are a prince, mayor or judge, a villain or a knave, I shall remember that God's sword is given into his hand. And if I also have such an office, and am a wicked wretch, then say: Although I have deserved to have my head cut off first, I must nevertheless judge, and leave that in order. A wicked judge has God's gift, God's office, or God's command, just as a pious judge has the sword; just as he has body and soul, which is also God's creation. Item, he must eat and drink, and God gives his creatures to the wicked as well as to the pious. A wicked judge is a creature ordered by God, just as the sun and moon are created. So the evil rulers have the sword as well as the pious ones, and they should use it. Just as a wicked man should eat and drink and clothe himself as well as a pious man, for he should not destroy his body or kill himself.
(13) If the Pharisees had remained here in their nature and offices, and had judged what their office required, they would have remained content, and would not have been so snubbed. But if they want to be holy, and crawl into God's kingdom, and ask what our Lord God says about them, and how pious they are, and want to burn themselves white, that they are not peelers, then they will be answered: "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone at them. As if the Lord Christ should say: "Before the world I let you be pious, and your ministry also be right, even if you are a rogue and a knave; but here, in my kingdom, come here, and lay down your ministry, right and sword, as a poor knave; here you are condemned to hell. 2c.
14 Now this is that he says: "He who is without sin" 2c. It is a high, great and excellent defiance, who wants to falsify this judgment to me? In spite of one who now shows me such a saint as the Pharisees have been, a
Core and Ausbund among all people. They were the most holy; still they have to hear: "He who is without sin" 2c. How shameful is this spoken of the most holy people? Fie on your mouth, always outside the door, and do not come back when they blow your nose. If I want to be holy and pure, and he gives me such a slap and says, "He who is without sin" 2c. With this he has opened their hearts, and unlocked the register and the door, so that they forget other people. So they must be driven out of the church, and blown out of the kingdom of Christ, who are so holy, and with their works so rumpled in, he saith: I will soon blow you out.
(15) Now this is the difference between Christ's kingdom and the kingdom of the world, that Christ makes all men sinners. But he does not leave it at that, for it follows that he absolves them. The poor harlot is in trouble; it is no joke with her, she is convinced of the crime, and she is accused before the judge, and the sentence is passed and pronounced according to her right, that she should be stoned to death: This was not a song for her to dance to, her heart shall have boiled and fried with fear, and she sees no more, but badly the bitter death there before her eyes. The council and the witnesses are there, accuse and judge her, also conclude that she is worthy of death. When the heart falls away and says, "I did it," and the external judges and witnesses decide that she is guilty of death, she has already been dead in her heart. There is pure death, she has not stood deep in life. She may have had a hope, and sought a breeze from the man who wrote on the earth. For at first he presents himself as if he did not know her. But what a great comfort she hears from him, that he says, "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone at her." But she is still in it, and is wound deeper and deeper into it.
16 And such sinners also belong to this kingdom. Christ does not want lazy, shameful, loose sinners, who are sinners and do not want to be; or who want to be sinners and are not sinners. For they would that sin were not great, and they had no need of God; and yet would call upon and worship God's grace, as if
I had prayed enough, then I would be devout.
(17) And in former times I also did so in monasticism, saying: Today I have done no evil, I have been obedient to my prior, I have fasted, I have prayed; therefore, God have mercy on me! thought God should forgive me the sins which I did not think were sins, even which were not sin. And I still have this plague on me. These are called great sins, if one thinks for oneself. But they should be called real sins. For God's mercy is a mercy that does not deal with loose, half or imaginary sins that are not sins, but they must be righteous sins that you feel; not to fear God, not to trust, not to believe, not to love your neighbor, not to pray, not to listen to the sermon, nor to do what the Law of Moses commands, so that it all goes against the commandment of God, so that you cannot pass by, so that a true forgiveness may take place, which is not a joke, as is the case here with this woman. She is in adultery, she is not in fictitious sins, but there is the act of adultery. With such sins one must contend, and such sinners the gospel wants to fetch. And all of us have sinned in this way, and are stuck in it, especially the great knots that go against the first tablet, against the first, second and third commandments, of which the world does not know much. The sins dissolve one's spur drunkenness, and when the same come, they know how to accuse one finely, much more than theft or adultery can do; for the sins in the first table are much higher than the sins in the other table.
(18) This is how the kingdom of Christ deals with sinners, who feel sin, and are tormented, worried and tortured because of sin, so that the heart feels death when the law and the conscience say, "You have done this, you deserve death. Otherwise the other sinners do not. For even if they have the knowledge that they have sinned, they do not amend themselves, they do not feel the sin, but joke about it, they remain tomorrow as today. But whoever comes into it in such a way that it hits him right when it happens to this little door, he will be very careful another time.
19 Therefore Christ needs here the other piece of his preaching, namely, the forgiveness of sins. For the first office of his kingdom is to make all sinners. For the Holy Spirit is to punish the world because of sin [John 16:8..] It is said to all, "He that is without sin among you, let him cast a stone at her." He says: No one is without merit of the wrath of God and death, sin, hell and eternal damnation. Those who are struck by it say: Awe, help, dear God! Who helps there? This adulteress stands in the gates of hell, and looks in; but the Lord raises Himself up again, and says: Woman, how art thou so free? Where are thy accusers, and where is the judge? Have they rolled over? They are deeper in sins than you; are you alone? That makes, they have nibbled at the kingdom of Christ; they wanted to be pure and holy, then he poured a hot broth or soup over their snout; as happens to the wet dogs in the kitchen. Then the woman again gets a breath of fresh air or a little comfort, for he speaks:
V. 10. 11. Has no one condemned you? She said, Lord, no one. Jesus said, Neither do I condemn thee.
20. the kingdom of Christ is not to condemn; I am not here to condemn you, but to forgive the sin of those who are like you, since before there was death, the devil, evil consciences, even since there were accusers and judges, tormenting people. In my kingdom it is said: I forgive your sin. For in my kingdom no one is without forgiveness of sins; therefore you also must have forgiveness of sins. My kingdom must not be desolate: all who are to come in, and are within, must be sinners. If then they are sinners, they cannot live; they must have forgiveness of sins. If I am a sinner, it does not remain so, the sins must also be forgiven.
021 No man therefore entereth into this kingdom, but sinners. But say not therefore, Let us now abide in sins. No, it means, learn to feel and know your sin; as these were not allowed to become sinners, they were before, and became much more so. For this was revealed to them: whoever is without
sin among them, he should throw the first stone at them. That is, a sinner who feels the sin. The Pharisees, the rogues, were not sinners, but became sinners first of all, since he said: "He who is without sin" 2c. They became sinners, but they despaired and staggered away, hiding their sin, hopeful, not expecting the other word, when Christ said, "Neither do I condemn thee."
22 Therefore these sinners alone belong to the kingdom of Christ, who know and feel their sin, and then catch the word of Christ when he speaks here, saying, I do not condemn you; these are the ones, this is the kingdom of Christ. He lets no saint in, he blows them all out, he pushes out of the church what wants to be holy. But if sinners come in, they do not remain sinners; he covers them with a mantle, saying, "If you have sinned, I forgive your sin and cover it up. It is true, sin is there; but the Lord in this kingdom will not see it, but will cover it, forgive it, and not impute it. So there is a living saint and member of Christ, who came out of an adulteress, who was full of sin, and now her sin is covered and forgiven. For even if sinners are evil-doers and boys, and feel only sin, they shall be forgiven; but only let yourself be seriously sorry, and ask God for forgiveness. If you have tasted what the law and sin are, and know how painful sin is, then see here how sweet God's grace, offered to us in the Gospel, tastes. This is the absolution that the Lord Christ speaks to the adulteress here.
The other sermon on the eighth capitet.
Saturday after Michaelmas [Sept. 30, 1531]. 1)
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying: I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
In the beginning of the eighth chapter, we have the story of the adulteress; a great and glorious example of how the Lord Christ is to be seen in the world.
1) In the original margin.
stus proves his mercy on the poor woman who was in adultery, and proves by deed that the law, which is called stoning the adulteress, is under his power; yet with the humility that he does not take the adulteress from them by force, but when they went away and left her standing, he gave her up, and let her regiment fall into his; so it happened that he counted her free from her sin and free. Now follow these sermons, in which we shall hear how the Lord Christ has exalted his ministry above all the world's preaching, doctrine, and character, and has called to himself all those who desire to be saved. Therefore this chapter is full of heresy, and there is not a word of truth in it, but only doctrines of the devil, according to the judgment of the world and of reason; for no reason can suffer to be asked for counsel, that Christ speaketh rightly here.
24. the first proposition and saying must be the greatest heresy, that he says, "I am the light of the world." Then they say: What thinkest thou of this word, Ego sum lux mundi totius? What else is this said, but: Where I am not, there is darkness; where I go out, no one sees anything? What does Moses and all other teachers and doctors do, while he says: I am? He wants to be called Lux mundi alone, separates himself from all other preachers, so that if it is not said, I am, then everything is called darkness. If only he had said so moderately and demurely, and had made it more reasonable than: I am the light of this land, this kingdom, this house, this people, or this temple, then it would have been fair; but to go forth and boast like this, and to take the whole world in one mouthful, and to preach so low and heartily of the whole world, as that without him it is all darkness, that is preaching very high, and speaking after presumption, that he should shut up all mouths, and call all to be silent, and that all wise men should be called fools, and say: You know nothing, see nothing, are in darkness, and if I do not shine, it is not shined.
25 The Jews did not like this, so they put lime in his cherries, saying, What do you testify about yourself? Say
to him: One's own praise likes to stink, and: He who has been wronged by his neighbors must praise himself. Say: How could one speak more foolishly than when he speaks of himself and praises himself because others do not want to praise him? I do not hear your neighbors saying it; they are all silent, and if you have done badly, you do as fools do and praise yourself. Therefore it is a presumptuous and very annoying, proud sermon that he may appear before the proud people and great doctors and pretend that they should all be called blind fools and darkness, and against this he says: "I am the light of the world.
(26) Now there are such people still today who want to destroy the gospel and even disgrace it; to them, too, one must first say these annoying and heretical words: "I am the light of the world," and say: Dear bishops, popes, cardinals, princes, priests, and monks, you are all in darkness with your doctrine, unless you preach as I preach, and as Christ preaches. Such is not to be suffered, and is heretical and shameful. Secondly: Even if it were true, and I can say it with a good conscience, that Christ is right, and our preaching is also righteous, and if kings, princes and lords do not accept it, they are all condemned and lost, it is nevertheless out of all measure harsh and annoying that one should boast of himself when St. Paul says, "I am a Christian. Paul says: "I am an apostle and doctor of the Gentiles", sent to be a minister of the word in the whole world, and to be a light of the Gentiles in the world, that they might be saved [1 Tim. 2, 7. 2 Tim. 1, 11.]. So he also boasts, defies and rumbles along. If it were true, it is annoying to boast about oneself, the world cannot stand it; therefore they say: Laudet te os alienum; and Cato the heathen says: Non te laudaris, nec te culpaveris ipse etc., because it stinks in the eyes of the world when someone praises or scolds himself; fools are in the habit of doing this. If I am to be worthy of praise, honor should be held high and made high by another origin. In himself it is damnable and heretical to say that he is the light of the world; after that it is also foolish before the world, and
is disgraceful, even if it is true; it should be done by someone else.
But it is still going on nowadays in this way. Everything must remain both: Christ must say that he is the light of the world. There is also truth in it, that apart from Christ all is darkness; and therefore he must sing it of himself, and become a cuckoo, calling out his own name. I must also do it, and every preacher. For if I do not praise myself, I must wait a long time for another to praise me; they do not. I must be sure that our teaching and preaching is right, that it is the Word of God and the light of the world, and such light that without your light everything else is darkness. Then I must boast that I am such a preacher or pastor, a teacher of the truth. For if I cannot boast that I am such a preacher, I am betrayed, and it would be better if I had never been born. For if I am to preach to others, and lead them to Christianity, to baptism and eternal life, I must first be sure of the matter myself, that the teaching is right, and that I am a servant to it, that it is the truth, and not my word, but Christ's word, and that I am a righteous preacher. Now when I say this, it is soon said that I praise myself. So a mayor can say and have the glory: I know that I am the mayor here and the authority, which I do not doubt. Duke Hans of Saxony can say and boast that he is ordained by God to be Prince of Saxony and Lord over this city and country; he also does it, and must do it, and write above in his letters: By the grace of God, John, Duke of Saxony. For if he were not certain of this, and could boast of him, it would be bad. The parents must also say that by God's grace they are the parents of this son; and a child can also say: Father, by God's grace I am your son. A householder can also say: I am master of the house, I am father and mother, that is my name and glory.
28. such boasting comes from God's command, since each one is sure that by God's command he has the office, and that it is God's command.
His sermon is God's word, his regiment is God's judgment. So he who boasts does right. If one then says: Yes, they are fools who boast of themselves. Well, it is true; but you know that I do not boast a preacher of myself; item, I do not boast a prince of myself; but there is another one behind who also boasts, namely our Lord God, who has commanded me the office, and says that I should be a father, a preacher, a prince, an earl, a nobleman, a citizen or a peasant. If he says so, then I do not boast alone; but if I boast apart from God, then I would be a fool. As if a spirit of the mob came and said, "I have been sent here to preach," I would say, "Wait, you are boasting yourself, for you come from yourself; you have no more witnesses than yourself alone; I feel in my heart that your boast is not true, that your neighbors have done you wrong. He boasteth himself alone, and hath not him in him that saith, The Holy Ghost hath commanded me to preach. If anyone came to my house and said, "I am to be the host," I would say, "No, brother, the Holy Spirit has told me to be the master of my house. Holy Spirit go, Holy Spirit come; go thou forth, and leave me my servants, my wife, my children, and my goods. When did the Holy Spirit command you? I also have the Holy Spirit, who has God's command, which is this: I am commanded by God to rule this house and this household; I am the Lord, and you know it.
29 So it is also in worldly matters and with the authorities. It does not read annoying, but stands well, one may boast so, yes, one must leave princes the glory that one writes: We Hans, Duke of Saxony. God's testimony is there, besides the Scriptures, and if the world is so wise that it knows that God's command is there, one can suffer it. But in spiritual matters they cannot stand it when I say: I know what I am preaching against the pope and the spirits of the pagans, namely, that it is God's word, and that I am quite a light with my teachings, but they are all darkness. The spiritual office does not want to sound like this, but wants to have such an appearance as if we were boasting about ourselves. This makes one focus solely on the person, and
does not look at the office; when a pastor preaches, one thinks it is only Johannes Bugenhagen, Pomeranus, who nevertheless has the testimony with him that he is pastor fei. No, Johannes nor Martinus shall not do it to me; but they are parish lords, just as Duke Johannes is the prince of Saxony, father and mother, the parents, are lords in the house; that is then another man.
30 In the worldly government it is not so bad to boast and say: I am a father, mother or mayor, because I know that the angels themselves say so to me. But here it is ridiculous, if it wants to boast Christ, he is the light of the world, there one says soon 7 Boast thou little herb, thy father's cabbage would be gladly great; and it must be an evil boast all there. Well, says Christ, it is a true glory, it stands before your eyes: I know that I am the light of the world, and the Father has commanded me, from whom I am sent, he gives me the testimony, I am it not from myself. If I were a single person by myself, it would not be possible; but now I am a common person, 1) and have come and been ordained to be the light of the world; wherefore I justly boast. For if a preacher came and was twenty-four times more learned than I am, I would not let him preach here; and even if I were as learned as I am, I would not preach at Leipzig, for there I am not commanded to preach; they would not give anything to my fame there, for I would boast myself. A father must also say, if another were to say: I am the child's father or mother: Not yet, let only ask who was at the wedding, who was watching when the bride was laid, and who led the bride to the church. I and you, and each one must be certain of his office, the art we have, that each one may be certain of his office, that he may know, in the office I am, in the state I live, that pleases God well, he wants me to be a father, mother, husband and wife.
1) i.e., a public person, as opposed to a private person.
(31) Earlier, we did not know this in the priesthood, but it was thought that one could not serve God in this state if a husband and wife begat children, or if one cultivated the field (2c). We did not know about the certain vocation and glory that we have from the offices, but we ignored it and thought that if we were to serve God, we would have to become monks and nuns. But now I can say: I stand in this office; in spite of the devil and the world, that he may rebuke this office to me! I know that I am a preacher, an apostle or prince. Doctor Johann Pommer can speak: I am a true pastor and preacher at Wittenberg. Duke Hans, Elector, can say: I am a prince of Saxony. Here is a great difference between boasting and vaunting. He who boasts of himself is a fool; he who boasts of all his office is no fool; for to boast of the office is not to boast of oneself. As the Jews here mean that the Lord Christ boasts of himself. But he that boasteth his office boasteth not himself, but he honoureth him that commanded him the office; he boasteth not himself as his office, but as he that gave him the office, and commanded him to boast of the office; the boast hurteth not, that he saith, "I am the light of the world."
With this teaching he overthrows everything else that is preached. For there are many doctrines on earth. The highest teaching is Mosi's law, the ten commandments, if they are well preached; yet they do not bring man out of darkness into light. The law does not teach how man can live forever and be saved. In this teaching one hears what one should do (as the ten commandments preach about our works), but one cannot do them. If this preaching remains alone, it does not bring man into the light; it teaches how to do good works, but man cannot do them; he only has it alone. Another teaching is needed, namely the gospel, which says: "I", Christ, "am the light" 2c. For otherwise it is impossible for you to be saved, for you are in sin and remain in it, stuck in darkness, and the law leaves more than that.
1) "hats" here stands for: has it, namely this sermon.
it helps. But the gospel says: If you believe in me and see that I, Christ, died for you and took away your sin, then you are helped. Now if you stand on this, this teaching does not teach you what you should do to God, but what you should take and receive from Him 2c.
(33) This doctrine, or the first light, is the moon, which teaches the fruits of a good tree, which we ought to do; the other light is the sun, which teaches of the new man, of another tree, to receive the gospel from Christ. Here we hear from where and how man becomes good, which is through faith. So the gospel is a sermon, not about our works, but about graces and gifts, what God does for us and gives us through Christ. The Ten Commandments tell us what we should do to God. Now the moon shines at night, but it does not make day, it still remains night. But Christ is the true sun, who makes the morning and day dawn, and teaches us how to attain salvation, to be delivered from sins and death. Therefore he also says, "I am the light," shining into the whole world; for he alone saves from sins, the devil, death and hell.
(34) This honor and knowledge the Jews and the whole world did not know; but now it begins again, and shines not only among the Jews, but into the whole world, preaching that sin is condemned through Christ alone, and we are freed from sins without works, without our glory or our doing, through the death of Christ alone; this is the preaching of the gospel, the light and right brightness of the sun shining through the whole world.
35 Therefore the Lord Christ doeth right: for the doctrine of it is right in itself: he is the light of the world. On the other hand, he does right to boast of himself, not shying away, not remaining behind, but saying, "I am he," and drawing the whole world to himself, wanting to be the only one, wanting to teach alone, wanting to be the world's teacher, master and forerunner, the others to remain disciples, and all to go to school with this man, professing this master, and saying that they were in darkness, but now they see that they are the light of the world.
142 Eri. "s, S75-S77. Interpretations on John the Evangelist. W. vn, 2400-2412. 143
the sun. Malachi also calls Christ the sun of righteousness; under his wings shall be our salvation. As if to say, Christ our Lord is the sun that rises in all the earth, and shines through the preaching, and shall enlighten your hearts; for otherwise you would know nothing of him. He shall shine upon you foolish and fainthearted hearts; they that are under the wings shall gladly hear, see, and feel this brightness; and whosoever believeth in him, and putteth his refuge under the mother hen, the same shall be blessed. Under these wings alone shall be salvation, and no other blessedness; but he that will not abide with her must perish. He is a noble hen, a cockerel of his; whoever takes refuge under him, he promises salvation and blessedness, eternal life and forgiveness of sins; he shall not want, for the sun shall shine upon him.
Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
Who can do this? It is done by works and by example. Although this also means to follow Christ, Christ draws the disciples to himself, saying, "Follow me, keep my teaching. For to follow Christ is to obey his words, to preach that he suffered and died for us; that is, to obey his words with faith. He who believes in me, who adheres to me, who relies on me, who will be saved, who follows Christ with faith and adheres to the light: he does not throw himself on saints, nor does he follow heretics; for there one follows false men, erring lights, fluttering spirits, who seduce people in the field at night; but this is rightly followed, to follow in faith, to rely on him. After this there is another consequence, to follow his example, to do his works, and to suffer as he suffered. Now he says nothing special about this, but here he wants people to see the doctrine and keep to it, and to depart from all other doctrines that do not preach Christ, the light. For he that believeth on Christ abideth not in darkness, but hath the light of life.
37. now he transfigures what is, "to follow him"; that he will see a following light, since
from which he lives. For he saith, He walketh not in darkness. Here you see what the consequences are. For such light is not obtained by works, since one lives by. The sun cannot be comprehended with the senses, but is seen only with the eyes; and when the eyes are opened, the light and the brightness soon follow. So Christ is not understood by good works, but you must open your eyes of faith, recognize, hear, and let the word shine into your heart and recognize it. By the light we shall live, the light will not let us die, by the light we shall live forever.
(38) Now this is lying and heresy among the world and among the Jews. Shall our forefathers and grandfathers, they say, all have been eternally lost and eternally in darkness? Do you think they were all fools? Now all who have come to Christ are blessed; by this light they are all preserved; as the Lord Christ said [John 8:52, 56], "Abraham died," but "he saw my day and was glad," that is, he saw my light, my brightness, this sun shining upon him, which now also shines and glows upon us. This is the truth preached, and the doctrine of the Gospel extolled very highly; but it is all heresy in the eyes of the world. So it is with us even today; we still have to hear such cries.
The third sermon.
Saturday after the 17th Sunday [after] Trinity [October 7, 1531]. 1)
(39) Now these are two teachings; the one is that Christ here abolishes all the preaching and worship places that may be on earth, even Moses himself with all his worship, which was given by God, and calls all the disciples to himself, saying that he is the Master, so that whoever intends to serve God without Christ, the Master, will walk in darkness. The other teaching is comforting, that whoever follows him shall have such light to lead him to life, and shall also have eternal life. And these are mighty words, that he speaks: "I am the light of the
1) In the original in the margin, but there erroneously the seventh instead of the seventeenth Sunday after Trinity.
world." As if he were to say: No doctrine, no church service, be it ever so great and beautiful, will be able to help men out of darkness; everything is damned, everything must go to hell; for I alone am the light. So tear us away from all lights, teachers and preachers, so that we may stay with the preacher Christ alone and stick to him, or else perish and be lost forever in darkness.
40 But the world has no desire to do this, but wants to be the devil's martyr, and is well ridden by the devil, and runs as if it were mad and foolish. When it enters into the devil's service, or into a false worship, it works diligently, gives great alms, fasts, builds churches; and yet it is all in vain, damned, and basically lost, as we, alas, have tried to do in our classes. Has it not been a plague that one has allowed oneself to be persuaded, and many a one has gone on pilgrimage to St. Jacob in a cuirass, willing 1) and barefoot? (also some lurk in the Grimmethal) and the whole night from not slept, and thus a soul from the purgatory want to redeem. But now that the holy gospel, the right light, is shining, people cannot be persuaded to give a penny to the service, or to lift a finger in honor of God.
(41) But the world delighteth to abide in darkness, and to bear great vexation; the devil also hath greater martyrs than Christ; hell is more sourly deserved for them, than heaven for Christians: the ungodly do greater, more rude work. But the Christians suffer, and have a peaceful, quiet heart; whereas the wicked have no rest in conscience, and by heart they torture themselves to it, and make them great heads with the lousy caps; it will be more sour for them to go to hell, than heaven is for Christians. They want to be masters and guide us, but do not tell us to follow Christ. But it does not help them, no matter how well they mean it and how much they put on them. What does it help that they say: Now I have meant it so well, prayed so much, fasted so much? because the Turk also says it.
1) i.e. dressed in wool.
It does not help the Jews, as St. Paul says [Rom. 10, 2]: Habent quidem zelum, sed non secundum scientiam. I myself am a witness of the Jews, he says, that they serve God with greater earnestness and zeal; but it does not help them, because they do not want to learn the art that we can, since we know that the law of Moses does not help, good opinion and their own worship do not help either; but look to the light, cling to Christ, and follow his teaching; this I advise you, this is the right good road that leads to eternal life. This is the road we are to take, though it does not appear to the world; it is a vexatious doctrine, and it is evil for us to go over it; but he does not deny it. He says, "Follow me, and I will teach you rightly and lead you to eternal life, and that you may escape death, sin, the devil and hell, and be saved. Whoever then does not like this comfort and this teaching, let him always go.
(43) The Jews will not have it, and feel the vexation that is lifted up at the boasting; but it must be boasted of. Humility is no guide; you will not get to heaven unless you are proud and hopeful. But it does not have to be an unchristian hopefulness. One should insist on this art and defy it, and be hopeful in the Lord. Otherwise, whoever boasts and is hopeful is a hopeful ass, and such boasting is forbidden when one boasts of himself and what is his own; and what fools are, they are arrogant and proud, and boasting of oneself is not right.
(44) Therefore there are two kinds of glory: One is glorying in oneself, that one is rich and mighty, and has great friendship, and that he is happy. The world defies this, and this is the world's stinking glory, which has no good reason. After this there is another glory, of which Christ says: "I am the light of the world, whoever follows me" 2c. This is such a light that otherwise there is darkness where this light does not shine, and when it is extinguished, nothing shines. And whoever follows me, to him I give life, showing him where life is, and pointing out the way for you to get there; not by your good works, but by my death and resurrection; that is the way,
so I shine. Now this is a great hope and glory, that a man should come forth and say, I alone am all. Reason says, Be something; but let another be something also; wilt thou be all? we will not suffer such arrogance. Awe yes, thou art wise, wilt thou call all holy doctors darkness, and be nothing at all and unjust? They are annoyed by that, that is why they say:
V. 13. Then the Pharisees said to him, "You testify about yourself; your testimony is nothing.
(45) They say, Thou bearest witness of thyself, therefore it is false. In the sight of the world it is certain that he who boasts and praises himself is a fool; and this is rightly said; one should not believe such a one, and God does not allow it to be true and that one should believe him. Therefore they say to Christ, "You praise yourself, your neighbors have done you wrong, you sing a little song about yourself; it does not sound good, both fame and doctrine are lies.
(46) So we also have to hear it said to us, "You are stubborn fools, stiff-necked, you will not listen to anyone. I have had half a shock of such spirits accusing me of such things; but I thank God that I cannot boast of my great art, holiness, or life; for I have lived in such a way that I may not boast of it, with blasphemies and other things. But the glory I have, so proud-headed and stiff-necked I am, God grant, if emperors, popes and bishops, universities, doctors, or all angels meet, I boast of the gospel, and will not depart from it; as St. Paul also says to the Galatians in chapter 1, v. 8: "Cursed be he that preacheth any other gospel than I have preached." That is hopeful enough: he stiffly defies all angels and men in heaven and on earth. I must have hope, and no one shall take me from hope; and if I could only be curmudgeonly and proud enough here, it would be well, for I stand not on myself, but on one who is called Christ, into whom I have been baptized.
47. then one cries out: Shall the
Pabst, don't you also want to hear the Concilia? No, 1) I don't want to hear it, I don't want to do it, you must not persuade me to give up a hair's breadth. Then say: Yes, you are hopeful. Yes, you answer, I will be faithful. In the world, one may concede to another, and as for me, you will find such a humble brother in me that I will even lie under your feet. Do they then say: How hopeful art thou? Thou shalt say, "It will not be otherwise; call me trustworthy or not; I will be proud here, and know it well. Separate Christ and me, and know what concerns me, I will gladly humble myself, and let them trample on me; but do not trample on Christ and his word; for if you will not have Christ, I will not. So they blame the Lord Christ and his teachings, and they, our enemies, want to be called peaceable and humble, but we are obstinate, stiff-necked and stormy heads. Yes, we also want to be so in the piece that is called Christ, in Christ no one seeks patience, [no] yielding with me; but here I am stiff-necked, because it does not affect me. You attack me in a place that is not mine; but if you attack me in my bodily goods, body or neck, I will gladly yield to you. But the world does not respect that I want to leave with my goods and my skirt, but gives pellem per pellem. The devil says that he does not want to have the unblemished shells of the nut, but he is looking for the kernel, Christ. But do you hear? No, I will not give it to you, it is not yours if all the devils on earth were there. This is our defiance, that we are in the light, that is, in Christ, which brings me to eternal life; though it grieves thee, yet let us be proud, and let us be called gross asses and headless.
V. 14. Jesus answered and said unto them, If I testify of myself, no testimony is true.
48 He will say, Ye say that my testimony is false, because I boast of myself; but
1) "No" taken by us from the altm edition. Erlanger: Well.
I do right, and when I testify about myself, I tell the truth, it is not a lie that I am the light of the world, I testify the truth purely and honestly. It is not a false, carnal, but divine glory that I must do, that I am the light of the world; otherwise I would not come to my office, nor would I carry it out.
49 Therefore I am also a Christian, for I have been baptized, and believe the gospel of Christ, that he died for me, and consider it that he redeemed me with his blood, though I believe it weakly. Then I am a living saint, and a teacher of the truth, and am lux mundi. For a priest in his parish should be lux mundi. I cannot boast too highly, for I do not boast of my own things, my art, stinking power, money and goods, but of what I have received in the divine word and in baptism, that grace has been given to me to believe, write and preach. Forasmuch then as baptism, the death and resurrection of Christ, and the word of God and blood of Christ are holy, that I may be sprinkled and daily bathed in the baptism of Christ through faith, I have a sanctuary with me, which also makes me holy for the sake of the bath. When we are bathed, we should say, I am clean; as a clean body says, I am washed; and a bride says that she is adorned, that everything around her smells and tastes good; for there is the matter of which one boasts. So let us also boast of this which we have received: It is not mine, but it is given unto me in baptism: and if I deny it, I dishonor Christ my Lord, saying, My baptism is filthiness, my doctrine and preaching are lies, and the devil's doctrine: this I leave. But if Christ's teaching is righteous and true, then I must say, "I am a true teacher, and my pastor shows me the right way and the true life; then I will die, for I know it is the truth.
(50) So it is here also; when Christ speaks that he is the light of the world, he does not boast carnally. Just as a Christian does not lie when he boasts that he is holy, not through good orders and good works, as the monks otherwise do.
but that he is holy and lives holy, because he was baptized and believes in Christ, through whom he is cleansed and shines for me into eternal life. So he does not boast carnally, but boasts of the truth, saying, "Therefore my testimony is true. It is the truth, for I know whence I came and whither I go. I do not boast, like a Scharrhans, because there is nothing behind it. They are not able to promise life to anyone for a moment; or [say]: I have so much money, or so much I can harm someone, or say: You will live so long. You are not safe for a moment. What then does the fool boast of these goods, of which he is not powerful for a moment? It is a vain glory to insist on honor, power and strength; one must take hold of it, that it is a false glory, and say that one is not powerful of it for a moment.
(51) And despite an emperor, king, prince and lord, that he may say that he is mighty of his crown in a moment. I can boast that I am a Turkish emperor at Constantinople, but it is not true. But the emperor at Constantinople is just as little powerful of his life as I am, for he does not have it in his hand for a moment, but God has it in his power; he does not know how long he will live. But if I leap over and boast of that which is not in my power, but is with me forever, which cannot be taken away from me, then I cannot be uncertain of it; but there I cannot be certain of it for a moment. Therefore I do not boast about what I have received, nor about my life, which God has not promised me. He has given me life; item, house and farm, wife and child shall be mine; but he has not promised me that it should be mine for a moment. I am a king or a prince, and have much wealth, money and goods; but I have it not for a moment. But this I have from the first moment I received it until the end of my life.
For I know whence I came, and from whence I came, and whither I go: but ye know not whence I came, and whither I go.
He is certain of his ministry beforehand, and of all that he speaks and does, which the world otherwise does not do. This great certitude or certainty makes him bold; he knows that what he does must remain, and he also knows that he is a teacher and will remain so, and that God has sent him to be the light of the world; he is certain of his profession, nature and office; Therefore he also boasts of it, because he knows that it cannot fail; for he who sent him has commanded it, and he does not deny it, and he knows the beginning and end of his office and being, how it is to go forth. I do not boast of myself, he will say, but I know who sent me, and that it will be my own kingdom, and my rule will reach that it will be an everlasting kingdom through my death, and go out that no one shall prevent it. So must I also do; I know whence I come, and whither I go, who sent me, and where I remain.
(53) The world does not know, but a Christian and a preacher knows who sent him and where he is going. An emperor and king cannot say, Because I wear this crown, I know where I am to stay. Neither can the pope say that he knows where he is going or how long he will stay; he may well stay in the hellish fire. But a Christian says: I know where I am going, namely, to him who sent me. There is the beginning, that God gave me the word of the forgiveness of sins, there I come, the command God gave me to teach the word and ministry, and come again to him, and abide with him forever. I am sent only to teach men in the world, and know where I am going, that I may come again to the Father. This certitudo is a great strong fortress, this security makes a praiseworthy man.
Every Christian is a light of the world, because he should know and be sure what kind of man he is, and how he stands with God, and that he comes from God, and comes out of Adam through the gate into Christ, into a Christian state, has become a new man, and shall remain with God forever. In this state I live and carry the cross; there I know where I come from. A Carthusian or a Barefoot
monk comes from a colorful wammes into a gray robe, he comes from himself, but not from God; but Christ comes into the world eternally from God, and temporally through the Holy Spirit, and from the Virgin Mary. So we can also say: I am sure that I am not a special one; I am no more than the old Hans and Claus, born of Adam; but I am also a Christian, I have a name common to all, with all those who are born again with us from baptism, and after this life I have heaven open, that I may go there with all the saints. I am sure of my things; my fame has a good delicious reason. If I should boast of anything else, it would be bad, and if I should stand up and preach and not be sure, it would be very dangerous, and better that I had never seen or heard a sermon than that I should stand up and not be sure that my sermon was God's word. Therefore the mobs are in great danger, they do not know where they come from, or where they are going, they are uncertain of their thing, and walk as in a dream, and yet wash, and make the whole world full and mad with their chatter; but they do not know from whom they are sent, or where they are going, they are uncertain what they are doing 2c.
55 Thus saith Christ, Ye judge me according to the flesh, and look upon me no other than as another man. You see no more in me than the face, the skin, the hands and the feet; you think that I am a carpenter's servant from Nazareth, who has nose, eyes and senses as another man, and not one who has a command from God, who stands up for himself alone. Yes, if I look at you in this way, I will not consider you a Christian, and if you also look at me in this way, you will not consider me a preacher.
(56) And so the fanciers, acting and judging with reason and their own prudence, look at one another carnally, and judge one also carnally. Now I am not sent nor come in the flesh, neither will I go out in the flesh; I do not look upon thee that thou art black, or white, or rich, or poor, or that thou hast this garment on, or that; but that thou art baptized,
and have been in this water, and hear the gospel. But they do not do this, they do not look at a man in this way; they cannot obtain this, they do not see baptism on the forehead; the eyes do not see it, but the heart says: If he has been baptized, he is adorned and decorated with the best sanctuary in the world, namely, with the innocent blood of the Lamb of Christ. I think that this can make one holy, beautiful and pious, and turn Adam's children into other people, and put them in a different state.
When I thus look upon thee, and thou thus look upon me, 1) bathed, baptized, washed in this baptism, then thou honorest the holy and innocent blood of Christ, not flesh nor skin, but thou lookest upon me, that I am washed in the blood of Christ, and that in me is holiness, the gospel or divine word, which sanctifies and creates all creatures. I am not looked upon as a cow, or as an unreasonable man; but he that is bathed and cleansed with me, the same perceiveth that such holiness is in me. The whole world does not see it, does not think what baptism is, thinks that it has been gone for forty years, sees me only as a man who has body and soul and reason alone. That is judging according to the flesh, and rising no higher than a cow looks at a new gate.
58 Thus, the Lord says, I am also seen standing, having two eyes, and being the son of a carpenter. But I do not have such a reputation; I am considered the son of a poor carpenter, and should boast of power, strength, goods and worldly wisdom according to the flesh, but it is not there; but I boast that I have come from God and go to God again; this you do not know and see, therefore you cannot like me; I must be a fool and hopeful, but you are wise and holy people and humble.
(59) So it is also with the papists. When we say we are holy, they cannot open their eyes and go into their hearts and see that baptism and the gospel are thus
1) Added by us.
is a mighty thing, of which we therefore boast. Yes, says the pope, baptism and Christianity is a common thing; but he is holy who goes as a Carthusian and sees sourly. Should the baptism help? Awe yes, a child in the cradle would be as pious with it as I am! o you must seek much other holiness. This is bad according to the flesh. But if I open my eyes and say: Baptism is not a small thing, but a bath made of the blood of Jesus Christ. What is lacking in the gospel, baptism and the blood of Christ? Can they not do enough for sin? Is it not holy? Can it not make righteous? But these are vain tales and dreams to them, they do not hear them, they only shout about works, on which they look much more. This judgment is according to the flesh alone.
V. 15. I judge no one.
(60) He hath thus begun his ministry, saying, Ye judge not righteously, but I have righteous judgment; neither do I judge any man. The world has its way of praising, judging, and avenging, as it is written in Matt. 7:1 ff. but Christ came not to judge, but to make us all equal, that one may be like another. To say, Though ye be all condemned, yet am not I come to condemn; it is not my office to pronounce judgment upon you, but I will abolish judgment, that ye all may remain unjudged, unconvicted. So he boasts of his office, and especially sets himself against the carnal judges, who soon go out and judge, saying, "I have not come to judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. I have power to do it, I could do it, and I ought to do it, but I do not do it; I did not come for this purpose, but I suspend judgment, that I may bring others to myself also, and that they all may be enlightened.
(61) It is a beautiful text that one does not take Christ as a judge; as then the pope has imagined Christ to us, that he will judge on the last day. They think that Christ sits above, that he alone will judge and pass sentence; these have been my thoughts and your thoughts in the papacy, too, you cannot deny that. And there-
From there came the good works, all monasteries and orders, to make atonement for the judge. Then Mariam was taken to help, who was to show Christ the breasts; hence came all pilgrimage and all invocation of the saints. Thus the gospel was thoroughly put down and eradicated, and we became cordially hostile to Christ; I would have liked to see him gone for all devils, everyone fled from him and became hostile to him. We had this sermon, and the listeners heard it gladly; thus Christ became our judge, from whom one fled. But Christ is not a judge, for the guilty alone; as an evildoer must always fear a judge, executioner and gallows, and hate him, since otherwise the judge should help everyone, and everyone should seek comfort from him.
62 Now it is because of our great ingratitude that we have had such preachers who have even turned Christ back, who have made darkness out of light and a tyrant and judge out of a savior. On the last day he will judge, but as a savior who will help me from my enemies and overthrow all those who have harmed me. He will not be terrifying to me, but comforting; for I have a good cause, whether we be afflicted with the devil. A pious citizen who suffers hardship is not afraid of the mayor or the judge, but calls on the authorities in times of need, seeking help, advice and comfort. This friend is the judge and mayor; the judge should be a fear and tyrant to the guilty, the wicked and the wrongdoers, but not to the afflicted [Rom. 13, 3]. A prince or judge is to the same as a father and sugar. So we also have the devil and the world against us on earth, so we say: Is there no one who can help, who can judge? Then saith he, Therefore I am a judge, and will save you at the last day. Christ is a comfort to us, that he will judge us and our enemies.
(63) But here on earth Christ is not a judge, but will leave everyone unjudged unless he believes. He will not judge those who hear him and believe in him, those who do not believe.
He does not want to be a judge, condemn them or cast them into hell [Joh. 3, 17. 18.]. He says, "I will not harm you; you must not be afraid that sin and an evil conscience will condemn you; if you have only the light, you are safe from my judgment. If thou hast enemies, death, sin, an evil conscience, devils, and the world, which trouble thee, hold thy peace, believe in me, I will counsel thee well in all things, I will be thy judge, who will deliver thee from thine enemies, that they hurt thee not; if thou only believe in me, I will well help thee against sin, death, and devils.
64. For this cause he says, "I judge no one." With this he wants to promise the whole world on earth until the last day that his word and kingdom, or ministry, will be such that he will not judge anyone. Young and old, to all he gives his help, saying, "If thou wilt believe in me, this is my office; I will not judge thee, for my office is to help and to keep; it shall be all grace and forgiveness of sins. I am not a judge [Is. 49, 8. 2 Cor. 6, 2], unless you would not accept me and believe in me; otherwise I will be a helper. If you would not accept my help, you would force me to be a judge, for which I could not stand. Otherwise, in my office there is no judging, condemning or punishing; when things go as they should, I do not want to be a judge. As he also says to the woman in this chapter: "I will not condemn you. Summa, he does not want to be a judge, but to help.
(65) Therefore imagine Christ differently from what they have taught; not as a judge, with whom you must do this and that, that you may make atonement for him, but, if you have sinned, he is the light of the world, he judges no one; he who follows him will not walk in darkness. If thou feelest and confessest thy sin, be dismayed at it, only cleave unto me, follow me, believe in me, hold me for the light; then shalt thou not be afraid of judgment and sentence; 1) for I will preserve the world. But the right
1) to travel - to be in fear or anxiety about something.
They do not want to receive my help, because they do not want to be helped. Just as a physician says to a sick person, "I have not come to give you poison and death, but to help you [Matt. 9:12]. If thou wilt follow me, there shall be no need; but if thou wilt not, and callest me a villain or a prankster, and thinkest my medicine and apothecary to be fools' work, and wilt thyself wantonly cause death, and wilt not suffer me for thee, nor know me, then the fault is thine. I will not give you death by strangling you, but I must go away and leave you in death because you reject and despise my medicine. It is the same here; he will keep his word: I condemn or judge no one; only do not judge yourself; before me you shall remain unjudged, for I am the light that shines to eternal life and salvation.
The fourth sermon.
Saturday after the 18th Sunday "nacht Trinitatis sl4. October 1531t. 1)
(66) What the Lord Christ said to the Jews is shown next (v. 13), when they reproached him and said, "You testify of yourself, your testimony is false," and how he scolded them for judging him so carnally, and not wanting to look at his ministry and preaching, but only on his person. Then he says, "He does not want to do as they do, and in short, he does not want to be a judge, or to judge and condemn anyone. And it follows that he gives an account of the occasion of his judgment.
V. 16 But if I judge, my judgment is right, for I am not alone 2c.
(67) He might have said, If I judge, I judge not according to the flesh, as ye do, but according to the Spirit. But he says first, "I judge nothing. Nor did he come to judge. And Christ is not to be preached nor believed to come as a judge, except to save and redeem his own. But how does it rhyme that he now says, "But if I judge, it is not for me to judge.
1) In the original margin.
And above [v. 15] he says: "I judge no one"? He has spoken a strong judgment, saying, "I am the light of the world"; and he who speaks this may also refrain from being a judge, not of any kingdom, two or three cities alone, but of the whole world and of the devil. And he speaks in addition: All the world is in blindness and darkness, under sin, death and devils; but I alone am the light. Doesn't that mean judged? Yes, indeed. The Jews were also annoyed by the fact that Christ is so hopeful. He is not content to be a pastor of a bishopric, but of the whole world. That means not only judged, but publicly condemned everything. He condemns them not in the corner, but publicly in the square; he does not submit to the office of judging in the corner, but has come out into the light and condemns everything to death.
68 Now, Christ's ministry is not primarily directed and ordered to judge, but rather to help, that is His ministry. We should learn this, as it was said in the third chapter, v. 17, that Christ says: "God did not send His Son to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. This is to be the most noble office of the Lord Christ, and for this reason He was also sent into the world. But he that will not suffer this, and be among him that is pleased to help, how can he [Christ] do otherwise, but that he that will not have life may have death? for he [the sinner] is not come for the remission of sins. He [Christ] says, "Whoever does not want to follow me must feel that he remains a sinner, and then comes the right judgment, that such a one remains in his sins, if he does not want to have righteousness. If you do not want our Lord God, then keep the devil; and the ministry, which otherwise is not set to judge, but to help and comfort, is forced to judge. So it is written of him in the first book of Moses [Cap. 22, 18.], "In thy seed shall all nations be blessed." This is to be his title and office, namely, to bless, to help, to counsel; there is the sweet word "bless," to help, it is to
To be a comforting preacher, a kind man and a helper, who does this with fist and hand, neither teaching nor working, but helping and blessing; with him is all help and comfort. And yet in the words is also decided the malediction or the judgment and verdict. For where there is blessing, there is curse; he who will not have help and blessing must have curse; he who will not have health may remain sick; he who will not go to heaven must go to hell. Although it is not the office of the Lord Christ to cast into hell, or to curse, or to judge, but to help, and to draw out: yet it is also true, that whosoever will not have it, let him abide in it.
69 Therefore saith he, If I must judge, I judge truly; if I lift up, I will judge aright; for I am the light: he that followeth me abideth not in darkness, but hath grace and mercy and help and comfort and life. For he that followeth me hath all blessedness. This is his office. But if thou wilt not follow, if thou wilt not have health, light, and blessing, I will decree that whosoever will not have light and Me shall abide in darkness. Otherwise, my office is not to judge or condemn, but to help, comfort and advise people, and to do what is best for them. But if they do not want God to help them, I say: If you do not like the word, you must go to the devil; I do not force you to do this, and I would rather see that you are not judged in this way, but that you accept the advice and comfort and let yourself be helped; but I must do it. Just as a physician says to a sick person, "This would make you well; I do not want to deprive you of life, but would gladly help you. But if he does not want to, the physician says, "I am talking to you as a physician, but you force me to be a judge and tell you that you are going to die. The physician should not speak like this, nor does he like to speak like this as a physician; the sick person does not want to suffer him or consider him a physician, so he may have it his way. So Christ also was sent for his office, and came to save, and to help all them that trust in him.
that they may be blessed. But they say, We will not have the light, neither suffer this doctrine. So then it will also be said: He who will not have the light will walk in darkness; and Christ will also be the judge of the wicked.
(70) It will not help them to say, We will lead a different life, we know a better way to heaven, I will become a Carthusian, or a barefoot monk, do this and that. But the Lord says to you: Beware, I warn you, it is against my office, you will fall short and not go to heaven, but to the devil in hell. Is this not judged? And so it is in all classes. A father saith unto his son, If thou wilt obey me, thou shalt be my heir; I will not make thee a beggar. For the father's and mother's office is not instituted to destroy the son, but for the correction, help, and comfort of the children. If then the son runs away, and becomes a knave and a rogue, and the daughter a whore, then the father punishes him for it, and says: Well, if you will be given to the executioner, then it is not my fault. So the father and the mother must do, and judge and punish the son. Here the father judges when he scolds the children; but if the children do not want it, the executioner must come and judge.
(71) So also the Lord Christ will say, It is not my office to judge; but if ever I am to judge, I will judge aright. I know that I am the light of the world; that is true; and whoever does not follow me, I will shut him up and condemn him to eternal damnation and hell; not because of my office, for there is my command that I should lead and bring everyone to the light; but because of his wickedness, that he does not want me, Christ, and my office, that I should help him; therefore he is separated from me. If then he has no part with me, he is of the devil, for apart from me there is no counsel, nor help, nor light, nor salvation.
So God has given the Christian church the power of the keys: "What will bind them on earth" 2c. [Matth. 18, 18. Joh. 20, 23.] This power is not only to bind, but also to loose; for the ministry of preaching is to preach forgiveness of sins.
Sins, and bring the souls to heaven. But this is also attached to it: If an ungodly man does not hear you or the church, consider him to be a heathen; then it must bind, since the dear Christian church would much rather dissolve. Therefore both are true here, that first of all Christ is such a preacher, namely, a Savior, who is not ordained to be a judge, but to redeem and help, as he said above [v. 11] to the adulteress. But if he judges, he does it for the sake of those who do not want him; he must judge. For his own sake do not make him a judge, for he was sent to be a blessed seed of the Gentiles; but that he must be a judge is not for his own sake, but for the sake of others who despise him and force him to judge.
I also preach about God's grace, but whoever does not want it, let him have wrath. I shall not and cannot preach and teach otherwise than in this way. I shall not 1) say: Will you have God's grace, or not have it? One should not preach in this way, but say: Here you have the gospel, which gives you forgiveness of sin, does not judge the evil conscience, and you must not be afraid of sin and death. But if you do not want to hear the gospel, nor accept the grace and mercy of God, then I say to you: Here, dear pope, bishops, princes, and all together, I put you under ban, you are of the devil with all your own. I do not pronounce this sentence out of pleasure or pride, but I must do it. The first office, which is to bless, does not want to be applied 2); I should not say: Pope, you despise the word, you do not want to suffer the gospel, you shall nevertheless be saved. Oh no! but I should say: You will be damned into the abyss of hell. So we must judge them, and gladly put the pope, bishops, under ban, saying, "I am right in judging you, for I have come to judge you rightly, and to say to you, 'You are in darkness and are condemned. It is the truth that
1) Erlanger: sollt.
2) kin -- related, friendly.
I have said that I am the light of the world; he that is without light is in darkness; this is not a lie, but the right truth, and is rightly judged, when I say, Ye are in darkness; this also shall remain right.
The world does not like to hear this judgment and sentence, and considers it a lie, but it is rightly judged, and do not think otherwise. If I say: You are condemned and in darkness, it remains right, and so it shall stand, because I judge your guilt, and you will know that it is true and right.
For I am not alone, but I, and the Father who sent me,
I do not speak this judgment as a single person, to whom I would have no office, but one acts from another person. I am not speaking now as Jesus, or Hans, but as one who is in office. I am not a single person, but sent as a witness, as a public messenger and preacher, having good reason. For this I have the testimony of John the Baptist, which he gave me. Then God the heavenly Father also testifies of me; these are two witnesses.
Otherwise, if a private person testifies about himself, that is not right; but a public person who is in office, it is different with him. I am not a preacher here from my own person and for myself, as the red spirits are otherwise such preachers, and have not accepted the office of preaching out of my own choice or thirst; but I have the testimony that I am called, and required and asked to the office of preaching, I preach by command and the command of others; otherwise the devil preaches. Therefore I am not a single person, and because I am called Martinus, therefore I am not a preacher; but if I am called D. Martinus, or a preacher, I am another man. So also Hans is not a prince of Saxony; but because he has the credentials, Duke Hans, it is something more than Hans; there is another person, separate from the individual person, and the same person may well testify. A mayor may testify and speak: I testify that I am your mayor. He does not speak as a person who is of the mother's origin.
but as a person appointed by the congregation. So I am also a preacher here; not as I am from my mother's tradition, but I have the testimony that I am called to it and am a skilled person for this common service; I was not born for it, but made and ordained as a preacher.
This also Christ says in this place: I am a man in office, and certainly have testimony that I, Jesus, am a preacher; not as I am born of Mary the Virgin, that would be too small; but over that I am Mary's son, so am I also in the preaching office. This person can testify of himself; as Duke Hans can and shall say, I am a prince. A woman shall say, In the house I am a woman; for she is not thereby become a woman, that she hath secretly broken into the house; but she hath the testimony of the church, that she hath had marriage; her testimony is true. Such a person's testimony is right, because she does not stand there in her individual person, as she was born of father and mother, but as a public and common person. Therefore my testimony is right when I stand as a common person, when I say something as a prince or preacher; for then my individual testimony and word is as much as if a whole country said it, or if the holy Christian church said it.
78 The Lord Christ also means that he is a mighty witness; then his heavenly Father is also there, and testifies of him [Matth. 17, 5.]: Hic est Filius meus dilectus, in quo est mihi beneplacitum; hunc audite. So he can push his adversaries to the ground, saying: These two witnesses are there; 1) whoever can muster these two witnesses has enough. Our Junkers also say, Augustine put on Paulum as a witness; now Paul, as born of the mother, is a citizen of Tarsus. Being born there is nothing, I did not pay much attention to Paul. But when he says, "Called to the apostleship, a servant of Jesus Christ," it is no longer Paul as he was before, but now he is another person, he has another name.
1) In the original: "These two witnesses are not there." Like Walch, we have omitted the "not".
skirt, and is a common person. 2) One must inter publicam et privatam personam. Christ shuts them up by saying, "I am a witness, and I testify of myself, and I do right, for I am he; and I am not he alone, for I have another witness with me, and he and my testimony stand. Therefore what I judge is rightly judged; for the Father also judges, and bears witness also with the works through Christ. You will see the signs as raising the dead 2c. Our Lord God is not the man who bears witness to lies, he does not confirm false miracles, he will not be able to court the devil, but he does the contradiction and the devil is displeased.
79 Now he says: I and the Father, ours are two; I am a publica persona, as John testifies to me, and the miracles and my heavenly Father also testify; I point you to this, the miracles confirm this about me. Everything is said so that he will shut them up and confirm and defend his office. As for my person, I will suffer what I can; but as for the word and ministry, if they want to punish me and take it away, then I should not give another the preaching chair and watch his preaching, because I am the pastor and preacher, and I should put life and limb on it; then he would have leave from me or from the pastor, otherwise you must keep your mouth shut until you have received leave.
80 If therefore one said, I preach not rightly; I would say, The ministry and the doctrine are right. And as for the faith and the teaching of the divine word, God does not give us much patience, we will not grant them anything; someone may strike me over it. Well, I shall suffer it, but not strike again; but preach and do against the devil, his doctrine and ministry; that belongs to me, and is commanded me. If he wants to have a different faith and preach different words, I should not suffer it, nor keep quiet about it. If it is a matter of life and limb, he can take money and goods from you, but he shall not take them from you, for I am publica persona,
2) i.e. a public person, a person in office.
that is commanded me. What he has given me as life and limb, which is mine, I may let take whoever will or can take it; but the ministry is not mine, I cannot forgive it. I say, Thus shalt thou baptize, preach, and administer the sacrament, and not otherwise; otherwise I may not.
A mother in the house shall not be so impatient as to say to a harlot, This son is not mine; take him always, and commit fornication with him; the mother shall not be brought thither; she may well say before, Wilt thou take a skirt from me? take it; but leave me my son, I will not give him unto thee; I have no patience. So also saith the Lord Christ, I have a strong command, my judgment is right: though ye condemn me, though ye judge me, yet is my office right, though I judge no man, yet shall no man take away my judgment. So it is said in divine matters: if I have not suffered, if I have not had patience, but have fought and quarreled, then I shall leave my neck over it. In other things it may go as it may. In the office of preaching, a foreign preacher should not preach differently, as he himself wants and has in mind; because the command or calling is with me, and I am to answer for it, you do not have to do it as you want. Also, because there is a prince in Saxony, no one is to rule in his chair, no one is to take his office and rule; unless one comes out of office, then whoever comes in may rule. Now this is what applies to the office and the publicas personas, but with individual persons it is a different matter.
The fifth sermon
Saturday after the 19th Sunday [after] Trinity [21 October 1531]. 1)
82 We have next heard that the Lord Christ said that he was a judge, and yet he was not a judge. And how he answered afterward, when they had punished him, he testified of himself. This shows when one should believe one who boasts and praises himself. But Christ says: I
1) In the original margin.
and the father testify. With this answer, he is doing so much that they are laughing and mocking him.
V. 19. Then said they unto him, Where is thy father? JEsus answered: You know neither me nor my father 2c.
(83) Some would take from this, as if they doubted whether he had a father, and as if he were an illegitimate child: but we leave them alone, whether it be true or not. But the text is beautiful in that it says: "The Father and I bear witness, therefore you should believe me while I am in the preaching ministry. The Father has commanded me to preach and to praise; then the Father has also given me into his hand to perform miracles. So I have a great testimony in baptism, when the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove was seen above me, and the voice of the heavenly Father was heard [Matt. 17:5]: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; him you shall hear." So John the Baptist also testifies about me.
84. But the Jews say, "Where is your Father?" As if to say, "We do not hear the Father's testimony; the miracles you have performed, such as raising the dead, are nothing. He shall set the Father before their eyes, that they may take hold of him, and grope like the wall; otherwise they will not believe, nor accept it. But Christ does not show the Father's testimony so that they should see the Father and grope, but believe him; he wants to lead them all into his word, and this is what the testimony is for. The apostle Philip also says to Christ [John 14:8]:. "Show us the Father." Christ does not show the Father to us as I would have him, but the Father shows me to you. I will turn it around and say: The Father points you to me, he shows Christ, he testifies of me, you should have respect for me and see what I speak and what my testimony is.
85This then is the whole strife, and the main thing, that we should always have Christ before our eyes; for the devil is always tempting us to fall away from Christ, and to seek the Father, and to think, This and that pleases him; and then to leave Christ, whom the Father sent, that one may
heard him alone. But we do as the Jews do, and will not have him; we ask, "Where is the Father?" This is the question of the world. The Turk also says, "What is Christ? He is nothing, and died. What are David and the prophets? Nothing; but saith, I will think after God the Father, and so will live, baptizing and purifying myself; which is well pleasing to God. Thus he will come to the Father. A Carthusian thinks: If I run away to a monastery, live under the Father Provost, Prior or Abbot, and am obedient to him, leave my goods and the world, then he will please God. So they all want to ask: Where is the Father? and catch God with their thoughts. But it will not do to leave the Son and despise His word. They say here: "Show us the Father." As if they wanted to say: It is none of our business what you say, we believe nothing of you and your word; show us the Father, if we would see him, then we would have it all.
This is the highest challenge to faith. Let every man bind himself, and be accustomed to keep the word of the Lord Christ, and let not that man out of his sight; let him blind his eyes, his reason, and all things, and shut them, and let him neither hear nor see anything but the one Man Jesus Christ, and say, I will not know nor hear the other thoughts that come into my mind concerning God, how I may seek the Father and Creator of heaven and earth. That would be a man who could remain, who said: I do not know any other God to meet, to seek, nor to find, but Christ. He who knows this is flesh and blood, too wise for the world and the devil. God has sent the Son, and hangs you on his neck, saying, Hear him; he that hangs not on him, and heareth him, shall not find me. This was also said above in the seventh chapter [§ 54 ff.], that apart from the man and this man's word there is no God to be found. The pope, the Turk and the Jew do not find this wisdom and art, if they torture themselves to death over it, or whip themselves so that the blood flows afterwards. I have seen women who beat themselves to death at night with wire.
1) Erlanger: den.
and they wanted to reconcile God with it, to meet God and to find Him; but it was all in vain, nothing came of it. For they say: Where is the Father? seek God the Father, and leave Christ and His word in the queue.
Now it is a grievous devil, and a great error, when all the spirits of the wicked come out; they are all of the opinion that one should leave the man's word, and put it out of sight, and want to find something else that pleases the world and God; but one should not do it. Let whoever wants to preach something else, and let the man stand in line and seek other ways to come to God, he will not find it. For this reason, the Lord Christ answers correctly:
You neither know me nor my father, and if you knew me, you would also know my father.
These are thunderbolts. As if he wanted to say: I will not let you come to this point, that you want to know the Father before you know me, or that you want to know the Father without me. This is a great text, that he says: "You want to go up to heaven and know God, but apart from and without me you know nothing about it, nor can you know anything about it, if you do not know me first. This is impossible, you will not know God without me, you are as you wish; if you do not first learn to know me and have me, do not think that you know God.
89. But what is this said, and what is the meaning of these words, that he thus implicates the whole world, saying, "All that do not know me know nothing of the Father, and all that do not have me have no God; for how can anyone have God who does not know me? He then that hath not God, nor knoweth Him, hath the devil, and goeth also to the devil; and all the service which he should do unto God, he doeth unto the devil. So I conclude that he has no God, yes, he persecutes God; and yet he walks in great holiness, cannot drink wine, will not build houses, nor dress beautifully, which is supposed to be great, excellent holiness; whereas the poor Christians must be sinners, damned and cursed.
The Turks say, "This is what mad Christians do," and the Turk is so mad and foolish that he thinks this life is pleasing to God and does not know that God does not respect it. The monks, the pope, and all the clergy do likewise, saying: Christ does not do it alone; they do not want to suffer Christ alone to be our comfort and savior, but we must also do our works, live in a spiritual state, and be more perfect than other people; they go about in works, and want to be holy people; and yet they all go to the devil.
91 But who would believe that so much worship among the Jews, Turks and Papists, which is done with such great seriousness in the world (as it has not been a joke and a scandal to me in the Papacy), should all be in vain? I was also a serious monk, lived demurely and chastely, I would not have taken a penny without my prior's knowledge, I prayed diligently day and night. So do many Jews, Turks and Papists, they are very serious about their worship. Well, who believes that it should be lost? That I should say: The twenty years, because I was in the monastery, are gone and lost. I came to the monastery for the salvation and blessedness of my soul and for the health of my body, and yet I thought I knew God the Father very well, and it would be God's will that I keep the rule and be obedient to the abbot, that would please God, and that would be to know the Father and the Father's will.
92. But the Lord Christ says here the antithesis, saying, If ye know me not, neither know ye the Father. Therefore let us learn what we ought to learn. It is a great, great challenge to doctrine and faith, that one should remain with Christ and not teach anything higher, nor hear anything else, than what comes and flows from the mouth of the Lord Christ. And even if God Himself spoke to me, even if all the angels spoke to me, as Muenzer praised that God spoke to him, in this matter concerning my salvation I did not want to hear a word, and I wanted to shed my ears with lead. Otherwise, in other worldly matters, I would gladly believe, but in this matter I did not want to believe.
believe the voice of God, 1) even if it were to sound with drums and pipes; for I have decided that I will believe nothing, nor hear anything, except Christ alone; I will not consider all the other things to be the voice of God; for God has decided that he will speak to no man except through Christ alone. Therefore, for the sake of doctrine, no angel shall appear to me, neither Gabriel nor Michael, and preach, for they are not God, nor the Holy Spirit; but I have the word of God, who has commanded me to believe in Christ, and to be baptized. For Christ's blood is shed for me; outward things do not bring me my salvation. If they told me whether a war would come, I would believe it; for if it came, it would come; if not, it would remain. But for the sake of doctrine, one should stay with the man Christ, for God will not make a new Christ for us, nor will he speak to anyone, except with the voice and speech of this man Christ; through Christ he will speak to us.
The spirits of the wicked say that the Holy Spirit has given it to them; item, God has told it to them Himself; but say thou: The devil told you, I don't want to hear it, I don't want to know about any other God, even in this matter concerning salvation and eternal life; and say without hesitation: This is the wretched devil. You say, "The Holy Spirit has told me, this is the way to live, this is the way to do, this is the way to be saved. No, say, "It is not true that one must be saved by Christ alone, and by no one else; I have God's word and baptism, heaven is open to me, through Christ God wants to speak to me; what Christ commanded the apostles and the apostles commanded the church, that is to be accepted. Christ has called me to be baptized, to take the sacrament, to believe the gospel, to preach. Therefore, for the sake of doctrine, one should not look at any mouth and believe, but only at the man's mouth, and not listen to the fluttering spirits; there is only one doctor, who is called Christ.
94) Secondly, one should not only [not] follow other teachings, but also not one's own teachings.
1) i.e., claiming to be God's voice.
believe. For every one will feel that the devil will come with thoughts which you will think as if they were divine thoughts; as if those who come in despair, affliction, or in devotion would live contemplatively; [so] that what they do is presumptuous or hopeful. [If thou art distressed or alarmed, do not do so. 1) But say thou, I believe it not [that these are divine thoughts]. Go down into the man's word, and leave off these thoughts, even as thou hast left off the doctrine which is without Christ, and say to thy thoughts, Thou art not God, nor the Holy Ghost, nor his word. If you have such thoughts that want to drive you to despair, and it seems as if our Lord God is frightening me, then say: Stop, let us go to the judge, and stand before the court, and hear what Christ says; how does he speak to the hopeful, or to sinners and the sick? He says [Matth. 11, 28.]: Venite ad me omnes, qui laboratis et onerati estis, et ego reficiam vos. Then to the proud scribes he says [John 9:41], "If ye were blind, ye would have no sin." Item [Joh. 15, 22.]: If you say that you have no sin, you will die in your sins. Thus he punishes the hopeful saints, saying [Luc. 14:11], "They that exalt themselves shall be abased." Item: I am hostile to hopeful sinners, and count them great sinners.
So the false doctrine and the devil's thoughts would fall out if one were frightened with the thoughts of presumption or despair and unbelief; but few people know this art; and when these thoughts occur to one, they come so that all men must say that these thoughts are spoken by God Himself, and that they are not human thoughts or the devil's thoughts, but God's and of a good angel. If a man thus concludes, he is gone and lost; for he must despair.
1) We have not been able to extract a suitable meaning from the words as they are found in Walch and in the Erlanger, and have therefore added the bracketed words. The preceding also seems to us to need improvement, and would read something like this: "as, that those who are in despair or affliction, come into devotion, they would like to live contemplatively" 2c.
feln. Therefore let such a one know that he does not know God; but let him cast himself about, and hear what Christ says, and judge, and conclude with the afflicted and affrighted, or with the secure and proud. To the afflicted he saith [Matt. 11:28.], "Come, ye that labor 2c., and I will refresh you." But unto the proud he saith, Trollet yourselves from me, ye proud.
Then I can judge and conclude that the thought was wrong and of the devil; therefore one must run to the man, Christ, and with the doctrine, faith, hearts and thoughts of his mouth bind ourselves and let us hang, and shut our eyes; otherwise you will not avoid the snares and nets of the devil. Unless you do this to him, when something of the sermon, of the word of God, or of your thoughts occurs to you, that you say: I do not want to know anything, except the word of God and the voice of Christ; I will go to Christ, see and hear; what he says, that I will accept. So you could escape from the devil and be safe from him, if you keep Christ before your eyes; but if you lose sight of him, that's it. Otherwise you should close your eyes, ears and heart, and believe only what he says.
97 St. Anthony saw at one time that the world was full of cords, and they were being laid one after another; then he sighed deeply and said, "Who will escape from all the cords? Then was he answered: He who is humble. This is darkly spoken, if it were spoken by God. It is too weak, for the world is full of snares, not only full of carnal sins, but full of misbelief, despair and other vices. But he cannot get rid of the devil, nor escape from him, who does not know Christ. Therefore say, I know nothing but Christ; I alone will hear what he saith; then all cords must break. But if I want to have humility, I will fall on my works, become a monk; they humble themselves before the people. As for a barefoot monk, he humbles himself before men, even before God, and yet makes of himself a rogue; but if I say to him, Thou art a rogue, he becomes angry, mad and foolish.
98 Therefore, it is a dark word "de-
If he meant it that way, he meant that one should only despair. But it is not enough to do as Judas did. But if you let go of your humility, hold on and trust in the one man Christ, that will do it. Therefore it is to be done; as he says [v. 19], "If ye know me, ye know the Father also." Do not start from behind, nor from above, that you would know the Father beforehand; it will come to nothing; but so do to him, close your eyes, and say, I know nothing of God nor of the Father, I come hither then, and hear what Christ says. For whatever else is preached or thought of outside this man's word, however high it may be and whatever it may be, is not the Father, but remains blindness, error, and the devil himself. "If ye knew me, ye knew the Father: but if ye know me not, neither know ye of the Father: for the Father hath said that he will be known by the Son. And takes us out of all high schools, out of all wise men's law, out of all holy men's lives, out of all religions, faiths and doctrines, out of monastery caps and plates, and says: Whoever wants to know who I, God the Father, am, let him hear Christ the Son.
This is our Christian teaching. We do not want to know it from the pope, nor learn it, nor let our necks be covered, if he wants to lead us to heaven; for he does not know the Father; we do not want his faith, it is the Turkish, Jewish and papist faith almost one thing. But say: Teach me to know Christ beforehand, and lead me to the man; if the man has said it, if it is his word, if it comes from his mouth, then I will accept it, and I will kiss your feet, and I will do you even more honor. But if thou wilt put it out of my sight, I will not hear thee; yea, I will let thee trample under foot. And if thou wilt preach thy deeds unto me alone, then will I not kiss thy hands and feet, but smear thy mouth full of filth. Your life and doctrine shall be founded and established on Christ's word and doctrine, that it proceed out of the man's mouth and word. I am to be baptized and believe in Christ,
then I will be blessed by his death and bloodshed. So I believe and live; all this comes from the man's mouth, and not from the pope's, the Turk's or the Jew's mouth.
(100) After this we love one another, and judge our profession and offices; all this proceedeth out of the mouth of man. Then I know whom I hear and whom I follow. Then God says, "When you hear the man Christ, you hear me; and when you have heard me, what you do afterward in your state and profession is fine and right, for my Son has so ordered and commanded. This is what he says: "If you knew me." As if he should say, Ye know not what else he wills, or how he is minded; but by me ye shall know, who am sent unto you, who am to preach unto you. If ye receive me, and hear me, and cleave unto my mouth, ye shall learn all things. But if ye turn aside, and say, as the Jews say, Where is thy father? then be it known that ye know not the father, because ye hear the pope, and the Turk, and the monk. Then it is said: If ye will not hear me, neither know ye me nor the Father, neither know ye of God nor of Christ; for he came to tell us.
For this reason, everything must be done so that Christ is known, and a Christian knows nothing of God without Christ, and what else is necessary for his salvation, and otherwise closes his eyes to all preachers and thoughts and says: I hear no preacher, nor do I accept any thought; if they come to me, I drop them again: I hear Christ, what he says to me. Against all the others I stop my ears and say, "It is all idle talk; wash to and fro, I do not hear it; but bring me this man's thoughts and sayings, and I will hear you; the rest may be tumbled away. This is the conclusion of the sermon before the God box at Jerusalem. And now they also want to know who he is; before they were with the Father. Let us now leave this in order, and save it until another time.
The sixth sermon.
On the 28th day [of October [1531]. 1)
From the previous sermon we learned how the Lord answered the Jews when they asked, "Where is your Father?" that he would not let them go on fluttering about with their thoughts and going astray, and that he would turn them around and say, "He who wants to know the Father will not come to this, for he has me; in short, I will not let you go about with your thoughts; he who does not know me does not know the Father either. He will not let them climb around to seek the Father with their thoughts, but hits the track, will not let them be led out, wants them to hear the oral word. Whoever does not want to hear, learn and believe this, shall never have anything. Follows in the text:
V. 20. And no one took hold of him, for his hour had not yet come.
103 He says that the Lord was so bold and audacious that he could preach it before the chief priests, even in the temple at Jerusalem, when they ruled and wanted to kill him, but were not allowed to. If he had preached it in the wilderness or secretly to good friends, it would not have been a great wonder; but that he should preach it here, in the temple at Jerusalem, in the capital, where the Pharisees and scribes ruled, that was a great boldness; especially that he should preach that he was Lux mundi, and that apart from him all was darkness; item, subject to the devil and death.
(104) Now to say such things, and so to reproach themselves with them, hath hurt them, and is very grievous unto them, that he should condemn and curse them, and destroy all their things, the temple, and the law, and all the service of God, which was in Judaism. They should have torn him to pieces with their teeth, and they would have gladly done it, but they must let it be, nevertheless they suffer and hear that their thing with the temple and the law is nothing. Let him who is bold go to Rome and do it.
1) In the original margin.
But they did not grab him.
With this John shows that our Lord holds God above His word, and above His preachers, although the world is sorry for them, as long as it pleases Him, until the hour comes; but if the hour is not here, let them be put there with a peg and set in defiance, that they may harm Him. Here Christ preaches in the temple, and God says: "Silence, you scribes, and let him be satisfied. This is what God can do, and proves that he will and can do it, and save his own from all misfortune.
V. 21. I go away, and you will seek me.
This is a terrible sermon, and a shameful valete, which is horrible; and you can see that the man was serious, who preached with great diligence and faithfulness. But one may shout to the death, and if one would take a thousand mouths to it and use them as one pleases, the world is deaf and does not hear, it is all in vain. But if the world does not want to hear, let it be condemned; who can help it? God sends His Son to the Jews, who preached so diligently in this city of Jerusalem; and John the Baptist also preached: yet the Jews would not hear them, but persecuted them, and slew them, and would not have them; therefore they are cheaply condemned. So now we also preach, but no preaching helps; the world does not want to hear, it wants to know and not believe. But for the sake of the elect, and those who hear and think to be saved, one must preach and say it. Let the spirits of the wicked and others hear what the Lord prophesies here: "I will go away, and you will seek me.
In the seventh chapter, v. 33, he also said: "I am still with you a little while, you will look for me and will not find me. These are excellent words, and we have also dealt with them above [Cap. 7, § 154 ff]. He wants to say: I am going away to the Father; I have been here, and have preached my word, and offered to all what the Father has commanded me, namely, eternal life, forgiveness of sins, and salvation from death and eternal damnation; I am a preacher among you.
and I have told you. If ye will not, therefore, tarry; I will go away; tarry as ye are, and I will tarry as I am.
But this is terrible when he goes away, for he takes with him eternal life and blessedness, and all that God wants to give to His own, and leaves behind him death, the devil, sin and all misfortune. This can now be seen in the Jews, who missed this sermon and killed the comforting preachers that God sent them. There is not one among them who could tell how to live or what to do, for Christ has departed. Among the Turks also it is gone; there is none among them that could say how one should live, that one might be saved. As in the papacy, he is also gone; there is not one who could save a soul. Just as our red spirits and the Anabaptists cannot learn it either. Thus, with our great ingratitude and contempt for the divine word, we are also on the way; and when the little group is gone that now sighs, has desire and love for the gospel, and the kernel is peeled away, then there will also be preachers who will not be able to preserve, teach, or comfort one soul. It is frightening when he says, "I am going away." For when he departs, the knowledge of God, the understanding of baptism and the Lord's Supper, that one does not know what God is, what life, righteousness and blessedness are, or how one should be freed from sin and death, departs with him. Everything goes away with it, and becomes worse, or ever as bad, as it was before.
109] This is more grievous, that he saith, Ye shall seek me, and shall not find. Yes, that one should seek him and not find him is strange; for he is so merciful and gracious, and promises [Matt. 7:7, 8], "He that seeketh shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you"; how then should one not find him and come upon him if he sought him? It is quite contrary to one another that he should say, "Ye shall seek me, and shall not find." It is a miserable bargain and a wretched thing when he goes away, that one seeks him, and has a desire for him, and one would gladly have him, but yet one cannot find him, or one will not get him. One can in the
Holy Scripture preach nothing more abominable. He says, "Now that I am here, and I offer it to you, and you have the fair at your door, you will not have me, crucify me, and thrust me out of the city; but when I come away, you will dig me out of the earth a hundred cubits deep, but you will not find me a hair's breadth.
Now "to seek Christ" is to seek help, grace, life, comfort, salvation, blessedness, redemption from death, sin, the devil and hell, to want to have Christ as a redeemer, yes, to seek all that Christ is, and that is why he came into the world. And now the Jews seek him. For how they fast, pray, read, preach, give, and do, and strive exceedingly hard, seeking how they may be saved; but all such labor shall be in vain and lost. This is terrible, that this great effort before God, with all its services, should be completely lost. He does not say, "I will go away, and you will seek the devil, do evil deeds, and lead a life of whoredom and wickedness. No; but ye shall begin to obtain that which I am, with excellent works; but all labor and toil shall be lost.
We have seen this in the Jews, and also in the papacy. I have been a monk, and have watched at night, fasted, prayed, and chastised and tortured my body, so that we kept obedience and lived chastely; more of these have been found among priests, nuns and monks. I am talking about the pious and righteous monks, who were serious in the world, and not about the whores and boys, who were stuck in the lewd, loose life, but who made it sour for them, as [I] did for me, and toiled and toiled, wanting to attain what is Christ, so that they would be blessed. What have they done with it? Have they found him? Christ says: You will be stuck in your sin and die. That is what they have obtained.
(112) This is a terrible judgment, to throw such great labor and works away, and that he says, "When I go away, run, give, build, establish whatever you want, even fast to death; know that it is all in vain. We see it also in the re
Anabaptists. We could not muster such obedience among ourselves, nor have such devotion, nor let ourselves cost and confess so much, nor cling so hard to our preachers, as the Anabaptists do, and have faith in their 1) [preachers]. They leave their wives and children, money, property, house and farm, abandon everything, and act as if they were insane and mad. The sacrament lovers also do everything so stiff-necked, and are thus firm, because it is said: You are looking for me. But nothing comes of it. They say, "You will not find me." The pope also works and searches for what I, Christ, am, but he will not find it.
Now God has given His grace that every village and town has the gospel and its own pastors, and they have it for free; one may not give them [that is, the preachers] much, but if one could now let the preachers die of hunger, one would do it. Citizens, peasants and the nobility help faithfully; they do not want to have the gospel anymore. Now Christ says: "I am going away"; if you do not want me, I will provide you with other preachers and pastors who will serve for you. So also, when we shall have died, you will one day want to get a pious preacher in Rome, and will find none; yes, one will want to dig those ten cubits deep out of the earth, and carry them over one's back, whom one now cannot stand, and does not like to give them a piece of bread; since a nobleman, a citizen and a farmer exercises his courage, one will then run after him, seek him, want to give him gladly, work beyond all measure, but find no one. I have often said it, and I will say it again, so that you will not forget it. This city of Wittenberg has given more than a thousand guilders annually to the monks, without what has been given to the priests. There is no village so poor that 2) one to the other, would not have given five, six, eight or ten florins to the monks and priests. Item, what did it cost to keep the mass and to go on pilgrimage to St. Jacob. That was all Christ sought, but he was gone.
1) Erlanger: hers.
2) Erlanger: da.
(114) Now Christ is still present, but the nobles say, "What do I ask? if there were no more preachers, I know that one can be saved and justified through Christ; I do not need a preacher, I know how to be saved and call upon Christ. Well, you will see how useful and necessary a preacher will be. It will be said, "You will seek me" 2c. If he alone said, "I go away," that would still be to suffer; but he does not say, "I go away, and ye shall have rest and be satisfied;" but he adds, that when he is gone, we first of all begin to seek him. This is the most fearful thing: when the gospel is gone, seeking follows; and when the present dear teachers and world are gone, pastors will come who will afflict them a hundred times more, whom they will obey and follow even with great works and expense, but it will be in vain.
Now they will not have their blessedness and life in vain, since the Son of God says, "It cost me my own body, life, blood and death; if you do not want me to buy you with my death and bloodshed, go and buy the devil for a hundred thousand guilders, so that he may preach. Because thou wilt not have life given thee in vain, go and buy death; and whosoever will not inherit heaven by me, let him obtain and have hell with hellish fire and great torment by money. That is right then. How can God do otherwise? They have wept and lamented; their lamenting and weeping may be over; always go to the devil. That is to say, to prepare many ways, and to do many works, to handle great works, which shall help you to eternal life, and that you may seek me; but it will come to nothing. And speaks on it:
You will die in your sins.
(116) Ye shall die in your sins, and must die: it is an abomination that many seek, and find ways of life, and die. For here it is foretold, that he saith, Ye shall abide in your sins, and die, and not find me. If there remain not
Christ's word, but it is taken away, then great holiness will begin, and such works will be done, which have a semblance of holiness and delicious life; but the delicious life will create so much that you will not want to put away one sin with it, or come out of death, but will be deeper in death and be. You may well believe this, and so take it for that. It is the truth.
The Jews and the Turks say: Do you think that God is such a cruel tyrant that he should push such a bunch of people away from him and let them die? 1) We seek Christ, want to be saved, are baptized, live chastely, are blameless according to the outward nature; the nature shall redeem us from sins, make us blessed, and lead us to heaven. But the text says: No; and the man, Christ, does not deny. The one man esteems his word so great that he takes so many people in one mouthful, and does not take into account so many hundreds of thousands of Turks, Jews, papists, and red spirits, making himself useless, speaking of them in few words, saying, "You are like chaff, but my word is as a rock. So he makes himself great against so many mighty people who do not recognize him. For the word is mighty and powerful; he that will not believe it may know how true it is, what I say.
118. He that will not know Christ, let him go; he [Christ] also shall say one day, Thou also thinkest that the world and the spirits of the wicked are greater than my word; but I say no to this. This is hopefully preached, that he says, "I go away, and ye shall seek me, but shall not find me, and shall die in your sins." These are simple words, but they apply to the world past, present, and future, that it is all in the word, "Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me, and shall die in your sins"; there are great, excellent, and many people from the world's beginning beaten to it. It is spoken lightly, and they are esteemed as a speck is against a great fire, and as a droplet is against the sea, or as a penny is against the earth.
1) Added by us.
I want to be a small stick against the sun or against a big mountain.
(119) But the world turneth back, and thinketh, Who art thou, Christ? thou art a little speck or a little rod; but we Jews are a great nation. The whole tribe of the Gentiles, the Turks and the Jews, should not the multitude be as much as the Christians? Shall we not be as much as thou Christ that preachest? He who believes has it; he who does not believe will know it; item, he who believes in Christ will have eternal life. For if otherwise Christ is gone, it is determined that there is only judgment. Now, apart from faith in Christ, great services, great endowments, and great works take place; many more excellent, learned men become monks, and greater things are accomplished in them that fall away from Christ than Christians themselves do; so that they will seek the man, Christ, but will not find him apart from faith, but will remain in judgment, and the least sin, or a vain word, cannot blot out.
This is what Christ says here, that not one sin, yours or another's, shall reconcile them, but they shall die in their sins, and not escape eternal death and destruction. Who has been allowed to preach this in the papacy and say that a Carthusian cannot make atonement for sin with his great works? Yes, they not only sold their works, but also did more, and shared their other works with others. But Christ here abolishes all these brotherhoods, and says that they cannot and shall not make reconciliation for one sin, yours or another's, nor save for a moment from death, but all shall be condemned.
This is a twofold punishment, and it is right that one should be tortured and tormented here on earth with hard and yet futile holiness, so that the devil's martyrs torture themselves with it, and then have to be the devil's for eternity. For we will not accept the Lord Christ with thanksgiving and a glad heart, so that we may live peacefully and be holy and blessed: so then we have trouble with the holy life, so that we torture ourselves to death, when otherwise we could walk along in peace, so that each one in his own position does what he has to do.
But it does not help, and the dove is sung a song, and must then have the eternal, hellish fire in addition to the physical plague. A monk has hurt him in the monastery, but when he dies, he is damned here and there.
Where I go, you cannot come.
You will seek me and seek to go where I am going, but you cannot come, for the door is closed, all you undertake is rejected, your chosen works are worthless; you may live as holy as you want, but it will not help at all.
This is a terrible and horrible sermon, but the world has an art for it; it has put on an adamantine head, and has a fervent and stony heart, and is blinded and obdurate, and does not hear all this, saying: Where has Christ gone? Well, he is delivered from this temporal and mortal life, from death and all misfortunes and concerns, and brought from sin into righteousness, from hell into heaven, and led from damnation into eternal life, and brought from all evil into all good, and now sits at the right hand of his heavenly Father. The Jews will also strive and want to go there and seek Christ, but they will not be able to get there. That is too harsh. The pope should banish this gospel of John. For he cannot suffer it to be said to him, that it is impossible for a man to attain eternal life by good works, and to enter heaven. But they do not believe it, but insist on their good works, so that they themselves not only want to be saved by them, but they also want to have superior works, which they sell to the world, so that they also become saved by them.
Against this Christ says not only that it is difficult, but also that it is impossible. Therefore beware of flesh and blood, of unbelief, and of the spirits of the wicked; and let every man diligently know Christ, and hear the preaching of the gospel, and receive Christ. But he sees little of them doing so; therefore he must have such thunderbolts, that he may break the hearts, yea, the whole world and people. The Jews had the temple, and the great God's temple.
This was not a joke, and it had a great testimony from the Scriptures. Therefore, if you hold it against one another that the toil and labor, since they have served God day and night, and have also studied and worked themselves to pieces, should not only be in vain, but also be impossible that one might be saved by it, who would not be frightened by this? And to whom it has been a serious matter in the ministry, as we have been in it, it seems strange that all our great work should be in vain, since we have so run, donated and given, and everything should be called a lost and impossible thing.
But it is true that one is lost if God has not come to one's aid in the end, and if one has not died believing in Christ. I believe that many people in the monasteries and elsewhere have believed and taken hold of Christ, and have come to say: Oh my dear Lord Jesus Christ, you are my Savior; and have despaired of their holy life and good works; so that much has been obtained for them. And it was a good way to hold up a wooden crucifix to the dying, or to put it in their hands, so that they could remember and be comforted by the suffering and death of Christ; but the others, who insisted on their good works and were proud, went to such a heaven where it hisses and burns, because they were drawn away from Christ, and did not imagine that they should live through his death and suffering. Then the text became true, that it is not possible for them to come where he is.
V.22. Then said the Jews, Will he kill himself?
To such an earnest sermon belongs such an answer. The whole world, including heaven and earth, should be terrified, trembling and pitying at these words, 1) that it is said here that when the Lord Christ is gone, it is certain that everything else will be lost. Christ is gone, it is certain that everything else will be lost. At least men, unreasonable animals and the earth should tremble at this. But they throw against it the
1) i.e. earthquake.
They still open their mouths and mock our Lord Christ in their noses. It still goes on like this with the dear God to this day: if one still tells the papists, Jews, Turks and the world, then they whistle at us, also say, as these do: Where does he want to go? Egg, how scornful and pointed are these boys at such frightful words, that Christ says, "Ye shall die in your sins"; item, "Whither I go, ye cannot come." O, they say, who knows where he will go. It is just as if we were to say to our peasants, "You should not be so stingy, and so steal;" that is a ridiculous sermon to them; or if we were to punish the squires and the scoundrels, they would throw it all to the winds, just as they do here, saying, "Where is he going? does he want to kill himself?
Augustine mocks the Jews and says: "They have spoken it out of mockery, they have not spoken it out of seriousness. For it is no art to kill oneself; the way would be to hit it; and alas! too many hit it. But it is spoken and answered scornfully and mockingly, and is thus: How far is it to grace, or where is the way to heaven, where he wants to go? we also want to come there. So bitterly and poisonously have they mocked him in his teeth. It belongs to this, that if one preaches most vehemently and faithfully, Christ with his faithful servants must neither deserve nor have thanks.
It is the same for us: When we warn the pope and say: Beware, beware, it will rain dirt, it is ridiculous and mocking to them. If one threatens the nobility, burghers and peasants with God's Zom, they say: Can one preach nothing else, but of the law? Well, if we wanted to have good days, we would only preach that all their things were right, they would gladly listen to us; but if we preach to them about God's urging, they say that they want to be ruled; they insist and defy, they turn a deaf ear to it. Well, dear brothers and nobles, see who defies and deceives the others; see what the Turk and the Pabst achieve with his mockery. I will live to see, or others after me, that the burghers, peasants and noblemen with their pointed words shall gain that which the
The lace shall be so dull to thee, that neither skin nor hair shall remain of thee. Let them mock you forever, and say to a rich builder, prince or pope, "What is this fool preaching to us? Shall we do what he wills? We want to get to heaven as easily as he does; we also know the way to heaven. Yes, on cushions, and since the way is paved with silk, they want to roll up, yes, a hundred years earlier come to heaven, than their pastors and preachers. The pope wants to get to heaven before we do.
But the Jews have learned it; where are they now? Christ tells them: "You will die in your sins. They also knew at that time where he was going, and could answer him pointedly enough, and stick out their tongues. I mean, the point fei become blunt and broken; for the Jews are scattered throughout the world, and Jerusalem to ashes and even ruined, they are the most miserable people in the world. What have the Jews earned and gained, since they mocked the prophets? But it did not help. So it is now, it is lost; the harsher one punishes, and more vehement one preaches and exhorts, the more proud the people become.
I have often thought that I would like to stop preaching, because the people become harder, more pointed and more poisonous every day, they think that they want to penetrate and seize them by force, they go, they are proud and defiant. Now go, you shall meet it. Dear brother, drink so that you spit, and that your throat cracks, yes, your belly, body and life crack, you will not deceive Christ. Cato speaks: Non me doctorem, sed te deceperis ipsum. It applies a good point or redoubt. O it is a bad thing, they say, where is he going? So they have mocked and jeered one against another. But Christ is seated at the right hand of his heavenly Father, and his kingdom endures forever; but they are destroyed, they have flown away, they have mocked, and can no longer speak pointed theides.
V. 23. I am from above.
It is ridiculously spoken, but answered quite kindly; I could not answer so amicably. Well, he looks further, to another place, and does not take on her pointed speeches.
The seventh sermon.
Saturday after the 21st Sunday [after] Trinity [Nov. 4, 1531]. 1)
132 Our next sermon was how the Lord said to the Jews that he would go away and they would seek him, but they would not come to where he was going, and they would answer, "Will he kill himself? Well, that was a mocking answer which they gave to such an earnest sermon, when he said, "Ye shall seek me, and die in your sins." It is easy to say that they should remain in their sins and in death, and it is simple to look at it; but it is spoken in such a horrible and frightening way that it could not be more horrible that one should remain in sins and death. Item, so one could not answer more ridiculous and scornful, than that they say, "Will he kill himself?" But so it shall be, when one preaches to the world, warns it, and holds up to it the prophecy of God that [it] will go evil for it, they say: God will protect us from preaching and forewarning, for there is no need. If one preaches, they laugh; if one promises, they do not believe and do not care. Christ could not preach higher here, so they throw it around and say, "Oh, there is no sin here, nor death: Will he kill himself? We say and warn, dear lords, dear people, princes, bishops, believe the gospel, be pious, our Lord God will strike, and send pestilence or war, also let heretics and false doctrine come; so they say, Let come who would have money enough to count; hell is not so hot as you make it. Such an answer has also been given to the Lord Christ. Whether such an answer also happens to us is no wonder; it need not hurt. Those who have done this and mocked the Lord Christ have experienced what they have gained from it, and those who still mock will also experience it later. But they shall not believe it, till they know it, and their faith come into their hand, and they swim in blood: then shall they seek counsel and help, but there shall be no counsel, it shall not help.
1) In the original margin.
You are from below.
He comforts himself and wants to say: Even if I preach sweet or sour, sharp or bitter, it is of no use, you do not ask for it. It does not add up; you are from below, and I come down from God above, and tell you the truth, but you despise it. Now so be it. You are born evil by nature, so mock enough, are wantonly even full, whore and bubet, rob and steal; you shall find it. There will be a reckoning one day, when I and you will also be there; you are boys, and you will remain so.
(134) These words Christ alone saith, and he that is a Christian saith also thus, I am from above. He who is to preach in the world, and make others godly, and is persecuted, that he must say: Where shall I go? let him say, This alone is my defiance and arrogance, that I am sent from God, item, my ministry also is from God; but ye speak and do no otherwise, but as ye are born of the earth, where men do not decide kindly with one another, and Christ and his own also get along here. But it would be better, and it would also be better, if Christ would present himself in a friendly way, saying: I am your preacher, you are my disciples; and that they would say: We want to hear you. But he saith, We will part one from another: for ye will always pass with your lives and reason, as ye have it in mind.
So the pope, the monks and bishops also want to pass through, as they have it in mind, and say: The gospel does not do it. But the Lord Christ speaks here: Well, you do not want it, and want to remain on earth, yet you will not be able to overthrow what I preach, I will remain well before you, me, Christ, and the gospel you shall let remain; let see who bangs the other. "Ye are from beneath," and I am not of the world, but from GOD and above. These words separate us finely, as summer and winter, and gives one short leave to the other. He offers them heaven and eternal life; if they do not want it, he threatens them with death, sin and hellish fire.
and give it to them. But they answered him so scornfully and pointedly, gave him such an impolite, poisonous answer, that I myself said: "Go on, it's all the same to me, let's see who it's regret, and who deceives the other; you are of the world, and I am not. It is true that we will soon see it, and even if it turns out to be true, it will still be found. So the Lord Christ separates Himself from His supposed disciples, and from the people, who are then terrified, and says, "You are here, and I am here; and when it comes to pass, I have said unto you, Ye shall die in your sins." This is the conclusion of the same sermon. Now a new sermon begins, that the Lord speaks:
V. 24. If you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.
136 And John the Evangelist says that they have not understood this word, that he has touched the preaching of the Father. He speaks so vehemently, so defiantly, that he cannot say it enough, that he says: "You must believe that I am from the Father, or you will die. It is a hopeful word that he says: I am the man, it is all up to me; where I am not, there is nothing; and you shall know to whom you have thus ridiculously and mockingly answered and touched. I do not want to die much, nor to kill, but to be undied. The pointed words annoyed him, and the Lord Christ was secretly angry, saying, "Do you want to know who I am? I am God, and even with one another; do what you will; if you do not believe that I am God, you are nothing, and must die in your sins. So no prophet, apostle or evangelist may preach and say, Believe in God, and believe also in me that I am God; or if you do not, all is lost with you.
The Jews could say: "Do you think that there is not another who can save from death and sin than you, that we should believe in you? do you think that we must die if we do not believe in you? as if there were no God besides you. To whom does it belong that people are saved from sins, death and hell, but to God? And you
saying that you are the same God 2c.? Then saith the Lord Christ, I am he that am: if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. Otherwise, if you seek God to and fro, there is no life but with me alone; therefore, if you do not abide here, you are in death.
This is preached in the most violent way to the pointed, mocking words they give him in answer, that he says: I will tell you who I am, and that you must believe in me, or none of you will remain alive forever. These words they must rub together and eat into themselves, so that he says: "If you will not have life from me and be saved from sins through me, you are dead. Now Christ is God, that is what John preaches about him, because no other creature can say it. The word is too high, neither can the angel Gabriel say it, that he may speak: It is I, but must say: I am sent to you by God. Item, he says: I stand before God and serve Him [Luc. 1, 19.]. But the Lord Christ says: You must not only say that I am sent, but that I am. What does it mean: I am? That is: I will be, and I shall be, I am, and it is up to me? Your law, Moses and worship, Sabbath 2c. is nothing against me; but I am it, it is all in me; I am not only an apostle, prophet, messenger and emissary; but I am it, the essence of all things is in me. To these high words belongs faith.
139. With these words Christ recently refers to Moses, the worship in the temple, altar, sacrifice, priests, monks, mass, organ and casel, and whatever holiness and wisdom there may be on earth, and says: The wisdom, power and authority of the world are nothing; and though we have all the things that were to be had in Jerusalem in the city and in the temple, when men lived according to the law of Moses, or that men do what the world can do with all its powers, yet all these things are nothing; they are all of the devil and of death; there is no life, righteousness or salvation to be obtained, except by me. That means to throw away in a moment everything that means: He who does not believe in me, that I am he; for with me it is written-.
life and death, sin and righteousness, God and devil, heaven and hell. With this he throws everything under Christ, and separates from each other what is of holiness and wisdom in this life, from the Lord Christ, and says: We must have something else than the law of Moses and our good works, and says: "I am it. But the Jews are truly displeased that he exalts himself so excellently. Before he scornfully rejected them; but now he saith, It is all in me. And [there] shall be no God, and nothing else shall help me [i.e., a man] in the world, unless I believe in him. Then they say: Will"?
V. 25. Who are you?
(140) They are very vexed that no God should help where He is not, he [i.e., this God] being called what he wills; and they answer again, "Who then art thou?" It is spoken very pointedly, as if they were speaking: Awe yes, it should be true? Who are you, dear Squire JEsus? Where do you come from? Are you not from Nazareth? born of Mary and Joseph. A 1) holy corpse! What a high man you are! Tell us, if you only say that you are, you are, then we will know that you are.
But the Lord Christ sums it up, and gives them a secret, hidden answer. And it is also a right answer to them: for they did not know at that time that he speaks of God the Father; he preaches that he is truly God, and says: "It seems ridiculous to you that I should say who I am; as follows:
And JEsus said, First of all he that I speak with you.
They should know that he is from the Father and is truly God; so he says, "Do you ask who I am? I say unto you, First of all, he that talketh with you." He will not do them the honor of saying who he is. For neither shall it be said to the Jews, nor to the sharp-witted, when they try to comprehend, to imagine, to understand, and to know God, and what God is, with their subtle thoughts; there shall be nothing.
1) Shouldn't it perhaps read "egg"?
He does not want to be known by reason, but only by his word. No one should have anything to do with our Lord God by mere thoughts, for that is certainly the devil, and so are all the spirits of the wicked. A Carthusian paints God off him, whom he loves in his hairy garment; a barefoot man thinks that he loves his rope. But you will not notice God there. For, as he saith here, If thou wilt know who he is, I have said, I am the first that speaketh unto you. But so you will not seize me, I will be uncaptured.
143. He saith, "I am first of all he that speaketh unto you." These words also have an em- pliasin: I am not only your Creator, but also your preacher; ye shall be satisfied that I am your preacher; I am come and sent unto you according to the promises in the prophets, to preach unto you; the same am I. Now if ye will hearken unto my preaching, and hear me, ye shall know who I am: but if ye will not hear me, ye shall not know; if ye have heard me, ye have known me. But they say, Where is your father? and who are you? He will not let them flutter with their thoughts apart from the divine word, but they must first hear him and grasp his word; for apart from and without the word they shall know nothing, and shall not know the Father. He says: It is I, it is all up to me, you will not know God and the Father, nor will you have them, unless you hear my word.
(144) Therefore he says, "I urge you to stay with the word; if you fall away from the word, the devil will come and make such beautiful, lovely ways and thoughts as the Anabaptists and all the enthusiasts have. But it is vain error and blindness. For they seize and take hold of our Lord God with their conceit and thoughts. It is said, "You shall know nothing of God, nor know Him, unless you first hear this man and accept his preaching; then you will learn finely by this man's word that God the Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world, who died for you. He therefore that is received into the word, and abideth in the word, is he-
and know Christ rightly; but he who falls from the word is lost. Recently he will say this much: You shall not know who I am, unless it is a matter that you recognize me for your preacher; for I am your preacher. I have the command and the office to preach unto you. I have said unto you, If ye hear me not, ye shall die in your sins: but if ye believe on me, ye shall have eternal life. Keep to these words, let what I tell you be true; then you will know who I am when you grasp my words and believe what I tell you, that I am your preacher; then the Holy Spirit will come through my words and teach you. Otherwise you will mock me and say: Grace Jesus, 1) dear Jesus, have mercy on us! we want to meet and find God without you. But he wants to say: You will be missing. That is, I am who I am, and you will die in your sins where you do not believe in me. Enough has been said that you know who I am. Now that you continue to ask who I am, I say, I am your preacher. If you will not hear me, let it be; I must be heard, or you are of the devil.
So we preachers can also say. Not that we speak: It is I; but to say who Christ is, and how our preaching is to be believed. If any man will not do this, let him not do it. And say further, If ye believe not what we preach unto you, ye shall die in your sins. No one believes in me, but in Christ, whom we preach, one must believe. Therefore we can also endure the defiance and anger, and say, "You who are so pointed, [hear,] we are preachers, and preach from him who says, 'It is I.' I cannot say of myself, If ye believe not on me, ye shall die: but I preach of him that said thus unto the Jews; me ye shall not hear, nor know. If ye will not hear him, depart.
V. 26. I have much to say and judge about you, but he who sent me is true.
1) "Grace" here stands for: gracious, as in "grace junker".
146. He comforts himself against this great wickedness, saying, I have much to say, to preach, and to judge of you, and must preach many a great sermon, and speak of great things, and judge. It is a secret answer, which he gives to the reproaches, that he may comfort himself of his office; as if I said, Christ is sent, and a preacher cometh among a great people, which hath a great privilege; which hath God renowned in the holy scriptures, and a divine service established by Moses and the prophets, confirmed also by miracles; and yet he will overthrow all these things. As if he were saying, "How will I destroy you? I will destroy and overthrow everything; I have power to overthrow and cast away everything; I will overthrow many things, cause displeasure, and put away not only the doves and the merchants before the church, but also the temple, sacrifices, sanctuary, priests, kings, princes, and even Moses himself, and all that you have, and judge and condemn them.
147 So the Lord Christ makes them the more angry with their mocking, that they may become the more thirsty and defiant, saying, "I will preach that neither Jerusalem, nor some wall, nor one stone upon another, nor some sticks, shall remain anything in all. So I will preach with you scoffers, that my preaching shall be called much and great things done. And I also think that he has done it: he has preached himself through his apostles that not one stone, not one hair, not one little stick remains of the city of Jerusalem, of the priesthood, of the kings, of the kingdom, of the service, of the temple and of the people. Although this service was gloriously confirmed, and God gave great people to it, as Eliam, Jeremiah, Isaiah and other prophets more, and pardoned them with great miracles, that this people only had a very great advantage, and they also praised it highly, and the Jews boasted about it very much, it has nevertheless decayed. Therefore Christ says: "I will preach in such a way that these pieces will not remain.
So I say also to the pope: O what have I still to preach and to speak, that the pope with his triple crown, and the cardinals and bishops, priests and monks,
so follow him, with the princes, Mainz, Heinz, Duke Georgen, everything should go down to the devil in the abyss of hell. I will not only preach this and stick to the word, but I will also judge. What do I ask for your contempt and mockery? Nevertheless, you shall not shut my mouth; it shall not remain as you have it in mind, but you shall fail and fall to the ground. I will not, saith the Lord Christ, turn away from the fact that the temple, the prophets, and the government are at Jerusalem, and that ye therefore have a goodly kingdom; but if ye believe not, then will I preach of you, judge, and be judged, that your glory, honor, and service shall all be overthrown.
They could not believe this, it was impossible for them. So it still goes on; only that Christ has an advantage, and says, "It is I." We do not say the same, as he speaks; but we only say: We are your preachers, therefore your mass, indulgences, purgatory, and the other charms of the pope shall all perish. That is what we say, that is what we judge, but they mock us. Go ahead, laugh freely; Christ answers:
He who sent me is true, and what I have heard from him I speak before the world.
It had no appearance and was ridiculous that poor Jesus submitted to such preaching. As it is still ridiculous to this day that such great kings, the Turk and so many learned people should humble themselves against the Gospel and fall for the word of God; it is mocking. But it is said, "He that sent me is true." That is the seal, so Christ presses on it and comforts himself with it. So we can also say, "Well, dear pope, bishops, citizens and peasants, we have preached to you and judged you, we have much to say about you, let us not afflict you in vain; what does it matter? it is the truth, it shall nevertheless be done, and no one will be able to prevent it. For he that sent me, the Father, he hath spoken it, he hath given me his word; I will see whether he that is above shall become a liar against you. I take comfort in this.
and insist upon it; if ye be angry, and despise the preaching as ye will, mock, and let us mourn: but if ye give no heed, it shall come to pass, though it were a sorrow to you all: I will see whether he that sent me will become a liar, or ye.
151. So I also say. Be it angry pope, bishop or emperor, let us see what they will do; what can they do? Let us see if they will make a liar of him who sent us. But let him remain to me; ye are burghers or peasants, yea, princes and ruffians in all the devils' names. And say, He that will not laugh, let him laugh; let him see, he that sent us, the Father, is true. We say, there is no harm, mock, smile, despise, scoff, make yourselves useless enough; you will not make God a liar. The time will come when you will laugh no more; we know that it is God's word. It is shameful for us, we have to suffer their mocking, smiling and scoffing. When someone sees this, he would say, "Let the devil preach, I will let the preaching have heartache; but we gain nothing from it, because they only mock us, and leave a forum against it. If one is very proud, they will strike a cliff against it. But say thou: Dear pabst and scornful mocker, he that sent me is no liar; what matter, it shall come into thy hand what we say! For he that gave us the word, and besouled us, is true. But there they will not inquire until GOD comes, and they lie over a heap. Then they will cry out; but GOD will say, I said this before and warned, but it did not help [Proverbs 1:28]. May God protect us, we pray, so that we do not become such mockers and have to experience God's wrath.
Now, when we preach God's word, and God comforts us, He is despised, but they will know it too. And I can say: I came in God's name and comforted you, but you despised it, so now you may suffer in the devil's name. He will not lie, I know him so well; so he will not let my word and sermon become lies. He is faithful, honest and true.
What he has in mind he will do, and no one will look at it, I know. Because he hath called me to preach, he will not let me be put to shame: it is his word, and he hath sent me; he will not let me be a liar, or else I should be left in heaven: but now he hath commanded me his word, and hath sent me; therefore he will keep his word, and will do according to the word.
V. 27. But they did not hear that he told them about the Father.
They were mad and foolish, they hear that he is truly the Son of God, sent by the Father as a man to preach to them; but what he preaches and says, that the Son is sent by the Father, they have not understood, it is unacceptable to them, they despise it. So Christ the Lord, and John the Evangelist also, comfort themselves that they have not understood.
So, even though I preach and shout, I must also ultimately conclude, "They do not hear," and ask nothing about it. But shall one stop preaching for that reason? No, let them go and say, "If you will make God a liar, and overthrow the word of God, and snatch away Christ, I will gladly be overthrown with him, and afterward fall and be lost. I have been baptized into Christ and called to the gospel through him; if the bishops are now so strong that they tear Christ away and he must fall, then I will gladly fall with Christ into the abyss of hell and perish with him, and the devil may remain on earth. We will gladly go with him [Christ], even if he leads to hell. But if Christ go to heaven, we will go with him: and the Father hath not said that he should go into the pit of hell: but Christ saith, If ye believe not that I am the Lord which sit in heaven, ye shall all die and fall. Then let us see if they will overthrow him there; but he will remain there, for the Father is true. So let us not be vexed and offended, because now they put their heads together, and the whole world rages against us; it is harmful.
not. Defy one another until judgment comes. It is a candelabra of beer, it shall come to pass, and eternal life shall be given to the Christians, as the Father has promised them, and eternal death and damnation shall come to the wicked at home, as they have been threatened. Now the world would gladly make this word false, so that Christ would have to become a liar; but they will not be able to do it. Let this be done; let him who does not want to accept it, let him do so. It is said: "They heard nothing of all this.
The eighth sermon.
Saturday after the 22nd (or 23rd) Sunday after Trinity [Nov. 11 (or 18), 1531]. 1)
155. we have heard how the Lord said to the Jews [vv. 26, 27], "I have many things to say and to judge concerning you; but he that sent me is true. And they heard it not that he told them of the^ Father." And what this text intends has also been acted, namely, that he prophesies and reaches in, that he wants to push all Judaism and worship to the ground, that he has much to judge, and will have to do much differently, to order and confirm. This applies to the whole worship and kingdom of the Jews. But it is a great thing that a single person should not be afraid to overthrow such great, excellent things, which had stood for so long, and were instituted by God Himself; for Moses had instituted the priestly office, and the kingdom, by God's command. But Christ speaks here: If they will not believe in him, he will strike them with his fists, and even drive them into their boots, and knock everything to the ground.
For the judgment must go: He that believeth not in me is damned and lost, as high as he will. Therefore let Moses and the prophets, and other your teachers and masters go, otherwise I will let many a judgment go over you 2c. Now, it is a great thing for which a single person is a terror and a fear.
1) In the original in the margin, but there the "29th" Sunday after Trinity, which cannot exist. The previous sermon was preached on November 4, the following one on Nov. 25, from which our time determination results.
horror should have. For Christ comforts himself with this and says: Nevertheless it must be true and happen, and I must cause this noise and destruction, because "the Father who sent me is true", my Father will not lie; because what I speak, I do not speak from myself; the Father has told me, therefore I also speak thus. We can also say the same thing when everything wants to become dull and despondent, that we say, "It is God's word that what will not stand should fall, and what will not stay should always go; there is nothing to it. It is a great thing that for the sake of the young man this Jewish kingdom and the service of God, which was so wonderfully established and ordered, should fall to the ground. St. Paul was also deeply concerned about the downfall of the Jewish people, and yet he had to say, as the Lord Christ says here: "The word is true, or all things must come to ruin; for he who sent me and commanded me to preach will not lie.
157 Thus, he even speaks of the great distress and terror, yes, of the great change of the kingdom and of the Jewish people. It is very frightening; but it cannot be otherwise, that has recently been decided. If one does not believe, he will be lost; for, says the Lord Christ, he who sent me, and of whom I have heard, and who also told me to preach, does not deny. So now also they say, If the pope fall, Germany shall perish, go to ruins and fail; what can I do about it? I cannot preserve it; what is the fault? Well, they say, if Luther had not come and had not preached, the papacy would still be standing on good legs, and there would be good peace. I can't help that. They also said to Rome: Because St. Peter and Paul have come to this city, everything goes to ruin; otherwise, when we worshipped the idols before, we were fine. This cry is still going on, so that people say: If the gospel had not been preached, it would never have happened like this, but everything would have remained peaceful. Nay, journeyman, it shall be better still, for Christ saith, I have yet more to speak and to judge. The cause is that you should let this preaching go, or you should not
keep one stick, neither shall one stone be left upon another. And say, This word have I not devised; it is the Father's word: if ye will not believe it, and suffer the word, but continue in your own nature, and carry it away, I will see whether the word of God shall perish, or whether ye shall win, or whether God shall win: nevertheless I must preach it, and not hold my peace; and I must run and tread the barriers, and watch you both. So they ran against each other.
V. 28. Then Jesus said to them: When ye shall have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he.
This sermon is directed, that he saith unto them, If ye believe not on me, ye shall perish, and die in sins: it is determined. And I will make the judgment more broad, saith he, and will do so unto you, and act so much, that ye shall see that it is I; I will judge you, and have pronounced a great true judgment upon you. But ye shall not know me; ye must first exalt me, that is, hang me on the gallows, and crucify me, that is, exalt me; upon the cross ye shall smite me, and see that I am another man than he that walketh upon the earth.
They understood this well, for otherwise the Lord also said above: "When you exalt the Son of Man, then I will draw all after me [John 3:14, 12:32]. They have heard that Christ should abide forever, and yet be strangled in the air on the wood; and here he says, "If the Son of man be lifted up, ye shall know that it is I." This is strangely spoken; he threatened them that he would tear them apart, and if they did not believe in him, they would die in their sins; but now he says, you will not know me, because I was lifted up, died and perished before. As if he should say that by his death he should overcome all things, that is, the devil, sin and death, and also all righteousness, wisdom, power and all good things; item, all evil on earth should be put under his feet, and he should become a Lord over it. And therefore the Holy Spirit could not be given
He would have overcome it in his own body, and before that he would have achieved victory. For on the cross the highest power, the greatest wisdom, holiness, riches and strength, indeed everything that was high in the world, was laid against him. Item, our own sin, the law, death, the devil, Moses with all his people, everything rebels against the man, everything good and evil is laid against him, as sin, death, the devil and hell; and these must first be drowned in his blood, caught and overcome. Death attacked him, sin also attacked him as the worst offender on earth; but death could not devour him, for he rose again from the dead. Sin also seized him, but it could not overcome him. So all the great lords and prelates set themselves against him, but they could not obtain [victory against] him; he rose again from the dead on the third day. Therefore saith the Lord Christ, Ye believe not now, but I must shortly come into my kingdom, and first enter into my government. I am but a preacher, a single man, and am in the preaching ministry; but when I have done this, that I am come out of the preaching ministry, and am delivered from the service which I have had to perform and conduct in this flesh and blood, then afterward ye shall hear me from heaven with miraculous signs, and see me, and know that I am the man.
(160) Otherwise it is so in the world, that he who dislikes and despises what is small, dislikes what is great. They would not believe in Christ when he performed great miraculous signs; that was the wisdom of God; so they had to believe in him when he was crucified. They did not want to believe, since he was presented to them in the highest wisdom; afterwards they must accept him, since he was presented to them in the highest foolishness. God becomes even foolish and says: Now believe in him. At first Christ let himself be seen as a preacher, he went about simple-mindedly, and proved himself with great miracles; but they would not have him; after that they had to believe in Christ crucified.
161 Thus the papists did not want John Hus; now they hear something else. Item, now they do not want to suffer a hundred books, so
we write, who are full of wisdom and godliness; afterwards they will gladly want to read a sheet full, or that they might have a letter from our writings, and will not get it. Therefore he says, "Nothing will come of it while I am here; I must pass through and overcome everything, and become the Lord of them all. When I come through death into my kingdom, I will make it known that I am the Lord, and I will send the Holy Spirit, and strengthen the church, and perform miraculous signs; and then I shall be known and preached in all the world; and ye shall not hinder it. And if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall perish and die in your sins.
He does not say this of his humanity, but indicates that he is also truly God, as John the Evangelist indicates, saying: "They did not understand him to speak of the Father, that is, that he was God and sent by the Father. 2c. But I have often said that when Christ says that they cannot live, but must all die, who do not believe in him, that good heed should be paid to this, because it is indicated that he is God. For it would be impossible for him not to be God, because the work shows it; the work praises the Master. For to save from death is not the work of man, nor the work of some angel, nor the work of any creature, but the work of the Creator alone, who out of nothing makes everything, and out of death makes life, and for sin righteousness, and out of hell makes heaven. Therefore, when he teaches that they must believe in him, accept him to be him, if they want to be preserved or all die, he is certainly God; otherwise it would be a lie, and Moses might well say: You must believe that I am he; believe in me that I am he, or you will die. But Moses nor any prophet says it, but St. Paul says: I am an apostle and I am sent. In contrast, Christ speaks here: Believe not only that I am sent from the Father, but that I myself am sent. Both words indicate it: It is I myself in whom you must believe, or you will die; I am a higher person, I am something more than that I am sent to you in human form.
I am not yet in the flesh, since you can hear and see me, but I am something more, namely also God. This will not yet come in, you will not yet know it, until I have established it, and until I will give the Holy Spirit; you do not yet understand it, because I have not yet taken my kingdom.
But such a sermon does not enter into reason; the Holy Spirit must come, and he must say, This is Christ; for the Holy Spirit testifies of Christ that he is a true God and a natural man; and not only must the preachers testify it, but he must also write it in the hearts of the hearers. For if reason should get into it, it says: It is nothing that he who is born of the Virgin Mary should be a god, but he is only a bad man. It is ridiculous to her. Although the Turks preach Christ very highly, they do not believe that he is God. The papists also praise him with their mouths, but it is nothing. For no one can grasp this article, which says: "Will you not know that I am He?" 2c., unless Christ has first defeated, cut off and subdued the devil, death and the wisdom of the world. And where in a man worldly wisdom and holiness have not first been brought low and suppressed, it is not heard, nor is he recognized. Christ did it once on the cross, but still daily he makes reason fall by the Holy Spirit and the Word. For if I think about him otherwise, and want to understand with my reason that God is born of a woman, man, I soon become a Turk, my faith disappears, and becomes water under my hands; for I think that there is only one God; if I want to make many gods, and God should die, it is not suitable.
164 Therefore it is necessary first of all that he be exalted, that he subdue and put to death sin and death and the devil with all his wisdom, and give us the Holy Spirit, who makes people believe in the word preached by the apostles; this same Holy Spirit teaches them and tells them, so that they may know that I have it; that is, it is such a doctrine that cannot be invented nor grasped by reason, otherwise the Romans and the Apostles would have it.
The Greeks also found it; yes, the papists would also have invented it, but they are hostile to this teaching and consider it a mockery and foolishness. But Christ says: God, "who sent me," has given me the ministry of preaching, and I am he myself; reason does not understand it, but the Holy Spirit belongs to it.
Then you will know that it is I 2c.
It was difficult for them to believe, and even more frightening to think, that for the sake of one man the Jewish kingdom and worship should fall and be destroyed. St. Paul works in this, that he sweats, in his epistles, before he takes this from the Jews. For they had the promise that they were God's people, and children of the prophets, it was all especially God's that they had. And now all this is to be taken from them and destroyed, and they are to be punished with lies, but preach against it that the gospel alone is true. There have been few of you who have believed it, but have said, Jesus to, apostles to. Dearly beloved, ye are yet Gentiles, but we are God's people, and have the worship of God; ye have idols, we have the right worship of God; ye have sects and the poets, but we have the prophets, Moses, the temple, the holy city Jerusalem, the holy land, and are God's people, Abraham's flower 2c. Do you think that our Lord God will overthrow the kingdom and pull you Gentiles out, or the apostles and pull you loose fishermen out? You want to be everything, and we are to be nothing; that is also what he is talking about; it is not believable and to be assumed that such a thing should be God's word or happen from God.
166 So does the pope, and the one from Mainz now: Should we therefore go in, and let all their things be right? We sit in God's stead, in the apostles' chairs; we have baptism, mass, the fathers, concilia, the power of the keys, the teachers of the church. You fool (they say), do you think that all this has to fail, and this is started by little people, by loose fishermen, and they should be believed? Then the papists truly stand up and rely on it like a goat on its horns; then they leave
and say, Ecclesia, ecclesia dixit; who will tear this? It is impossible that anyone should tear this apart. But the Jews stood on it much more firmly, and were much more wicked. He said he would tear them asunder, judge and condemn them, so they say, Let us be undivided and undamned, for we are God's people, Abraham's seed, and we have the prophets and the holy scriptures. So also when we say: You popes, bishops, beware; if your gospel is not right, you will be scattered and torn. Yes, he says, spare us, we are popes, bishops, have the apostles' office, and are the Christian church. When they have beheaded us and shed our blood, let them see that what we have said is true and the word of God. Just as the Jews also saw that it was true when Christ was crucified. For he saith, Then shall ye know it: for now think ye that I speak it out of my own head, and look upon me as a man that speaketh and keepeth it thus unto you to your vexation. But when the Holy Spirit comes, and you lie in ashes, you will say, "We thought it was a dream; but now you see and understand that it is not a fiction or a lie, but it was God's word, and as he said, so it goes.
This is now our consolation; we also speak in the name of God: He who will not believe, let him leave it; he who follows, let him follow; I am excused; if it comes to pass, as we have now preached, then remember us, that we have spoken true. If the pope will bring the divine word and the church to the ground, then God has not spoken it, and we have lied. But if the gospel is true, and God has spoken through us, let them know it. Therefore we shall be satisfied; for there is no doubt about it, that two things they must try, that either what we have said will come true, and that God's word, which we have preached, will remain forever, or we will lie; they must perish, or we will be liars. And after our death they will sing thus: Now we know that it was not the word of man, but of God.
Word, and that God has said it. For I do nothing of myself, says the Lord Christ here, but as the Father has taught me; and you will know that I have not spoken it of myself. Well then, we must leave it at that; we cannot go any further, we have tried enough, and so much has been written and preached to them, nothing has been slackened in pleading and begging; so much blood has been shed, and our teaching confirmed with much suffering; but they will not stop nor believe it until they learn it. Now also they shall know at last, that I do not do the work for myself. This is what he says: You will see.
It is a hopeful, proud and arrogant sermon that Christ should stand out and say that he is the one; and if anyone does not believe that he is the one, all should be lost, regardless of whether it was instituted by God. For God will have me, Christ, alone, in whom to believe; only do not resist, it will not do. So now it is also proudly preached that a Christian must believe in Christ alone if he wants to be saved, and we stand up and say to the pope, bishops and princes: Believe in the preaching of the Gospel, or you are eternally lost and shall all perish. It is proudly preached that I say: If you, King of Bohemia or King of France, do not believe that I am, then be as stiff and proud as you want, and I will condemn you, and you will find out that this word is true, and you will lose everything you have. It means that either you believe with good, because then the Holy Spirit tells you and teaches you, or you must experience it with evil and lose everything.
Our Lord God does not care that you say you sit in the apostles' chairs, or even in the Christian church, but that they hear the Son and believe in him, as it says in the other Psalm, v. 4 ff. For if they do not honor the Son and believe in him, because he speaks what is commanded and commanded by God, he will greet them once so that they will say, "We did not mean it to be true. "He shall smite them in his wrath with an iron
Scepter like pots smash." For it is nothing to him that one is a prince, emperor, king, pope or bishop. If they do not believe Christ, he will tear the pope and the bishops apart.
God help us that we may be sure that it is the truth when it comes to the meeting, since it cannot be otherwise, that Germany will fall into one another like Jerusalem, that we then hold fast by the Holy Spirit, which He will also give us, as He gave it to the apostles, since Jerusalem has fallen and been destroyed. But our Germans do not want to listen now. But will the popes, bishops, princes and emperors once be knocked on the mouth (as it also happened to Jerusalem), that they remember it and say: It has been said to us sufficiently before. For God will have decided it this way: either he loved the Son and believed in him, or he died in sins and became corrupt. We must therefore be certain of this, and say: "I did not speak, dream or do this of myself, but I heard it from the Father. Now if there is war, destruction, devastation and evil, it is their own fault, for we told them beforehand to believe in the Son and accept his word or perish. But after that they say that the guilt is ours and of the gospel, and so they lay the guilt on us. So the Jews also laid it on the apostles. But they will one day learn what we told them before, saying [Ps. 2:11, 12]: Honor the Son, let his gospel be preached to you, and do not rely on your good works, or you will perish.
Whether it be a grievous affliction that such a noise should arise and be made for the sake of the gospel, how shall it be done? It also hurt Paul and the Lord Christ that he wept over it when he looked at Jerusalem; but he says: "The fault is not mine, but yours; you did not want to recognize the time of your visitation [Luc. 19, 41. ff]. Yes, they say, if Christ had not come and preached thus, Jerusalem would not have been destroyed. I know that well. So now they also say, "If I had not taught, the plague would have remained.
outside. Item, if you teach as the pope would have it, the devil would be silent, would not rage and would not rage so, but faith would be lost; then you would have peace, and the devil would laugh when you preach what the pope likes to hear.
But Christ wants to be preached in such a way that people believe in him. If one teaches then, bloodshed and murder come. Do they say: If anyone says, "What is it to you?" and asks me to be silent, say, "I will not; we preach to you about God's grace and good deeds; if you do not want the word of our Lord God, and resist it, our Lord God will strike you on the head, and you will have deserved it. The Jews and Romans have well deserved the punishment; none has yet remained, they have all been beaten who have condemned this Son. For God wants us to believe in Christ, that is His command, and we must act in accordance with it, so that what Christ does and teaches may be observed and followed, or if we do not believe in Him, then we must find out about it and fall to the ground.
The ninth sermon.
Saturday after the 24th Sunday [nachi Trinitatis [November 25, 1531]. 1
By this text, that the Lord Christ said to the Jews, "When ye shall have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that it is I," the Lord means to say that nothing would come of it, because he would preach in the flesh, and stand and walk before the eyes and noses; but it must come to pass that he should be crucified first, and then they would know who he was, though they were torn asunder at it. But it is not otherwise in the world: if the good is there, one does not respect it, but if it is gone, one seeks it: Minuit praesentia famam, et vilescunt quotidiana. So Christ also says: "I see that my preaching is of no value while I am alive, I am of no use; therefore it is best that I should be crucified. When I am gone, then you will look for me, and then you will know that nothing has been done by me, but I preach as I was told by the
1) In the original margin.
Father commanded and taught me, for he who sent me is with me.
According to reason it is true that God is the greatest fool of all fools, that he does his work with the word and with preaching, and that he refrains from leading the people with preaching, for reason is immediately opposed to the word and to preaching. If only they felt it, they would be different; if only he would strike as the world does. But because the fist is not there, the tongue will do nothing. Now they mock him, because he will do it with his tongue; therefore it serves him right: the world quickly throws in its fists and steps in with its feet. Now Christ wants to make men godly, preaches well, and uses his tongue, but he does nothing; and it serves him right, why does he not attack it differently? If I were our Lord God, I would do it with my fist. I would advise him to throw his hand in; although he does it sometimes, especially with tyrants. He does not need to be taught or mastered, but now he has sent Christ and wants him to preach, warn, and tell them what to do or not to do; if not, he will find counsel. Yes, he is wiser than I. Otherwise, if I had been present and had given him advice, I would have wiped it with my fist and force and would have said, "What is the use of your preaching? The more you say, the less happens; they only laugh and mock at you. But if you struck them with your fist, they would feel it.
But he does not follow the advice and says, "I will take hold of it with my fist, it should be unjoking, I cannot do as the mad reason does, which throws in quickly, I do not want to take them by surprise or hurry; but he preaches to them, warns them, and lets them know beforehand. He knows well that he has a strong, heavy hand, and that his arm has such strength and power that he soon throws down a kingdom; therefore he will not use his power, but first preaches and says, "Convert, hear me. But when he speaks and it does not come to us, his tongue and word are despised, as reason despises everything, then he has
He has two rights to punish us; one is that he strikes with his fist; the other is that he warned us with the word beforehand, and we did not take it seriously.
This is one reason why he magnifies his preaching so much; but it will not help until the Lord Christ is crucified, then the Jews will be in a heap. So we also know that Christ will strike in three, throwing pope and bishops over one heap; but while we are preaching now, it is ridiculous. If we say: You are stingy, unchaste; ei, what a ridiculous thing it is. The words do nothing to me, they say; that is why I do not see the fist or a thunderclap, but only hear the bad words, which do nothing to me for a long time. But God lets the words precede, after which he also says: "Then you will know that I do nothing of myself" 2c.
177 This is the other thing he says: You will know that it is not I, but God who has preached and done these things, and that the punishment will finally come, and will not remain outside. He comforts himself with this speech, because he sees that it is despised, and the world says, "Oh, if I had money to count so long before the punishment comes, someone might become unhappy, and say to anyone who hears this, "Now the devil is preaching to you; if you thus despise these great things, God may also punish you and throw you away. It hurts when they are so sure, and think they have a "reason and argument" for themselves, that they sit tight, and someone may think, "Perhaps my sermon is lost. Then someone must comfort himself and say, "Even if the whole world does not believe, and would still sit so firmly and surely, what does it matter, sit firmly, hold firmly, it will still work out that way. If it does not work out that way, I will gladly be a liar and become a prisoner; but you will see that it will work out that way.
178 Therefore the sermon is of great importance. The world despises it and says of preaching, "It is a matter of judgment," and has always resisted preaching. But now he has neither sword nor fist; therefore he comforts himself, saying, "That I preach, create, make, speak, and do this, I do it because of the Father who commanded me.
He will not let me go, for no one else knows why he says this. It looks like cold words, but he says it to comfort and strengthen himself. Nevertheless, it must happen this way. He sees further than we do, and we must follow him, what objecta and circumstantias he has, and why he speaks thus, namely, against the Jewish people, who were so bound up with the kingdom and priesthood that they could not rebel against it. In spite of the fact that you would have said that this kingdom or priesthood is of the devil. Just as if someone preached today and said that the Christian church must go to ruin, I myself would take sword, wood, straw and fire and burn such a one. I would kill such a one myself, and sanctify myself in his blood. If anyone should say, "The Christian church is nothing; it is perishing," it is my imagination that it should remain and not fall. If anyone says that the church is wrong and must fall, and I know the contradiction, I take the sword from the scabbard and the arrow from the quiver, and I strike and shoot him dead, and I have consecrated my hands in the blood of this shalk.
It was also difficult that the man, Christ, should say: You Jews must worship me, and if you do not hear me, you will perish. This was an unmistakable, unpleasant sermon to the Jews, that their priesthood, established by God, and their kingdom, ordered by God, should perish because of the man, that they did not worship him. Therefore he says: You must judge everything there, and either hear me, or go to ruin. They thought, the song is started too high, he will not sing it out. Then he said, "One of these things must happen: either you must hear me or perish, and you will know that God speaks these things.
Now he praises his preaching that it is right and pleases our Lord God, saying, "You will know and experience that when I am crucified and rise again from the dead, then I will teach you that my words and my preaching are the right truth. Now you do not believe it, but I will teach you later with my fist, I do nothing of myself.
and I know well that this sermon is not wrong. Even if on earth the kingdom, priesthood, or whatever else it may be, is against it, yet my speech and preaching is right and pleases God. Therefore he defies his father and says: "I tell you, if you do not believe in me, you will all perish. This I speak not of myself, neither have I devised it out of my heart: but the Father saith it, he hath taught me, and commanded me to speak thus: and he that sent me is with me, and not with you: therefore beware.
This is strongly preached, and at that time it went very much to the hearts of the people. We do not see it now as it was then, it seems to us now to be a cold thing; therefore the words do not go so to our hearts that he says: My word is from God, and I preach as he has taught me. If I had spoken in this way, I would have lost a thousand necks; nevertheless, someone must say it. This is the way it is with us now, too: It can take a wheel off the wagon and frighten you that the pope and his people boast that they are the Christian church. The word sancta ecclesia frightens one; then they stand up and say: Preach and do what you want, and as you can, nevertheless here is ecclesia christiana. Here is the ship of St. Peter, which may wobble on the sea, but it shall not sink and drown; we are the right people of God, the Christian church, what will you do? Whoever preaches against it is of the devil. What should I do? And how should I console myself? If someone were to poke me under the eyes and hold up the glorious name of the Christian church in front of my nose, I would not stay there myself. Before I would anger the Christian church and speak a word against it, I would rather lose ten necks over it and be dead ten times over.
Nevertheless, I must do as the Lord Christ does here, preaching against those who are called God's kingdom and God's priesthood, and must take upon himself a great work, that he must preach against those who boast that they are God's people, saying in short: Either you Jews hear my word, or you are not God's people, for God has not given his people to me.
not so founded as you think that all those who have the kingdom and priesthood must be his people; not all of you are Abraham's seed, born of Abraham. You may have a kingdom and priesthood that is ordered and established by God, but you are not all God's children. God created an apple, the Elbe, an item, a tree; they are all creatures, but for that reason they cannot go to heaven and be saved. And even though you have the priesthood, the law, the temporal and spiritual kingdoms, you are not God's people. You are indeed God's people, but externally; just as the river Elbe and the earth of our Lord are God's creatures, so you are also his people. You are the physical kingdom and people of God, but if you will not hear me, then the kingdom and priesthood shall perish, and only those who hear my word shall have and keep them.
183] So also they say against us, The Christian church is under the papacy, and the people of God and the pope sit within; but no, saith Christ, let my speech go, and be obedient unto me, and hear me only; and if ye be senseless, mad, and foolish about it. Yea, ye sit in government, have a kingdom and priesthood, and an office, and are the church, as the Jews were; but so it shall be, that where this doctrine of Christ is not, neither is it accepted, there is not the people of God. I must leave them the glory, and I will not take it from them. They have baptism, the sacrament, the name of the Christian church, the Lord's Prayer, faith, the gospel, the item of God, Christ and the Holy Scriptures, and have everything with us, sitting in the ministry; just as Christ could not cast down the Levites. But there I separate them, and with that I cast them down, and pass through, that Christ says, Either the priesthood is lost, or the gospel believed, and obeyed it. So it is also said to the pope and his bishops who say: We are God's people. You say: There I ask nothing; ye shall obey the gospel, if not, go to destruction; ye may obey the gospel, or be all lost, plates and priests; as it is said here
the Jews, too. This is the opinion of it: You popes, bishops and priests, if you want to be and remain the Christian church, hear the gospel. So he must speak to them.
I am not talking about myself. I have not made it up that I speak thus. You shall believe in me, or all your things will come to naught. This teaching is ridiculous to you, you will crucify me; but go ahead, nevertheless we want to talk to each other. You will know that I did not speak it, but he who sent me. So he comforts himself, that he may be sure and certain that his word is the word of our Lord God. Although it is a great thing that Christ weeps over Jerusalem, and grieves greatly that it should perish; so also it is a great thing that we should presume to preach that the pope and bishops should keep the divine word, or they shall all perish and perish. This is ridiculous to them, and is called vain heresy, and must be called preaching against the Christian church; but if any of them should perish, it is better that they perish than that our preaching and word perish, for we are sure that we preach as his word teaches, and as his word reads.
On the other hand, he himself is there. I know that it is not only his word that I speak and that it is the truth that you will go down to failure, but he will also press on. I know that the word shall be followed by the fist, that it must go as I preach, that you shall perish; for he is there and helps, that it must go as I preach. The work follows the words; as God is in the way, so it happens. The world thinks I will perish, but I shall remain; and they want to remain, but they must perish.
This is how it has been from the beginning. The word of God does not attack chanterelles, sponges or water bladders, but kingdoms, great kings and nations on earth, as the other Psalm, v. 2, says. For what is great and mighty in the earth is set against Christ, so his word attacks no small thing. But it is a ridiculous, miserable sermon, that it should lie down.
against all authority, wisdom and holiness, principality, emperorship and priesthood, which it wants to have; the gospel has to do with the emperorship of Assyria, Babylon. Through Jeremiah Babylon perished; afterwards Rome was destroyed by St. Paul's preaching; through the Lord Christ Jerusalem perished; now the pope also perishes when we preach; the gospel takes much in one bite. But this is ridiculous and strange, that it attacks in words alone; it is laughed at that he says, "If ye exalt me, ye shall know that I am." If they throb and defy for a long time, they still perish.
But we must have the consolation that if emperors, kings, princes, popes, and bishops fall in a heap, and the kingdoms lie one upon another, we shall not be dismayed. When they say, What good is come of it? then say thou: That Babylon, Jerusalem, Rome, Germany, and the papacy fall in one heap, that is good; for they would not have the gospel, nor believe it. So he says, "If you do not believe in me, perish. Now that they cry out, there is nothing in it. The Jews cry out against the apostles, the Romans cry out against the Christians. St. Augustine, in the book de civitate Dei, has enough to write against and to create that Christ was born among the Jews and not among the Gentiles; and the Romans complained, after the gospel had been preached in Rome by St. Paul and Peter, and had been made Christians, that it was now worse with them than before, when they were Gentiles and idolaters. Then he answered that it was not the fault of the gospel, but their fault that they would not accept the gospel. Therefore let them cry out as they will; it is said to them. Before, when they had the word, they would not believe it; but believe it now, when Christ is crucified and lifted up, and when the stones are laid in heaps. The Romans also would not believe while the apostles were present; but they had to believe afterward, since Rome lay in a heap, and was disturbed by the Goths and the Turners 1). Well, God has preached it, but
1) i.e. the Vandals.
they asked nothing about it. So now emperor, king and pope do not believe either, until they lie over a heap. And it does not hurt, although war, rebellion, and that it all falls in heaps; why do you not believe in me? therefore go to ruin. Pabst, emperor, let me tell you; if not, you will perish. And even if we go along (as Christ was crucified and exalted; item, one drives out the pious preachers, and one sheds innocent blood, burns the Christians), it does not hurt, that is all "exalted"; after that they shall well know it.
Now this is what you are supposed to learn. I myself also learn from what I teach you. If we could come to the point where we did not doubt that Christ was our Savior, sent by God, and our righteousness, and let that be certain, and look no further in the accident than the word of God, then we could always say: It is the word of God, I have preached it, I take comfort in it. I have taught forgiveness of sin, and advised peace, love, and unity; now if any harm comes of it, it is your fault, and not of the teaching. But they will cry out, Before this preaching came we had a good time; as the Jews also lamented and cried out at the preaching of Jeremiah the prophet, and the Jews else cried out, O if the gospel and Christ had not come, Jerusalem would still be standing. And this would certainly be true; if Christ had not come, it would still be standing. So, if Peter and Paul had not come, Rome would still be standing, but because they have come, the kingdoms fall into one another. But Christ says: The Father is with me, and not with you; we have indeed preached to you, but whatever misfortune befalls you now, you blame it all on the gospel, you lay it on the neck of the gospel, but it is your fault, because you do not want the gospel, crucify and exalt me, and persecute me over it. Now you excuse yourselves as if you were innocent, saying, Yes, if it had not been for the gospel; and it is all the gospel's fault. If Christ had not governed the consciences, you would have governed them well; he would not have comforted the poor consciences, you alone would have consoled them.
You wanted to serve God alone, and to preserve, defend, protect and protect the right service of God; if he now also wants to rule, you do not want to suffer it. So now you also have this to reward: Cry out, cry out, and he will take you away all the same. And now we also say to the papists: God lets you cry out, and yet He sweeps you away. It will happen to you as it happened to the Jews. He also made the Jews, Rome and Babylon cry out, but He still overthrew them. The Father is with me, he will not lie, he will stand by me.
All in all, they are all words of comfort and consolation, so that he consoles himself and his people. He takes pity that such a glorious people should perish, and says: "God's mercy, what have I preached! This people, kingdom and priesthood is perishing; that is a great annoyance; but I must make a difference. I know that everything I do is pleasing to God. This word is set against all the trouble, and against that which they cry out. He says: I ask nothing of it, I am not alone, my sermon is not my poem. If I knew that the word and the preaching were mine and not God's, I would not take the whole world to stand up and preach; and whoever believes me for my service and honor, or for my sake, the wretched devil thanks him. Christ says: "I am not alone", and I should also say so. For if I were alone, my cause would be nothing. For I must say, I do not speak this of myself, for otherwise I would be a liar. But this I know, that what I preach, the Father hath given me, and it is his word and doctrine; there it is. If I can say this, then I say, "Now let the whole world fall into one another and burn with fire, and bloodshed will follow, or whatever, what do I ask? The Lord is God, and to our Lord God the world shall be obedient, and he can strike when it deserves it and does not want to obey him. God is with me, and not with them. And let them cry out for it: O great sorrow! I ask nothing of it.
190 Therefore Christ praises those who magnify his word, because he knows that this word is more important than the whole world.
world. It is a great glory that he can come here and say, "My doctrine is so great, and is such a thing, and has so much to do with it, that the whole world is nothing against it; my doctrine is right. On the other hand, the world says, "Our kingdom, our armor, our horses, our horses, our servants, our chariots and our walls are such a great thing that the preaching of the gospel is nothing and filthy. And according to reason, the preaching of the divine word has a low standing compared to kings and princes. But again, what is a prince and emperor, indeed the whole world, heaven and earth, and all creatures, compared to the Word? They are dirt. For, saith Christ, who is with me, and calleth me to preach, he is greater than all these. This poor Jesus speaks in the temple, and God takes care of his little word, and has such great respect for his mouth and his word that he esteems it greater than the whole world; indeed, he despises the whole world above it. He has his word preached from the mouth of the Lord Christ in Jerusalem, and has made the word of God so great that he has torn apart all Judaism over it, and Jerusalem lies in ashes. And God still has His eyes fixed on this man's mouth, that He considers everything against it as nothing. What is Jerusalem, Rome and all great kingdoms against the Word? It is nothing, and esteemed as dirt. But who would believe that so great a thing should be attached to the word, that the whole Roman empire is as nothing against the word? But our adversaries say that all we preach is nothing; St. Paul's doctrine is as a small stick against the Roman Empire; therefore the Romans did not respect such beggar's preaching at all. And today we are also despised in the same way.
But if our gospel of Christ and of our Lord God is the word of God, then our Lord God will say, "I am more interested in the word than in the whole papacy or empire. And if we are sure of this, then the papacy, the empire and the Turkish empire will be no different to us than a poppy leaf, even though they regard us as little. That is our defiance. There is no need before our Lord God, who does not ask much about the kings, popes and
Bishops; he has other princes and lords in heaven. One angel can do more than ten Turkish emperors or popes; they are like gnats, fleas and lice against the angels; but this is the greatest, to believe his word and to keep it.
192 But thus says the Lord Christ, "I know that everything I preach will come to pass, I trust in it, and it is pleasing to God; therefore, if the whole world beats it, ask nothing of it, how great a kingdom it may be. Therefore let us be sure that the doctrine is right and the word of God, then we can defy it and say: Let him who wants to laugh laugh; let him who wants to be angry be angry. Whether it be flesh and blood, the world, my sin, or the devil my mortal enemy, I ask nothing of it; I will see who will harm us; the man whose word we preach is with us, and we know that our preaching pleases God.
The tenth sermon.
Saturday after Andreä l2. Dec. 1531] 1)
193 The fact that the Lord said to the Jews: "The Father does not leave me alone, because I do what pleases him" was a very high sermon. For it was to bring down the whole Jewish kingdom and priesthood to the ground, so that the whole land and city of Jerusalem would also perish. That was a high sermon. Therefore he consoles himself that it is not he who does it, but it is another who does it, namely, the word of God. And he speaks further:
V. 29, 30: The Father does not leave me alone, for I always do what pleases him. When he spoke these things, many believed in him.
194 As if to say: What I have preached, that shall and must go, and what I do and undertake. In spite of that one would refuse. It is simple talk, with bad words, but it is hopeful and defiant enough that he may say, "What I do, say and preach is valid and has been done. On the other hand, one must say: "If your doing and preaching alone are valid, then we are dead and lost. It speaks Chri-
1) In the original margin.
stus: It will go like this, whoever does not want to hear me and follow me, what I say, create and order, let him know that his thing does not please God, because God is with me, otherwise I beggar should not appear and preach so high. For it is a great thing for a beggar to stand up (as he has been) and say, What I preach is done; what I do not preach is not done; and what I will and do, all must follow, or be damned. Whoever does not want as I want, and believe my word, and follow what I create, let him know and have knowledge that he is lost, and that God has rejected him, and is an enemy to him. Now this is a great enemy, and it would be better to let him be a friend, and do what he says, and forbid what he forbids, and believe what he preaches.
195. Thus says the Lord Christ: All that I do is pleasing to God; and you should know that whoever is against me is against God and attacks God, and whoever is against God has God for an enemy, but what he gains he may have and grease his shoes with it. So many kingdoms have gone against God, but what have they gained? they are all in the mud. And so it goes now. They do not want to hear Christ, and everyone is against the man; it should be nothing what he says and does, otherwise the world wants to please God, and not have what he has decreed; but Christ says: What I do and preach pleases God. "I am not alone" 2c. This we will look upon with faint faith, what ye do, and what ye are, who now oppose, saying, What we do is pleasing to GOD, and it is done. Well, we will leave them together, we will say: It was the fellows who said, What we do, that shall be; where are they now? they have become ashes and powder, and God has kept the field.
So Christ says here: I do always until the last day what pleases God; my word, preaching, baptism, sacrament shall remain, and. Despite 2c. He has put it out in better words than I can put it out. That is why the evangelist says, "Many people believed in him." For they thought that he spoke so powerfully, just as if
he would have God in his hands, and hear his preaching. These are the same fellows who think, "When he comes up and becomes a lord, we will join him, he will do it, we will become his officials and chancellors.
V. 31, 32. Then said Jesus unto the Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my sayings, then are ye my true disciples, and ye shall know the truth.
197 This is an evil thing, that he saith unto them which began to believe, saying, We will abide with thee, and add unto it, and risk life and limb; and looketh upon them with squinting eyes, and saith, Yea, if ye were in earnest, and that it were true that ye believed on me; but it looketh upon me, as though ye would not so abide. And lift up, and preach a sermon of the false and true disciples of the divine word, saying, Many hear the gospel, and abide in it, because it profiteth them to have money, and goods, and honour of it; yea. Dear, who would not like that? Say therefore, "If ye abide in my speech and doctrine, ye are my true disciples." For I have two kinds of disciples: the first believe on me, boast, and hear the gospel, saying, This is the right truth; and I count them great excellent Christians; but it is in abiding. Then there are others who hear it; but when it comes to the meeting, they say: I know not my soul, shall I leave this and that for the gospel's sake? There are few of these who persevere in the cross and persecution; where are they found who persevere? Then saith the Lord Christ, If ye continue in my doctrine, then are ye my true disciples. If my doctrine pleases you, you are well taught, and you know all things; if you abide by the doctrine in the cross and suffering, you are my disciples. But my doctrine is not of this kind, that one should begin to believe alone, and boast much of the gospel; and I also believe it, that it is soon begun; but where do you find those who remain and persevere, that one should endure it, and think: "Well, it is with me, as God wills: if I am not well, then I shall be ill;
If I am not rich, I remain poor; if I die or live, I remain with Christ.
198 But one would gladly believe in Christ, if one could thereby become Lord and obtain a kingdom; but if one is to suffer something over it, it is over and done with faith. Therefore he says, "Truly you will not abide in my doctrine. It seldom happens that one sticks to his doctrine, especially when a sour wind blows. Many become Christians, and hold fast to the gospel in the beginning; but afterward they fall away again, and go away as good fellows. Just as the parable of the Gospel tells of the seed that fell on a rock, and when the sun shone hot on it, it withered and withered away. [But those who remain with the gospel are true disciples; the others are false Christians and false brethren.
If you abide in my speech, you are my true disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.
(199) Then he goes from other thoughts, for otherwise they would think that he would bring great glory to the world and give great honor and riches to everyone, so that they would all be great princes and divide the world among themselves. But he says: You will know the truth, that is, he will truly redeem you. As if he wanted to say: You have thoughts, as if he wanted to lead you into a bodily kingdom, where you will float high above; but your mind and thoughts are not right, it is not the truth, it is only a larva and a loud carnival play; but I wanted to lead you well into a kingdom and being, where truth is inside, and where the right being is. He wants to drive them, that they do not go after the outward life, that they become kings, princes and great lords on earth, but that they become great lords, right kings and mighty princes in heaven, because he says here: "If you learn to abide in me, the same truth will set you free.
200 He stirred up their thoughts. For they were immediately imprisoned under the Romans, and were evil afflicted by them, and had no
They all lamented that they would have liked to be free and have their own king. But now he says, "If you want to be free and have your own king, and be free and free from all bondage and imprisonment, believe in the Son. My kingdom is not the kingdom of the world, neither is my kingdom the kingdom of Caesar, but a kingdom of truth, the right kingdom, where one should live rightly inwardly. This is a different life from this temporal life, where the truth will set you all right. But not so that you may not give bullets, interest and rent. Just as the peasants would like it even today, so that they may not suffer nor be obedient to anyone, and that no prince nor emperor, no count nor lord may be, and that the servants may be lords, and that a maid may become a wife, and a subject may be a prince; so you Jews would like it also. So now he wants to say here: I do not preach now about a worldly kingdom, I let them all remain; if they are tyrants, let them remain so, and let them answer for it; if they torture and devour their poor people, what is it to me, they will have to suffer punishment for it. But I will lead you into a kingdom where you will be truly free, kings, princes and lords. This will happen if you abide by my word and believe my sermon, and it is certain that it will be easy for you to become a king; but you must believe the word.
This is ridiculous, that I should be lord over the pope, over the emperor and king and all princes. By what? By believing in Christ alone. For here he says, "He who believes my word knows the truth and will be set free and become my disciple. The word may seem ridiculous to reason, and must be wrong in the eyes of the world, but it is true. Christ will have his kingdom, and it must remain; the king and his people must remain. Whether they suffer the same in the world, it does no harm, for our life is not to be here, but there in that world, and all popes, bishops, princes, citizens, noblemen, and also the wicked peasants must let Christ remain. Christ wants to and shall rule; do they want the
If they do not like it, then he shall send them a ruler also in time, who shall teach them morality; 1) for he also has the hearts of the people in his hand, that they may know what they ought to believe, and do that which is pleasing to our Lord God. No one shall take away his rule, nor shall anyone else know his government. Secular emperors alone shall know how to build, sow and plant; but this rule of Christ, how to live before God, no one else knows; it is also above all emperors and popes. The truth shall make you free, then you are rightly free, and no one shall rule you. And here he gains cause to transfigure his speech.
V.33. Then they answered him, "We are Abraham's seed, and have never been servants; how then do you say that you shall go free?
That is a shameful answer. Thou sayest, he that believeth on thee shall be free; yet are we not servants, but masters of the world, never having been bondmen and bondwomen. We are Abraham's seed, who have the saying [Gen. 22:18.], "In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." This promise made the Jews proud, just as the Pope became proud over the name of the church, over St. Peter's chair in Rome. Abraham is called a lord of the whole world, and we are Abraham's seed; therefore, in short, we are to rule in the whole world; and you say that we are to become free first of all through you. Do you take us for servants? So you see how the Jews deal with carnal thoughts. Christ saith, Ye shall be kings, lords, and free, not only there, but also here; but poor miserable kings and princes. For the world shall have glory, and money, and goods, and power; and yet ye also shall rule; but not over the body, nor over goods, nor over lands, but over consciences, that they must obey the word, or die. As you preach, so will their hearts follow; if not, they are of the devil. This is what the Jews understand here in the flesh.
This text is too good and too rich to act at once. Christ interprets the text to them that they are Abraham's seed and children.
1) Erlanger: learn.
are. It is a great text and mighty argument of the Jews against us. They could boast that they were Abraham's children; this cannot be denied; and Abraham's seed has the promise that he shall be ruler in the world. These two things (as, we are Abraham's children, item, Abraham's seed rules over the world) cannot be taken away from them; therefore, they say, it follows that we must be subject to no one in the world, but everyone must serve us, for we are Abraham's seed. Therefore, if we are masters, we are not servants. If this falls on a man's head, it pushes him back. For thus they said: All the world is subject unto us, and are our servants: the Messiah shall come by our seed, that we may be masters of all the earth: we never were servants. The argument he salvirt. And (this argument) goes to the pope, who also says: We are the Christian church and holy, we cannot err 2c.
The eleventh sermon.
Saturday after the 1st Sunday of Advent [9 Dec. 1531.] 1)
The Lord Christ said to the Jews that they would not know his preaching until he was crucified and exalted by them; meanwhile he consoled himself that what he had preached he had learned from the Father, and what he did was pleasing to God and must remain. This is the comfort of every Christian, when the world cannot stand his works and words, and what he says must be lies, and he must be persecuted for saying: I know that my teachings and works are God's word and work; so I will be angry with him who will not let it go. May God help us to stand firm in this way. With this sermon he angered many, as follows. But out of all this beautiful sermon that the Lord preaches to the Jews (when he says, "If you continue in my word, you are my disciples, and you will know the truth, and you will be free"), they do not grasp a word, except that which makes them free; the rest they leave alone.
1) In the original margin.
Jesus answered them and said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who commits sin is the servant of sin. But the servant does not remain in the house forever; the Son remains forever. If therefore the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. I know that ye are Abraham's seed: but ye seek to kill me, because my words are not seen among you. I speak that which I have seen of my Father; so do ye that which ye have seen of your Father.
205. therefore there ariseth a new fire, and great vexation, that the people stumble at his doctrine, as if they should be free by his doctrine, or by the truth, as if they were captives and bondmen, saying, We are not bondmen, therefore we are free, because we are Abraham's seed, which people had the promise of God, that it should be the head, yea, the head, and not the tail, which should hover above in the world, and not sit below; as it was said unto Rebekah [Gen. 25, 23.): Major serviet minori. They have grasped this language, and it has gone through their hearts, as if the whole world should be nothing to them, and all men should serve them. Therefore, even when the prophets come and say: You will be carried away captive to Babylon or to Assyria, you will know it; so they did not believe it, and the prophets had to be heretics, they lived and did what they wanted, and the prophets had to hear this: We are Abraham's seed. Just as they have also put this under the eyes of the Lord Christ, saying, "Yes, he can do it, but he may put a line through it. To Abraham's seed belongs blessing, kingdom, authority and inheritance, to rule and reign; and you stand up and also want to become a heretic, and with the false prophets take away our freedom, and make many of them also fall into this heresy, and deny that we are not Abraham's seed, and just as if the promise of Abraham's seed belonged to us nothing at all. They only want to teach that they are free; therefore, since he does not want to preach this, they are soon offended at him, especially those who had great authority, and fall away from him again, since they believed in him before.
This is how it works. In the beginning hang
They all believe in the gospel and think that they want to become great popes, bishops, princes and lords, and give nothing to anyone, and want to be free from the law. But when they recognize the truth, one after the other falls away. Therefore these are shameful disciples or pupils who come to the gospel, that they now want to have and seek their carnal freedom and benefit from it. If they do not find it, they let it go. So, our peasants now despise the gospel, because they have learned that the gospel does not bring or give worldly goods. That is why the nobles also go and trample the priests under their feet, drive them out of their houses; so have the citizens also learned that they are thus ungrateful to the gospel. But the Lord Christ speaks here: "If ye abide in my word," 2c. and separates his disciples from other hearers of the gospel, saying, If ye believe on me, ye are my disciples. Truly, now you believe in me, I have received disciples, it will become a delicious thing, as John also says in the 6th chapter, v. 26: You believe in me so far, not because you have seen signs, but because you have eaten; it is a good thing. So, he wants to say, I am now also a great magister, and have many disciples; but where will it remain with them? Ah, Lord God, your little will endure, you have no good reason, it has no continuance with you, you will seek in me that you will not find with me, and if you do not find it, then it is all over.
It is as if all the branches of the trees were full of blossoms in the spring, so that one thinks where one wants to go with all the apples and pears; but when a rain or wind comes into the blossoms, they fall off in heaps, so that the ninth part falls off, and only the tenth part hardly ripens, and some also become wormy. This is also the case with the gospel. First of all, everyone hears it, and it is a delicious thing; it has many disciples; but if it does not go as they want, and if one does not speak what they like to hear, they say, "All misfortune comes from the gospel.
For this reason the Lord Christ says, "You are my disciples, but you are husks. Who
But if ye continue in my speech, then are ye my true disciples. It is not a matter of persevering, but of persevering in the word. I would be a Christian, and have the gospel, if there were no danger in it, but only to have good days: for hatred, envy, contempt, and ingratitude in the world, are not every man's doings. Therefore, when it comes to becoming a disciple of the man, the devil and everyone oppose it. Then stand firm, hold fast, do not flinch, do not retreat; if you have begun to believe, then lead it out. There are many of them that hold fast, and shed their blood, and go up, and dare even: these are the true disciples, and they also abide. But ten times as many are those who began to believe with us, and who at first were well pleased with our teaching, but now not the tenth part has remained constant. But it does no harm; what stands, let it stand; what will not stand, let it always fall away; yet there will be some who will remain; and those who remain steadfast, these are my true disciples, and they also may let go over them what can go. The others, who seek only the liberty of the flesh, and that which is for their own profit, are vain muzzlers, liars, false disciples, or unrighteous children.
So the Jews also would have liked the gospel, but sine cruce, and that they might live in the house and be free, and give nothing to anyone, nor be subject to anyone, nor be their own. But if the gospel were such a doctrine, I would convert the whole world in one hour. If Christ had given each one a sack of gold florins, a castle or a city, who would not have remained his disciple? They would all have run to him if he had only given one thousand florins, yes, if he had only given one florin to each one, and had let him use it peacefully, and given a free rein to fornication and adultery, to usury, rob and steal, and that they should suffer no danger because of it, nor have to fear death; then he would have been a fine king. But that he saith, They shall be enemies unto thee
and you must be hated for my sake, the world will blaspheme you, desecrate you, and also kill you for my sake, and will not grant the morsel of bread you eat, or that you may live a moment, and all these things will happen to you for my sake: therefore flesh and blood says, Let the devil be a Christian in my stead, you go and be a Christian; it stinks too much here, it costs much, and belongs and goes much to stay, that everything should be put in the redoubt. They say, "I will start, but I will not stay. Whoever then has great courage here, and is a daring man, the Lord Christ will say, he shall be called my true disciple.
What reward and comfort will they have? They will find the right God, and will have strength and power to abide by God's word, so they will be Christ's disciples and know the truth. For he says, "I will reveal to you the true, pure truth, so that you will not only see how the first disciples fell away, but you will also experience it; you will see that my promise, which was made to you and my disciples, will happen to you and will be true.
The false disciples and the true disciples are separated. The false ones hear the word of God, which promises and says: "If you believe in me, I will not leave you; you shall be a ruler and free from death, the devil and sin, and I will give you eternal life. This is our promise, that whosoever believeth in him shall have a good conscience, and shall also be saved, and have a gracious God, and no hurt shall come unto him. You should not hear this alone, as the beginning disciples, and as the newcomers, who do not come to know that God is a good man who can help them out of their spiritual and physical needs. They do not stay there, and do not endure the danger; they fear their goods, their peace and their good chamber; they are too short-sighted, and do not want to suffer anything; therefore they do not experience spiritual comfort, and do not recognize what God truly is, and how great a comfort it is, even how it tastes. These are the false Christians, who hear and learn many things, but they do not know.
They never come to the knowledge of the truth, they do not understand it; they learn to speak the words as a parrot or parakeet speaks the words of men, but their heart does not know it, they remain as they are, they do not taste and feel how faithful and true God is. Therefore the tenth part of men belong; the ninth part begins to believe, but they do not remain. For it is so narrow and difficult to remain steadfast that it has no support; for the divine word alone is the foundation stone, or the beam and support, the pillar and support, that one can stand on, so that one can remain steadfast. Therefore, one must hold on to the mere word of God and hang on to the speech of Christ, then one will experience the help of our Lord in danger, and it will go over and over in a moment.
212 And we have also experienced the miracle in ourselves. When, a year ago, at the Diet of Augsburg, it was thought that in four weeks everything would go over and over, all of Germany would perish; one could neither see nor feel where it wanted to go, where help or counsel would be, it was too high for all senses, it was taken beyond all wisdom, so that one had to say: It stands alone in God's power, and it is set on His word. It must be brought to this point, that one may say: God has promised it. If we hold fast to the word, we shall not be in trouble; though we see nothing else, yet we shall know that God will remember and let us see that his word is true, for he promises that whoever trusts in him will not be put to shame. This is how it will be in all temptations. But the false hypocrites will not know it, but those who hold to the word will know that God is true. Notice this in all temptations, in poverty and other tribulations, that where one abandons the word, it is groundless and bottomless, and one sinks completely, so that he must despair. Therefore Christ wants to say here: If you can stand by my word, then hold fast; for then you remain my righteous disciple, if one holds fast to the word; for this makes you a righteous disciple, if you do not alone know, 1) learn, read
1) Erlanger: wissest.
and hear, but that you have also experienced it. So Abraham also had God's word that God said to him [Gen. 17, 1.]: "I am your Lord and your God." Now in Egypt his wife is taken from him by the king [Gen. 20, 1. ff.], where was the proteetor? Item, where was there counsel and help? He wept more than he laughed. Sarah, his wife, was in great danger of her honor and chastity, he saw no power nor art how to find counsel in this distress; he could do nothing more, but clung to the word, "The Lord is my protection." Then he learned and recognized the truth. For God smote Pharaoh so that he was glad to give Abraham back his wife, and in addition he honored him with great gifts.
This is why the disciples of Christ are separated here. The false ones rise, but fall away again; the righteous ones remain in the narrow way and gate, or on the narrow path, namely, at the word of God, saying: I know not counsel; God may help, it is in his hand alone, he has promised, and says: Hold fast, I will also hold. Now when it comes to the trains and narrow gaps, you will learn to hold fast to the divine word, and it will make you a righteous disciple and set you free. False disciples do not learn this; they do not know what it means to know the truth. For truth is not only to hear Christ or to be able to wash much of him, but also to believe in the heart that Christ wants to make us free and liberated, so that this can be experienced in the heart; this is what makes a true Christian.
Now this is a true disputation, that there are two kinds of freedom; the first is a false freedom of false disciples, who seek a carnal freedom, and who therefore become Christians; as here the Jews became Christians, because they heard that Christians are pious, kind, patient, gentle people, not revengeful, and give alms gladly, are free of cost; item, they have a gracious, and not angry God. They hear this and like it, that one should give and serve others; therefore they say: I will gladly give and be served, and also be forgiven; item, our Lord GOD shall also forgive me of the
They want to give to sinners and help them to heaven; they want to take gladly and let them give and have gladly. But they are and always will be peelers, and do not want to leave their abominations and idolatry, and give something to someone, they want to lead a whore and knave life and being, as before, and still want to be evangelical. These are the false disciples who seek only the freedom of the flesh. For they only boast much about the Gospel, and seek it first with great earnestness; after that there is nothing behind it, for they do what they want, follow their evil lusts and wills, and become worse than before, are much more lewd and secure, wilder, stingier, thieving, and more predatory than other people. Just as our peasants, burghers, and nobles are now more miserly and lewd than they were under the papacy, they are much worse than they were before, they do not want to repent, so that they might be converted; therefore this must also happen to them, that they are cast into the abyss of hell.
But the rest, who abide in the word of God, and endure, suffer, bear, and dare what they ought, are saved, and grow stronger the longer, and know the truth that Christ will save them. That part does not understand what truth is, and thus give cause to the Lord to explain better what he means by it. For it is blunt and cut short that they did not understand the truth. For by reason these things shall not be known, but shall continue their days as they were before, and shall be seven times worse. All this is a false thing, what they do, they go about in a false, drunken delusion; all that they believe is a fictitious thing; for they have not tasted Christ, they do not know what Christ is, neither have they suffered anything for Christ's sake, therefore they are no different than drunkards, who do not know where they are at home; all that they believe is false and nothing, are not capable of any good work, and, if they do any good, they do it for their own sake, that they may have honor, money, and goods from it. So, if a prince, nobleman or peasant does something good, he wants to seek his honor and benefit from it; but if this escapes, then
Sermon on John 8:34-38.
he becomes mad and foolish about it, and lets it stand, does no more good. Therefore, there is no truth, no true word, nor right work is found in their throat and fists; they are all concerned with good and honor, as we see in the pope and his bishops to this day.
But here is the truth, Christ will truly make you free, not in a carnal way, but from sins. And I want to say here: I am not a party preacher, who preaches of the begging-stick, as of temporal riches, honor, power and pleasure; for that is vain dung and dung, which is thrown by sows into the straw; riches are the bones and legs, which remain and fall from the master's table, and are given to the dogs; as we usually cut off the crusts from the bread. Such a sermon, which belongs to the bodily belly, we command the lawyers; but Christ speaks here of the right, eternal and spiritual redemption, that the Jews do not yet understand, and say: We are Abraham's children, therefore we are not servants.
217 He does not mean servants, as they are called among us Germans, for it is not the custom with us as it is with them, but he speaks of serfs, since a lord has a servant or man who is his own, with body and goods, and would put him out of his goods and push him away if he wanted to. This was very strict at that time. If the lord gave a servant a wife, the servant's children were also the lord's, the lord took them to himself; also all the goods they acquired were not theirs but the lord's. So it was strictly kept in the same lands. Just as milk is not the cow's, nor the calf the cow's, nor the piglets the sow's, but the woman of the house takes it to herself, so were the people at the same time; what a servant man and wife with the children acquired and earned, that was all the lord's; a strict lord kept it all together, and gave the servant, his wife and children no more of it than only the food, as food and drink, clothes and shoes. The Turk still holds it this way today, that the people are his serfs, and with all possessions and goods subservient to him. Like
Just as a cow is still in bondage; if it gives a lot of milk to the maid, then the milk is the woman's and not the cow's. A sow, a horse or a cow is also in bondage; what it works for is all its master's; the master gives the horse only its fodder, food and drink 2c., and that sparsely enough. So in those days the servants (who, as unreasonable animals, were serfs) were also given food and drink, and scanty, torn clothes, and were then driven hard. Our servants are now masters, and the maids are only women in our time; they should only be called squires, masters and women now, because they are called servants and maids; but the Turk still makes serfs and servants now.
218 Therefore say the Jews, Thou wilt make us free, and speakest of us as if we were bondmen, when we are not bondmen. In Egypt they were not far from it, since they were captives under Pharaoh, where often a poor man and his wife, sons and daughters, sold themselves for six years, so that he and they had only food and drink during these years; this was the custom of that country, as Moses says. During these six years they had food and drink and clothing from the Lord, but what they earned during this time with their work was all their masters'. As well as what a horse earns with his work, that is his master's, the horse gets only fodder and litter from the master for it; one does not give the six pennies to the horse, so it earns during the day. So they also sold themselves for six years, and served with their own bodies for food and sustenance. Do the Jews here say, "You do not have to preach to us, because we are Abraham's seed, and you want to make us serfs, and that all our goods should be of the Gentiles; yes, you see, we still want to make the Gentiles our serfs and our servants. Therefore the Lord must expound and declare himself, and gives a gloss, signifying what his liberty is, saying, I say not of liberty, as ye think of it, and would gladly be masters, and fear lest ye should become bondmen; it shall be done unto you: and he saith:
Truly, he who commits sin is a servant of sin.
219 This will be a text and a sermon on true Christian freedom, what it is. Christ does not want to change the worldly kingdoms, nor does he want to take away serfdom; what does he ask about how princes and lords rule? It is none of his business how one plows, sows, makes shoes, builds houses, gives interest or rent. Such a right is ordered in Genesis 1:28, where God creates the world, that we should beget children, and have the world and build it; but here Christ speaks nothing of this outward being, but he deals with a freedom that is apart from and above this outward being and life, dealing with how one may be delivered from sins, death, God's wrath, devil and hell, or eternal damnation. A cow can be set free from giving milk to her master and wife; a bonded servant can be set free from serving the master by counting him free.
(220) This Christian freedom can happen both to the one who is free and to the one who is in bondage; item, to the one who is a prisoner or who takes others prisoner, or to a woman as well as to a man, to a servant and maidservant as well as to the master and women. We speak of freedom before God, since God sets us free from sins, which freedom is granted to every man. Thus the Lord leads Christ away from the carnal mind, because of which they are even angry, that he does not want to lead them to a bodily freedom of the flesh, and thus wants to imprison the people, so that they will not be set free. For this reason they call the Lord Christ a heretic, and say that the devil preaches from him and wants to seduce and imprison the people.
The twelfth sermon.
Saturday after Dorothea [Feb. 10] 1532. 1)
I had planned to preach about the dear and holy baptism, so that it might also be recognized and practiced among us.
1) In the original in the margin. Also added there: Ouna ilsrnra rsvatuissst Imtüsrus, Hui atiq uanaäiu gravitsr asM-otavorat. Right at the beginning of this sermon, Luther also mentions his illness.
But we have been prevented by weakness of body, therefore we will save it until tomorrow, or when we can preach again; now we will continue again in John, wherein the Lord Christ teaches about Christian freedom, and says v. 32: If you keep my words, the truth will make you free.
222 As if to say, I know that ye are Abraham's seed: but because ye mock at it, saith he, sow not my word in you. I have forgotten what I then preached about Christian freedom, but the text will bring us back to what freedom is, where it goes and how far it goes. The Jews boasted of their freedom, that they wanted to have their own king and kingdom, and not be subject to any emperor on earth, but wanted to be a free people for themselves, with their worship and laws, given to them by Moses. God also promised them and said: If you keep my law, you shall be above and not below, you shall be the head and not the tail, a people of your own, God's own, my priesthood 2c. I will be over you Lord alone, despite another who shall rule you. But it was written: Si servaveritis mandata mea. Now they had noticed this, and stood on it, that was their defiance; but the Lord says beside it, Si servaveritis, quae dixi vobis, so shall ye be my people. So they looked at one thing, but they did not look at what was said about keeping the law. 2) Christ interprets the text to them in such a way that the Jews are even annoyed. If you are obedient and do what God says, you will be His people and His own; if not, God will scatter you from time to time, as far as the whole world is. Now, this is why they look at the property and think that they want to be free, and put it aside, since God says: Si obe- dieritis mihi, et facietis, quae jubeo [if you will obey me and do what I command], then you shall be my property; nevertheless, they do not want to do what our Lord God wants.
2) In the original, this sentence is Latin: 86 6 illuä äs iaeisnäa IsZs non oonsiäsradant.
223. They have fallen out over this, and this is also the defect of this freedom, that they think they have a spiritual kingdom, and do not want to look at anyone; and yet they do not do what is called by God. Therefore Christ speaks:
V. 34: He who commits sin is the servant of sin.
This is where the freedmen and freedwomen part company. Moses said they should do what he told them to do, and then they should be lords and free. But they wanted to be peelers and knaves; item, disobey God, and still want to be a free people. This will not happen. Therefore Christ says: You are servants of sin, and yet you want to be lords and free; nothing will come of it. Then learn to understand the true freedom that Moses meant. For if ye be godly, and sin not, nor disobey, but do that which God saith, ye may be free. But that ye will sin, and yet be free, this is not said; but ye are the servants of sin, and thereby also subject to punishment, and have become the servants of the Gentiles, and the tail; ye have lost the head, and have lost God also.
This cannot be other than that he who sins and remains in sin has all the punishments of sin that the law imposes, such as death and all other misfortunes. St. Paul says [Rom. 6, 23.]: "Death is the wages of sin," that is, the wages; therefore he that serveth sin, and liveth in a sinful nature, serveth death also, and hath this wages of it, even hell fire; Death devours him, therefore the emperor, king, and other enemies devour him, as the pestilence, hunger, dear time; and everything that belongs to death, that has only teeth and a mouth, that can eat, choke, and consume, and is evil, that may devour the sinner. Therefore, if you want to be free, first of all remember to get rid of sins; then you can take away the sting, right and power of death, and then you can also get rid of sins.
They all hear this sermon, but no one here knows how to understand it, for it is also a sermon that no one understands.
unless the Holy Spirit puts such teaching into one's heart. That is why it is preached, and it is necessary to start there, if we want to be free, so that we can get rid of sins. For since sin is and remains, there is no freedom. If I do not want to leave sin and become godly, I may well strive to be a lord, and to become God's own and free; but nothing will come of it, you must first think that you will be freed where you are bound hardest and deepest, that is, that you will be freed from sin and set free. For the first freedom is: [from] sin. For he that hath sin is the servant of sin: whereupon it followeth that the same servant dwelleth not in the house for ever, neither abideth with the Lord. Now ye also are servants, and abide or dwell in the house for a season: then will I give you place to repent and amend, and say unto you, that ye may become godly, and also be freed from sin, and be loosed. If you do, you will remain; but if you will not, I will tolerate you until Caesar comes, overcomes you and overthrows you; then I will expel you, not only from the physical government, from the house in the world, but also from the priesthood, from the house of God, and from the kingdom of heaven, so that you will no longer remain God's people. Even though God tolerated for a time that they remained in the kingdom and priesthood, they had to leave.
226 So it will be with us Germans. We sin, and are servants of sin; we live in carnal lusts, and use freedom up to our ears; we want to do what we want, and what serves the devil, and want to be free to do what we want. Few are they that think after the right knots, how they may be free from sin. They are satisfied that they have been freed from the pope, officials, and other laws, but they do not think about how they might serve Christ and become free from sin. Therefore it will also happen that we will not remain in the house, as the servants do not remain in it forever, but must be cast out, and again lose the gospel and freedom.
227. what does it matter where we Germans do not
and lose our worldly rule and gospel, and come under worse devils than the pope has been, and be imprisoned among them, who then will deceive us as blind men and fools, and scatter us throughout the world, just as the Jews were scattered. For this is the rule of our Lord God, which he has used with the Jews, and will use with all the despisers of his word; he has scattered the Jews, and taken away their kingdom and synagogue. If we will not take hold of the right head, as we get rid of our sins, he will also scatter us, so that we will not know where there will be true Christians. For there will come a spirit of the mob, there will arise a sect, and all the corners will be full of heretics and fickle spirits. Then they will say, "Oh, these are the fruits of the gospel. That is where the devil strikes; why do they not believe? The Jews also blamed St. Paul and the other apostles, saying, "What good has come from the teaching of the Gospel? But it serves them right, it is your fault. If thou wilt not be godly and free from sin, thou shalt not abide in the house, but shalt be cast out. If then thou goest astray from time to time, and hast as many pastors as thou hast faith, it shall be even so with thee. For so it is, when our Lord God begins to scatter the people, there is a scattering, and afterward there are many sects and divisions.
Just as the pope has made the whole world full of groups, but the devil has adorned them so that they are not called groups, but monasteries, convents, altars, mass, faith, pilgrimage, etc., and yet they have not been one with each other, they have not come together. No one has called it dispersed or atomized, but in truth it has been so. And it cannot be otherwise; if thou wilt not be godly, thou shalt be cast out. He will bear with us for a time, and be patient with us, if we are not godly; but if we do not mend our ways, he will cast us out of the house. Just as a servant who has been driven from his
But the son, and the servant, if he be devout, abideth in the kingdom of Christ, in the house, in the priesthood, in the faith, in the right understanding and knowledge of Christ, and is well kept.
This is the main thing you must strive for, if you want to become free, not only from the laws and compulsion of the pope, the monks, bishops and priests, that will find itself; you must strive further. For if you get rid of the pope right away, I (says God) will soon create other groups that shall take away the freedom of the heart, as the pope has also done. For I still have great saints, wise, sensible people, lawyers and other great minds, who shall still advise how you may be dispersed. Therefore remember that you reach higher and farther, and seek a freedom other than that of being freed from sin, but that you stand according to the freedom of the flesh; as here also the Jews. Do not ask, Christ says, how you may eat meat on Friday, that will be found, but think here, it must be the main thing. Think not how you may be free outwardly, but how you may be righteous and just before God, and be free from sin.
But how is this done? how is it done to him? So it goes: "If the Son sets you free" 2c. It depends on it, and as it is said above [v. 31. f.]: "If you continue in my speech, you will be my disciples, and the truth will make you free." There it all lies. But they say, Should we not be free, be godly, and be rid of sins? Do you not see what a spiritual office we have, how we serve God, sacrifice, wear hard shirts, fast, tithe, are Pharisees and priests? No, this does not get rid of sins; this is only serving Moses' priesthood and foundation. He had given the law to the Jews, just as the pope had ordered special clothes, caps, mass and other things; but all this does not mean the truth, nor God's son, nor God's word and words. For the Son of God is higher than all pens, monasteries, caps, and plates; the Son of God and His Word must teach me that there is something higher and better.
It must be something better than the monks, pope and bishops 2c. For what is not called the Son of God will not make me free. This must be preached often, if it is to come to pass by the grace of God.
This is the freedom you must learn, that you must be free from sins; if not, the temple at Jerusalem is of no help to you, nor the pope with all that he has, whether it be indulgences, bulls, fasts, rosaries, prayers, or whatever. The Jews nor the Pope will not set us free, but only the Son. How does this happen? When one hears his word, that Christ was born of Mary, suffered, crucified, died and was buried, and on the third day rose again from the dead 2c. O, says one, I can do that very well; it is an old sermon; the pope, cardinals and bishops know it too. Yes, they know it well. This lesson of the children learns, in these words, how we are redeemed and made free. Yes, they say, it is a mean speech and word, that is why it does not work. But it is a great virtue that the children pray it and understand it before they do; but we old fools, the more learned and clever we want to be, 1) the less we know and understand about it. The freeing must be done in such a way that you think of something other than that which is in you, or in the papacy, or in the saints, or in Moses; but that there is something higher than all this, namely, the Son of God. Who is he? In the Symbolo we say: Conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of Mary, died 2c. Know then that if Christ sets me free, that he dies for me, and sheds his blood, and rises from the dead, and sits down at the right hand of God.
The play and the speeches point me to the Son, who sets me free. Whoever does not believe or learn this, and clings to the Son, may do what he will, but all is lost, and must remain in sins. This is a sermon that must be heard much and often.
1) In the original: "are want". The Erlanger has omitted "wollen".
preach often, so that one may become full of the teaching. But I am not yet full of it; this preaching is like bread, of which the body does not grow weary. One can be full of other food, but one does not get full of bread, unless one is sick so that he cannot eat; but a healthy person does not get tired of bread. So a Christian man does not learn the faith his whole life, neither you nor some saints, he is called Mary or John the Baptist.
Therefore we must sit with the children by the stove and learn this doctrine; without some having been so taught in a sermon that they know everything, but when it comes to the meeting, they need the words to be recited to them, and that a child of four years must pray the faith to them. In the meantime, they pray psalms, just as the monks and nuns read the Psalter and recite it by heart; but in mortal distress, when one is to die, monks, nuns and priests cannot find a single letter in the Psalter to comfort themselves. Nor shall such a one be called a great theologian, since in his highest distresses he neither can nor knows that which otherwise a child of four years can. Well, you excellent, highly learned saint, don't you know that? Well, the Lord Christ knows that there is much in it, and that people despise the article, learn it too soon, become doctors too early, and when they have heard it, they think that they soon know it by heart and can do it; but it is nothing.
This teaching applies when death comes and the devil speaks to you, saying, "You are forsaken by God, you are in sin, and your conscience also rejects you. It is not a doctrine written in words, but a living doctrine, which does not say what to do and what to say, but how to live, and how to defend and preserve life against death, and that you do not enter into the devil's mouth; then words and boasting will not do it, nor will it end.
This is what John the evangelist is always urging. He cannot preach this sermon enough, he cannot preach that it is all in Christ; for through him, all things have been revealed.
we all. He knows that many will say, "Lord, Lord," 2c. [Matth. 7, 21.], but they are very few who want to be freed from sins through the Son, which happens when I believe in Christ, that he died for me and suffered; this makes me free from sins; not through you, or your fasting, or through monasticism and nunnery, mass, pilgrimage or Mary's intercession, or other holy invocation; but that I have redemption through the Son alone. For there is no one else born of Mary, buried, dead, and risen from the dead, ascended into heaven, except the one man Christ; there is no one else, neither in heaven, nor on earth, nor an angel, who can help us.
For this reason we should also cling to the man alone, and recognize him alone as our Savior. I know many of them who have learned these things early, but I cannot. Therefore I teach it, and say that it is God's work alone, and that it all depends on it, that one man should be separated from all the others, and read [God's words in the children's faith] 1) together, and throw everything else away into a corner, and say: I will not be saved by this, everything must be cut off; but if I want to become confident, have peace in my conscience, and be free of sins, then I should believe what the children believe. There it is in the Symbola, they say: I believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, who died, was buried and rose again. Then they say: Yes, that is a mean thing, I want to learn something special. It is true; but learn only so much that you know him as well as children know him. But it is said in the proverb: The longer, the worse, and the older, the worse; therefore we also despise the word, and become proud, and weary of the word, become smart, let ourselves think we can do it well; but when it comes to the meeting, we know nothing about it, and then the children are our teachers and praeceptores. I know well what happened to me in this case; it will happen to you, too.
237-. So now one is to become free that
they, the Jews, do not say that they are God's people and Abraham's seed, and serve God; for with this they will not become free, for sin is too great, they will not put down death and the devil with it. There is but one means and handle, namely, "If the Son shall make you free, then are ye lawfully free." He wants you to put down and let go of everything that you think helps to make you free, be it temple, sacrifice or other worship, and look only to Christ. If you think so, he says, I will make you free, and if you know the childish faith, you will know it.
238 If this is done, then the other freedom will also be found. For even if I am thrown into prison and bound with ropes by the pope, I am still hopeful and defiant, and say to him: "You, pope, are my servant, and I am master of these chains or prison, for they shall not take away this freedom from me, and shall not be a hindrance to my faith and Christianity. These bonds shall not harm me, but be useful, and promote Christ; and the more you torture and afflict me with the prison, with laws, temptations and terrors, the better I am served thereby. St. Paul also boasts and rejoices in the bonds, and is equally hopeful within; as if he should say: Another would say: O the prison is my lord, and the councilors of Rome have to rule over me, as my commanding lords: but I even turn it around and say: Dear executioner, dear authorities, you are my servants, I am your lord; with what you do to me, and with what you attack me, you only make my cause better; I cannot owe it to you, 2) for you only make my faith more proud and more splendid. And one must pray against such a servant as against a mad, raging dog. And what else does such a tyrant do, who takes fire, water, sword and all other torture and torment, and wants to kill me and even oppress me, but that he lifts me up and sets me in heaven? This follows after you have freedom first.
1) Inserted by us.
2) owe --- give full thanks.
239 But the pope and the world will not suffer this, that they let Christ alone be something and be valid, and believe in him alone, and let everything else go against it, but want us also to do our part, as keeping mass and founding monasteries, and say: Should we be saved by faith in Christ alone? So we want to carry the tree on both armpits, and at the same time blow hot and cold from one mouth. So the Jews here also want to do it, saying: You carpenter's servant, you beggar, you poor wretch, should you make us free? You say that so much depends on your preaching that all our good works and good laws are nothing against it; therefore always dead, dead, and you burned and crucified. So it goes.
240 Therefore it is a great sermon which the Holy Spirit preaches to children and the simple. The old fools, as I am one, learn it with difficulty; the young children learn it most. But the others learn this wisdom too much, so that when they have heard it once, they think they know it. But I feel that I cannot grasp it. St. Paul also complains about it, saying: "I would like to believe it and think that it is God's word, but there is one in my flesh who disputes it and will not let it be good [Rom. 7:18, 19].
241 Therefore, you must preach it every day, and keep on the main thing, that you may become free here before, and then the other worldly freedom will also follow. But if you want to begin and act from carnal freedom, you will get into such a wild and desolate state that you will lose both. There you follow. "He that committeth sin is the servant of sin," and he hath death for his master, and hell is his master also; he cannot escape them. Where then shall I be loosed? Then they say: I will build a chapel, endow a perpetual mass, go on pilgrimages, fast, and become a monk 2c. Yes, yes, says Christ, that is the right way; but if you let yourself be freed from sins by him who is called the Son of God, then you are free; if you give yourself to him, and let him make you free, then it is right; if not, whatever you do will not help you, it is all in vain and for nothing.
The thirteenth sermon.
Saturday after Oculi s9. March] 15324)
V. 39-41. They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Said JEsus unto them: If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do Abraham's works: but now ye seek to kill me, such a man as I have told you the truth, which I have heard of GOD, which Abraham did not do. Ye do the works of your father. Then they said: We are not born out of wedlock, we have a father, GOD 2c.
242 You have heard in the Gospel of St. John that Christ says to the Jews (v. 34, 36): "He that committeth sin is the servant of sin," and: "If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. In these words he preached true Christian liberty, and praised and set it apart against the Jews, because they wanted to make a carnal liberty out of it, and thought that if they were great lords, and had the whole world under them, then they would be free. But he says that he did not come for the same freedom, to make men free according to the flesh, as the world and all men would have it, but that he had to do with another freedom, which is eternal, namely, a freedom from sins. He does not bring a temporal or carnal freedom, but a spiritual and eternal one. Therefore he wants to say: That you boast that you are Abraham's children is not enough; there is more to it: Plus requiritur ad libertatem christianam, than that ye should be Abraham's child, Abraham's flesh and blood. So you will not become free; for Abraham himself did not become free because he was born of the flesh and blood of his father (although the Jews boast much about the fleshly birth), but his freedom comes from the fact that God promised him the blessed seed [Gen. 22:18]. Therefore let Abraham depart, and all that you have to boast of Abraham, and see to it that you alone come to be free through me; otherwise you will not be free, and will have to remain servants forever.
1) In the original margin.
This was the worst heresy among the Jews, that he, Christ, should appear and say to the Jewish people: Through me you shall be free; God grant, you have Abraham, Moses or the law, yet all of it is of no use to you; come to me alone, or you are lost. For this was in their way, that they knew Abraham was called a friend of God; item, they had the promise of God that they should be called God's people. Then he wanted to tear all this apart and turn back, and not boast about Abraham, but says: Remember and "come to me, all you who are troubled, and I will give you rest", and help you [Matth. 11, 28.], or you will never be set free and will be eternally lost. This means: Abraham is nothing, and all promises of God, which Abraham had of freedom, are also nothing without me; so it was said in the ears of the Jews.
244 Now he continues, and makes a plea, and wants to resolve their argumenta, and says:
V. 37. I know well that you are Abraham's seed.
245 As if he should say: You insist that Abraham is your flesh and blood, and that you come from him; but with this you will not stop my mouth, nor put in my sermon. As if I, Doctor Luther, wanted to say: I know that you are bishops and priests, and that you are baptized, item, are in the episcopal office, and are in the church, come from Christ; but that is not enough, therefore you are not yet the true church. They say, should this not help us, that we are among the Christians, in the Christian church, and have a Christian office? That should not be the end of it. It was much higher with them [the papists] than with us, when they said that they were the Christian church. For they wanted to say with it: Poke and preach what you want, the Christian church will not err; otherwise God himself would have to err. As they [the Jews] say here: We are Abraham's seed, God's children, God's people; or Abraham is not a servant of God. But if Abraham is a friend of God, then we are also God's children and His people. As
Now the papists also say: If Christ does not err, and he is God, then we are also the Christian Church, and the Pope does not err. We know it well, you must not teach me; you come from baptism, and from the right stock, and are among the number of Christians, and can tell the ten commandments, pray the Lord's Prayer, and hear the sermon; but that you say, therefore I am a Christian - not yet, that is not yet being of Christ; just as they say here that they are of Abraham's seed. But the Lord Christ saith, Ye are not yet free for this cause: ye must come unto me, and be made free by me, or die in your sins, and perish. What then is the fault that there is not enough in being Abraham's seed? Were not Abraham's children God's servant people? Yea, saith he, "Ye are servants of sin, and seek to kill me: for my word soweth not in you."
This is an abominable sermon, and a great distinction among Abraham's children. As if to say, I know ye are Abraham's children, but ye do your father's works; ye are Abraham's children, but ye have another father. He makes them two fathers: Abraham is your father, but you have another father, whose children you are. If therefore ye be not loosed from the same father, that ye do not his works, it is no help that ye are Abraham's seed. For ye would have been Abraham's seed, if another father, the devil, had not come unto you; but now ye are murderers and the children of devils; so rhyme it together. Abraham's seed shall inherit Abraham's kingdom and the promise, or the promised blessing, the kingdom given to Abraham, his offspring shall possess it all; but now ye are murderers and slayers, though ye be of his seed. So it is divided. If you remained Abraham's children (as you are his natural children), and were not false children, a seed and children of murder, 2) of the devil, you would be true children and soon be free; but because you seek to kill me, you are not true Abraham's children.
These are the two delicious virtues,
1) "a Christian" put by us instead of: "Christians".
2) Perhaps: murderers.
that whoever falls from this faith, doctrine and word has the two things, that he is a liar and a murderer. I also say to the Father, the Pope, thus: You are baptized and washed from sins by the baptism of Christ, as St. Peter says: your sin and death is drowned by baptism, and by the divine word; you are finely cleansed and washed, but you are again entangled in sin. Just as a sow, which has been washed clean, finely washed and bathed, but quickly falls into the next mud, and becomes sinful again; 1) then I say, "Dear sow, you have indeed been bathed, and are finely clean; but why do you not stay out of the puddle and mud, so that you do not become sinful again? So also I say, that the bishops are bathed, made clean and beautiful by the blood of Christ, also called and baptized by the gospel, 2c. but they want to go back again; as the sow after the mud rolls in the next puddle and atones, so they also become murderers and liars.
That is to fall away from Christ and not to remain with Christ; therefore you are liars, for my speech is the truth, which you do not hear, and he who does not hear the truth is a liar and is full of lies; he cannot grasp and suffer God's word and the truth. After that, when he has grasped the lies, he cannot be fond of the one who speaks and teaches the truth, but he hates him and would gladly kill him. If he does not do it with his fist, he does it with his heart, and thus becomes a murderer; for these two virtues follow one another, lying and murder. As also happened in paradise. When the devil had brought Adam from the truth to the lie, and had taken away the soul by the lie, he also tore away the body by death; so he has done it. Today the bishops also boast that they are the Christian church, but they do not want to suffer the truth of Christ and suppress it, confirming their lies again. If we do not want to confess this, we will be hanged, drowned, burned and driven out. So now the citizens, peasants and nobles do to us that their hatred and envy rises against us, if we do not want to be like them. So it goes
1) sülen - to pollute.
even if you tell the great Hansen of the truth, no one is favorable to the preachers.
This servant of two sins becomes the one who falls away from Christ and his word, and does not stand right with him; he becomes a liar and an enemy of the truth, and also an enemy of the life of his neighbor. It is a beautiful virtue that a man becomes so evil that he becomes an enemy of God and man through lies, that he cannot stand the truth. He is an enemy of our Lord God, who lets him preach the truth, and if he could kill God, he would. But he does as much as he can with blasphemy, cursing and desecration. But he murders and kills man.
The Lord Christ wants to say here: You see what two beautiful virtues you have; you are hostile to God and men, who do not keep it with you; therefore you are not free, because you commit these two sins, the devil rides you. Now how can the pope be more like the devil than that he is hostile to everything that God and men say and do? These two sins are two great lords and imperatores, and if they possess a man, he would like all the world to be dead. So do the pope, his bishops and princes, yes, citizens, peasants and everyone now; they are all God's and man's enemies; they do not want to hear the truth preached to them, so they also cannot stand that a man who leads God's word does not want to be silent about their evil things. Therefore, if one could kill them all, one would gladly do so. That is where condemnation, judgment, judging, blasphemy and killing come from. This is Abraham's seed.
Now, you noble little animal, you little herb, you little fruit and flower, are you Abraham's seed? Yes, the seed of the devil. According to flesh and blood they are Abraham's seed, but according to works they are the devil's seed. Just as the pope is the Christian church according to baptism, the Gospel and the Scriptures, but because he is the enemy of God and of all Christians, he has fallen away from baptism and Christ, and has the devil for a father. His children are he, all his cardinals, bishops, monks and priests, because they are all murderers and liars.
252 Therefore Christ says here, "You want to kill me, because my words do not sow anything in you. Whence cometh this sin, that ye grudge me life, and would gladly take it from me? Should 1) ye be loosed and delivered from sins? and should ye be Abraham's seed? You must be God's enemy and murderer. This is the main sin that drives them, for they are enemies of God. If you would be friendly to God, you would also be friendly to me. And say, "My words do not sow anything in you." God's word assaults you, but you do not turn; I see nothing in you with my net; I cast my word among you, but you are contrary to my word, and are hostile to God. Therefore, since you hate my word and are opposed to it, you must also be hostile to me. But God has the advantage that you cannot kill him, but you can kill me who can die. Therefore an unbeliever is a murderer of God and of men, called Abraham's seed, or whatever else he may be. For if he could kill God and suppress the truth and erase the divine word, he would do so; that is called murdering God. Then he is also a murderer of men.
This sermon was preached against the boasting of the Jews. For they thought that because they were Abraham's seed, they could not perish. There is a great defiance, which is going on enormously in the papacy, yes, even among us, that many boast of them and say: We are evangelical, have learned this doctrine well, boast that everything they do is right, think as if the gospel should do what they like, just as the Jews also thought that they were Abraham's seed and wanted to do what they wanted. Just as the pope and the bishops also think that they were baptized for this reason, so that they can do whatever they want in the church and Christianity. Now this is a strong sermon and solution: God does not ask anything of you, whether you are Abraham's seed and have been baptized, whether you have accepted the gospel and hold much of the doctrine; but take care that you do not become God's murderer and man's murderer. For thou art a
1) "Should" here and immediately following placed by us instead of: "sollet".
Such a fellow who will not hear the word of God and will not suffer the truth; you will not hear that you are punished; and when you have long profaned and blasphemed the word of God, then the death blow follows from it, that with the fist God's servant and preacher is also murdered.
254 So then it must be distinguished that one says: I know well that you are evangelical, you can speak and write about it and hear it, but you are therefore not a Christian man. For see how you stand against those who preach and speak the truth. How many are there in this principality who do not hate their village priests to the worst? When they tell them the truth, and touch them in the pulpit for their sins, that they live unjustly, they mean nothing else than that the village pastors have well deserved to be beaten to death, and yet they boast that they are also good evangelicals. Yes, says Christ, you are good evangelicals, as he says here to the Jews: I know well that you are Abraham's seed, but you do not want to hear the truth, and are hostile to those who preach the truth to you. Do they mean Abraham's children and evangelicals? This does not come from baptism, but from the sorrowful hell; and you alone cover and adorn yourselves with the name and title of the church and Christians.
These are the two virtues, beware of them. He who once falls from the gospel does not take it seriously; Christ also cries out to him that he is the enemy of God and man and a murderer. And he cannot avoid it or leave it, he must kill. Although he covers himself and adorns himself, and does not kill with his fist, he does it with his heart and mouth; if he could do it with his hand, he would. And we see this example among the nobility, peasants and citizens, and yet they all want to be evangelical. It goes along by force, well, it will be found. We alone shall learn that it must be so, they must remain the enemies and murderers of God and man, saith Christ; for my speech soweth nothing in you.
V. 38. I speak what I have heard from my father 2c.
256 Then he does not call Abraham their father anymore. Before that he said: I know that you are
You are Abraham's children, being born of Abraham's flesh and blood. Just as we say to the priest, "We know that you have been baptized and have learned the gospel, but you do not live by it. But if ye would know who ye are, consider a little in your heart your sins and your works, which shall bear witness. Thus says the Lord Christ: "I speak what the Father has commanded me. My word is truth, but there is nothing in you: you do not see my words, you ask nothing of them, but want to be murderers, and see to it that you do as your father the devil does; this you will do. And there is no other cause of murder, but that I preach and say what God has commanded me, and you will not hear God's truth, nor suffer me. The cause is that I preach and speak that which I have seen of my Father; the word and the doctrine alone make you murderers, and that ye persecute the word of God in me, and become murderers over it.
Thus it will come to pass that both the princes and the nobles will want one to preach what they like and what they want. If one touches them, they say, one is stirring up rebellion, one is stabbing them, one is slandering and denigrating them. If one scolds them, they say one is seditious; that is already on the track. So they will bind the preachers' mouths, and where they will not praise them, they will put all vices and plagues on the preachers. These have learned nothing from the Gospel, but they follow their father, the devil, who cannot hear the word of God, and against it exposes his behind. So they also despise the word and are enemies of it. If you tell the world how to do it, it will soon want to kill those who teach the truth. They persecute the truth by lies, and will not suffer it; that is, God slain. After that, whoever does not want to praise them, and worship the devil, and keep quiet about their sins, they want to murder him quickly.
258 Christ says: "Ask yourselves, how free you are, where your freedom is; what children are you? Yea, ye are bondmen, not of sins only, but ye are bondmen.
are also children of the devil. The devil is an enemy of truth, and is also an enemy of life; therefore he murders all preachers, and destroys everything that God speaks, just as you do. I also preach the truth, and ye also seek to kill me; therefore are ye not the children of your father, as ye call yourselves, but are ye the children of the devil, because ye do that which ye have learned of your father, master, and lord, the devil. He has learned disciples; the truth ye will not suffer, nor hear me; ye follow not the preaching, neither can ye suffer the preachers.
That is a strong sermon, and now it is also going on on our side. The majority of the evangelicals are now becoming devils. They have heard the gospel and are liberated, that they are no longer under the pope; now we trample the preachers underfoot, want them to die of hunger, and oppress those who preached this freedom to them, yes, who saved and redeemed them. Then say also, I know well that ye are evangelicals; but ye do as your father did, ye are God's and our enemies, and are murderers. Therefore do not boast much of the gospel, because you do not honor God, nor hear His word, nor respect those who preach to you and confess God's word, so you are not God's children nor true Christians, for you persecute God's word and His servants. Well, we want to suffer gladly that we are persecuted by the heathen, and Duke George also torments us, and I want to be quite happy about it, and let his anger be quite ridiculous to me; but that those want to do it who are supposed to be true Christians, as the evangelicals, and who have the name of the church, that is no good. For I should hold in honor a Christian who has been baptized, for the sake of the name he bears, and that he may be marked. In the same way, one Christian should hold another in high esteem, honor, love and esteem, for the sake of the one who dwells in the Christian. Therefore, if a nobleman tramples underfoot his pastor, and if anyone else despises Christians, he cannot be evangelical, but is possessed by the devil, and an enemy of God, and a murderer in heaven and on earth. And since a judge will come upon these murderers, and will cry out against them, so persecute the truth,
254 toss. (2.) IS, 334. interpretations on John the Evangelist. W. VII, 2SS0-WW. 255
and killed the Christians, they will suddenly pass away.
This should frighten us, so that we do not despise the word of God, nor his servants; for one is hostile to those who lead the word. These persecutors will probably find their judgment tremendous. For he who is such a fellow has here his judgment, that he is the enemy of God the Lord and of men, and is counted by God and men a damned and condemned murderer. Otherwise it is a common saying in the world that whoever speaks the truth has nowhere to stay, he will be persecuted, for no one wants to be punished. Thus the world is the wicked devil's people, the devil's children and servants, and bound under sin.
They think they are good evangelicals who love the gospel, and yet they are very secure. They do not believe that, but they think they are good evangelicals who love the gospel, and yet they are very safe; but it will end badly one day.
This is what we wanted to say about this text, since the Jews boasted that they were Abraham's children, his flesh and blood. But it indicates that they are the children of harlots, and have fallen away from God their Father to the devil, who teaches them to persecute God's word and the truth, and to preach lies, and then to oppress and kill those who preach and confess the truth.
1) Erlanger: learn.