1 Pilate is delaying the deal for a long time and does not hurry to judgment with Jesus, even though the Jews are pressing him hard. Because he publicly sees that the Jews are foolish and foolish, and yet cannot bring any blame on Christ, he acts as a reasonable man and does not want to hurry with the matter. Of course, he had to be afraid of the Romans, who had a strict law and did not joke when someone acted badly.
(2) Now it was the law and the way of the Romans that no man should be put to death or put to death, unless he were first tried and accused, and the blame laid upon him, and he also gave his answer. Thus we read in the stories of the apostles Cap. 25, 16, that Portius Festus does not want to kill Paul, even though the Jews sought it from him, but says, v. 16: "It is not the way of the Romans that a man should be put to death before the accused has his accusers present and has room to answer the accusation. And this is the natural law, and the law of Moses. The nature and all peoples right gives, that one hears the other part also; as one says: Audiatur altera pars. And Moses teaches: Nemo morietur, uno adversus se dicente testimonium; 4 Mos. 35, 30.: "A witness shall not answer over a soul unto death." So the Romans were wise and right also, and about this they held firm. Because Pilate had to fear, as a subject of the Roman empire, that he would not act against Caesar, he was so long opposed to Christ, especially because the Jews could not bring anything to him, but everything they claimed became water under their hands.
V. 1. Pilate took Jesus and scourged him.
Here again Pilate, as a reasonable man and wise Gentile and Roman, does: Because the Jews cannot be satisfied in any way, he tries this way and has Jesus scourged. The beating or scourging was a common punishment among the Romans, as with us the severe justification is in the
Urgicht. 1) This can be seen in Acts Cap. 22, 24, where the centurion has the imprisoned Paul "beaten and inquired, that he might know for what cause the Jews cried out against him". So Pilate also has Jesus scourged and inquires whether he would satisfy the Jews with it. As if to say, "I will try to satisfy their raging envy; I will have him chastised and justified, whether they will be satisfied with it.
But the Jews are not satisfied with the scourging, but cry: Crucify, crucify. That is still a larger piece, because the next was to paint the beautiful, dear world. In the previous chapter we heard that the Jews would rather give up the murderer Barrabam than the innocent Jesus. This is the world: First, it does not want to suffer the righteous and innocent. Secondly, it would rather have the rebel and murderer, Barrabam, than Christ, the preacher of truth. These are hard and rough knots. But the third is much more gross, that the good, dear world is not satisfied nor satiated, although the truth is punished to some extent. The Jews are not satisfied, nor do they cease to press for Pilatum, and to cry out about Jesus, whether Jesus, the preacher of truth, is already being chastised and scourged.
(5) One asks: Why is God angry and sends upon the world a flood of sin, fire and conflagration, pestilence, war and other punishments? It would be no wonder that God would let the world perish and perish completely in an instant. For is this not great, unheard-of wickedness, worthy of divine wrath and punishment, that the world does not want to suffer the truth; yes, that is more, that it cannot be satisfied in any way, and does not stop raging before Christ, the Son of God, is even eradicated and destroyed? Wherever an evildoer deserves justice, he often receives mercy, so that he can be put to the sword; often he is also completely released, as here with Barraba.
1) Confession, especially on torture.
happens to you. This often happens in the world. But here it happens that those who pursue the truth cannot punish their enemies enough to satisfy them. Is this not a devilish envy and outrageous wickedness? If Pilate had gouged out the eyes of the Lord Christ, the Jews would not have been satisfied with any plague and torture, but out of great rashness and devilish malice they would have cried out and screamed: Out, out with him, that not a stump of his memory remain [Ps. 137:7].
(6) The same thing is not done to any other villain or offender. If an offender is condemned to death and is led out to do him justice, people will take pity on him and have compassion on him; they will let his skirt be something. But if anyone preaches the truth, he is to be held in such a way that one cries out over him: "Be done with him, be done with him, be done with him, and with all that is in him! And the longer one consumes the punishment, the angrier and madder the world becomes. So it is with our ministers who persecute the gospel: the longer it is consumed, the longer the gospel will not soon be eradicated, as they would like, the more angry they become. This is what the evangelist meant: Because the Jews could not otherwise be satisfied, Pilate had Jesus scourged, if he could satisfy them with it; but the Jews are not satisfied.
V. 2. 3. And the soldiers wove a crown of domes, and set it upon his head, and put a purple robe upon him, and said, Hail, dear king of the Jews; and they gave him cheekstrokes.
(7) By beating and scourging Jesus, the soldiers and servants do more than they are commanded. The beating was a punishment of the captives with the Romans, as is said above [§ 3]; but over this the soldiers weave a crown of thorns, and put it on JEsu's head, and put a purple robe on him, and bend the knees, and say, Hail, dear King of the Jews. Whether they did this out of their own malice or by order of Pilate the governor is not written.
8 It looks to me as if they did it for the love of the high priests. Because Christ confessed before Pilate that he was a king, but his kingdom was not of this world, the soldiers misused such a confession. As if to say, "He himself has confessed that he is a king, so let us adorn him and crown him as a king; therefore, let us dress him in a carnival garment, put royal robes on him, and crown him with thorns.
(9) This was a venomous mockery, as it cannot be excused that they should mock with such a venomous mockery a man who confesses the truth, and is scourged, torn and mangled without any fault before, and strike a crown of thorns in his head, and put an old purple robe on him. This will have pleased the Jews, high priests and elders gently and well; nevertheless, their bloodthirsty thirst is not quenched with it. It was the way of the Romans that their kings and temporal lords wore purple, which they called trabeam, a red scarlet. But let every man remember here what an abominable, sharp, devilish mockery this is, that the soldiers mock Jesus.
10 The gospel is doing the same thing now, as it has always done. Since there is nothing more to be done, one throws out the most pointed stings. Yes, they say, it is the gospel, the new gospel 2c. The blasphemers spout such and such malicious vituperation and words of shame against the gospel of Christ. Such things hurt very much. Scourging may be painful, but such scorn and pointed abuse is even more painful, that God's truth is not only so horribly despised, but also so shamefully defiled with words of shame. If someone is punished severely, that is still tolerable, no matter how hard and severe the punishment is; but if one is treated so mockingly and scornfully, that makes the punishment more severe and unpleasant, as the soldiers here do to Christ. They pose as if they want to recognize and honor him as a king, and yet it is vain bitter, poisonous and devilish mockery.
V. 4. 5. Then Pilate went out again and said to them, "Look, I am bringing him out to you, so that you may know that I am not guilty of anything against him.
find. So Jesus went out wearing a crown of thorns and a purple robe. And he saith unto them, Behold, what manner of man!
11 John's writing that Jesus went out wearing a crown of thorns and a purple robe is to be understood as meaning that the soldiers took away the reed they had put in his hand, as the other evangelists say, and left him alone, crowned with a crown of thorns and wearing a purple robe. And Pilate left him for this reason, that the Jews might be satisfied and satisfied the sooner; as he says, "Behold, I bring him forth unto you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him." As if he should say, Therefore I bring him forth unto you, that ye may know that I have scourged him without all cause and guilt, and have done so much that I might satisfy and satisfy you; but with the Jews there is nothing else but: Purge yourselves!
This is how the gospel is to be illuminated. Pilate is a pagan and a real bloodhound; for the pagans, who knew nothing of God, dealt with men as we deal with swine and sows. Nevertheless, this heathen and bloodhound is moved, and says, "Behold, what a man!" As if to say, "Will you not have mercy on him? You see that he has done more evil than he deserves. But all this is of no use with the Jews. This is a surpassing testimony to the innocence of Jesus, that Pilate cries out not once, but twice, three times, even six times, that violence and injustice be done to him; for with him human reason was decided, that the Jews had no cause nor blame for Christ.
(13) So our gospel is also condemned without all blame; and we should also conduct our doctrine in this way. As we, praise and thanks be to God, also do, that our adversaries themselves must speak: The doctrine would be right, but we do not want to suffer it, because he says so, and because the doctrine arises in the corner. But let it be our comfort to preach the suffering of Christ as an example, so that we do not think that we are finished and lost if they deal with us as they dealt with Christ.
V. 6 When the chief priests and the servants saw him, they cried out, "Crucify, crucify!
14 Pilate had Christ scourged, and the soldiers crowned him with a crown of thorns, put a purple robe on him, and mocked him as a king of the Jews. In this contemptible, poor and miserable form Pilate lets him be led out before the judgment house, as the evangelist says: "Jesus went out, wearing a crown of thorns and a purple robe." Pilate does this to appease and satisfy the Jews, but the hatred of Christ among the Jews is too great that it does no good. When Christ was brought out so miserably, such a voice should have fallen among the Jews: "Stop it, Pilate, let it be, he has been beaten enough. But they stand as if he had never been beheaded, never crowned nor mocked, crying out badly: Crucify. As if they should say: Pilate, you have beheaded him; but remember, strangle him, and strangle him so that he dies an ignominious death on the cross.
(15) John, together with the other evangelists, has shown how hatred and envy of the truth are so great and poisonous, and how Christ is innocently accused and condemned to death. For the Jews not only falsely accuse Christ, but also put themselves on trial and pass judgment. Who ordered them to do this? It is Pilato's duty to pass judgment according to Roman law; but they, the Jews, are both plaintiff and judge. Everything they bring up in the accusation is ridiculous; but in judging and passing sentence they cannot be satisfied. They also do not consider how to punish him according to guilt, so they must leave innocence on Christ, and yet teach Pilatum how to judge and kill him.
(16) This is written so that it may be seen how things are done in the world in the matters of the gospel. God's Son is accused innocently, and judged much more wickedly and evil, therefore our Lord God had to take the judgment from the Jews and give it to the Romans, so that the Jews would be put to shame. And Pilate is God's servant and minister without his knowledge, so that the best and holiest people on earth are put to shame by him,
and are not only shamefully lacking with their false accusation, but also with their perverse, courtly judgments and sentences; so that the innocence of the Lord Christ and the wickedness of the perverse Jews may come to light the more clearly and better.
Pilate said to them: Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.
17 The Jews cried out, Crucify; but Pilate asked, Quare? Why? There is no blame that I crucify him. And yet Pilate, with these words, did much to the hair of the Jews, whether he should have spoken more sharply and harshly to them. For he says, "You Jews want me to crucify him, but I find no fault in him. Now if the Jews had been reasonable people, they should have been ashamed in their hearts to bring an accusation and say: This is what he deserves; and the judge cannot find such a complaint and guilt in the defendant. If I thus acted before our sovereign, Duke John, and brought an accusation against one, and the prince interrogated the defendant, and said to me, I find no fault in him; how I would run and cover my face. For Pilate to say, I find no fault in JEfu, is to say in plain language, Hannah, Caipha, and ye chief priests and elders, ye lie as desperate wretches, which have learned neither discipline nor honor, that ye should speak thus before the Roman emperor's governor and authority. And Pilate should have come and spoken to them in good, coarse German, but he does it secretly, and speaks it with polite words.
(18) Christ stands before us, and might well have been subjected to such accusations, judgments, and sentences, but for our sake he suffers them; and that the fruit of Christ's suffering may be known, we must stir this piece a little. The Jews have a hard, insolent forehead, like a demant, crying out without ceasing: Crucify him, although the judge Pilate excuses him, saying that he finds no fault in him. guilt in him. Now Christ, the innocent lamb, stands there and bears the guilt for us, of which we are guilty; for the false accusation that goes over him goes over us with truth.
19 It can also be seen here how the best and brightest on earth are always against Christ. For even though Pilate excuses Christ for a time, he is also against Christ, has had him beaten, and still holds him captive until he finally falls and has Christ crucified. Now Pilate was one of the wisest and cleverest, and had many clever and wise men with him; the Jews are the most learned and the holiest. Thus it always happens on earth that the wisest, the most learned and the holiest become vain devils in Christ and in his gospel: as the Jews here all work to disgrace the man, Christ, and yet so roughly that the pagan Pilate notices and understands this. For he gives the Jews enough to understand that they are nothing but boys, if they would only understand.
V. 7. The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to the law he shall die, for he has made himself the Son of God.
(20) This is such a loose, lazy complaint (especially before Pilate the judge, who was a Gentile, and knew nothing of the law of the Jews) that it could not be looser or lazier; and for this reason the evangelist reported it, showing how the Jews are so very rash 1) in persecuting Christ, the one truth. They look through a painted glass, and think what they have in mind, that other people also should be minded; but it is far from it. So when I think, I have it thus in mind; now when men shall hear it of me, they also shall be thus minded; there it is far lacking. "We have a law," they say, "and by the law he shall die." Here' Pilate might have answered and said, What is your law to me? The judgment of blood is now Caesar's, and not yours; what makes you then to say, He shall die according to our law? And to speak the truth, this has been a great rashness of the Jews. For the emperor had set Pilatum and Herodem there, and commanded them the neck judgment, that the Jews thirst no more to kill a man. This they do not consider, and they speak not at all.
1) Eislebensche: unversonnen; also gleich folgen.
prudently with the governor, "We have a law, and by the law he shall die."
021 But Christ was not to die by the law of the Jews: therefore was he not judged by the law of the Jews, but for Caesar's sake, that he should make himself king, and be against Caesar. The title testifies to this, when Pilate had it written, and on the cross JEsu was pinned at the heads: "JEsus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. The evangelists wanted to show how people become mad and foolish when they set themselves against the truth. This is done so that the truth may come to light more gloriously, and so that its foolishness may become more apparent. This is what is happening to the papists in our time; because they go against the public truth, they become mad about it and write against their own decree, against the emperor's statutes and order, yes, against all human reason.
22. "To make oneself the son of God" was such a great sin among the Jews that it could not be greater; therefore also the high priest, when he heard that Christ confessed that he was the son of God, tore his clothes and said: "He has blasphemed God, what further testimony may we bear? Matth. 26, 65. The Jews had this law, whoever blasphemed God's name should be stoned [3 Mos. 24, 16]. Now to blaspheme God's name was not only to curse and desecrate, but also when a man said: I am God. Although the Lord answered the Jews well for this (that he said, I am the Son of God), both Matth. 26, 64. where he says: "I tell you, from now on it will happen that you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven", and Joh. 8, 28.: "When you exalt the Son of Man, then you will know that it is me" 2c., but it did not help with the Jews; he had to bear the guilt as if he were a blasphemer; because he calls himself the Son of God, he must die.
23) But such an accusation of blasphemy against God was nothing with Pilate, who knew nothing of the law of the Jews; and if the Jews had contended, and brought with truth upon Christ, that he had blasphemed against God, Pilate might still have said, Why?
Do you Jews go against your own law? Your law says that a blasphemer should be stoned, not crucified: But now ye cry that I should crucify him, when crucifixion is not for blasphemy, even according to your law. Therefore the Jews are once again mad and foolish, and are imprisoned. For so it shall be with all the enemies of God, which oppose the truth, that they shall be taken everywhere in their wickedness.
(24) And here we see the great love of the Lord Christ toward us, who endures such suffering for our sake. One also sees the great honor of the gospel, that the Lord Christ's adversaries can muster nothing against him, and the more they try to muster something, the more they become ashamed of it. It is a vain and fickle thing that they pretend in their manifold accusations and incessant judgments. This is our honor and the honor of our holy gospel, that we know that because it happened to the Lord himself, it will not happen to us differently in the world. That would be a great, excellent art, who could have the suffering of Christ before his eyes in such a way that he would learn from it how the dear Church of God and the Gospel of Christ are and will be on earth.
(25) Besides, this also is a good doctrine and prophecy unto us, that Christ should die because he hath made himself the Son of God. For the law is our death and devil, and is on the neck of all of us who have made ourselves the son of God. The text of Moses is certainly good: Whoever makes himself the son of God shall die the death. We human beings have all made ourselves sons of God; therefore we are all guilty of death. Christ has redeemed us from the same burden. Therefore it serves him right in this respect, because he took our place and paid for us. He is innocent as far as he is concerned, and the law of Moses, that blasphemers should be put to death, is not his business; but because he has taken it upon himself to stand in the place of all men, he must also await punishment.
26. it is all of us humans who make ourselves sons of God, yes, who want to be God Himself. Adam has committed such sin
He was not satisfied that he was a beautiful creature of God, made in the image of God, and did not want to remain a man, but also wanted to be God, and know evil and good; because he followed the old serpent, and wanted to be like God, he became a devil [Gen. 3, 1. ff.] So now we all follow after our first father Adam. For our wisdom, our money and our goods shall do it, we rely on that, and do not trust in God's goodness and mercy. Summa, it is the first sin that Adam started, and that now goes through all of us without ceasing. Adam wanted to be God himself, and God should be nothing. So do all Adam's children. Therefore it is right and well said: Whoever makes himself the son of God shall die the death; so that the law goes most of all over him who makes himself the son of God. That is us.
This sin is the greatest and most serious, from which all other sins originate. Yes, there is no sin without it, as Sirach Cap. 10, 14. 15. says: Principium peccati, apostatare a Deo, "That is where all hope comes from, when a man falls away from God and his heart departs from his Creator. Hopefulness drives to all sins." The main sin is when a person wants to be God, that is, when a person trusts in his own works and righteousness that he will be saved by them. Such a person does not need forgiveness of sins, nor the help of the Lord Christ. But this is God's work, to forgive sin, to make righteous and blessed; therefore, whoever attributes these works to himself and to his own worthiness and righteousness, makes himself God. So also, if a prince is proud, and relies on his power and authority, he himself wants to be GOD, and GOD shall be nothing. Now the law says: Whoever is proud and makes himself the son of God/shall die of death. Therefore Christ comes in our place, and puts on our person, dying for us who are guilty of death.
Some interpret this text thus: Christ was to die, for he is the Son of God; and the law prophesied of him that he should die for the sin of the world. This opinion is not wrong, but good. But
The Jews do not understand that he is the Son of God and that the Son of God, according to the prophecy of the Law, should die for the sin of the world. Therefore, they do not say, "He made himself the Son of God and died according to the prophecy of the Law," but, "He made himself the Son of God and died according to the prophecy of the Law: He has made himself the son of God, therefore he shall die according to the law as a blasphemer. But the accusation of the Jewish law was not valid before the governor Pilato, who was a Gentile.
V. 8. When Pilate heard the word, he was even more afraid.
29There thou hearest the cause why Christ was crucified. After this charge Pilate asks nothing, that the Jews say he made himself the son of God; but the other charge clings to him, that they accused him of making himself a king. But that the evangelist says, "Pilate feared still more," is to be understood thus: The Romans had the order that no one should be delivered to death unless a certain guilt was brought upon him. Since Pilate finds no guilt in Christ, he does not want to judge him, even though the Jews insist on it, because he was afraid of the Romans, so that he would not act against their order and way of judgment.
(30) Now, in addition to fear, there is another fear. When he heard that he was the son of God, he was even more afraid, not of the Jews, but also of the Romans. He does not believe that Christ is the Son of the true, living God, for he knows nothing about God, but thinks that because the Romans have many and various gods, who knows whether he is perhaps one of the same gods? For one often hears that in paganism the gods walked the earth in human form, posing as beggars or other people. For the poets have written strange things of their gods, just as of men. I believe that this came about because the great Hansa walked around in their clothes, and then it was said that the gods had done it. So Pilate thinks that Christ is such a god of the pagans; now that you are judging him and sentencing him to death, he should probably come here today or tomorrow, and
show off to the Romans, and make yourself hateful to them.
(31) And here again it is seen how the wicked's attempts go back when they should best go away. If Christ had confessed that he was the Son of God, Pilate would have judged Christ much less. The Jews think to make the matter evil by accusing Christ as if he had made himself the Son of God; they think that Pilate should go and kill him from the beginning, and yet they hinder their cause most severely. These things are written so that it may be seen how those who go against the word of God must be put to shame. What the law says about the one who makes himself the Son of God does not move Pilate at all; but it moves him to think that Jesus might be one of the pagan gods; therefore he also asks, "Who are you, or from where are you? He saith not, What saith the law of the Jews concerning thee, but rather, From whence art thou?
32 Thus Christ is innocently condemned to death; of this the Gentile Pilate must bear witness against the most learned and holy men of the earth, as the chief priests and elders of the Jews; and the sword which the Jews wield against Christ passes through them, as the 37th Psalm, v. 15, says. I could not only set Christ free before Pilate, but also before Caesar himself, if I said that he was the Son of God; and the Jews fall into such foolishness that they think that such an accusation should count for much on their side against Christ. So shall it be with all those who set themselves against God and His Son.
Note here that the innocence of the Lord Christ stands for our guilt. For although he is condemned to death with innocence, he is still guilty before God according to the law; not for his person, but for our persons. He stands before Pilate, not as a son of the Virgin Mary, but as an offender; and that not for himself, but for me and you, for the cause that he wanted to be God's son, that is, that we want to have God's son, that is, to be like God. So then Christ is innocent for himself, but for us he is guilty, because
He has taken care of us to pay our debt. But the common saying goes: "Guarantors should be strangled.
V. 9 And he entered again into the judgment house, and saith unto JESUS, Whence art thou?
034 Then thou hearest that Pilate was under the delusion that Jesus was a Gentile god; wherefore he feared not that he should act contrary to the laws of the Jews; but this is the cause of his fear, that he was afraid he should be joined to the gods of the Gentiles. Therefore he brings Jesus back to the judgment house, and starts a new question with him to find out about his arrival, birth and family, and says: "From where are you? As if he were to say, "Because the Jews say that you proclaim that you are the Son of God, I would like to know which Son of God you are, so that I may know how to judge you. For he would not have liked to judge one who was God or God's son, especially since he had already scourged him; so remember, "If I have scourged a son of the gods, then I have truly done wrong.
But JEsus gave him no answer.
35 Some say that the fact that Christ does not answer Pilate's question is because if he had answered, Pilate would undoubtedly have let him go, and thus Christ's death would have been prevented. We leave such things to be said by those who wish to do so; who wants to shut everyone's mouth? Pilate was not the man who would have soon believed if he had already heard of Christ that he was the Son of God for eternity and the Son of the Virgin on earth. This is the reason why Christ does not answer here: He gave Pilate a ready answer, which would have been superfluous if he had wanted to be proven wrong, for he had made his glorious confession before Pilate, and testified why he had come into the world, namely, that he should testify to the truth; but Pilate accepted this mockingly, laughed it off, and mockingly said, "What is truth?" Because Christ realized that Pilate was such a man, who did not care much about what truth is, he considered him worthless,
934 Eri. so, SS7-S70. Interpretations on John the Evangelist. W. viii, W-ms. 935
that he should give him further instruction, because in the confession of the Lord it was sufficiently shown to him who Christ was.
(36) Pilate should have seen what Christ preached, and what miraculous works he had done; he should have regarded the same words and works, and not have asked, "Whence art thou?" For if we get to the point where we want to know first of all from whence Christ is, which is his coming and generation, we will be offended and angry with Christ. As it happened to the others, of whom it is written Matth. 13, 54. 55. 56.: "When Christ taught in His Father's country, so also that they all deposed themselves, they nevertheless were vexed at His coming and at His generation, and said, Whence comes this man such wisdom and power? Is he not the son of a carpenter? Is not his mother called Mary? and his brothers, Jacob and Joses, and Simon and Judas? and his sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did all this come to him?"
37 Christ answered Pilate: "I came into this world to bear witness to the truth. If Pilate had heard the truth from Christ, he would have known from where Christ came. So Christ also answers the Jews Joh. 8, 25. When they ask and say to him, "Who are you?" he says to them, "First of all, he who speaks to you"; that is: I am your preacher; if ye believe this first, ye shall know who I am. But if you first want to know who Christ is, whether he is a prince or of great stature and glory in the world, and then believe for the sake of the person, nothing comes of it. For if the gospel be measured by the person, it is already lost. Therefore one should not ask who Christ is or from where he comes, as Pilate does, but pay attention to what he preaches and teaches; if one believes his preaching and teaching, then one will understand who Christ is and from where he comes. Thus the Lord sufficiently showed Pilate and sufficiently answered his question, but Pilate despised it.
V. 10 Pilate said to him, "Are you not talking to me? Do you not know that I have power
have power to crucify you and power to release you?
(38) Pilate is angry that Christ will not speak to him, because he is the judge who has power, and Christ is a poor beggar, imprisoned and bound, defying and boasting of his power like a heathen. Our nobles, the tyrants and enemies of the gospel, do the same in our time; they boast and brag that they have power in Christendom to install and remove, to order and change, and to do everything in Christendom that they themselves desire. Christ Pilato cannot conceal such things; therefore he answers and says:
V. 11. You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.
(39) Here someone might ask: Why does Christ speak here, since it seems that it is not necessary to speak, because Pilate does not ask him to answer; and above, when Pilate asks and desires an answer, he is silent? This is easy to answer: Because Christ had previously answered Pilate sufficiently in his confession, and Pilate despised all this, it was not necessary for Christ to answer further, whether Pilate asked, "From whence art thou? for he had answered enough if he had wanted to believe; but here, because Pilate goes out and thinks that he is the man who has authority, it was necessary for Christ to answer and to punish such defiance on Pilate's part, and to make him understand that he would have no authority over him at all if it were not given to him from above. And with this Christ indicated and gave us a lesson that one should not keep silent about the truth to the great merchants and noblemen, but admonish and punish them for their wrongdoing.
040 But Christ speaketh plainly, saying not, Pilate, thou hast no power over me: but, Pilate, thou hast power, as thou sayest, that is true; but there is another thing, that the power is not of thyself, but is given thee from above. With this he punishes Pilate in his presumption and in his defiance, and it is not good for him to boast that he has power.
41 So we must also do, our pila-.
tos we shall also confidently punish in their sacrilege and defiance. But they say, Thou blasphemest and dishonorest the majesty of princes. To this we answer: We should and will suffer from them what they do to us; but that we should be silent, and say, Gracious Junker, 1) thou doest right; this we will not do. For there is a great difference between these two, to suffer injustice and violence, and to be silent about it. One should suffer injustice and violence, but one should not remain silent; for a Christian should bear witness to the truth, and die for the sake of the truth. If he is to die for the sake of the truth, he must confess the truth with his mouth and punish the lies. Therefore we also say, for the truth's sake and for the law's sake we should and will die. If then we are to die for the sake of truth and right, we must freely confess the truth and right in public, and if the other condemns the truth and right, we must punish such lies. So we suffer violence and injustice, but we do not remain silent, nor do we approve of violence and injustice.
(42) Just as Christ says that he has come to bear witness to the truth and to punish the wrongs of Pilate, so we should also do. We should not say to our tyrants and persecutors of the gospel, "My lords, you act as Christian princes and spiritual fathers; go on, you do right;" but we should say, "You act as murderers, even as apostates, enemies of Christ and his gospel. But then they say: This is blaspheming the majesty. But, regardless of their wrong judgment, we must confess and say: This is the truth; whoever speaks against it is against God. Thus Christ testifies that the authority Pilate has is God's order, and that Pilate has such authority from God. Therefore, he does wrong by presumptuously praising such power and insisting on it. For injustice should not be kept silent, and sin should not go unpunished.
V. 11. Therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath greater sin.
This is a horrible, terrible sentence and heavy judgment. Although Christ be-
1) Grace Junker (Gnadjunker) - gracious Junker.
knows and testifies that Pilate has authority from above, yet he does not excuse Pilate, but shows him that he is guilty. He means to say: Pilate, you do wrong, because you act against God and abuse your power to crucify me, when you find no guilt of death in me. No doubt Pilatum was severely displeased by this. For princes and great men can well suffer that the whole world is punished, if only they remain unpunished. But they must also be punished, and he who is in office is obliged to tell them where they do wrong and act wrongly, whether they pretend that punishing great merchants is a cause for rebellion. For how could the gospel be silent, and the great men unpunished, lest sedition arise therefrom?
44 But he passes a terrible judgment on the one who delivered him to Pilate. But who is the same one? It is Caiphas, Annas, Judas, and all who are in this mob, who captured Christ and delivered him to Pilate. For this is the way of the holy Scriptures, that they often put the singular for the plural, and again, the plural for the singular. What one does, it attributes to the whole multitude; and again, what the whole house does, it often attributes to one. So also here: "He that delivered me unto thee," that is, the whole company that did such things has the greater sin. This may be called a judgment, and therefore it is written, that the wicked may be offended at it.
(45) Is it not a strange word and speech? Caiphas, Annas, Judas, and the Jews are the man who delivers up Christ, and yet they do not kill him with their fists. Again, Pilate has him crucified and killed; yet Christ says, "He that delivered me unto thee hath greater sin"; he that delivers up Christ is a greater sinner than he that committeth the deed. This is so much speaking: The Jews are worse than the Gentiles; Annas and Caiphas are worse than Pilate. Who could speak such a judgment as Christ speaks here? If we now say that the pope is worse than the Turk, this would be a strange speech for everyone; and yet in truth it is not true.
he pope is worse than the Turk, just as the Jews are worse than Pilate the Gentile. For the Turk persecutes and kills Christians with his fist; the pope delivers them up and deceives them with false teaching. Pilate has Christ crucified and does this out of fear; there is no hatred or envy in him, no malice, but only fear, so that he is concerned about the emperor; but the Jews persecute and deliver up Christ out of pure malice and hatred against him.
46 You see that Christ judges the work according to the heart, and not according to outward appearance. Pilate commits sin by having Christ crucified, in whom he finds no guilt of death. But because his heart is not as evil as the heart of Caiph and the high priests, his sin is not as great as the sin of Caiph and the high priests. Where will our nobles be, who pretend and say that they have done nothing evil, if they betray innocent blood, and help that the innocent Christians are persecuted? I think they will have to pay dearly enough. At this time there are many such people who persecute the gospel, not with their fists, but help it with cunning attacks and evil practices. Such have their judgment here. They think that because they do not take the sword, they are not so wicked; but here it is: although Pilate has Christ scourged, crowned, mocked, spat upon, and finally crucified, and does all this by deed, he is not so wicked and evil as the Jews. It is therefore concluded from this text that those who want to be the most holy and accept the word are the most wicked. Therefore the pope with his own commits greater sin than the Turk and all the Gentiles. This is what the text says: "He who delivered me to you has done it.
greater sin."
(47) But here Christ does not excuse Pilate at all, but only makes a distinction between him and the chief priests. The chief priests and Jews do it out of pure malice, and if they could do the work, they would do it worse and more horribly than Pilate. Again, Pilate does it not out of malice, but out of fear, and if he had been allowed, he would have released Christ.
have. But with this Pilate is not excused, nor without sin. For he should have said, "My nature and reason teach me that I should not harm anyone for the sake of another. It is not lawful for my neighbor to say, "My dear neighbor, I have stolen your cows, neither for my benefit nor for the benefit of my neighbor, but for the benefit of your enemy. Neither is it lawful for Pilate knowingly to do wrong for the sake of the Jews.
48 Nevertheless, Christ makes a distinction between him and the Jews. For the Jews do it out of a malicious heart, and would gladly do it with their fists, and force Pilatum to do it; they are therefore guilty, both for themselves and for Pilatum. Let each one see to it that he does not minimize his sin, but thinks that he is guilty if he bears envy and hatred toward his neighbor, even if he does not lay a hand on his neighbor. For if he could lay a hand on his neighbor, he would not refrain from doing so. Summa, here one hears that Pilate is better than Annas and Caiphas.
V. 12. From that time Pilate sought how he might release him. But the Jews cried out and said: If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend, for he who makes himself king is against Caesar.
49 When Pilate hears that there is no cause of death in Christ, he wants to become pious and seeks to release him. Pilate is the most holy man on earth, for he has the mind and will to release Christ. On the other hand, God's people, the Jews, cry out, "If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. This may be a common saying.
50 But the Jews brought the first and the first accusation again. First they accused him of wanting to be a king and forbidding the emperor to give interest. But Pilate soon put down this accusation. Then they accused him of making himself the son of God. The complaint is also defeated. Now that all the complaint is over, they run back and repeat the first complaint, that he has made himself king, and make the same complaint a little stronger, saying, "If you let this one go, you are not Caesar's friend,
for he has said that he is the king of the Jews. Let us say, then, that he who makes himself king is against Caesar; this man makes himself king, therefore he is a rebel, and wants to lead the people away from Caesar. If then, Pilate, you release this man who makes himself king and is against Caesar, it is a sign and a testimony that you are unfaithful to your lord and emperor and act as an evil-doer. When Pilate hears this, he passes on. Before this he had answered this charge with great honor, and knew that Christ was not a king that was against Caesar; but the word, Thou art not Caesar's friend, takes him captive, and casteth him away.
(51) This is how it is in the world; the word, "You are not Caesar's friend," is lifted up so that one falls from the truth like the leaves from the trees in autumn. For flesh and blood cannot bear that they have Caesar for an enemy, even as Pilate is blinded by it. For our house, our court, our wife, our children, and all that we have is under Caesar's protection. If therefore Caesar is our enemy, our house, our court, our wife, our children, and all that we have is in danger. Therefore, to have the emperor as an enemy is nothing else than to put life and limb, property and honor in danger. Now human nature is so minded that it would rather have the emperor as a friend than as an enemy, so that it may keep life, limb, property and honor. Therefore it was neither a bad nor a small blow that Pilate heard that if he let Christ go, he would not be the emperor's friend. It is not a bad, insignificant word when the devil says to us: "If you want the gospel, you will be hated by all men; where will you stay? Christ proclaimed this as a warning, that it would be so; but the devil uses it up and sharpens it most fiercely, so that he will make people dislike the gospel. Then Pilate fell and had the innocent Christ crucified, so that he might remain alive and well and keep Caesar as a friend.
52 But just as Pilate clings to his body, goods and honor, and keeps Caesar as a friend, even though he knows that Christ is wronged, so in our time many people are good evangelicals, but they do not keep the gospel.
They are not worthy of the gospel, so that they put their life, property and honor at risk for the sake of the gospel, and so they follow Pilate. For Pilate has many children on earth, who for the sake of temporal life, goods and honor, let Christ and his gospel go. This is what the evangelist has diligently indicated in Pilate. When Pilate hears the word, he does not question Christ any further, but closes his eyes and ears and lets the judgment and sentence go over the innocent man. For he thinks that it is better for one to perish than for me and all of us, with everything we have, to perish.
(53) The Pilate also shows what human holiness and righteousness are capable of, what their basis is, and how firmly they stand when the body suffers harm or is in danger. As long as power, honor and good stand and remain, so long does human righteousness and holiness also remain; but when honor, good and power fall away and cease, they also fall away immediately and cease to be human righteousness and holiness. This is the worldly righteousness, which perishes and comes to an end with those who have it. For even the heathen who worship such worldly godliness do not continue, for thus, when life, power, and honor cease, virtue also ceases. So far have they come, and could come no further; and therefore it is called a temporal, worldly righteousness.
(54) So is the holiness of the monks, which cannot stand in danger, imprisonment, pestilence, death or other distress. As soon as such occur, they think they are abandoned by God and man. The best pagans and the finest philosophers have been deceived that they themselves have confessed and said: When it comes to the end, it is all uncertainty with virtue; as Cicero and Demosthenes complain about it. Pilate was pious and loved worldly justice; but since the world wants to leave him, he becomes a rogue.
This example of Pilate should be well remembered. For Pilate is a picture of all the saints who are holy before the world and do not have God's word, faith and Christ. As long as the enjoyment is there, so long are they...
942 Erl. so, 377-37". Interpretations on John the Evangelist. W. VIII, S4S-S4S. 949
pious; but as soon as enjoyment has an end, piety also has an end. It is a childish and servile righteousness. For with it one keeps the child pious, if one stabs it with the rod, or if one gives it apples, pears, gingerbread, nuts, sugar or other gifts. When the rod stops and the sugar runs out, piety also stops. So also the servant is pious as long as one is after him, and as long as he sees the enjoyment; when the master is gone, and the enjoyment ceases, the servant goes his way. Therefore I have said that it is a filial, servile, perishable righteousness.
In our time, it is like this everywhere: because the gospel teaches that one should do good to all people, without asking for our pleasure, only in honor of God and for the service and benefit of one's neighbor, no one wants to help or advise the other. Before, under the papacy, one gave too much and beyond measure. For they said, "If you give so much, you will enjoy it so and so. For one has looked at the enjoyment and reward, and has thus made a worldly righteousness out of it. But now, in the light of the Gospel, when no more is said about our merit, no one wants to give or help. These are called Pilate's children, and belong to Pilate's kingdom of heaven, and will receive their reward with Pilate. Every peasant can do this, that he is pious as long as he is rewarded; but if he has to give and help for nothing, piety will not go away.
When Pilate heard the word, he felt JEsum out, and sat down on the judgment seat in the place called High Pavement, which in Hebrew is Gabbatha.
Pilate sat down on the judgment seat and did not question Jesus any further, as he had done before, because the word, "If you release Jesus, you are not Caesar's friend," frightened him and brought all his righteousness to the ground. But the evangelist describes very diligently how Christ was publicly and gloriously judged. Pilate needed a public judicial glory. The judgment house is located in the front of the street, and has in front
In the same oriel Pilate sat when he held court, under four pillars, so that he could be seen by everyone. That is John led out into the judgment house; not that JEsum was led out onto the gaff outside the judgment house, but that he was led into the same bay window at the judgment house. The Germans have taken it from Jews, and call it a Cavat, 1) or a raised staircase. Summa, the court was held publicly and magnificently, not in the corner, but before everyone.
V. 14. Now it was the preparation day at Easter, about the sixth hour.
58 The evangelist sets forth the time, the person, the place, and all the circumstances and occasions, all of which are to be known for the sake of the Jews, that they may be assured. Jesus was judged at the time when Pilate was judge, and in the place where the oriel stood, in the front of the judgment house; and on Easter evening, and about the sixth hour of the day 2c. The Jews could not pass by, especially those who lived at that time.
59 These hours are to be understood thus: The Jews had a way of dividing the day into twelve hours, just as we would count the day from 6 to 6 again, that is, one day in Jewish, as can be seen from the Gospel Matth. 20, 1. ff., where some workers are hired by the father of the house into his vineyard at the first hour, that is, soon in the morning; some are hired at the third hour; some at the sixth and ninth hour; some at the eleventh hour. These are all Jewish hours, into which the Jews have divided the day.
60 After that, they also divided the day into four quarters. The first hour is with us at 6 o'clock; the third hour is with us at 9 o'clock; the sixth hour is with us at 12 o'clock; the ninth hour is with us at 3 o'clock, at vespers; the eleventh hour is the last, and one hour before evening. And just as the Jews divided the day into twelve hours, four quarters, so they also divided the hours into four quarters.
1) Cavat --- altan-like porch of a house (Dietz). In Grimm we find the forms: kaffate and kavete.
The night is divided into four quarters, so that everything is finely arranged. Therefore, we read in the Scriptures that it is often written about the first night watch, and the other, third and fourth night watch 2c.
61 Therefore the evangelist says that Christ was crucified at the sixth hour, which was almost 12 o'clock. Pilate delayed the judgment for a long time to release Jesus, so that the innocence of the Lord Christ might come to light and be known. Therefore he had to stand before the court for five whole hours before he was condemned; Pilate beat away all the accusations of the Jews, and Christ spent the time confessing before the governor.
V. 15 Pilate said to the Jews, "Behold, this is your king! But they cried out, Away with him, crucify him.
62 Then Pilate tried again to see if he could set JEsum free. Before, he had him scourged and miserably mangled, and brought him out to the judgment house, to see if the Jews would have mercy on him, and be satisfied with his miserable appearance, that he was so severely beheaded and so miserably mangled, and release him; but here he is trying just that, if he could release him, but in a different way. For above [v. 5] he says, "Behold, what a man!" As if he should say, "Do not be sorry for him, and are you not satisfied that he is so miserably wounded? Here he says, "Behold, this is your king." As if he should say: "Fie, be ashamed of yourselves that you insist on me to crucify your king.
So Pilate had two reasons for releasing Jesus: First, whether he could bring the Jews to have mercy on him. Second, whether he could make them ashamed, so that they would stop pressing on him. As if to say, "Are you not ashamed? If you were pious people, in whom virtue and shame were, you should run with armor and weapons, and drive me out of the city with all my people, so that I would crucify your king; but you do the opposite. You should have protected your king and defended him against me; so you go to him and override me, so that I kill him when I would gladly give him up.
64. all this is prescribed that the un
The guilt of the Lord Christ must be confessed, so that the Pilate's mouth may be an eternal witness to the end of the world that the Jews have acted abominably, falsely and unjustly. The mouth of the Gentile Pilate must cry out in the whole world that Christ has been innocently killed. And this must be done by the judge himself, not by the judge's servant, and must be done against the Jews, who should protect and guard their king.
This is what is happening to our gospel now: those who should defend the gospel to the highest degree persecute those who like to hear it. But what horrible punishment has followed, that the Jews have experienced and still experience daily. Now where are the Jews who cried out so vehemently, "Away with him, crucify him"? They have now gone more than a thousand and a half years astray and miserable with hardened hearts, and have lost their kingdom, priesthood and everything, and their own conscience testifies against them that God is angry with them and is hostile to them. If before they could cry out, "Away with him, crucify him," and accept no excuse, not even from Pilate the judge, God is now again playing this very game with them; they fast, pray, or do whatever they want, God will neither hear nor see them.
The same thing happens to us: the stones cry out that our doctrine is the right, pure gospel, yet the pope, bishops and princes go through with their heads and condemn our doctrine. But how will such persecutors of the Gospel finally fare? Just as God did to the Jews, so He will do to them: they will shout and scream, but neither shouting nor screaming will help [Proverbs 1:28]. Truly, we have experienced a good deal of such wrath of God in the papacy. How many priests, monks and other people have worked themselves to death with fasting and praying to appease God's wrath, and yet have achieved nothing? Thus, when one despises God's word, God despises the despisers again [1 Sam. 2:30]. Our bishops, monks and priests also have a lot of shouting, praying and singing, but God does not hear them. When the Turk will come, they will be tired of praying and pro-.
946 Erl. so, SS1-SS4. Interpretations on John the Evangelist. W. VIII, WI-SS4. 947
They may make more concessions, but they will achieve nothing, except to further anger God and provoke him to punishment. The example of the Jews shows enormously what reward the adversaries of the Lord Christ and the despisers and enemies of His Gospel have to expect.
V. 15. 16. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered: We have no king but Caesar. Then he delivered him up to be crucified.
67 St. Matthew Cap. 27:24 states that Pilate took water and washed his hands before the people, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man, you see"; and all the people answered, "His blood is upon us and upon our children." St. John passes over all this, and says only that Pilate delivered up JEsum. Pilate resisted enough to speak according to worldly righteousness; and God willed that such outward and worldly righteousness be stiffly held in the world among many; for, alas, few are so pious as Pilate. Although such outward righteousness is small and not enough, as stated above [§53]. But the word: "If you let this one go, you are not Caesar's friend," frightens Pilate, so that he lets the judgment go over the innocent Jesus, and hands him over to the Jews; not according to the law, for he was innocent, as Pilate himself confesses, but, as Lucas says: "According to their will." Pilate then makes himself part of all the sins of the Jews and becomes guilty of the righteous man's blood, even though he has testified to his innocence and often confessed that there was no guilt of death to be found in him. But worldly justice does not do otherwise, it lasts as long as it is without danger.
68) Here is something to be said about the judgment: Although the judgment that was passed on Jesus is not expressed, nevertheless it seems that the judgment was as the title reads, which is pinned on his cross, namely: Because this Jesus of Nazareth has stood up for a king of the Jews, and thereby acted against imperial majesty, as a rebel and rebel, and insulted imperial majesty and crown, I judge that Pi.
latus, and Roman governor, condemned him to the death of the cross, that he might be punished and hanged on the cross like a rebel. Thus Christ was condemned and sentenced to death, not because of his doctrine, as a seducer of the people, but because he was a rebel, a rebel, and guilty of the majesty and crown of the emperor and the high authorities.
69 The Lord proclaimed this long before, when he said to his disciples, Matt. 26:18, "The Son of man shall be delivered unto the Gentiles"; that is, the Gentile power and authority would kill Christ, because he had set himself up as king. The Jews accuse him, and say harshly: "This man wants to be our king, turns away the people, and begs to give the bosom to Caesar; but Christ never desired to be the bodily king of the Jews, nor was he contrary to Caesar; nevertheless he must bear the guilt. So Christ with his gospel and all those who want to be under his gospel are condemned as rebels.
(70) He then that would be under the gospel, and bear the cross of Christ, must take heed that he be called a rebel. Nor must he be angry that the gospel is called rebellious; for the Passion gives Christ this judgment, that he must die as a rebel, and the Scriptures give the gospel this name, that it is called a rebellious doctrine of the world, as St. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:5. Paul says 2 Cor. 6, 4. 5: "Let us prove ourselves servants of God, in great patience, in tribulations, in distresses, in beatings, in prisons, in riots" 2c. The great countries and cities butted heads over St. Paul's teaching, and considered it seditious; St. Paul complains about it, and Christ indicates such by his title. The 2nd Psalm, v. 1. 2. also says of this: "Why do the heathen rage, and the people speak so vainly? The kings of the land rebel, and the lords counsel with one another against the Lord and his anointed." The heavenly Father, and the heavenly Father's Son, Christ, are causing an uproar in the world, so that emperors and kings are raging and people are chattering about it. But in fact it says that neither the heavenly Father nor the
The Son is to blame for such rebellion, but the blame lies with the emperors and the kings, who do not want to suffer Christ with His gospel, but say, v. 3: "Let us break their bands and throw off their ropes. Christ does not teach sedition, but suffers sedition.
Now there is a great difference between the rebellion that I make and cause and the rebellion that I suffer. Christ taught rightly, and never incited to sedition, and never preached sedition, but taught how to stand against God and Caesar, as His teaching is, Matth. 22, 21: "Pray to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." John the Baptist also preaches and teaches rightly Luc. 3, 14. When the men of war asked him what they should do, he answers them: "Do neither violence nor injustice to anyone, and be content with your honor." Yes, he lets himself be beheaded over his office and for the sake of truth. This does not mean that he taught or stirred up rebellion, but that he suffered rebellion. Christ does not rebel against kings and emperors, but they rise up against him and condemn his word and gospel, neither wanting to hear nor see his teaching; therefore they are rebels who cause rebellion, and not Christ.
So now our princes say that our teaching is seditious. Yes, right; but you must understand it right. Our doctrine suffers sedition, but does not cause sedition. For we do not preach that men should take up the sword, but that every man should be obedient and subject to his authorities; but they, who reproach our doctrine as seditious, take up the sword. If they were not obdurate, I would ask them how it could be that we are rebels, because we do not burn, behead, or chase away anyone, but rather they burn, behead, and chase away the unruly.
. But our gospel must be stirring because it preaches what people do not like to hear. So if it works, it works. For thus says the 120th Psalm, vv. 5, 6, 7: "Woe is me, that I am a stranger among Mesech; I must dwell among the tents of Kedar. It is long for my soul to dwell with those who hate peace. I keep
Peace; but when I speak, they looked on war." There the Holy Spirit says that the gospel does not cause turmoil; but when God's Spirit opens his mouth and begins to preach to the world, the world is in armor from hours. So do our adversaries; they strike at one commandment after another: Resist here, resist there; strangle here, strangle there; and yet blame us, we are rebels. But if one holds our doctrine and life against their doctrine and life, it is easy to find out which part is rebellious.
(74) Yea, they say, thou shalt not teach the gospel, neither shalt thou preach it; thou shalt not punish our false doctrine and shameful living; thou shalt not expose our idolatry, for out of it cometh sedition. That is where the devil strikes; why do you not hear the gospel as we do? Why do you not let the same discipline, instruct and guide you? If thou wouldst, thou wouldst be one with us, and we with thee, and there would be no strife nor battle between us.
75 So the gospel of Christ is always called rebellious in the world, because the devil and the world stir up rebellion against it. But they would gladly interpret that the gospel is seditious because it teaches what they do not like to hear, just as we must also be called seditious to our adversaries, because we preach what displeases them. True, we preach what they do not like to hear, and therefore they are angry and persecute us. But this is not preaching sedition, but suffering sedition. If it were true, every servant would say to his master when he is punished by him: Dear lord, you are causing sedition; I must resist you, for you are telling me what I do not like to hear. Such things no master can and should suffer from his servant. But Christ and his gospel shall suffer it from his blasphemers and persecutors.
We know well that Christ is considered the greatest abomination in the world at all times, as the 22nd Psalm, v. 7, says: "I am a worm, and no man, a scoffer of men, and despiser of the people. Therefore it is no wonder that we are also called rebels. But we can prove by deed that not we, but they are rebels. For
They have the sword; but we choke no man with the sword, but preach and confess the truth: neither must we have the name without action, as if we were rebels. So here stands our judgment. For the judgment that goes against Christ, that he is a rebel, goes against us also. If the world has not condemned Christ, and Christ must suffer, it will not condemn us, and we must suffer. And let this be a comfort and a joy to us, because we are as our Head, Christ, was. "For the servant shall not be above his lord, nor the disciple above his master" [Matt. 10:24].
V. 16, 17: And they received Jesus, and led him away, and he bare his cross.
The Lord Jesus has passed his sentence, is condemned to death and condemned for all of us. Now the text says further that he had to carry his own cross. Whether this was the custom, that all who were judged had to carry their cross, or whether it was a special shame for Christ that he alone had to carry his cross, I do not know. Many have been concerned about this, and want to investigate and certainly find out whether he had to bear it out of the custom of the country, or whether it was a disgrace to himself, but they have not been able to be certain of the matter. For both may well be. First, it may well have been a common way and custom that every offender, sentenced to death, had to carry his cross with him until the place of judgment. Again, it may well be that they alone, to spite and woe, to greater and more shame, and to avenge themselves on him the more, have laid his cross upon this Jesus, that he has had to bear it, and the other two murderers, who were crucified with him, have not borne their crosses; both these things may be; therefore I do not conclude which of these two is certain; let each one think which he will.
78 Truly, Christ indicates something and gives an understanding with these words, when he says Matth. 10, 38: "Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. He speaks as if he were speaking
my way, as if such a custom and habit had been in the country, and as if he wanted to indicate, as it were, that everyone had to carry his cross according to the country's custom, and that it had come from such a country's custom that carrying the cross had been used for all misfortunes. Just as if I wanted to make a proverb out of the word "gallows" or "hanging on the gallows" in the German language, and say: "My work, poverty, shame, and sickness hurt me as much as if I had hung on the gallows or on the cross;" then the torture would become a proverb, and would be called gallows or cross, of every accident and misfortune, evil and suffering. So it can also be seen that Christ spoke in a proverbial way when he said: "He who does not take up his cross"; and it is almost as if other people also spoke in this way according to national usage: "Each one will have to carry his own; I have my gallows, I carry my cross, another has his gallows and cross. So Christ also carries his cross, and no one can carry it but Christ alone.
So St. Paul says in 2 Cor. 12:7: "I have a stake driven into my flesh, that is, the angel of Satan, who smites me with his fists, lest I exalt myself. This is so much to say: I have a cross smitten into my flesh, I have a cross that smites and blisters me well about the head. For that which St. Paul here calls a stake is precisely that which Christ calls a cross. For in the countries of the East there were two ways of killing people: First, they nailed the evildoers to a cross or stake, just as Christ was nailed to the cross with his hands and feet. The second way was to impale people on a cross or stake, as is still the custom in Hungary and Turkey today, to impale people on a stake, to crucify or to hang them; and this is called hanging on a stake. So St. Paul says that he has a stake in his flesh; not that he was put on a physical or wooden stake, but that he takes this way of speaking from the fact that he saw in the country those who were to be put to death on a spike. As if he wanted to say: I have a great plague and terror from the devil, that I just feel as if
I would have been impaled, and a stake would have been thrust through my flesh. Therefore, it may well be that it has been the custom of the land for everyone to carry his spear, stake, or cross.
(80) But whether we know this not thoroughly, whether it has been customary, or whether it has been done for Christ's special dishonor, it is without danger. Let each one do as he thinks best; our Christian faith will not break our necks because of it. It is certain that Christ carried his cross; it is also true that the Jews, out of hatred and envy, insisted that he be crucified, which among the Jews was not only the highest and most severe punishment, but also the worst and most shameful, most difficult death, so that murderers might be judged; just as in Turkey, whoever is found guilty of an offense is impaled.
81 But it may well be remembered that it was a heavy burden for Christ to carry his cross; therefore some fathers say that he grew weary under such a burden and could no longer walk, and that Simon was forced to carry the cross for him. The painters paint it as if Simon had to help the Lord Jesus carry the cross, so that Christ carries the foremost part of the cross and Simon the hindmost. But this is not right. Simon did not help Jesus to carry his cross, but Christ, condemned to death, does not walk with bare shoulders, but carries his cross and gallows on his own neck.
This is how it happened: Christ began to carry his cross from Pilate's Gate, and he carried it through the whole city until he reached the gate. Then, at the gate, they seized Simon of Cyrene, who was a lowly and common man coming from the field; and they forced him to carry the cross after him, even to the place of judgment. The evangelist Lucas clearly says that they put the cross on Simon so that he would carry it after Jesus; he does not say that he helped him carry the cross.
83, You see that Christ must carry his own cross, since he is now condemned to death, and that he is not shown so much friendship and good will that he would have been spared this burden, but he must bear it himself and carry the cross himself.
that he might be crucified. Now this was an unkindness among the people; just as today in our country we are much more kind than the Orientals. For our evildoers do not carry the gallows or the wheel to be judged, but the gallows and the wheel are prepared beforehand and prepared outside the city. But it is described by the evangelist for this reason, so that it may be seen how much it has stood and cost, the redemption from sins. Jesus is innocently condemned to death and nailed to the cross as the worst offender, and must himself carry the cross on which he is to hang.
(84) After this Christ must not only bear his cross, but is also led to the place called the place of the skull. Calvaria means a dead man's head or skull, the bone above the brain; therefore they call it locum calvariae, or place of the skull, the place where the evildoers are judged, because many dead men's heads or skulls lay there. We call it the gallows; elsewhere it is called the raven stone, because the ravens sit on it and eat the dead bodies there. Summa, it was the place of execution. Here in Wittenberg it is called the gallows, in Erfurt it is called the Rabenstein. As every city has its own German, so one should call the place. The Jews called it Skull Place, because the place used to be full of dead bodies and legs.
The evangelist writes this to show that Jesus was not taken to a special, secret place, but to the common, public place where the other evildoers were put to death. And the chief priests did this so that it would seem the greater, and so that he would be accused of having well deserved death, and that it would be just for him, and that he would have to suffer his punishment like other evildoers. Then all the people fell from him. For the chief priests said, "If this man were a true prophet, God would not let him come to this place; but because he comes here, God does not respect him, and there is no hope for him. With such cries they have turned many people away from Christ.
86 Further, the evangelist says that they crucified two others with Jesus on both sides.
954 Erl. 50, SS1-S9S. Interpretations on John the Evangelist. W. VIII, 9SL-9SS. 955
But JEsum is in the middle. They are not satisfied that Jesus carries his own cross and is crucified in the common place of judgment, but they also give him two companions, "so that the scripture would be fulfilled", as the other evangelists say from the prophet, Is. 53, 12: "He is counted among the malefactors. These two were highwaymen, murderers, and malefactors, who are to be judged with the wheel or the sword, because they break the common peace of the land, against the proper authority, which protects and should protect the peace of the land; therefore they are guilty of death. Such rebels and breaches of the peace are the two with whom Christ must be crucified.
And not only that, but he must also stand in the middle and have these two murderers on his side, as the worst rebel and evil-doer. Where they could have done worse, they would have done it without a doubt. Satan and his people are so poisonously wicked that he is not satisfied with Christ being crucified, but does it as badly as he can. Pilate did not command that he should be crucified in the midst of the murderers. The soldiers did this in honor and service of the chief priests, who were pleased to see it, as they no doubt did it out of bitter envy and hatred.
(88) Behold, therefore, as it is with our Lord Christ, so it is with us now; we are dealt with most severely, and lack nothing, except that we have not yet bared our necks; though many of ours have bared their necks, and are still bared, who are slain by our adversaries, and are still being slain daily.
V. 19-22 Pilate wrote an inscription and put it on the cross, and it was written: JEsus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. This inscription was read by many Jews, because the place was near the city where Jesus was crucified. And it was written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin. Then said the chief priests of the Jews unto Pilato, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said: I am the king of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have written, that have I written.
The other evangelists report that they gave Jesus vinegar mixed with gall to drink at the place of the skull [Matth. 27, 34]. With this they have shown once again that no man on earth is so bitter and poisonous as the adversaries of the gospel. Summa, there is no human but only devilish hatred among them. To the other two murderers they will undoubtedly have given a cup of wine, as Proverbs 31:6, 7 says: "Pray strong drink to them that perish, and wine to the afflicted souls, that they may drink, and forget their miseries, and remember their calamities no more." But they give Jesus vinegar to drink instead of wine; and they do not have enough of it, but mix the vinegar with gall, as St. Matthew says, or as St. Marcus Cap. 15, 23. says, with myrrh, which is even more bitter. If they could have given him Kellerhals and Colochint 1) they would have done so gladly, no doubt.
So Christ is crucified and hangs on the cross as the worst thief, scoundrel, rebel and murderer that ever came on earth, and the innocent little lamb, Christ, has to bear and pay for other people's guilt, because it is for us. It is our sins that are on his neck; we are such sinners, thieves, scoundrels, rebels and murderers. For even if we do not all act so rudely, we are still such in the sight of God. So Christ comes in our place and bears our sin and pays for it, so that we may be saved through him. For if we believe in him, not only we who avoid gross, outward sins will be saved through Christ, but also those who fall into gross, outward sins will be saved, if they repent righteously and believe in Christ. For many murderers are saved, as the history of the Passion testifies, that the thief was converted and saved.
But Pilate's writing an inscription and putting it on the cross was a fine, beautiful way and custom that pleased me very much. The pagans have held a fine, strict, serious judgment, have the thing
1) In the editions: Kellerneck. Kellerhals is a plant of extremely acrid taste (Vapliirs msrsriill). Colochint - Coloquinte. Cf. 2 Kings 4:39.
They acted with seriousness; before anyone was judged, he had to be accused. They did not execute people for unheard things, but left them room to answer, or that they might be properly convinced and not answer. 1) This is fine and praiseworthy in the Romans. After that it was also fine and praiseworthy: Whoever was judged had a tablet on his cross or gallows, on which was written what he had forfeited, so that in the punitive court it would be acted publicly, and everyone could see what he had done. In this way they showed that it was not a bad, small thing to kill a man and take away his life, which could not be restored to him. Therefore, they not only proclaimed before the courts by judgment what each one had done, but also made known by writing on each one's cross each one's guilt and abuse, so that no one could long ask why he was judged. So it also happens here that Pilate puts a superscription over the cross of the Lord.
But Christ is judged because he is the king of the Jews; this must be his guilt, sin and iniquity. Now Pilate knew otherwise; nevertheless, he kept the custom and usage of Roman law, and had the sentence proclaimed and written in the superscription that Jesus was crucified for disobedience and rebellion. With this Pilate wanted to palliate himself as if he had crucified Jesus not without guilt and wrongdoing, and also that he interpreted this to the Jews that they had crucified their king.
So Christ is the King of the Jews without his will, that is, without his sin. Thus it is written over the crucifix to this day: "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Although the title was honored, just as the cross and the death of Christ were honored, the Jews did it to their greatest shame and disgrace, as if he had wanted to be king and had acted rebelliously against the emperor.
1) i.e., that they would be convicted and would no longer be able to present a well-founded excuse.
94 The inscription on the cross is also written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin, because at that time there were many foreigners in Jerusalem who had come for the Easter feast from all kinds of languages, but especially from these three languages. Therefore Pilate wrote the title in these three languages, so that everyone might see, read, hear and understand the reason why Christ was crucified, lest there be a murmur among the people that he was crucified and yet had no guilt of death in him.
The Jews cannot let this title be good either. The first two words, Jesus of Nazareth, they leave unchallenged and remain; but that it is written, "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews," the proud saints are ashamed. For they are afraid that afterwards they will hear: Why is your King crucified, impaled, and broken straight? Therefore they say to Pilato, "Do not write, 'Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews,' but write, 'Jesus of Nazareth has said that he is King of the Jews. They are so presumptuous, proud, and forbidding that they do not quite grant him even that title.
But Pilate is a Roman man, and will not change the title for their sake. "What I have written," he says, "that I have written"; as if to say: I cannot make a new superscription for every fool; as the title is once written, so it shall remain. So the title of the Lord on the cross must remain in its entirety, not out of Pilate's prudence, but out of God's sending, because this title belongs to Christ alone. But what the title means spiritually does not belong here, but shall be said at another time. 2)
V. 23. 24. But the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his clothes.
2) At this point, the following remark is found in the Eisleben edition (whether it comes from Aurifaber or from Poach, we do not know): Here end the sermons of the man of God D. Martin Luther, so he has done Anno 1528 and 1529 about the Passion; what follows, is taken from elsewhere. As the following scholion shows." The "Scholion" to which reference is made is the next following marginal gloss. However, it is in straight contradiction to the intermediate remark, which would not have been in place here, but only in the following § 108.
958 Erl. 60, SS5-S98. Interpretations on John the Evangelist. W. VIII, SK8-S7I. 959
They made three parts, one part for each soldier, and also the skirt. The skirt, however, was unstitched, and had been sewn from the top down through and through. Then they said one to another, "Let us not divide it, but loosen it for what it is. That the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They have divided my garments among them, and have cast lots upon my skirt. This is what the soldiers did.
97.1 ) Then St. John makes a very diligent text about the Lord's robe and garments, and says that the soldiers who crucified Christ cut his garments and divided them among themselves, but they left his robe unseparated and played with it. The evangelist here interjects this story before the Lord's departure, although it seems that it happened after the Lord's departure. No doubt he does this for the sake of spiritual interpretation, as he also introduces the Scripture and says that the Scripture is fulfilled by this, which says, "They have divided my garments among them. 2c. Ps. 22, 19. But he also does not forget the history, how he concludes this story, and says: "These things were done by the soldiers. As if he should say: They were right bold fellows, who practiced such thirst and courage will on the innocent man. We will leave the spiritual interpretation for now and stick to history.
According to history, this behavior of the soldiers shows how safe, steady and firm the people who crucify Christ are. These soldiers thus ride with the Lord's garments as if he were a mischief-maker and murderer. Such certainty greatly annoys the weak believers. In our time, it is especially annoying and difficult that the spirits of the wicked speak so defiantly, as if they were so sure of their own things that they can also swear and offer defiance with God's final judgment. This is the way of the wicked, that they are blood-curdling and insolent, and commit sacrilege without all shyness. A righteous Christian is full of fear, trembling and terror, and
1) Marginal gloss: This following interpretation is taken from a sermon of D. M. L., which he preached on Easter Eve [March 27] Anno 1529.
cannot bring it to such security; but the wicked are like a demon, having neither fear nor timidity, not caring if someone will avenge their evil, but walking safely and boldly as if it were all forgotten forever, Ps. 10:5 and 94:4.
(99) These things are shown here according to history, that we may not be offended at the boldness of the wicked, nor grow fainthearted over it. As: We believe in Jesus Christ, that he is our Lord, who can and will represent us against all our enemies; but what happens? He sometimes leaves us in the lurch, as if there were no God to take care of us, and nothing else appears before our eyes but that we are completely abandoned, so that even our adversaries make a mockery and play of it. This grieves Christians to such an extent that they feel, grasp and see in themselves all fear and trembling, but in the other part all certainty, defiance and firm courage. But we must get used to it. Christ on the cross had to try and experience this himself. Nevertheless, it is said: All things last a while, and everything has its time. Summa, these warrior servants are figures, models and fathers of all secure people.
Now there stood by the cross Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary Cleopha's wife, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son. Then saith he unto the disciple, Behold, this is thy mother. And from that time the disciple took her to himself.
The dear Lord Christ wants to bless the world completely and to depart from it. He no longer has anything on earth, neither money nor goods, neither robe nor clothes, but hangs naked on the cross; he has not laid his head, nor is his foot wide enough to die on the ground; he does not lie on a bed, but hangs freely in the air; only he still has his mother and his beloved disciples. Then he departs completely from the world, and gives up his mother also, and his dearest disciple, who lay on his breast in the Lord's Supper. This is a
It is a great sorrow when one passes away and does not want to take on a mother or a disciple or anything else from earth. The dear Lord must think nothing good of the world, that he gives it such a valete.
To the mother he says, "Woman, behold, this is your son. To the disciple he says, "Behold, this is your mother. And from that hour the disciple took her to himself." This is said so much: the disciple John accepted the mother of Jesus as his own mother, took her into his house, cared for her, waited on her, provided for her, that she might remain, as an abandoned widow, who was now also deprived of her only son.
From this text, Mary was made an idol in the papacy; and immediately in the Passion, when Christ and his Passion were preached, the Mother, Mariam, was preached, that she was commanded and given to us as the Mother of Christ. We want to hold the dear virgin and holy mother in all honor; as she is worthy to be honored; but we do not want to honor her in such a way that we make her equal to her son Christ. For she was not crucified for us, nor did she die; neither did she plead for us on the cross; but Christ was crucified for us and died, and pleaded and prayed for us with tears on the cross. Therefore, one honors the mother Mariam as one pleases; only one does not honor her with the honor that one should honor Christ with. And this is also the reason why the Lord puts away His mother from Himself, because He alone wants to be the one to whom we should cling.
(103) But the pope with his monks does the opposite, leaving Christ the Son behind and clinging to the mother. Christ leaves everything for our sake, earth, mother, disciples, so that he may help us; therefore we should also cling to him alone, and give the honor due to him to no one else. Because he himself has given up his mother and does not want to be with her on earth, nor do we cling to her, we should not cling to the mother either, and leave the Son. It is right to honor Mary, but to build on her and take away Christ's honor and office and give them to the mother would be to deny Christ's suffering.
V. 28, 29, 30 After this, when Jesus knew that all things were finished, that the scripture should be fulfilled, he said, I thirst. There stood a vessel full of vinegar. And they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it about an hyssop, and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the vinegar, he said, "It is finished," and bowed his head and died.
(104) The holy evangelists here all praise the fact that our dear Lord Jesus Christ was mocked, scorned and reviled on the cross, and make a greater suffering out of it than out of his bodily torture. For they bring in all blasphemy and shame, because those who passed by blasphemed Him and shook their heads, saying, "If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross" [Matth. 27, 42. ff. Marc. 15, 31. ff. Luc. 23, 35. ff.]. The chief priests, scribes and elders mocked Him, saying, "He helped others, and cannot help Himself." The murderers who were crucified with him also reviled him. It happened to the dear Lord Christ in his suffering, as the common saying goes: He who has the damage must not care for the mockery. Everything that Christ has, speaks and does must be used; even his prayer, when he cried out: "Eli, Eli, lama asabthani: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
(105) To such a mockery also belongs that they give him vinegar to drink in his great thirst, as the Scripture foretold long ago. They had carried out a vessel of vinegar for his sake, that they might water him with it. They gave the other disciples good wine to drink, but they watered Christ with vinegar, mocking him: "Yes, he is thirsty; give him something to drink. For here it happens that no one on earth is so evil as Christ, he must be the most fearful; here one no longer sees a thief, but all eyes and poisonous arrows go to Christ. The devil forgets all others, so greedy and fierce is he from Christ. For he wants to take revenge; therefore he takes everything he has,
Honor, clothes, body and life. That is suffering; be silent of the torment of the soul, which we do not know.
In short, all that Christ encounters in his suffering is vile hatred and envy; what he does is vile poison and gall among the devil's servants. If he opens his mouth, they mock him; if he wants to drink, they give him vinegar; if he prays, they turn his word into a mockery. Such things are not done to a desperate, treacherous wicked man, when he is already condemned to death; only to this JEsu, who is innocently condemned, such things happen. So be it: all mercilessness shall pass over Christ and over his holy gospel, so that the devil may pour out all his malice and all his power over Christ, and become powerless over him, for salvation and comfort to us who believe in Christ.
107. But when the Lord ends with the word, "It is finished," he means that all the Scriptures have been fulfilled. As if to say, "The world and the devil have done to me as much as they were able; I have also suffered as much as was necessary for the redemption of men and as was prophesied and declared in the Scriptures by the prophets. Therefore all things are fulfilled and accomplished. We should be well aware that Christ's suffering is the fulfillment of Scripture and the redemption of the human race. "It is finished", God's lamb is slain and sacrificed for the sin of the world [Hebr. 10, 14. ff.]. The right high priest has completed his sacrifice, God's Son has given and sacrificed his body and life in payment for sin; sin is blotted out, God's wrath is atoned for, death is conquered, the kingdom of heaven is acquired, and heaven is unlocked. Everything has been fulfilled and completed, and no one may argue as if there were still something left to be fulfilled and completed.
V.31-37. But the Jews, because it was the preparation day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross through the Sabbath (for the Sabbath day was great), besought Pilate to break their bones, and to take them away. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first one, and the other one who was with him.
was crucified. But when they came to Jesus, seeing that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one of the soldiers opened his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he that saw it hath borne witness, and his testimony is true; and he knoweth that he speaketh the truth, that ye also may believe. For these things came to pass, that the scripture might be fulfilled: You shall not break his leg. And again another scripture saith, They shall see in whom they have stung.
108.1 ) To praise and honor our dear Lord God, and to give thanks to the suffering and death of our dear Lord Jesus Christ, and that we may do the highest and best service this day, that is, act upon God's holy Word, let us take before us this passage from the Passion, which we read from the Gospel of John on the 19th.
Among the Jews it was the way and custom, yes, not only custom, but also God's commandment, that the dead bodies of the crucified or hanged should not hang on the cross nor remain unburied until the setting of the sun, so that the earth would not be defiled and cursed. For thus it is written in the Law of Moses, Deut. 21:22, 23: "If anyone has committed a sin worthy of death, and is thus put to death by being hanged on a tree, his body shall not remain on the tree afterward, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God; lest you defile your land, which the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance."
1) Marginal gloss: The following piece [from? 108 to § 136j is preached by D. Martin Luther on Easter Eve [April 12] Anno 1533. - Already on that day, Easter, April 13, 1533, Luther preached the sermon on the second article of the Christian faith (Walch, St. Louis edition, vol. X. 1088. Erlanger, 2nd ed., vol. 19, 1) at Torgau. The third part, or rather the third sermon <St. Louis edition, vol. X, 1125. Erlanger, 2nd ed. Bd. 19, p. 40), is so much in agreement with the one that is reproduced in the Rörersche Hauspostille (Walch, St. Louiser Ausgabe, Bd. XIII, 1866. Erlanger, 2. Auflage, Bd. 5, p. 1) under the date "am Osterabend 1532" d. i. den 30. März 1532, that one would probably like to assume that we are only dealing with two different redactions of one and the same sermon.
(110) Moreover it was necessary that the bodies of the crucified or hanged should be taken down from the cross before the high Sabbath, that they should not remain unburied. For the Sabbath surpassed all other feasts, because it was commanded in the Ten Commandments; therefore the Jews hastened to remove the bodies from the crosses before the great, high Sabbath began, which was great and glorious because it fell on the high feast of Easter. For just as with us Easter Sunday is held much higher than a bad, common Sunday, so with the Jews the Easter Sabbath was held much higher than a bad Sabbath, although the Sabbath itself, according to the third commandment, had to be kept holy and honorable. For this reason, the Jews hurried and asked Pilatum, the governor, to have the legs of the crucified broken and the bodies removed from the crosses.
111 And when Pilate commanded, the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two seers, that they might die sooner. This was a severe punishment. For you yourself must reckon that it was no child's play that they so tore and crushed the nailed, bleeding and wasted corpses. They have martyred them anew, and they have crucified them on the cross. Such torment and torture will be hard for the left thief and will make him sore, so that his bones will be broken on the cross and he will go down to hell in great pain. Again, it will be easy for the right and pious thief, even though the pain of the body has already been great. For since Christ, in whom he trusted and whom he called, was now already departed, he will have awaited death with joy, and said: "Fresh on, dear soldiers! O strike dead, strike dead! that I may soon come to my Lord and King in his kingdom and paradise.
Therefore the legs of the two executioners are broken and are cut on the cross. But Jesus, because he is already different, will not have his legs broken, so that, as St. John says, the scripture would be fulfilled, which says: "You shall not break his leg" [Ex. 12, 46]. He should be the right paschal lamb, which should be eaten whole.
But one of the soldiers opened his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. This is another great miracle, which happened during the suffering and death of the Lord, that blood flowed out of his side when it was opened on the cross. It is not natural that blood should flow out of a dead corpse; for when the body is dead, the blood is delivered 1) and stagnates in the body. Since the Lord is deceased, and his body is dead, his blood should also have been supplied to the heart, according to the nature of the dead corpse. The fact that blood flows out is contrary to nature and a miraculous work. But so that such a miraculous work may be all the greater, not only blood, but blood and water flow out of his body at the same time.
(114) John the Evangelist did not report such a great miracle, which took place on the cross with the dead body of Jesus, before other evangelists, without cause or in vain. For with this he not only commemorated the mere miraculous work that took place on the cross, but also wanted to indicate and imagine a high, excellent consolation for us.
What then is the fact that blood and water flow from the side of the Lord Jesus on the cross at the same time? Answer: Our redemption is hidden in the miraculous work, as St. John himself interprets it in his first epistle on the 5th, v. 8: "Three things testify, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood, and the three are together. From the same three pieces, two pieces are shown and described here, the water and the blood; and the two pieces are to be separated from each other, whether they are already together.
The blood that flows from the side of the Lord Jesus is the treasure of our redemption, the payment and satisfaction for our sin. For by his innocent suffering and death, and by his holy, sacred blood, shed on the cross, our dear Lord Jesus Christ has paid all our debts, eternal death and damnation, in which we are stuck because of our sins. The same blood of Christ represents us to God, and cries out to God for us without ceasing: Mercy, mercy! forgive, forgive! Indulgence, indulgence! Father, Father! and
1) deliver - coagulate.
earns us God's grace, forgiveness of sin, righteousness and salvation. Thus the blood of JEsu Christ, our only mediator and advocate, calls without ceasing for and for, so that God the Father considers such a call and intercession of His beloved Son for us, and is merciful to us poor, miserable sinners [Zach. 9, 11.]. For he cannot see any sin in us, even if we are already full of sin, even if we are all sin, inwardly and outwardly, in body and soul, from the skull to the heels; but sees only the precious, delicious blood of his dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, so that we may be sprinkled. For this same blood is the golden robe of grace, so that we are clothed, and in it we come before God, so that He cannot look at us in any other way, nor will, than as if we were the dear Son Himself, full of righteousness, holiness, innocence.
(117) On the other hand, the innocent blood of Christ has such virtue and power that it absolves, absolves, washes and cleanses us from all our sin and iniquity [1 John 1:7, Revelation 1:5].Thus, whoever is sprinkled and clothed with this blood may safely and joyfully come before God, call upon Him, hope with certainty and without doubt that he will be heard, as St. Paul says to the Ephesians in 3, v. 12: "Through JESUS Christ we have joy and access in all confidence, through faith in Him." Yes, he may not only go to God, call upon Him, and provide all good things for Him, but he may also boast that He is the Son of God, to whom all His enemies and adversaries, indeed no creature, can do no harm, and to whom everything must be subject. Rom. 8, 39.
But the evangelist adds that with the blood water flowed out of Christ's open side. This part is also to be noted. For although the precious blood of Christ is our redemption, payment and satisfaction before God, and through its merit and intercession we are righteous and pleasing children of God, we are still not perfect and completely pure as far as our sinful nature is concerned. For sin, if it still remains in our flesh and blood, is always stirring without ceasing, and the filth of the old Adam gushes out, defiling and polluting us daily, and inciting us to evil lusts,
that we sin, fall, stumble and miss every day.
119. Now the water that flowed from Christ's side belongs to this, so that we are cleansed daily from the remaining sins and daily transgressions and failures [Ps. 51, 4]. But the same water is holy baptism [Tit. 3, 5], the sacrament and supper of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the dear word of God, which we preach and hear. The same cleanses and washes us from sins that daily stir within us and cause us to fall. Therefore, we should take the same blessed word and the holy sacraments with all seriousness and diligence, and keep them in constant use, resist the sins that are in us, obtain absolution, use the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ often, and cleanse, wash, and sweep ourselves always. When I am challenged with weakness of faith, I should say, "Well, I still feel in me much sin, weakness and infirmity, but I am baptized; I will run to the dear Word, hear the sermon, receive absolution, and take the holy Sacrament, comforting and strengthening me, and cleansing and purifying me from my weakness. When I am attacked by anger, impatience, bellyaches and other sins, I shall do likewise.
(120) Thus, through baptism, absolution, sacrament and word, I should wash and cleanse myself daily from the sins that still cling to me, so that I may resist them. This, then, is a constant washing and cleansing of the blessed water within us, by which we put a bit in the mouth of our sins, evil lusts and desires, so that they do not take us captive, nor rule over the spirit; for without this, sin would be too strong for us, overwhelm us, and take us captive, so that we would have to sink into it and perish. Then our dear Lord Jesus Christ has poured out of his side this powerful water, the dear baptism, the blessed bath, and the holy sacrament of his body and blood, the medicine and refreshment of our souls, and the holy absolution and absolution from sins, and the dear word, so that we might recover against all kinds of temptation and receive strength against sin.
121 Therefore, we should be mindful of the dear Word.
and the holy sacraments and firmly defy the devil and our own flesh, and say: Even though you devil are still so angry and wicked, and you flesh is still so naughty and sinful, and leaves me no peace, I am still baptized and have God's word: if you can defile and pollute me much, I can bathe, wash and cleanse myself again. And such faith in us God looks upon, takes and keeps us in His grace, for the same faith's sake [Jer. 5:1]. Even though we are sinners and unclean, and fall daily, God sees none of these sins, but sees only the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, marked on our foreheads, and the holy baptism in which we put on Christ.
This is the purity and holiness of Christians, which is found in faith in Jesus Christ, and in the satisfaction of His holy, sacred blood, and in the cleansing that takes place through baptism, through the Word, and through the holy Sacrament. He who knows these things and
who can withstand temptations and sins, and defy them by right faith, and say: I am a Christian, sprinkled with the blood of Christ and washed from sins, and baptized in his name to blessedness and eternal life. For the devil cannot suffer the word where it is spoken in firm confidence and faith, but he must be loosed, and all sadness must depart.
Therefore the blood and water, which flowed from the side of our dear Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, is our highest consolation. For in it is the salvation of our souls; in the blood is our redemption and atonement for sin; in the water is our daily cleansing and purification of sins. We should learn these things well, and thank our dear Lord God for His abundant love and goodness, and our faithful Redeemer Jesus Christ for His suffering and death from the bottom of our hearts. For this purpose, may the same God and Father, together with the Son and the Holy Spirit, grant us His grace. Amen.