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Full text of "Sermons on the Passion of Christ / by Martin Luther"
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SERMONS ON
THE PASSION

OF CHRIST:

BY MARTIN
LUTHER

Martin Luther



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SERMONS

ON THE

PASSION OF CHRIST

RY

DR. MARTIN LUTHER.



TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN.



ROCK ISLAND, ILL.

LUTHERAN AULSl'HTANA ROOK CONCERN.



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871,
BY SCIIULZE k GASSMANN,

the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the

Southern District of Ohio.



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mil

CONTENTS.



Page.

Introductory Meditations. (Transl. by Prof. E.



>



Sand )

First Passion Se km on. (Transl. b.v Rev. J T. Isensee.) 27
The occurrences at the Mouut of Olives.

Second Passion-Sermon. (Translated b.v Rev. J. T.

Isensee.) 45

The seizure of Christ in the Garden.

Third Passion- Sermon (Translated by Rev. J. T.

Ineusee.) 01

Christ refusing to be rescued by Peter's sword

Fourth P\ssion-Sermon. (Translated by Rev. J. T.

Iseusee.) 75

The Lord Jesus led to Anna* and Caiaphas and tried
by the Jews.

Fifth Passion Sermon. (Translated by Rev. J. T.

Isensee.) 85

Peter thrice denies the Lord Jesus in the house of
Caiaphas

Sixth Passion- Sermon. (Translated by Rev. J. T.

Isensee.) 07

Christ is delivered to Pilate.— Judas hangs himself.
-The Potters Field.

Seventh Passion-Sermon. (Translated Rev. by J. T.

Isensee.) 117

Christ accused before Pilate and condemned to
death.

Eighth Passion Sermon. (Translated by Rev. J. T.

Inensee. ) 121>

Explanation of several points in the history just
given.

Ninth Passion-Sermon. (Translated by Rev. J. T.

Isensee.) 14#

Christ led away to be crucified —Simon bears the
Cross after Him.— The women who follow bewail
and lament Him.

Tenth Passion-Sermon. (Translated by Rev. J. T.

Isensee.) 151*

Christ nailed to the Cross.— His deeds, sufferings
and words on the Cross.



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Eleventh Pabsion- Sermon. (Translated by Rev. J. T.

Isensee.) 176

Christ's Prayer on the Cross.— The Malefactor on
the Right.

Twelfth Passion-Sermon. (Translated by Rev. J. T.

I sen see. i 193

Christ commits His mother to the care of John.
The soldiers do not break the legs of Christ, but
with a spear pierce His side, from which blood and
water flow.

Thirteenth Passion-Sermon. (Translated by Rev.

J. T. Isensee.) 213

Christ's body taken down from the Cross and laid
in a tomb. The soldiers guard the tomb.



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>



»

SERMONS ON THE PASSION OF CHRIST.



INTRODUCTORY MEDITATION.

n this season of the year it is customary for the
Church, both in her hymns and sermons, to
dwell especially upon the passion of Christ. We also
will follow this custom. Indeed, we consider it very
appropriate that the narrative of the sufferings of
our Lord should, at a certain fixed period of the
year, be read in the churches to the people, word for
word, from beginning to end, and that it be fully
explained to them, so that they may understand its
use, and derive from it much consolation. It is
sadly evident with what effect the devil resists the
Gospel, though it be preached daily, and how the
hearts grow cold towards it, so that they do not
amend, but rather grow worse from year to year.
This distressing fact ought surely to prompt us to
continue in the preaching of the Word, and espe-
cially of that part of it which tells of the suffering
and death of Christ. We must endeavor to have
the people know and appreciate this part of the
Gospel ; nor dare we be derelict in the performance
of this duty. If we would neglect to preach on this
subject one, two or three years, the people would
surely forget it. Even we, who continually busy
ourselves with the Word, experience a decrease of
interest in it if we neglect the perusal of it for a day
or two; how great then would be the injury to the
people at large, if they should miss the preaching of




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INTRODUCTORY MEDITATIONS.



these truths for a year or two? They would
become as wild as beasts; therefore it is so urgent
that we preach and teach the Word in season and
out of season. The devil is ever active in resisting
the efficacy of the Word, else there would be many
believers, and people would be converted; for sure-
ly it is now preached often and clearly.

For the Papists this week is one of torture ; they
sing and read and preach exceedingly much concern-
ing the passion of Christ. But what does it avail
them ? It is true, they s*>eak of Christ's sufferings ;
but in their heart there is no thought of them, or
else they would not prize so highly their own self-
inflicted penances and their own works. But it is
not much better with us, who have the pure Gospel
abundantly preached to us; our lives and deeds
indicate that we also have disregarded it. The
effects of the preaching of the Word are therefore
not the same with all, inasmuch as not all are dis-
posed to receive it. If we were to relate to the
people some idle tales and stories, they would re-
member them at once; whereas now, thousands
upon thousands hear repeatedly the preaching of the
Gospel without retaining it, and without profiting
by its instructions. They come back from
church just as they went there. They hear the
Word, but disregard it as something common and
unimportant.

There are some, on the other hand, who hear it
gladly when they are told Christ rendered satisfac-
tion for us, and that by our own merits and works
we cannot obtain salvation, but that Christ alone
has purchased it for us by His sufferings and death ;
but as soon as they are told that to enjoy the bene-



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SERMONS ON THE PASSION OF CHRIST.

fits of this atonement they must avoid avarice,
worldly-mindedness, gluttony, self-esteem, &c, they
are displeased and become enraged. They are un-
willing to be rebuked on account of their sins, or
to be regarded as Gentiles. Here, also, it is the
we cannot expect any thing else but such aversioi
to the application of the truth. It behooves us s^
much the more, to continue steadfast in the Word,
to the glory of God and to our own souls' salva-
tion, that some may learn to love it, although many
are indifferent, and that thus the sacrifice of the
Son of God in our behalf may be known and re-
membered.

The pleaching of this truth began in Paradise,
when it was said to Adam and Eve that the seed of
the woman should crush the head of the serpent.
The Church has retained the proclamation of this
Gospel, and will retain it until the end of time.
Nor can we perform any better service than to pro-
claim everywhere, in the church, from the pulpit
and at home, this fact of the sacrifice of God for the
redemption of all mankind.

As Israel was heavily burdened with the ceremo-
nial law, and was compelled to sacrifice calves, heif-
ers, &c, thus the papacy still conducts its divine
worship. If we had to observe all those ceremonies
and defray all the expenses incident to them, I fear
there would be many complaints of insufferable
burdens. But not much is required of us : only this
pleasing service, that we should remember His
boundless mercy, manifested in the sacrifice of His
Son for our sins, and that we should preach this
and teach it to our children. Let us thank God it



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8 INTRODUCTORY MEDITATIONS.

we can enjoy such divine service, which surely will
not be useless, but will rather bring forth glorious
fruits and many blessings unto men.

The Turks have lost this kind of worship ; they
have forgotten Christ and substituted Mahomet in
His place. The Jews have also rejected Him. Nor
is it much better in Germany, where people have
become weary of this worship and neglect it. But
we may depend upon it that as soon as this true
worship is lost, so soon will punishment follow.
If we refuse to worship God, when we need only to
hear a sermon which tells us of the suffering and
death of Christ for us, we need look for nothing
else but that, as a well merited penalty, another
more severe, and withal an ineffective kind of
worship will be imposed upon us. Therefore we
ought to preach and hear, right willingly, of the
passion of our Lord, so that we may never forget
its blessings, even though Satan, the old enemy of
truth, may busily attempt to resist and crush the
Word.

But again, our own wants require that this be
done. As loug as we live in this world our flesh
and blood will burden us, even as would the weight
of a millstone. On every side we are subjected to
temptations which take possession of our thoughts
and time, so that we forget Christ and His suffer-
ings ; earthly possessions, worldly honor, food, drink r
carnal indulgences, misfortunes, sickness and
adversity are all, more or less, apt to have such an
effect upon us. Hence it is necessary to set apart
an especial season for the service of God. The
devil is ever on the alert to insinuate all kinds of
wickedness into our hearts, and would fain make



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SERMONS ON THE PASSION OF CHRIST.



them as cold as ice. Where God's Word is not re-
peatedly proclaimed in sermons, in hymns, in private
conversation, so that we may not forget it or
become callous towards it, there it is impossible for
our hearts, which are burdened with man}* an earth-
ly pain and sorrow, with wicked purposes and the
devil's malicious instigations, not to fail and to fall
from Christ. Thus it is an urgent necessity that
the preaching of th'e Gospel continue among us,
that we may hear and retain it, otherwise we would
soon forget our Lord.

Nor should we overlook the wants of our young
people, who need instruction so much ; and many
mechanics, laborers, and servants, who are Chris-
tians by baptism, cannot even read. Much zeal and
energy is needed, that these people may be taught
that which they know not, but which is so im-
portant to their welfare. God cannot be satisfied
with us, if we disregard the precious treasure which
He has given us; if we, perhaps, hear the preaching
of the Word and gape at it without learning any-
thing. Nor will the devil desist from his attempts
to cause us to do what is evil. If we will not hear,
nor learn, nor remember the word of truth, we will
be condemned to listen to and heed the falsehoods
of the devil, unto our souls' eternal damnation.
The Papists, the Turks, the Jews, and Anabaptists
are examples of this. Let us, therefore, never grow
weary of the proper worship of God; let us readily
hear and heed the sermons, preached on the passion
of Christ.



1 () introductory meditations. '

The Benefits accruing from the Passion of Christ.

Of these St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans,
o chap., thus writes : "But God eommendet u His
love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. Much more then, being now
justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath
through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we
w r ere reconciled to God by the death of His Son,
much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by
His life. And not only so, but we also joy in God
through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have
now received the atonement.' '

To preach the passion of Christ our Lord properly,
it is not sufficient to read the narrative to the people,
but we must add admonition and instruction,that they
may realize and remember why Christ suffered thus,
and in what way they are benefited by His passion.
The method pursued by the Papists, especially by
the monks, in presenting this truth, and which was
only calculated to arouse the emotions of the people
and to fill them with pity and lamentation, must be
rejected as utterly useless. He who could stir up
the emotions of people best was considered the most
effective passion-preacher. Hence we find in those
sermons principally railing against the Jews, de-
scriptions of the lamentation of the Virgin Mary
when she saw the death of her Son, and the like.
All this, however, is nothing but hypocrisy, as real-
ly all worship in the papacy is; the true spirit of
devotion is wanting, and there are no fruits of
amendment there. If we attentively consider the
preaching of the apostles and prophets, we shall
find a totally different method of preaching on the



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SKKMONS ON THE PASSION OF CHRIST.



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passion of our Lord. They did not waste words on
the simple story of the event, but presented it
unadorned, pointedly and briefly. But of the
meaning of this passion, and how it is effective for
us if properly applied, — of this they spake repeated-
ly and much.

It was indeed a short sermon, if merely the words
are counted, when John spake of Christ : "Behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the
world ;" but if we carefully meditate upon these
words, we will discover how much they contain for
our edification and comfort, if we but receive them
in true faith.

John calls the Lord a "Lamb," because He was
to be slain, even as a victim is slain. All the sacri-
fices of heifers, oxen, calves and lambs, which took
place under the Old Testament, were but types of
that perfect and only efficient sacrifice, which Christ
our Saviour offered to redeem the whole world
through His own blood. To this the Evangelist re-
fers in the above words, in which he dwells but
incidentally upon the narrative of the passion itself.
He calls Christ not merely a lamb, but "the Lamb
of God," to express thereby the truth that God
Himself had instituted this sacrifice, and would be
well pleased with it. This expression, "Lamb of
God," is further intended to arouse our faith to accept
such a sacrifice, which God in His infinite mercy and
love has made for our salvation. Yea, by it we are
to be convinced that because God Himself ordained
this sacrifice, it is really perfect and all-sufficient to
accomplish what these words say, namely, to take
away the sin of the world. In this expression,
"sin of the world," is included all impiety and in-



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INTRODUCTORY MEDITATIONS.



justice which prevail in the world, and which cause
the dreadful, but just wrath of God. Now all this
wrong God has in mercy taken from the world, and
has imposed it upon His Son, who paid our debt for
us, that we might be exempt from fear and punish-
ment.

We learn from this example how to preach
rightly on the passion of Christ. We should not
dwell chiefly upon the historical incidents connected
with it, such as the betrayal, the scourgiug, the
mockery, and the crucifixion of Christ; all this we
ought to know and to preach ; but this is not the
most important lesson of the passion of Christ.
Above all we must know and believe, as John
preaches, that Christ suffered on account of our sins,
which God cast upon Him, and which He bore in
obedience to His Father's will and from love
toward us. If we know this ; if we understand our
sinful condition, which would have pluuged us
without escape into eternal damnation, had not
Christ become our Saviour, we will duly appreciate
the importance and value of the suffering of our
Lord, and will be comforted thereby when fear of
God's wrath, on account of our sins, would over-
come us. Such a consideration of the passion of
Christ will not only move our eyes to tears and our
hearts to pity, as is the tendency of the popish ser-
mons on this subject, but will prompt us to feel,
deep down in our soul, sorrow at the terrible results
of sin, for which no creature, but only the Son of
God could make atonement by His sufferings and
death; and likewise it will cause us great joy,
because we will realize that this sacrifice was made
for us, that God will now no longer reject nor con-
3



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SERMONS ON THE PASSION OF CHRIST. l:j

demn us, as we have merited by our sins, but that
He is now reconciled to us through the precious and
vicarious death of His Son, who gave Himself as a
victim in our behalf, so that our sins are now for-
given and we are made heirs of eternal life.

The Papists never preached thus of the passion of
Christ. They also used the words "Lamb of God"
as applied to Christ who took away the sin of the
world, but their whole worship was arranged as if
each individual had to bear his own sin and must
make atonement for it himself. How else can we
understand the stringent regulation in the Romish
Church, especially in this season of the year, in re-
gard to fastings, penances, self-inflicted tortures and
other severe and burdensome works? Why were
people so much in terror in regard to the minute,
outward confession of their sins? Why did they
bury themselves day and night in the churches and
chapels, engaging in song and prayers ? Was it not
because they supposed that by such doings and ob-
servances they could and must work out forgiveness
of their sins? Such doings mean in reality that we
cannot rely, fully and solely, upon the sacrifice of
Christ as all-sufficient and effective, and that we
must with our own work complete the sacrifice and
the atonement.

This contradicts directly the statement of John
the Baptist, yea of Christ Himself, when in John
12. He thus speaks of His sufferings : u The hour is
come that the Son of man should be glorified.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of
wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone:
but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." In these
words Christ declares that His sufferings shall abound



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INTRODUCTORY MEDITATIONS.



in much fruit. It would be erroneous to claim that
the Christian must first of all bring forth good
works, even as the branch and the vine bringeth
forth grapes ; this would indeed be one of the fruits
of union with Christ through faith, but the most
important fruit is indicated in the words of the
Lord Himself when He says: "And I, if I be lifted
up from the earth, will draw all men unto me;" that
is, through me, through my sacrifice, through my
death upon the cross, men must come to the Father
and receive eternal life. They who rely on their
own works, and desire by means of them to enter
heaven, pervert the plan of salvation; they draw
Christ down to them, whereas the reverse should
take place. Christ must draw us to Him, or every-
thing is lost. He alone has vanquished the devil,
paid the penalty of our sins, rescued us from the
world and death, and brought us to life through His
sufferings and death. To all this we contributed
nothing.

Again, John 3. chapter, Christ preaches of His
passion in this wise: "And as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of
man be lifted up : that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have eternal life." This is
sufficiently plain. Whosoever desires to have eter-
nal life, must obtain it through faith in Christ and
His death upon the cross, wherewith He made pay-
ment for our sins and redeemed us from death and
hell. In the words just cited, Christ mentions no
work of man as efficient unto justification ; He says
nothing of alms, fastings and the like. The re-
quirement of deeds came already through Moses,
and in the ten commandments God laid down the



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SERMONS ON THE PASSION OF CHRIST



15



rules of conduct to be observed by us, aud whoso-
ever disregards them may expect the wrath of God
and His punishments. He, however, who keeps
the law, and fulfills its demands as much as he can,
does not on that account get to heaven. There was
no other remedy for the Jews in the wilderness,
when bitten by the fiery serpents, but to look up to
the brazen serpent which God had ordered to be
made. In like manner, as Christ indicates in this
passage, there is no other way unto salvation but
faithfully to look unto Him who sacrificed Himself,
according to the will of God, for our sins, and
through whom we now have pardon and eternal
life. Such a glorious result has the death of Christ ;
our works do not accomplish it, as the Papists
falsely teach ; they have nothing to do with it.

The prophets also frequently speak similar words.
Thus Isaiah, 53. chapter, says: "Surely he hath
borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows : yet we
did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God and
afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgres-
sions, He was bruised for our iniquities : the chas-
tisement of our peace was upon Him ; and with His
stripes we are healed." Surely, this is a most
charming and comfortable passion-sermon, yea no
apostle in the New Testament could preach one to
surpass it. The prophet declares that Christ shall
be stricken, smitten and afflicted in our behalf, and
also that the chastisement of our peace shall be
upon Him, and that with His stripes we are to be
healed. Isaiah calls the Lord a physician, and
directs us to Him to be healed in our distress and
sickness, so that we may obtain health and happi-
ucss. The Lord has a remedy for us which is not



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INTRODUCTORY MEDITATIONS.



labeled good works, giving of alms, fastings and
rosaries, but consists of the fact that He suffered
and died for us, yea, that He bore our griefs and
carried our sorrows. If thereforethe history of the
passion tells us how our blessed Lord and Saviour
was tortured by the Jews and the Gentiles, we
ought to be mindful that all this happened that we,
even we, might have a cure, not from bodily in-
firmities, but from a sickness more dreadful than
all the rest, namely, from sin and eternal death.
Thus the history of the passion will be applied by
us properly and happily. It must, however, be
borne in mind that the passion of Christ is in two
ways a precious and sure remedy. It exhibits, in
the first place, sin in all its ugliness and terror; no
human being, not an angel, nor any other created
being, had the power to take away sin ; the Sou of
God alone could do it, and He did carry this crush-
ing weight for us. We should therefore carefully
and earnestly endeavor to avoid sin, in the fear of
God, for it is so very easy to fall into it, and so
very difficult to get out of it again. In this endeav-
or we will be mightily assisted by the consideration
of the passion of Christ, which will prompt us, as a
precious power against sin, to be pious and to shun
evil, since it is such a terrible and dreadful burden,
which no created being can remove, and which the
Son of God had to carry for us. In the second
place, we find in the passion of Christ a rescue from
death ; for he who fully believe3 that the Son of
God died for his sins and paid his debt before God,
can have a peaceful heart and need not fear death,
but will trust in the mercy of God and hope for
eternal salvation. Of this consolation the prophet



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SERMONS ON THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 17

prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water. Turn
you to the stronghold ye prisoners of hope," &c.
The pit, the prison-house of men, is sin and its
punishments, namely, the tyranny of the devil and
eternal death. From this pit we could not rescue
ourselves unless by the help of God ; not through
the blood of heifers and similar victims, but onlv
through the blood of the just One, the lung of
Salvation. He who is not in the covenant of this
blood must remain in the pit of sin and eternal
death, while he who is enrolled in it through faith
shall surely come out from this pit of wrath to the
enjoyment of the mercy of God and unto eternal
life.

Daniel also preaches of this, in the 9. chapter :
"Seventy weeks are determined upon Thy people
and upon Thy holy city, to finish the transgression,
and to make an end of sin, and to make reconcilia-
tion for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting right-
eousness," &c. How this should be fulfilled in the
death of Christ, the prophet soon after indicates.
This is another clear and definite declaration of the
truth, that forgiveness of sins and justification can
be obtained only through the death of Jesus Christ ;
through it, if we accept it in faith, we have this
precious treasure, and in no other way can we ob-
tain it. Thus we can learn from John the Baptist,
from Christ Himself, and from the prophets, how
to preach of the passion of our Lord, namely, to
instruct the hearts as to the mercy and f*race of
God, that they may be comforted thereby. Christ
suffered for the payment of our sins, to reconcile us
to God, and to save us through faith in Him as our
Lord and Saviour.



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INTRODUCTORY MEDITATIONS.



The holy Apostles preached the same truth con-
cerning the passion of Christ, as we can easily read
in their narratives and writings. Of the many pas-
sages bearing upon this point we will now, in con-
clusion, notice but the one taken from Romans 5.
chapter, as you, my beloved, have heard it in the
beginning ot this discourse. This passage is suffi-
ciently plain, so that all can understand it. Never-
theless we will now dwell upon it somewhat, to our
instruction, edification and comfort.

We all experience how deeply unbelief is rooted
in our hearts, so that we are ever troubled by our
sins, and lack all assurance and peace. We are so
ready to exclaim : Ah, if we were only more pious,
it would be better for us, and we could then hope
for the mercy of God. Where the heart thus wavers,
there is surely trepidation and uneasiness. But it
we firmly believe, and rely on the mercy of God y
which He has promised in Christ, our hearts will
be securely stayed in all adversities upon this con-
solation, and will indeed be happy and of good
cheer.

People, however, are perverse in this. The Pope
has therefore established all manner of worship, by
means of which, as he pretends, confidence in God
and reliance on His help can be gained. Some ot
these inventions are worship ot the saints, pilgrim-
ages, the purchase of indulgences, the mass, vigils,
monastic life, and other similar delusions. Such
observances are regarded as guarantees of a renewed
life and of heaven. This is indeed a deep-rooted
delusion, and an earnest preacher of the truth will
direct his efforts chiefly against it, to tear from the



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SKRMONS ON THE PASSION OF CHRIST



19



hearts of the people, by the grace of God, this
wicked unbelief and to instill into them true confi-
dence and faith. How to do this properly, and with
success, St. Paul teaches us in the passage under
consideration ; and, surely, his testimony is of great
weight, as of one who was a great preacher, chosen
and called of God Himself as a giant in the work of
spreading the Gospel. We ought, therefore, attent-
ively to heed his words.

He begins with the remark : "God commendeth
his love toward us," which is indeed a peculiar and
astonishing saying, but nevertheless, as we shall
presently hear, a remarkable, precious truth. God,
it is true, is the declared enemy of sin, and will
punish it, as the law demands and as our daily ex-
perience proves. Again, it is true that we are all
sinners, and this knowledge causes our unbelief ot
the mercy and love of God. When told, as in the
passage before us, that God loves man, we think
immediately of John the Baptist, of Peter, of Paul
and others, who were so much more pious than we,
and are ready to admit that God may love such as
these, but we deny that we are such people as He
can love, and therefore continue in fear of His
wrath. Against this misconception the Apostle
directs his words when he savs that God doth not
only love us, but that He even commendeth His
love toward us; that is, God makes it so manifest,
so sure and evident that He loves us, that no man
can doubt it. What else but love could prompt
Him to send His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ,
into this world, to die for us while we were yet
sinners? When therefore sin and doubt torment



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INTRODUCTORY MEDITATIONS,



us, and would rob us of confidence in God's mercy
and pardon, let us firmly hold to the eternal truth
of this word : "While we were yet sinners Christ
died for us." Who is Christ? He is the Son of
God. What does He do? He becomes man and
dies. Why does He die? On account of sinners.
From this it clearly follows that God has not re-
jected sinners, and that He desires not their destruc-
tion, but that He loves them still, even so much
that He rescues them from sin and death. For
their sake His dear Son goes into death by the will
of the Father. What better proof of His love could
He have given ? Surely, St. Paul has good author-
ity for exclaiming: "God commendeth His love
toward us ;" and it behooves us to confess the pre-
cious, inexhaustible grace of God in Christ, and to
believe that He is no longer wroth with us. Indeed,
it would be utter madness to say that God will cast
us away in anger, when it is evident that He gave
His only begotten Son as a sacrifice for us wicked
and forlorn men, that we might be redeemed, and
have salvation evermore.

These words of St. Paul agree fully with the say-
ing of Christ, John 3: "For God so loved the
world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but
have everlasting life." How can one, who knows
and believes that God loves him, be afraid of Him ?
For we all know what the character of love is. It
is not conteutious nor injurious, but trusts in Him,
to whom it is directed, convinced that He will bring
help and assistance. It is impossible to be other-
wise. We should therefore cultivate this love, and



SERMONS ON THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 21

•

fondly cherish it, nor permit any one or any thing
to rob us of it. It is the devil's especial aim to
persuade or force us from this conviction that God
loves us ; he would fain have us tear God and regard
Him as our deadly enemy. Wh^re he succeeds in
this attempt he has won the field. If we have lost
our confidence in God, what then can defend or
support us ? Let us therefore resolutely repel all
such insinuations of the devil, of sin and our con-
science, as if God did not love us, but let us firmly
hold to the eternal truth and consolation that, as an
assurance of His love, God sent His Son into this
world to die for us sinners — to save us even while
we were yet sinners. What else is this but a proof
that God has thoughts of mercy toward sinners,
that He loves them and would help them from their
misery? This consolation we derive, as St. Paul
here tells us, from the death and passion of Christ,
and we should be comforted thereby. When the
knowledge of our sins depresses us, when our heart
would question the mercy and favor of God, we
should be quick to conclude that He cannot be our
enemy, since He gave us His only begotten Son as
a Saviour. Hence we dare assuredly depend upon
His mercy and help, and have no cause of fear or
despair.

But perhaps you will say : we know well enough
that God gave His Son into death in our behalf,
yet we, on our part, have by many transgressions
and sins proved ourselves totally unworthy of this
His grace and mercy ; from which it follows that
God has again become our enemy on account of our
crimes, though He may formerly have loved us for



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INTRODUCTORY MEDITATIONS



His Son's sake. St. Paul tells us that such reason-
ing is false, and that we should by no means give
way to it, for he distinctly declares : "Christ died
for us while we were yet sinners." Kemeniber this,
and be comforted by it. These words give us the
explicit assurance, when our sins accuse us and
threaten us with God's wrath and dire punishment,
that Christ died for no other purpose than to
save sinners, and for no other persons. If, therefore,
we commit new sins, if our conscience accuses us,
and if we have merited anew the vengeance of God,
we ought ever to remember that Christ died for us
as sinners, — for just such sinners as we are, aud shall
remain, though we may constantly exercise peni-
tence and faith and new obedience with a good
conscience. Yea, though we be ever so saintly, we
will always need this consolation, that Christ died
for us sinners, as St. Paul says : "Though I know
of no sin, I am therefore not justified ;" and the
Psalmist, Psalm 143: "Enter not into judgment
with Thy servant: for in Thy sight shall no man
living be justified." It therefore remains a fixed
fact, eternally unalterable, that the passion and
death of Christ took place for our sin, no matter
when committed, and while wc were vet sinners,
and that therefore we are freed from the eteri.al
wrath of God, that we have forgiveness, that the
atonement is made once for all, and that we can
now obtain eternal life.

St. Paul continues : If God so loved us that He
justified us through His blood, and if we earnestly
believe that our sins are forgiven for His sake and
that we are now pleasing in His sight, we ought to



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SERMONS ON THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 23

take comfort and rest assured that God will con-
tinue to be merciful unto us, and will save us in the
end in heaven. He not only sacrificed Himself for
us, but His life and victory are ours also.

The Apostle, when he spake these words, had in
mind this severe tribulation, even of the pious, when .
they anxiously fear the wrath of God. He would
fain give comfort by the assurance that God has
averted His anger, and has employed mercy and
grace toward us, even while we were yet sinners.
If He did this then, .how much less will He be
wroth with us now after the redemption from sins
by the death of His Son ! This is surely a most
effective sermon, preached against the unbelief
which is so prone to nestle in our hearts. But Paul
is not content with this assurance; he speaks of a
still greater and more precious consolation to be
derived from the death of Christ. He savs : "For
if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to
God by the death of His Son, much more, being
reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." Would
to God that we might have this comfortable assur-
ance firmly rooted in our hearts. It is indeed an
inexpressible deed of mercy that Christ died for
sinners; for by His death we are redeemed. If
now His death benefits us so much, should we not
also enjoy blessings from His life? If He died in
our behalf, and if His death is our gain, we can un-
hesitatingly rely upon it that His life now will also
be of benefit unto us : He will keep us by His grace,
and will defend us from the devil and the world, so
that our faith may increase from day to day. Ac-
cordingly we see, to our edification and consolation,



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INTRODUCTORY MEDITATIONS.



the Apostles directing our attention repeatedly to
the joyous resurrection of our Lord Jesus. He who
thus liveth after He died for us, will surely attend
to our wants now, and will protect us iu the true
faith against all temptation. The Apostle would
therefore encourage us in these words against all
doubts and weakness of faith ; he would tell us to-
put aside all terror of the wrath of God and of death y
since our Father in heaven has so clearly commended
His love toward us in giving His Son for us into
death while we were yet sinners. If He did not
spare this His most precious gift while we were yet
in sin, He will surely bestow all blessings upon us
now, since we have been cleansed from sin by the
death of Christ.

Through Him and in His life we can have the
power necessary to conquer death and hell ; there-
fore we rejoice and trust in God, who loved us so
exceedingly while we were yet sinners; yea, we
know that for the sake of Christ, His Son, He will
support us in our tribulations, and grant unto us in
the end eternal life. Such a faith, and such confi-
dence, is the Christian's true worship ; we should
therefore diligently seek it, pray for it, and retain
it in our hearts. The Apostle Paul now concludes
his exhortation to be of good cheer with these
words: "We also joy in God through our Lord
Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the
atonement.' ,

He declares that we have received the atonement
through Christ. We, on account of our sins, dared
not hope for mercy from God. Now this is changed.
Our sins are removed by the death of Christ, and



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SERMONS ON THE PASSION OF CHRIST. 25

we know that God no longer chides with us; He is
our Friend, yea, our beloved Father. What then
must be the result of such reconciliation? This,
that we rejoice at such a merciful and loving God —
a God who is the source of all love, whom we
should praise, and upon whom our whole confidence
in every need and sorrow should be placed. If we
have God for a friend we need fear no injury;
nothing can then terrify or harm us. An atone-
ment has been made for sin; God is satisfied with
us, and Christ our Mediator sits at the right hand
of the Father. What matters it now if death does
come and lay low our bodies, since we know that
through Christ we shall rise again unto eternal
life? Hence the Christians ought ever to rejoice,
no matter what their fortunes in life may be;
though pain may afflict their bodies, they can be
glad in the spirit, and will praise their Father in
heaven, upon whose love and mercy they depend,
and under whose protection they are secure. Such
a happy issue from ills we have through the atone-
ment made by the death of Christ.

Heuce we see what a horrible crime it is for the
Pope and his adherents to disregard this atonement,
and to direct the people to do good works and to
depend upon human exertions and deeds in obtain-
ing mercy of God and forgiveness of sins. Let us
thank God from the very bottom of our hearts that
we have been set free from this bondage of error,
and that we can learn from so many testimonies of
the Old and of the New Testament how to regard
and apply the passion of Christ, so that we are en-
abled to say, whenever sin accuses: If we were no



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*

INTRODUCTORY MEDITATIONS.



sinners, Christ need not have suffered for ns, but
since He did suffer, we will derive all consolation
from His passion. Thus will we honor God and
give thanks unto Christ our Lord. We can make
no other return but to accept with heartfelt grati-
tude the precious gifts obtained by His passion and
-death.

If we do this, it must follow, as a necessary con-
sequence, that we shun and hate sin, that amid
various trials, by constant practice, we increase
from day to day in faith, in love, in hope, and in
patience. May God bless us in this endeavor,
through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen!



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FIRST PASSION-SERMON.



The Occurrences at the Mount of Olives.

Matth. 26, 36-46 Then couieth Jesus with them unto a place called
Oethsemane, and s.iith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and
pray yonder. And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebe-
dee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith He unto
them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death : tarry ye here,
jind watch with me. And He went a little further, and fell on His
face, and prayed, saying, 0 my Father, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me: nevertheless, not as 1 will, but as Thou wilt. And
He couieth unto the disciples, and fiadeth them asleep, and saith unto
Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and
pray, that ye enter not into temptation : the spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time, and
prayed, saying, 0 my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me,
except I drink it, Thy will be done. And He came and found them
Asleep again : for their eyes were heavy. And He left them, and went
away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.
Then cometh He to His disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now,
4ind take your rest : behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man
is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going : behold,
he is at hand that doth betray me.

his is a beautiful narrative, and presents the
true beginning of the sufferings of our Lord
Jesus. It is profitable both for doctrine, showing
how our Lord conducted Himself in His sufferings,
and for consolation in the anguish of sin and an
<'vil conscience.

The scholastics disputed much and diffusely about
the events here narrated. It is, indeed, no trifling
matter that such great fear, trembling and anguish
should take possession of this person, who is, at
the same time, eternal God and true man. But let
men dispute about this as much as they will, and
let them be ever so penetra'ing and subtile, it can




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FIRST PASSION-SERMON.



never be fathomed ! Yea, it is impossible tv» com-
prehend such grief and terror ; they are beyond the
reach of our minds, and this simply because the
person who sustains them is exalted far above all
things. We must, therefore, be content with un-
derstanding those inferior iustances of sorrow or
fear which we actually see. Such instances we
have in the case of those poor wretches who are
condemned to death for their crimes. Before these
can become reconciled to their fate, they writhe in
death's agony and struggle with death ; and, some-
times, they cannot eudure such anguish, and are
even overwhelmed with fear, so that they can
neither hear nor see, and do not understand what is
spoken to them nor what they tell others, but are
unconscious and even grow stiff, like one who
knows neither where he is nor what ails him.

But here we must rather consider those whose
grief and anguish are so intense, that they fear and
tremble on their accouut ; whose hearts are so
pierced with wretchedness and terror that they
would rather die than suffer them. Such excruci-
ating pain is experienced by those hearts which
wrestle with the fear of God's wrath or the violent
onslaughts of despair. We may be assured that
such great grief and terror assaulted our Lord on
this occasion, so that He stood trembling and quak-
ing before His disciples, who were affrighted and
could not conceive what had befallen Him. This
is beautifully indicated by Luke where he says that
when the Lord "was come to His disciples, He
found them sleeping for sorrow ;" and here by the
Lord Himself in the words: "My soul is exceeding

sorrowful, even unto death," that is, I am so full of

3*



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2!)



anguish, that I could die of agony. Our thoughts
cannot go beyond this ; for we know of no anguish
that transcends such anguish unto death. But even
the pangs of death caunot properly be compared
with the agony of the Lord Jesus ; for His was of
such exceeding violence that no human heart could
have borne it. And for this very reason it declares
Christ to have been true man, else it could not have
affected Him, and true God, else He could not have
borne and conquered it. Our flesh and blood can
not endure and conquer thus ; human nature, yea,
even the nature of angels, is by far too feeble to
hold out in such distress. For it was not the only
sorrow of the Lord Jesus that the hour was now at
hand, in which He should be betrayed by Judas,
taken captive by the Jews, nailed to the cross by
the Gentiles, and suffer death ; but that the sins of
the whole world were upon Him, and that the
death He was about to suffer was a death incurred
by sin and the wrath of God. Since He became a
substitute for us all, and took upon Himself oui
sins, that He might bear God's terrible wrath
against sin and expiate our guilt, He necessarily
felt the sin of the whole world, together with the
entire wrath of God, and afterwards the agony of
death on account of this sin. This is the point
which makes it evident that we can neither ade-
quately speak of such sufferings and anguish,
nor even meditate upon them. While each of us
has merely his own sins upon him, Christ alone
bears the sins of all the world and must atone for
them with His death. How very insignificant,
therefore, the agony of all other men ! The sins
committed by the whole world, from the first man,



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FIRST PASSION -SERMON



Adam, to the judgment-day, are placed upon that
one man who was born ot the Virgin Mary, while
our burden is so very trifling in comparison, and we
still break down under it.

But what is this sorrow, anguish and trembling
of the Lord to teach us? What benefit are we to-
derive from His fear and lamentation, and from Hi*
public confession that His heart is so filled with
misery that He would rather not live? It was
stated above that His being terrified at death should
teach us that He is a true, natural man, possessing
flesh and blood like ours, and that He is altogether
of like mind with us, but without sin. For it is an
innate quality of our human nature to shudder at
the thought of death. But it is impossible that
any other mortal should be moved with fear as
great as that of the Lord Jesus, because upon Him
rests the iniquity of all mankind, and because for
this iniquity He must suffer the death which is
merited by the sins of the whole human family.
This, together with the fact that He really did bear
this excessively great burden without succumbing
or perishing under it, proves most forcibly that He
is also God, and more than a man.

Therefore is this death-struggle a powerful weap-
on which we wield against the heretics, who teach
that Christ was not true God and true man. For
we are compelled to confess that both natures or
Christ here show themselves mightily ; that, while
His sorrow and fear and His wrestling with death
are a potent declaration of His true, natural human-
ity, His divine power is proclaimed by His submis-
sion to the will of God, and by His conquering that



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31



agony which would have overpowered all men and
all creatures.

But this conflict with death, besides being useful
for doctrine and the strengthening of our faith, can
be profitably employed by us in two other ways.
Sin has so blinded and corrupted us poor mortals
that we cannot sufficiently discern our own imper-
fections, else we would diligently guard against
transgressions; for we perceive in ourselves and
others that we regard sin as but a trifling injury,
yea, more, that we delight in it. He who becomes
enslaved to pernicious avarice does not hesitate to
take twelve or fourteen per cent., and would think
himself very prosperous if he could obtain a great
amount of such usury. Just so it is with him whom
Satan makes a slave to debauchery ; such a one
regards himself most fortunate when he can satisfy
his sensual desire, and the gratification of his evil
passions is his only ambition. This is the case too-
with other sins; we rejoice over our imagined suc-
cess in committing them. All this misery origin-
ates in our not knowing what a dreadful calamity
sin really is. If we could only comprehend the
wrath of God which is revealed against sin, and His
judgment which awaits it, we w r ould no longer de-
sire and love sin, but would fear it and flee from it
as though it were sudden death.

This picture of our dear Lord's agony at the
mount of Olives serves to furnish us with such
knowledge and fear. For if we look carefully on
this picture wo shall behold an image of sin, at sight^
ot which our hearts must recoil with horror. Only
look earnestly at the person pictured here ! He is
the Son of God, — the everlasting Righteousness I



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32 FIRST PASSION-SERMON.

And although He assumed our flesh and blood, Hta
flesh and blood is altogether sinless. Yet, since He
took upon Himself foreign sin, namely that of all
the world, in order to atone for it, this sin of others
so affected Him, filled Him with such grief and an-
guish, and so terrified Him, that He began to trem-
ble and quake, confessing: "My soul is exceeding
sorrowful, even unto death."

Now if the sins of others are able to inflict such
agony upon this pious, innocent heart, what must
not be the result if our own sins assail our naturally
sinful and corrupt hearts, which are inclined to
despair! God sometimes gives us instances of this
result, that we may be influenced by terror; in-
stances, in which sin rages in the soul to such a
degree, that the poor miserable wretches destroy
their own lives in order to be quickly released from
such rackings of conscience. This is a certain sign
that such sufferings of conscience are more grievous
and intolerable than bodily death, notwithstanding
that the latter is most violently opposed to our
nature ; for these wretched persons regard death as
the means by which they can rid themselves of such
sufferings. But it is a fatal means ; for it is against
that commandment of God which tells us, "thou
shalt not kill." These people, therefore, only make
themselves more worthy of God's wrath and of
damnation. The proper means, by which we can
with certainty get rid of this anguish, we shall con-
sider hereafter.

Therefore, let us study this picture thoroughly,
and not forget how our blessed Lord Jesus mourned
and trembled at the mount of Olives. We should
remember this especially when we are tempted by



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the devil, our own flesh and blood, 01 the wicked
world, and when we perceive our great propensity
to sin. Then let us reason thus : if sin is so mighty
that it can afreet Jesus Christ, my Lord and God,
with the greatest grief, though it be not His own
sin, but entirely that of others; how much more
will it not tempt, grieve, terrify and oppress me,
who am myself guilty of every sin to which I con-
sented, and who can, at any rate, only with the
greatest effort resist the fear of death and of the
anger and judgment of God ! Therefore, get thee
hence, Satan, I will not follow thee ! Thou makest
it easy for me to sin, as though sin were a trifling
matter ; but in my Lord Jesus I perceive that it is
the most intolerable burden, because it so agitated
His innocent heart. Therefore this narrative is of
great value to us as an admonition to live in the
fear of God and to sin no more. And most certain
is it, if we bear this picture in mind, and, in accord-
ance with it, persevere in prayer against tempta-
tion, that God will mercifully assist us by His Holy
Spirit, so that Satan must flee and our flesh be kept
under restraint ; while they who do not keep this
picture in view are led and driven like haltered
cattle whithersoever the devil will.

Especially does the prayer Christ offered here
serve as such an admonition. These were His
words : "0 my Father, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me." Now it is evident that this was
not possible ; for it was necessary that He should
offer up His body for the sins of the whole world,
and die upon the cross. But what else is to be
inferred from this, than that sin is such a great and
terrible transgression that it was impossible for any



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■S4 ' FIKST PASSIOX-SEKMON.

creature to afford the least relief from its curse?
But if we were to be delivered from this, it was
necessary for the eternal Son of God to become
man and to suffer death upon the cross for our sins ;
thus only could we become free from sin.

Therefore, again from this should we learn to
know and judge sin correctly. If we desire to obey
our own hearts and the devil, and to follow the
example even of the world, it will be very easy for
us to commit adultery aud fornication, and to seek
to profit by covetousness, by the practice of usury,
and by extortion. We see this in the case of those
who fall into such temptations that they can never
get enough of sinning. 0, do not serve your own
heart, Satan and the world ; let not the smooth fur
deceive you, for it surely covers sharp, poisonous
claws, and should these seize you it is all over with
you, unless God succor you in an extraordinary
way ! For if sin could, in the manner we have
related, assail and terrify Christ, who never was
guilty of a single sin, what will become of you and
me, whom sin has, at any rate, previously so cor-
rupted that we can not do otherwise than fear,
tremble and despair and fly from God, as did Adam
and Eve in Paradise ! Therefore, let us be on our
guard, and not run wantonly into such danger.
Let us ask God for His Holy Spirit, that He may
assist us, — that we may by His help defend our-
selves against sin. If we do this, we shall be indeed
the better for the scene at the mount of Olives.

Let us proceed. Even as this scene has been
employed by us as an admonition to fear God and
to guard against sin, so does it serve, in the second



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35



place, for our consolation. No man is able so care-
fully to govern himself that his flesh and Satan will
not succeed sometimes to mislead him with their
clamor, so that he makes a mistake and falls into
sin. And Satan incessantly prowls around the
Christian for the special purpose of leading him
into public offences, as we can see in the case of
illustrious saints. How deeply David fell! And
Peter the same ! Now if thi3 should happen to us
also, and Satan should then come and harass our
hearts by his representations of our sin, then we
should again behold this picture of the mount of
Olives, and turn our thoughts inward and say : O
God, why is it that Jesus Christ, my Lord, Thy
Son, trembles so ? What is it that troubles Him ?
He prays that the cup might pass from Him. What
is this cup ? It is the bitter death upon the cross
and nothing else. But why does He suffer this
death, being without sin, holy and righteous ? Alas,
this is brought about by the sin of the world, which
God has placed upon Him ; this it is that oppresses
and alarms Him !

But how must I apply this ? what must I con-
template here? This will I consider here, and
believe that it is true : if God has placed my sin
upon Him, then am I most certainly released from
sin; and because this is so, John the Baptist calls
Him "The Lamb of God which taketh away the sin
of the world." What accusation could I now
bring against myself and my dear Lord Jesus?
True, I am a sinner ; I experience, alas ! that my
sins alarm me and that they always try to make me
sad ; I am afraid of God and His severe judgment.
Nevertheless, of what could I accuse myself ; and



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FIRST PASSION-SERMON.



how could I censure my dear Lord Jesus? He
trembles at the mount of Olives, and feels such
anguish that His sweat is as it were great drops of
blood; my sins, which He has taken upon Himself,
and whose heavy burden He has borne, have brought
Him to this. Therefore, I shall leave them there,
and firmly hope that when I shall appear before
God and His judgment, God shall find no sin in
me. Not as though I were pious and had com-
mitted no sin, but that God Himself has taken
away from me my iniquity and laid it on His Son.
Isa. 53.

Thus the scene at the mount of Olives also serves
for our consolation ; it assures us that Christ has
taken our sins upon Himself and rendered satisfac-
tion for them. For how could we otherwise account
for such fear and trembling? If our sins, therefore,
rest upon Christ, we can be content ; they are in the
right place, — just where they belong. Upon us
they do not lie well ; for we and all men, yea and
all creatures, are too weak to bear a single sin : it
would crush us with its weight. Therefore, let
them remain upon Christ, and see what happens
Him on their account. He takes them to the cross
with Him and even dies in consequence of them ;
but on the third day He appears as the Lord of sin,
death and the devil ; for they attacked Him with
all their powers, but accomplished nothing. Now
this should be our comfort, and we should thank
God for the unspeakable grace, by which He re-
moved from us the heavy burden which would have
hurled us into the abyss of hell, and placed it upon
His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who, although He
was sinless and God eternal, still toiled and drudged



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS. 37



under it at the mouut of Olives, until the bloody
sweat flowed gently from Him. To this comfort
let us cleave, and not permit sadness to. oppress our
hearts, but say : it is sufficient that my Lord Jesus
mourned and trembled so; my lamentations can
accomplish nothing. But if I make His agony my
comfort, and on it base my hopes in life and death,
then has He so labored for me with His griefs and
fears that I must in future be joyful in Him and of
good cheer, and not fear sin and death, but hope
for God's grace and eternal life. Such exercise of
faith and comfort in Christ is the true worship of
God, pleasing unto Him ; and since this exercise is
the only means, by which we can worship God
* truly, poor, troubled consciences should make use
of it whenever the burden of sin tortures and alarms
the heart. Otherwise it is impossible to find any
true, certain consolation in such misery

But this history of the scene at the mount of
Olives is also of use to us iu teaching us, by Christ's
example, how to conduct ourselves in times of fear,
temptation and distress. The hour was now at
hand when Judas should betray, the Jews capture,
and the Gentiles crucify Christ. What does He
do? He is "exceeding sorrowful" aud full of fear.
But this is not all. "He went a little further, and
fell on His face, and prayed." We too must learn
this ; we dare not let trouble so affect us that we
forget to pray. For it is also a necessary part of
«livine worship and pleasing to God, not to despair
in anguish and distress, but, when these attack us,
to lift up our hearts to Him, and seek His help.
The 91. Psalm testifies to this, where God says :
"He shall call upon me, and I will answer him ; I



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FIRST PASSION-SERMON



will be with him in trouble ; I will deliver him, and
honor him." Bat this is very difficult for us ; for
we imagine,, when God suffers anxiety and distress
to come upon us, that He is angry with us and is
our enemy; and, therefore, even if we do pray, we
think that our prayers are vain and useless. But
against this we can employ the comfort of Christ's
;igony, and thus drive back such thoughts. For if
God were always angry when He suffers pains and
distresses to come upon us, it would follow that He
was angry with His dear Son. But the reverse is
the case, as Solomon also says, namely, that the
father scourgeth every son whom he receiveth, and
whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth. Therefore,
let no such thoughts deceive us ; let us not regard
God as an enemy because He permits us to suffer.
We see here that He does not exempt His only
begotten Son from suffering, but permits Him to
feel sin and the agony of death, and to fear and
tremble on their account. We should believe that
God deals with us in the same way ; that we are
His children and that He desires to remain our
Father, notwithstanding that He lets us suffer a
little. For why would we be spared all those
things, from which He did not exempt even His
Only Begotten, whom He permitted to suffer that
agony for us which we would have had to suffer
forever in hell ? Therefore, let us still follow Christ,
and as we endure fear and distress with Him, even
so let us learn to pray with Him, and doubt not
that God will graciously hear our prayers!

And how did Christ pray? The prayer itself is
a very useful and necessary pattern, which we
should imitate, and never leave out of sight. He



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39



prays : "0 my Father, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as
Thou wilt." This petition He repeats three times,
until iinally, as Luke says, "there appeared an angel
unto Him from heaven, strengthening Him."

Now this is the model prayer which we too
should use in temptation and trouble. "0 my
Father," He prays, as though He would say:
although my present anguish and alarm are so
great that they make me exceeding sorrowful, even
unto death, and that I see nothing before me but
Thy terrible wrath, and death ; still I do not doubt
that Thou art my Father, that Thou dost love me,
that Thou dost behold me and care for me. There-
fore, I hope to be released from this agony. "If it
be possible, let this cup pass from me;" that is,
help me, and save me from these sufferings.

Even as Christ calls upon God, His Father, so
must we also do. For, although He alone is the
eternal Son of God, according to the 2. Psalm :
"Thou art my Son ; this day have I begotten Thee,"
yet we too are children and heirs of God by faith
in Christ Jesus. We should, therefore, not merely
utter these words in our prayers, but be fully con-
fident that God, as our Father, desires our welfare,
and will not forsake us, His children. For where
such trust is wanting, there can be no sincere
prayer, and there surely the thought is entertained
that God is not our Father, that He does not want
us, and that He is not concerned about us. But
this is dishonoring God and robbing Him of His
right name, "Father."



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FIRST PASSION-SERMON



Bat let us learn still another lesson. Our dear
Lord Jesus prays that His Father would let this
cup pass from Him, and, as the true only begotten
Son, He expects everything good of His Father.
Yet He adds these words : "Nevertheless, not as I
will, but as Thou wilt." Let us do the same. Let
us not on account of temptation and affliction think
that God is angry with us ; but turn to Him as the
child turns to its father; for, because we believe in
Christ, God will accept us as sons and as joint heirs
with Christ; and let us call upon Him for help,
saying : 0 blessed heavenly Father, see how hard
it goes with me in this or that respect, — help, for
the sake of Thy dear Son, Jesus Christ, — suffer me
not to remain in this distress or to sink under it,
and so on. With this God is well pleased. And it
is His desire that we all, in every need, have such
confidence in Him, in and through Christ; that we,
firmly relying upon Him as our dear Father, call
upon Him ; and that we do not doubt at all that
He, for Christ's sake, will not only be merciful to
us as His dear children, but also heartily sympathize
with us and therefore willingly help us. Still we
must humble ourselves, and not insist upon having
our will, but submit it to the will of God whether
we shall still continue in misery ; and, if this is His
will, show our obedience by patiently bearing such
a delay of deliverance, as we can see that Christ
here did.

But the question might here occur to us : why
does Christ here pray thus, while in His prayer in
the 17. chap, of John He does not use a single
word which implies that He commits the decision,
whether He shall obtain His request or not, to the



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will of God ? There He says : "Father, the hour is
came ; glorify Thy Son. 0 Father, glorify Thou
me. Keep through Thine own name those whom
Thou hast given me. I pray that Thou shouldest
keep them from the evil. Sanctify them through
Thy truth." Also : "Father, I will that they also,
whom Thou hast given me, be with me where I
am," &c. This entire prayer shows that He will
have His request granted and not denied. But why
does He not pray in the same way here? Answer:
the want, for which the Lord prays here, is a tem-
poral, bodily want. Now we must, in all things
pertaining to this bodily life, submit our will to
that of God ; for, as Paul says, "we know not what
we should pray for." It is, besides, often necessary
for us that God should leave us under the cross
and in distress. Since God alone knows what is
good for us, we should prefer His will and renounce
our own, rendering obedience with patience.

When, however, bodily affairs are not the subject
of our prayer, but eternal blessings, God's will is
manifest and unalterable ; it is His will that all men
should be saved, that they should acknowledge their
sin and believe in its forgiveness through Christ.
Such eternal blessings we receive when God pardons
our iniquity, upholds us by His Word, sanctities us,
and gives us the Holy Spirit and everlasting life ;
and such blessings as these it is that Christ implores
for the Christian Church in John 17. Therefore,
when praying for such heavenly, eternal gifts, it is
not necessary to commit it to God's will, whether
He will hear us or not. We should know that He
will give us these things willingly and most cer-
tainly i for we have His Word which declares to us



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FIRST PASSION-SERMON.



His will in this respect. "God so loved the world/'
Christ tells us, "that He gave His only begotten
Hon, that whosoever believeth in Him should not
perish, but have everlasting lite." Behold, here we
have God's will with reference to our salvation.
Boldly, therefore, let us pray in accordance with
this will, just as Christ, John 17., prays: "Father,
I will that they be where I am !" Be this also our
prayer : Father, I pray and I will have it so, that
Thou forgive my sins for the sake of Thy Hon,
Jesus Christ, who has expiated their guilt, haviug
made an atonement for them by His death !

In this way, however, we cannot perceive God's
will in regard to bodily temptation and distress.
We do not know whether it would contribute to
our salvation and to the honor of God, if He should,
according to our desire, quickly release us from
sickness, poverty or other troubles. We should,
therefore, pray for help indeed ; but submit it to
the will of God whether we shall be helped soon or
shall continue in our affliction. And should God
not relieve us immediately, and in the manner we
wish, our prayer shall still not be useless, but God
shall strengthen our hearts and impart to us grace
and patience, so that we can bear our affliction and
triumph in the end. The example here of Christ
proves this; God, His Blather, would not let the
cup pass from Him; still He sent Him an angel who
strengthened Him. So it shall be with us too, even
if God should delay or refuse His help. But in
regard to spiritual wants we are certain of being
heard: God will, for Christ's sake, cheerfully for-
give our sins and save our souls; therefore, we can



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48



pray for this with sure confidence, and it. were a
sin to doubt it.

This is the third lesson, about prayer in tempta-
tion. But we are very slow at learning it, as the
example before us of the disciples plainly shows.
Temptation was in store for them too, and, there-
fore, the Lord admonishes them to pray, so that
they might not enter into temptation. For in such
a case prayer is the only and the best preventive
and remedy. But the flesh is so weak and slug-
gish, that when the danger is greatest and prayers
are most needed we slumber and sleep; that is,
anguish overtakes us and molests us so severely,
that we think all opposition is vain and useless.
Temptation or the fall is the result of this, as it was
in the case of the disciples. But our gracious and
compassionate God, who has promised us assistance
and mercy through His Son Jesus Christ, pardons
this weakness and rescues us from temptation, if
we heed His admonition, again to seek consolation
and help with Him.

This, then, is the history of the agony at the
mount of Olives, which should be diligently con-
sidered and properly applied. This is done when
we, in the first place, learn from it how very heavy
a burden sin must be, since it so oppressed and
tortured the Son of God that He trembled, and that
great drops of blood fell from Him to the ground,
and when we, therefore, look well to ourselves and
flee from sin.

This is done when we, secondly, draw consolation
from this history in those times of distress and



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FIRST PASSION -SERMON.



temptation which cannot fail to come upon us too ;
we see how the Son of God bore oar sins.

We make the right use of this history when we,
in the third place, continue instant in prayer, in
every temptation, according to Christ's command :
"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into tempta-
tion."

He who thus employs the occurrences at the
mount of Olives, shall remain in the fear of God
and in true faith, and shall find comfort and deliv-
erance in all manner of dangers and temptations.
May our blessed Lord Jesus grant this to us all
through His Holy Spirit. Amen.



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The Seizure of Christ in the G-ardbn.

Matt. 26, 47-50. And while lie yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the
twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves,
from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now he that betrayed
Him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is
He ; hold Him fast. And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail,
Master; and kissed Him. And Jesus said untp him, Friend, where-
fore art thou come ? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and
took Him.

Ilia is the second part of the history of the
events which took place in the garden. Here
we are told, in the first place, how Judas, one of the
twelve, after he had conferred with the Jews on the
subject, and sold the Lord Jesus for thirty pieces of
silver, (each of which, according to our coin, is
worth about half of a florin), finally also betrayed
Him in the garden.

This was a very wicked and scandalous deed,
and it is, even at this day, so offensive to many
wise and sensible people that, on account of it, they
speak evil of the Gospel, and consider its doctrine
injurious. For, since Satan keeps no holiday, but
chiefly sows his tares among the wheat where he
sees the good seed coming forth hopefully, it is no
wonder that among those who possess God's pure
Word there are found so many disciples of Judas,
that is, knaves and infidels.

When the world sees such deeds it quickly passes
judgment upon them. Thus we are often com-
pelled to hear how our adversaries of the present
day lay all the blame for such offences upon the




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40 SECOND PASSION-SERMON.

doctrine, and say : If the doctrine were correct it
would also produce good fruit, but since there are
so many more offences in the world now than there
were formerly, it must follow that the doctrine is
false.

True, the Insurrection of the Peasants, in the
year 1525, occurred after the Gospel had been
brought to light. Then followed the Sacrament-
arians, Anabaptists, and other sects, the like of
which no one heard nor saw before the Gospel
came to us. But does it, therefore, follow that the
doctrine is bad, and that such offences were pro-
duced by the doctrine? We shall find the answer
to this if we examine that villain, Judas, who was
neither Gentile nor Turk; neither was he a Jew of
that kind which offered resistance to Christ and
paid no attention to the Word of God. Matthew
says that he was "one of the twelve," whom Christ
had called to preach, to baptize in His name, to
east out devils, and to perform all manner of glorious
miracles. And since the Lord knew his knavery
from the beginning, there is no doubt that He
instructed Judas more than the rest, always admon-
ishing him not to give place to sin and temptation.
In connection with the Holy Supper the Evangelists
specially mention that the Lord would every now
and then let fly a word or two at him, if, peradven-
ture, he might be turned from his sin. And,
finally, He gave him a sop, no doubt casting upon
him a longing look, as though He would say : 0,
thou poor fellow, how canst thou be my enemy?
What cause do I give thee for intending such
things against me ?



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SERMONd ON THE GOSPELS. 47

But since nothing could prevail with him, and
since lie gave place to temptation and even yielded
to it, the Lord said unto him: "That thou doest, da
quickly;" as if He wanted to say: I see well
enough that all warnings and admonitions are in
vain ; go, then ; there is no help for thee.

Now what shall we say to this, that the desperate
villain commits such a hideous sin, and harbors
such malice aud bitterness against his Lord and
Master, in whose name he also had performed
miracles, that, for the sake of a trifling sum of
money, he betrays and sells the innocent, pious,
gracious and gentle Lord and Saviour, well know-
ing that it would cost His life? Whom shall we
blame for this? Here we read that he was one of
the twelve. Shall we, therefore, say that the Lord
Jesus and the doctrine which Judas heard of Christ
are to blame? If Christ had taught him better
things, would he have done them? But supposing
that this thought did occur to you, would you not
shudder at it, and fear so to accuse the Lord Jesus?
For you know that He is holy and righteous, and
the enemy of every vice ; yea, that the object of all
His teaching and preaching was to check and ward
oft* sin and save from death. Why, then, would
you impute such crime to our dear Lord? You
should rather say : If Judas had not been such a
scandalous, wicked villain that every friendly warn-
ing was thrown away upon him, and could not free
him from his malice, he would have behaved himself
differently ; for, although the other ApOstles were
so very weak that they were offended because of
the Lord Jesus, they still do not fall into sin so.



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SECOND PASSION-SERMON.



monstrous as that of Judas, who must, therefore,
have been such an arrant knave that nothing could
save him.

Why then do you not pass the same judgment
upon similar cases which occur at present ? Why
do you blame and blaspheme the Holy Gospel for
that which wicked men and Satan have committed ?
For if Christ Himself cannot preach with such
earnestness and power that Judas ceases to be a
scoundrel, as he was from the beginning, it is no
wonder that the like is seen among us also, and that
not all obey the Word.

The Peasants' War, as stated before, followed
after God had restored the Gospel to us ; we have
no desire to deny this. But must the Gospel,
therefore, be reproached for this offence and mis-
chief? Were there not insurrections and offences
in the world before the Gospel was preached ? We
should rather argue as follows: Satan hates the
Gospel ; men are by nature corrupt and inclined to
evil ; therefore, Satan and the evil world have
caused these offences, so that the good seed, which
is the pure, wholesome doctrine, might be despised
by men.

Thus originated the Sacramentarians and Ana-
baptists also, of whom no one heard before the
coming of the Gospel. But the Gospel is not to
blame. The devil, and then the temerity of idle
and frivolous hearts which do not hold fast the
Word, but follow their own wisdom, whistled for
this jig, and prepared this terrible evil and such
pernicious scandal.

Even at this day, as we see, this scandal prevails,
that avarice and usury, lasciviousness and gluttony,



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and other vices are more common among those who
boast of the Gospel than they were formerly under
the papacy. Whence comes this filth ? Is it learned
from the Gospel? Are the preachers to blame?
No, such thoughts be far from us ! That would be
abusing and calumniating God and His dear Word,
and the Gospel ministry which is God's most
precious gift. But we must blame the very devil,
who is chagrined when he sees the field well pre-
pared and sowed with good seed ; for this admira-
bly impairs his kingdom. Therefore, while the
house-holder sleeps, he comes with his seed of
wickedness, and scatters tares over the whole field.

But thus he does not bring it about that the tares
alone grow. For even as Judas, one of the twelve,
was a rascal, while the other disciples, notwith-
standing their frailty, did not fall into such shock-
ing sin ; so, while many and very common offences
exist, we also find many noble, pious Christians,
• who abide in the Word in all sincerity, live in the
fear of God and guard against offences. We
should be satisfied with this and thank God for
it. And since we cannot get rid of this Judas, we
shall have to tolerate him, still remembering that
not all are like him, but that some of the disciples
turned out better.

The instance of the spoiled child, Judas, teaches
us, first, that we must not revile the Gospel like
the Papists, but recognize the true cause of offences
in the devil and in those disobedient hearts which
believe not the Word and will not be bettered by
the Word.

Secondly, it teaches us, by that dreadful fall, to
fear God. For, as was said above, Judas was no



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SECOND PASSION-SERMON



common person, but an Apostle, and, doubtless,
possessed many noble, excellent gifts ; this is indi-
cated by his having a special office among the
disciples, the Lord having appointed him house-
holder, or steward.

Now this Judas, who was an Apostle, who in
Jesus' name preached repentance and remission of
sins, who baptized, cast out devils, and did other
miracles, apostatized most shamefully from God
and became the enemy of Christ, whom, for a little
silver, he sold, betrayed and delivered over to be
slaughtered. And since such a terrible misfortune
befell so great a man as Judas, we surely have reason
never to feel secure, but to fear God, to beware of
sin, and, without ceasing, to pray that God would
not lead us into temptation, but that when tempta-
tion comes upon us He would mercifully sustain us,
deliver us from it, and not suffer us to stick fast in
it. For unless the greatest caution is exercised and
the weapon of prayer is diligently used, it is a very
easy matter to fall and commit sin.

The case of Judas stands thus. He was an
avaricious fellow ; the Evangelists mention several
times that he was in the habit of stealing from the
treasury, which, according to the Lord's appoint-
ment, was in his care. He gave the reins to this
sin and became addicted to it. He permitted men
to talk and to preach to him, as, alas ! some of the
miserable, provoking Christians of our day let them-
selves be talked and preached to ; but went never-
theless aud stole wherever he could, and thought
himself in no danger because he was an Apostle as
well as the rest.



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Because he thus gave place to sin, his carnal
security finally brought him so far that the devil
entered into him quite, and urged him on to the
attainment of his outrageous purpose of betraying
his dear Lord and Master for fifteen florins. Since
the devil was thus successful in leading Judas to
this act of treachery, the greater wretchedness fol-
lowed that Judas fell into despair and hanged him-
self on account of such sin. This is the end the
devil had in view.

Now we should diligently observe this case of
Judas and, as already stated, be admonished by it
to keep a clear conscience ; to live in the true fear
of God ; and not to cease praying that God would
uphold us by His Word, rule us by His Holy Spirit,
and keep us from sin. For if we make a mistake
in an apparently trifling matter even, unspeakably
great misery may ensue. Our dear Lord Jesus, in
the 11. chapter of Luke, warns us against this, say-
ing: "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a
man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest ;
and finding none he saith, 1 will return unto my
house whence I came out. And when he cometh,
he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he,
and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked
than himself ; and they enter in and dwell there ;
and the last state of that man is worse than the
first." We have instances of this before us. Before
the blessed Gospel came to light again, the devil
enjoyed perfect tranquility ; he had ensnared nearly
every heart by a spurious worship and by reliance
on good works. But God has now banished him
by the Gospel, that we might know that God is not
served and that we are not benefited by the celebra-



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SECOND PASSION-SERMON.



tion of masses, by vigils, pilgrimages and monkery.
God'3 Word has taught us a different form of wor-
ship, which the 2. Ps. calls "kissing the Son f and
God from heaven declared it "hearing and believing
in His Son." This we know.

Let us see what takes place now. The devil
would gladly come back to his old home; but he
oan not, for lie finds the entrance blocked up and
himself exposed by the light of God's Word. "Then
goeth he and taketh to him seven," that is, in-
numerable, "other spirits more wicked than him-
self ; and they enter in and dwell there." We see
that most men are under the impression that they
can lead a lewd life, practice covetousness und
usury, lie and deceive, and still be in no danger, and
be good Christians all the while. Wherever there
is a hole left open for the devil, even if we would
think it too small for him to peep through, it is
large enough for him to stick his head in and drag
his whole body after. In this way he entered into
Judas too. We might think his stealing ten or
twenty dollars a very little matter; but because he
continually hankered after the pleasures of this sin,
and did not suffer God's Word to restrain him, the
devil finally prevails on him, for the sake of money,
to lead his blessed Lord and Master like an ox to
the slaughter.

Hence the warning: Fear God and shun sin.
But if you will continue in sin, you may look out
for the danger, to which you thus expose yourself ;
for the devil does not £0 to work with the intention
of conferring favors on you. He prompted Judas
to avarice until he led him through despair to the
gallows. Let this be your warning, and desist in

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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS.



53



time ! Earnestly beseech God that He would, for
Christ's sake, not impute to you your iniquity, and
then reform I This is the will of God. He per-
mitted this dreadful example of Jucjas to be given
that we might study it and recoil from it. For
who would have thought that such a terrible sin
could have such an insignificant beginning ! 0, do
not make light of this ; do not think in your heart :
I can do so and so, and still be a Christian, — I will
make amends some day, &c. The devil is too cun-
ning for you ; when he has once spun his web about
you, it will not be easy for you to tear yourself
away.

So much for the example ot* Judas. From an-
other point of view our text furnishes us comfort
and admonition. It is always the case, that, as our
Lord Jesus fared on earth, so must His Church and
precious Gospel fare to the end of the world.
Judas, oneofHis disciples, betrays Christ. Thus,
they who hold churchly offices and bear ecclesias-
tical titles and names, wish to be regarded as the
heads and rulers of the Church; it is not thirty
pieces of silver, as in the case of Judas, but many
thousand dollars that make them traitors and arch-
enemies of the Church. See the Pope, for instance ;
he has the very bag of Judas hanging from his
neck, and is so fond of money and possessions that
he takes them in exchange for the Gospel, which
he betrays and sells, and with which he deals as the
Jews dealt with the Lord Jesus before Caiphas and
Pilate! And just as Judas attaches to himself the
servants of the high priests and rulers, so the Pope
gathers about him monks, priests, schools, bishops,
and his entire brood of spiritless Sodomites, who



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SECOND PASSION-SERMON.



help him capture Christ, that is, persecute and
denounce the Gospel, as if it were the most hellish
heresy. And finally Pilate, the civil government,
also joins them, and attempts to exterminate the
Gospel with the sword.

This has been taking place a long time, ever
since the Pope received such great power and
authority. And even to-day the ranks of Judas'
army are being swelled by those who use the Gospel
for coining gold, with which they then feed their
avarice, ambition, pride and lust. These should,
indeed, consider Judas' end. For it has been
resolved that neither the Pope nor any other
traitors of Christ and His Word, let them be ever
so exalted and wise, shall be blessed in the posses-
sion of that price of blood obtained by selling Christ
or His Gospel. Sooner or later remorse shall come ;
and, should no amendment follow, these Gospel-
venders, together with Judas their master, shall
receive eternal death and damnation as their recom-
pense, in the depths of hell. Let no one doubt this !
Were it not for the denunciation of such a terrible

•

doom, we should have reason for being indignant
on account of these miserable fellows, Pope, car-
dinals, bishops, priests and monks, they fare so
sumptuously every day. But, my friends, let us
not envy these fattening hogs because God permits
them for a little while to wallow in the filth of their
obscene lusts; the thirty pieces of silver, for which
they sell their Lord every day, will lie heavily
enough upon their souls when Christ shall say to
them : "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Besides,
their heart and conscience cannot be long satisfied.



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For, although they may for a time live in thought-
lessness, security and riot, when eventually that
little black dog, Remorse by name, begins to bark,
it will go badly enough with them ; then, with
eternal ruin yawning before them, they shall see
and feel what Isaiah meant in his 48. chapter, when
he said : "There is no peace unto the wicked." We
have instances before us at the present time of the
terrible end which came upon several of the most
prominent adversaries of the Gospel.

This we sav with reference to Judas, of whom
the Evangelists tell us how he sold Christ, led the
Jews into the garden and betrayed the Lord Jesus
with a kiss, which, according to Matthew, was the
sign he should give the Jews. This is also applica-
ble to those false prophets who, because they have
the authority of office, mislead poor consciences
with false and impure doctrine.

The Evangelist John mentions two remarkable
miracles performed in the garden by our Lord Jesus.
One of them is the following. When the Jews had
come into the garden to the Lord Jesus, He asked
them, "Whom seek ye?" And when they had
answered Him, "Jesus of Nazareth," His reply, "I
am He," so frightened them that they all went
backward and fell to the ground as if they had been
struck by lightning. This was done by a special
and divine power, which the Lord showed forth at
that time, not alone to terrify the Jews, but also to
strengthen His disciples. These, instead of ventur-
ing, as they did, to rescue Jesus by force, might
have concluded from this display of power that if
the Lord did not choose to give Himself up unto
death, He was able to defend Himself and resist His



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SECOND PASSION -SERMON.



enemies without calling upon others for assistance
or protection The Lord wanted no violence done,
and severely remonstrates with Peter on this sub-
ject, as we shall see. This miracle, therefore, serves
as a protection against that gulf of offences, in
which both the Jews and afterwards even the disci-
ples came near drowning. Since the Lord suffered
Himself to be seized, allowed the Jews to play on
Him their wanton pranks, and finally permitted
Himself to be so shamefully executed upon the
cross, even the disciples were so offended that they
forgot all those miracles which they had seen Him
do and all those powerful sermons they had heard
of Him, and thought that everything was over with
Him now, — that their hopes had been all in vain.
And, on the other hand, the unbelieving and mali-
cious Jews felt certain that their object would be
well accomplished as soon as they should have Him
nailed to the cross.

How glorious, therefore, this miracle ! The great
multitude of Jews, armed with swords and staves,
provided with authority from the rulers, and eager
and desperate to do its work, is driven back and so
frightened that they all fall to the ground as it
some enemy had violently thrust them down ; and
all this by the single word, "I am He," spoken by a
man who stood alone and weaponless, and who did
nothing more thau speak most friendly words.
The disciples see this great miracle ; the Jews also
feel its force ; still it is soon forgotten. Yea,
because Christ so patiently submitted to His suffer-
ings and used no other power against His enemies,
they took II im to be a mere man.

But they should in all reason have argued as



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SERMONS ON THK GOSPELS. 57

follows : If this Man is able, with a single word,
which is neither invective nor curse, but only a
gentle reply, as with a thunderbolt, to strike down
such great, strong, bold and armed men, then must
there surely be a deep meaning in His voluntary
resignation. He is able to defend and protect Him-
self, but instead of doing so He submits. He there-
fore does not desire the aid of men. And, although
He now hides nis power and permits the Jews to
do with Him what they will, this shall, by no
means, be the end of it. Dismay must seize His
enemies, but He must conquer. For that divine
power which He showed forth so frequently, and
which He manifests here in the garden especially
by the single word, "I am He," cannot remain with-
held and repressed for a great length of time, &c.

The disciples in particular should have regarded
the miracle in this light. There can be no doubt
that it was to this end that the Lord here revealed
His divine might. But alas ! the effects of this were
too quickly lost upon both parties. The Jews,
intent on their mischief, feared no further. The
disciples, running hither and thither, now sad, now
terrified, had no hope of ever again seeing their
Lord and Master, to say nothing of their despairing
of ever being: further benefited bv Him. This was
the "hour of darkness," as Christ calls it in the
Gospel according to St. John, in which offences
prevailed and the devil exercised His power. It
was for this reason that the Lord so earnestly ad-
monished the disciples, "Watch ye and pray, lest
ye enter into temptation."

The other miracle is similar to this. It is per-
formed by Christ's second answer: "I have told



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SECOND PASSION-SERMON.



you that I am He ; if therefore ye seek me, let these
go their way." Our dear Lord is alone, and
has neither sword nor spear; whereas Judas, the
traitor, comes upon Him with a great multitude.
We would think that our dear Lord had reason to
entreat and beg, seeing that He stands against such
numbers. But He advances and commands the
Jews that they should let His disciples alone, and
not lav hands on one of them. This is a stern
command : Sinite hos abire, "Let these go ;" and
we see that it was not given in vain. For they, no
doubt, set out with the thought that they would
capture the whole company, Master and disciples.
But this command compels them to desist from
their intention of taking the disciples, although
Peter did not deserve this, because he lay about him
with his sword.

But why does the Lord give such a command ?
It is not incorrect to say, that He wishes to show
by this that He esteems His own life more lightlv
than the lives of His disciples ; for He rescues them
while He lets Himself be taken and bound. For
the same reason He calls Himself a "Good Shep-
herd" who "giveth His life for the sheep;'* and
shows us His love as a special example, sayiug:
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man
lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends,
if ye do whatsoever I command you." We clearly
see that He is silent about His own person; the
Jews do with Him what they please and He does
not hinder them. But He wants them to let His
disciples alone and to do no violence to them.
This shows that He cares more for them than for
Himself.



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59



This was not done without a purpose. Our dear
Lord Jesus wanted no partners in the sufferings
before Him. For, as the 53. chapter of Isaiah tells
us, "The Lord hath laid on Him,' , on Him alone,
"the iniquity of us all," and this He had to bear
alone and for this offer Himself as a sacrifice. True,
the disci pies also were afterwards compelled to suffer
for the sake of Christ and His Word, as Christ had
told James and John : "Ye shall indeed drink of
the cup that I drink of."

But the suffering of the Lord Jesus was a suffer-
ing for my sins, for thy sins, and for the sins of all
the world ; so that now, for Christ's sake, God will
not only forgive and pass by these sins, but also
bestow righteousness and eternal life upon me, upon
thee, and upon all believers. For this reason Christ
desired to be alone, and permitted no one to be
seized nor to suffer with Him.

This should be preached in all churches through-
out Christeudom, and with all diligence should the
people be continually taught to hope for the for-
giveness of every sin, alone through the sufferings
and death of Christ, &c. But this is not done by
the abominable Pope and his scandalous scribblers
and shriekers. Their tongues, indeed, confess that
Jesus is the Lamb of God, which taketh away the
sin of the world ; but their actions give their words
the lie. This they prove by their so woefully de-
ceiving the poor people with their falsehoods; tell-
ing them to invoke deceased saints, of these saints
to seek pardon for their sins, and with the merits
of these saints to console themselves, and in virtue
of their doing this they receive indulgences. This
is as much as saying that Christ desired associates



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(SO SECOND PASSION-SERMON.

in His sufferings, and accomplished nothing by
Himself.

That the Lord was afterwards crucified between
"two thieves" has its peculiar signification, viz., to
show for whom Christ's sufferings avail, and upon
whom they are lost; of which, however, we have
no time to speak at present. But here in the garden
the word is: Sinite hos abire, "Let these go;"' I
alone am fit for this work ; to suffer aud to die for
the sins of the world is an office w r hich belongs to
me alone. Neither John, Peter or James can do
anything in this ; let all these go their way ! I, "I
am He;" me you must lay hold on, me capture, me
bind, me crucify, unto me it is given to take away
1 1 10 sin of the world; and all who believe in me,
• that is, comfort themselves with my suffering and
death, shall find a gracious God and eternal life.

This, then, is the second part of the history of
those things concerning Christ which occurred in
the garden. It teaches us : first, to bear in mind
this terrible fall of the Apostle Judas, to abide in
the fear of God, to avoid sin, aud to be diligent in
prayer that God may in mercy prevent us from
falling as Judas fell; secondly, that we also, as true
Christians, shall be sorely molested by the avarice
of some Judas or other, that we must patiently
endure this and cling to the consolation that Christ,
though He may be weak in us now, will show His
power at the proper time, and graciously protect
and preserve us. The Ever-living Father of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ grant us this by His
Holy Spirit. Amen.

5



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THIKD PASSION-SERMON.
Christ Refusing to be Rescued by Peter's Sword.

Matt. 26, 51-56. And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus
stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of
the high priest, and smote off his ear. Then said Jesus unto him,
Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the
sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now
pray to my Father, and He shall presently give me more than twelve
legions of angels? But how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that
thus it must be? In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are
ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me?
I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on
me. But all this was dope, that the Scriptures of the prophets might
be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook Him, and fled.

his is the third and last part of the scene in
the garden, or at the mount of Olives. It
relates how Peter drew his sword, intending to
rescue his Master by force, after they had taken the
Lord Jesus.

The facts here narrated, in the iirst place, teach
us a necessary and useful lesson concerning the
sword, or temporal power, showing who shall and
who shall not wield it, and what punishment is due
to him who presumes to bear it without a call.
Secondly, whereas Peter in this case makes use ot
the sword to liberate Christ, and still Christ forbids
his doing so, it becomes necessary here to treat the
question, whether we dare or should defend the
Gospel with the sword, so that the civil government
may be properly instructed in both respects, and
neither act contrary to its office, nor do more than
its calling demands. Otherwise both Church and
State would be unjustly dealt by, which injustice
would be most certainly punished.




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THIRD PASSION-SERMON.



N )w as far as Peter is concerned, it is manifest
that he was a minister or ecclesiastic, whom it does
not behoove to bear the sword, according to the
words of Christ : "The princes of the Gentiles exer-
cise dominion. But it shall not be so among you."
Therefore, Peter does wrong in resorting to the
sword for the Lord's protection, and Christ rebukes
him for it. This was not a matter that could be
decided with the sword, for Christ says : Even if
our cause did depend upon our defence, "Thinkest
thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He
shall presently give me more than twelve legions of
angels ?" This was as much as Saying: It is now
expedient for me to suffer; I will not have any one
to draw his sword on my account and strike for my
protection. But Christ administers this rebuke to
Peter for the reason, also, that to him as a private
person the sword did not belong. Therefore, He
not only commands Peter to put up his sword, but
also pronounces the terrible threat : "All they that
take the sword shall perish with the sword."

We must duly heed these words; for by them
the Lord makes a distinction among men, inform-
ing us that some wield the sword by divine com-
mission. These are all they who, by the proper
and ordinary means, are called to the temporal
government for the purpose of ruling, of guarding
and promoting the public weal, and of preventing
public offences. Into the hands of these God gives
the sword, that is, it is God's will and institution
that they bear the sword, not for their own emolu-
ment, but for the good of their subjects, as St. Paul
says : A ruler "is the minister of God, a revenger
to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." For



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SERMONS ON THE OOSPELS. 63

since words will not persuade the world, severity
must be used, aud people must be compelled to
desist from crime, so that the common peace and
unity may be maintained and a restraint be put
upon wantonness. If the thief persist in stealing,
let him dangle from the gallows, and then we shall
be secure from him. Let the wanton villain who
takes delight in injuring every one, and who strikes
and stabs tor the sake of a mere word, find justice
on the gibbet, and then he will let people alone ;
he will henceforth strike and stab no more, for the
hangman puts an excellent stop to such work.
Therefore, the civil government serves God by using
the sword against sin and scandal ; for God, who
will not leave offences and sin unpunished, has
given the command to do this. God makes this
distinction among men, that to a few He intrusts
the sword, with it to ward off mischief and to pro-
tect the subjects.

But the rest, who have not received such author-
ity, must, by no means, handle the sword, and never
draw it except at the command of the temporal
government. But should they take it on their own
responsibility, the judgment written here will most
certainly not fail : "All they that take the sword
shall perish with the sword." In every history we
see how they who took revenge into their own
hands never succeeded well with it; all rebels had
to suffer finally and perished with the sword. All
manslayers who wickedly murdered others were
either delivered to the executioner or perished in
some other way, or else went so astray in the miser-
able life they led that they would a thousand times
better have died. Such is the regulation of God •



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<»4 TUIRD PASSION-SERMON.

He will have it so, that all they that take the sword,
and do not wait until God or the government gives
it to them, shall perish with the sword ; this cannot
he changed. Let every one, therefore, he careful
and bridle his wrath; let him either patiently bear
his wrongs and subdue his passion, or else seek
justice in the proper and divinely sanctioned way.
What this is, has been sufficiently pointed out. Since
God has given temporal governments the command
to restrain offences and defend the pious with the
sword, we must seek safety at the hands of these
governments and inform against the offender. We
must do this not alone for our security, but also to
the end that offences be resisted, that malice be
hindered, and that they who exercise temporal
authority may properly discharge the duties of their
office. For neither a mayor of a town nor a ruler
of a land can be acquainted with every disturbance,
and still their office makes them responsible to God
for the quelling of all offences and uproars. JS"ow
if you and every body else would choose to keep
silent about your wrongs, this would only increase
the mischief and be giving the occasion for your
own hurt, both of which results would be wrong,
and both of which you can prevent by calling upon
the government for protection. Should the govern-
ment, however, upon your petition do nothing in
this matter, and not help you to your rights, then
observe this : Bear your wrongs patiently and be-
ware of revenging yourself, lest your righteous
cause become unrighteous before God and man.

But what then becomes of the words of Christ :
" Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek,
turu to him the other also. And if any man will



SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS. Go

—

sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let
him have th^ T cloak also," &c? We answer: Both
of these commands were given that we might be
restrained from taking revenge into our own hands,
and that we might rather suffer all things, and wait
for the judgment of the Heavenly Judge, who is
not so slow and heedless in conducting His office,
as the civil authorities frequently are in conducting
theirs. Christ here does not forbid our complain-
iug to the government of the injury that is done
us; He does not impose silence upon us.

But, you ask, do I not seek revenge when I make
complaint against him who has harmed me? Most •
certainly ; but you do right by this, provided you
do it in the proper way and without anger or hatred
towards your neighbor. For this is not your own
revenge, but the revenge instituted by God for the
purpose of checking scandal and protecting every
one in the possession of his own. In short, he who
has not been commanded to use the sword and still
arrogates it to himself, to revenge himself or others,
subjects himself to the judgment and condemnation
of God : "All they that take the sword shall perish
with the sword." Whenever, therefore, you or
yours are injured, beware of the improper course of
grasping the sword yourself and being your own
defender! But make use of the correct means,
that is, bring the matter before your government
and let this protect and succor you ; God com-
manded it to do this and ordained it for this. If
you do this you do well, and will be safe against
meddling with the affairs of others. But if the
government either will not or can not help you,
then endure your afflictions, touch not the swoid,



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()() THIRD PASsUOX-SKKMON.

and let God be your Avenger ; He surely will
avenge you and also punish the government for its
negligence !

But should a cut-throat come upon me in the
forest, or a ruffian attack me on the highway, with
the intention to harm me, and I had no time to
seek the protection of the government, must I suffer
myself to be injured or murdered? JSTo; for in
such a case the government permits every one to
defend his person and his life against violence and
outrage; for whenever she can lay hold on these
villains, she executes them without delay. For this
and other reasons Moses, according to the command
of God, prescribed the appointment of several cities
of refuge, to which the manslayer might resort who
had taken lite not intentionally, nor for revenge,
nor in wrath, but accidentally or in pressing
necessity. The civil authorities also follow this
rule and recognize the lawfulness of self-defence.
But in all other cases remember that "All they that
take the sword shall perish with the sword."

But as they who, having no right to the sword,
still continue to usurp the power of the sword, do
not seek lawful vengeance and wish to admin-
ister vengeance themselves ; even so, on the other
hand, they, to whom God has given the sword that
they might diligently wield it, are always inclined
to be too mild, as though God had given a fox's
tail into their hand instead of a keen-edged sword.
These latter also commit great sin and are griev-
ously disobedient before God, and they also shall
be very sorely punished for their conduct. For
where the civil government does not oppose public
scandal with reasonable severity, there God Himself



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS



07



must eventually interfere as Judge and use the
sword. And at the advent of this Judge, not only
an individual or two, but an entire city or land
must suffer for these sins. This we learn from
many passages of Scripture and from numerous
instances before us. It is, therefore, necessary that
magistrates do not become lazy or indulgent, but
that they exercise a becoming earnestness and a
vigilant supervision, and that they apply punish-
ment wherever offences exist ; thus they satisfy the
demands of their office and please God. But, as
we have already said, this is an unpleasant duty ;
men take no delight in it, as can be shown by
examples. For how often do we not find mildness
used where it should not be used, and the most
heinous offences lightly punished ! How frequently
are not hindrances interposed, and intercession
made, so that crimes escape unpunished!

But should we not have more regard for the
divine command than for human intercession?
God says: Receive from my hand this sword; I
give it thee that thou shalt, in my stead, punish
every one under thy control who is guilty of public
offence, no matter whether he be friend or foe,
exalted or low, rich or poor, noble or ignoble ; let
the sword descend wherever there are offences, so
that these may not prevail! This is what God says
to every government. But, on the other hand,
men come with their petitions, asking that this or
that one might be pardoned, or punished mildly,
although the most terrible trespasses, atrocia delicto,
have been committed, such as brutal murder, incest,
and the like, &c. And it often happens that man's
intercession has more influence upon the govern-



<)8



THIRD PASSION-SERMON.



ment than the stringent command of God. I leave
it to you to judge whether this is right, and what
must be the result under God's justice.

Sometimes offences are public, but the civil
government refuses to punish them unless some one
volunteers as plaintiff". Because no one brings com-
plaint, it lets the matter pass. This is downright
heedlessness, both in regard to God's command
and to the office. The watchman is stationed on
the tower, by day and by night to be on the look-
out for fires or other mischief that may occur with-
in or without the city, and then to publish the
danger in time, and to warn against losses. In
like manner God has placed the temporal ruler far
above all other people, that he might exercise
watchfulness, and when he 'sees offences about to
be committed, be they great or small, to put them
down with the sword before they become formid-
able, no matter whether any one has complained or
uot. Therefore, "he beareth the sword,'' as Paul
says, to be "a terror to evil works," so that peace
may be enjoyed by all and wantonness may be
resisted. And the Lord commands here that the
sword shall not rest nor be idle, but destroy those
who take it. Thus we see that both parties fail to
do their duty : they who have not the sword, wish
to have it and lay about them with it, like Peter
here; but they who have it, can with great difficulty
be persuaded to grasp and wield it.

But they who really understand and obey this
passage will act differently. They, into whose
hands God has not committed the sword, will, of
course, let it alone, and rather suffer all things than .
presume so far as to take, it ; and this, because they



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS.



09



recognize the command of Christ and the ordinance
of God, which they feel certain dare not be trifled
with, and against the violation of which they
guard as against the executioner, the gallows or
the wheel. And they, to whom God has given the
sword, will cheerfully and fearlessly sway it over
one and all, regardless of their subjects' station and
property ; for they know that they are bound to
check scandal wherever they meet it, and, therefore,
they obey God and serve Him eagerly. This must
suffice for the first point.

The question which we stated in the beginning
now claims attention. As private persons are ab-
solutely forbidden to grasp the sword, and the Lord
reproves Peter for drawing his sword in Christ's
behalf, would it then be lawful for a government to
defend itself when attacked on account of religion ?
Or, in plainer terms : considering that Christ did
not permit Peter to rescue Him witli the sword, are
rulers permitted to resist attacks made on the Gos-
pel, and to instruct their subjects everywhere to
defend it with the sword?

It is necessary here, first, to observe the distinc-
tion between the civil government, the office of the
ministry, and the private person. The civil govern-
ment, above all other duties assigned to it, has
received the emphatic command to disseminate and
apply God's Word, and with the sword to protect
those subjects who are oppressed on account of the
Word. About this there is no question whatever;
for the sword must protect virtue and punish vice,
and, above all, serve to promote the knowledge of
God, as we infer from Rom. 13. And God says in
Isa. : The Church shall "suck the breasts of kings,"



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70



THIRD PASSION -SERMON



that is, they shall be her protectors ; and, in the 24.
Ps. : "Lift up your heads, 0 ye gates ; and be ye
lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of
glory shall come in."

But ministers of the Gospel and private persons
are not the civil government; therefore, neither
ministers nor private persons dare draw the sword,
for they have received no command to this efiect.
Peter, at that time, did not understand this so ; for
he did not know that the ministry would be an
office void of royal and princely favor. ' Peter should
not, therefore, have drawn the sword. But all
temporal authorities are obliged to shield God's
Word and the true Church. Had God ordained
them as swineherds, then their only duty would be
to protect the throats and care for the corn of their
subjects; but, as it now is, they must, tirst of all,
preserve the honor and knowledge of God in the
human race, perpetuate the true worship of God,
punish and exterminate false doctrine and idolatry,
and rather hazard everything than suffer themselves
or their subjects to be forced into idolatry or false-
hood. Therefore the 2. Ps. says to them : "Kiss
the Son," that is, receive and protect God's Word !

This is the civil ruler's noblest duty. We see in
history that God imposed this duty, and that the
Holy Spirit highly extols not only the pious Jewish
kings, Jehoshaphat, Josiah, Hezekiah, but also the
kings of the Gentiles, e. g. Nebuchadnezzar, Darius,
Cyrus, because they instituted the true worship of
God and violently opposed the worship of idols.

This being the office of the civil government, it
follows that she must, as long as she can, protect
and preserve herself and those belonging to her



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71



against the attacks of the ungodly and never give
way to these assaults ; for it is impossible that they
who persecute God's Word and carry on idolatry,
should have the Holy Ghost. For what would be
the result should she refuse to do this? She alone
bears the sword; and her subjects dare not take it
oven in case she herself refuses to use it. The
inevitable result must be that success would crown
the efforts of the wicked, the Word of God would
be extirpated, God's pure worship would cease, and
the old idolatry would be re-established!

Now who is willing to sanction this and, by
sanctioning it, to heap upon himself such great and
terrible sin? yes, who will dare to do this, knowing
that it is written : "Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
and ye perish from the way ;" further, Lev. 24 :
"He that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he
shall surely be put to death;" also: "Flee from
idolatry;" and again : "Rulers are a terror to evil
works?" And now, since the establishing of idol-
atry is an evil work, they who have the sword are
not only permitted, but also seriously commanded,
with all boldness to shield and save themselves and
theirs from this evil by the sword. On the subject
of self-defense, you may find the answer to the
question, whether subordinates may defend them-
selves against those superiors who exercise public
tyranny, as against notorious murderers or high-
waymen, by reading the Admonition to the German
People, and other works which specially treat on
this subject; it would occupy too much time at
present.

But here we speak of those alone who have the
sword, that is, who are in office. Now if bishops,



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72 THIRD PASSION-SERMON.

«

for instance, who are of that class of people that has
not the sword, deprive their subjects of one of the
elements in the Holy Supper, or inflict upon them
other manifest errors, these subjects, although they
ought, in such cases, to obey God rather than men,
and although God seriously requires such disobedi-
ence to their commands, dare not draw the sword
on account of such errors, but must bear them, if
they would not use the sword like Peter, who had
not been commanded to do so.

But you say that a Christian must tolerate in-
justice and violence, and not oppose them by force.
I answer that the subject of which we now are
speaking is the civil government, who is the sword-
bearer; and she has sufficient violence done her
when other governments destroy her peace and
attack her in war. Let us regard these her suffer-
ings as severe enough, and not impose still further
burdens upon a Christian government! He who
afflicts her still more, and even snatches the sword
out of her hand, virtually gives his consent that
the enemies of truth shall exercise their malice
without restraint, and even deprive us of God's
Word. There is time enough for giving such con-
sent, when the government is not able to protect
the truth. But as long as we can hope for her
help, and as long as the matter depends upon the
help of God and reposes in His hand, it is our duty
to venture and to suffer, so that we may not be
accused of being more mindful of favor, peace, and
the like, than of God's Word and the salvation and
well-being of the subjects.

Ever clear and plain, therefore, stands the com-
mand : Osculamini filium ; Hunc audite, "Kiss the



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS. 73

Son;" "Hear ye Him;" "Flee from idolatry," &c.
Such commands as these require of the worldly
ruler that he oppose not merely worldly or temporal
offence, but also false doctrine and false worship.
But by what means must he do this? What means
has God given him? Read St. Paul's 13. chapter
to the Romans, where you are informed: "He
beareth not the sword in vain." But against whom
shall he bear it? Against those who defend false
doctrines and idolatry, and who seek to compel
others to accept heresy and false worship. This ♦
the Christian government dare not tolerate. For
the heavenly Lord of lords has forbidden it, and
declares that God is worshiped and His Word
lauded when we jeopard peace, the favor of men,
and the like, rather than sanction that which mili-
tates against God's Word.

This, then, is the import of Peter's unauthorized
attempt at liberating the Lord by fighting with the
sword. But in our text we find yet another sermon,
which is a reproof designed especially for the Jews,
who had been instructed by their proper govern-
ment to take swords and staves, and with them to
attack the Lord Jesus. Still they receive the Lord's
reprimand. "Are ye come out as against a thiet
with swords and staves for to take me? I sat
daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid
no hold on me."

With these words the Lord rebukes them for a
twofold reason. In the first place, even when the
civil government puts the sword into her subjects'
hands, they must not take it if they are expected to
use it in an unrighteous cause ; and, secondly, they
should not have taken it to use it against Him,



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THIRD PASSION-SERMON



their Lord, for He was no murderer. It was the
doctrine that was in question. Doctrinal disputes
are not to be judged and decided by fire and sword
in imitation of the Papists, but according to the
Scriptures. If we are heretics, as they accuse us,
then let them prove it from Scripture, and leave the
hangman at home; he has no business with such
disputes.

But as the Jews dealt with Christ, so the Papists,
their disciples, still deal with Him. They can not
• and they will not enter upon a debate, unless their
doctors and papal decrees are recognized as having
equal authority with God's Word. But since we
refuse to recognize them as having such, they come
out against us with swords and staves, as did the
Jews against Christ. I suppose they do this so that
every one can see that they are of the same breed
with, the Jews, to whom the Lord says, Jno. 8:
"Ye are of your father the devil," for "ye seek to
kill me." This applies admirably to these blood-
hounds, the Papists. But we, who, like Peter, have
not been called to use the sword, must suffer these
things. God, however, in His own good time, will
punish such cruel despotism, and mercifully deliver
His own from the fury of these blood-thirsty
tyrants. Amen.



-



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FOURTH PASSION -SERMOK

The Loud Jesus Led to Annas and Caiaphas and

Tried by the Jews.

Matt. 26, 57-G8, And they that had laid hold on Jesus led Him
away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders
were assembled. But Peter followed Him afar off unto the high priest's
palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end. Now
the chief priests, and elders, and all the council sought false witness
against Jesus, to put Him to death ; but found none : yea, though
many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came
two false witnesses, and said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy
the temple of God, and to build it in three days. And the high priest
arose, and said unto Him, Answerest Thou nothing? what is it which
these witness against Thee? But Jesus held His peace And the high
priest answered and said unto Him, 1 adjure Thee by the living God,
that Thou* tell us whether Thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus
aaith unto him, Thou hast said : nevertheless I say unto you, Here-
after shall ye see the Son of man siting on the right hand of power,
and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his
clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy ; what further need have
we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard His blasphemy. What
think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death. Then did
they spit in His face, and buffeted Him ; and others smote Him with
the palms of their hands, saying, Prophesy unto us, Thou Christ,
Who is he that smote Thee?

e have heard how our Lord Jesus was be-
trayed by Judas ill the garden and taken by
the Jews. Now we come to notice how He was
brought before Caiaphas, the high priest, under
such charges as to lead to the unanimous decision
that there was sufficient cause for delivering Him
to Pilate and aiming at His life.

In describing these things so carefully it was not
the only object of the Evangelists to teach us the
holy innocence of our Lord Jesus. That He was
wholly pure and altogether without sin we must
conclude from the known tact that He was the Son




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7(> FOURTH PASSION -SERMON.

of God, conceived by the Holy Ghost, and born of
the Virgin Mary. But, since the Church and the
Gospel must receive the same treatment in the
world which the Lord Jesus received, the history
of Christ's wrongs is given us especially to the end
that we may not be offended when similar wrongs
are inflicted upon us also, but that we may always
refer to it for consolation and learn to be patient.
For if God's Son, our Master and our Head, was
falsely accused, delivered to Pilate by the high
priests, scribes and elders, and surrendered to the
Gentiles to be crucified, is it to be wondered at if
we receive similar treatment ? The servant is not
to be more successful than his master. Therefore,
we should rejoice when our experience is such that
we can truthfully boast: This was the experience
of my Lord Jesus also. For if wc are like Him in
suffering, we are warranted in the hope of being
like Him in glory too ; yea, and even before the
revelation of this glory, we shall, in our suffering,
derive from Him comfort, aid, deliverance. This
history, which shows that even our Lord Jesus was
not exempt from suffering, serves, therefore, first, to
minister unfo us consolation, that we may become
more cheerful and more patient in our sufferings.

And, secondly, it offers us an antidote against
the common offences of this world. For every one
regards the titular dignitaries, called chief priests
and elders of the people here, as pious men and
saints, in virtue of their office, station and pomp.
And so to-day the Pope, bishops, monks and priests
desire, on account of their office, to be looked upon
and treated as the most eminent members of the
Christian Church. But let us learn here not to

ft*



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS. 77

judge men by the office they hold, else we shall he
deceived; but by the manner in which they act
towards Christ — by the relation which their heart,
their will, sustains towards Him. When, by this
text, we find good or evil in them, we must judge
them accordingly; for then our judgement shall
itl ways be just. The office is, without a doubt, a
holy and a good one ; but he who holds it may be a
villain. For here we see that the high priests, the
scribes and the elders, who are the rulers and
leaders of the people in spiritual things and in
things temporal, are the very ones who cannot
tolerate the Lord Jesus and who, by dint of unre-
mitting persecution and manifold intrigues, finally
bring" Him to the cross. We must confess that
tlie} T are God's worst enemies and also, as Luke
testifies in the 5. chapter of Acts, Epicureans, who
in those days said that there is no resurrection
from the dead, neither angel nor spirit. If we
would, therefore, know to a certainty whether
Pope, bishops, and the like, are pious or not, we
must not be misled by their office; but need merely
see how they conduct themselves towards the Gospel
and the true doctrine, when we shall find that all of
them are disciples of Judas, and that their hearts
are disposed towards the Gospel as were those of
the high priests towards Christ. These are the
very fruits by which we ma}' know the false proph-
ets, the wolves, even when they come in sheep's
clothing and have the appearance of devout and
harmless persons.

We shall now take up the trial of our Lord, and
see with what hatred, malignity, craft, and virulence
they treat Christ.



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FOURTH PASSION-SERMOX.



The Evangelist John mentions that the Jews led
the Lord Jesus first to Annas, who, according to
Acts 4., was also a high priest, but not in that year,
and who was the father-in-law to Caiaphas, who
officiated at the time. But Annas soon gave Him
over to his son-in-law, Caiaphas, who was the high
priest that same year; for with him the chief priests
and elders were already assembled.

Here we see, in the first place, how inequitably
the high priests deal with the Lord Jesus ; for they
are at the same time both plaintiff and judge. The
Lord could, therefore, not receive justice, let His
cause have been ever so good, and let Him have
said and done what He would. Such a way of pro-
ceeding would be very dishonorable in a worldly
law-suit, in which the same person is forbidden to
act as plaintiff and judge by a special law. But
nothing is sinful for these holy ones; they have all
power ; they can do as they please, and think they
have the risrht to do so! Woe to him who con-
strues their actions ill, tells them they are in the
wrong, or admonishes them!

Just so our spiritless tyrants, Pope, cardinals and
bishops conduct themselves. The Pope has for
many successive years been causing us Germans to
gape in expectation of a Council, at which, as he
has been pretending, he would abolish the dissen-
sion existing in religious matters. And, on our
part, many serious efforts have been made at many
an imperial" diet, and on other occasions, to secure a
free, Christian Council, at which to end the present
disunion by means of the Holy Scriptures. But it
is the manifest desire of the Pope to treat us and
the Gospel as the Jews here treated Christ. He is



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS.



7i>



a party in the case; accusation is brought against
the blasphemous dogmas and counterfeit cultus
which lie has insinuated into the Church, in spite
of God's Word, and upon which he still insists;
what should he, as the defendant, do ? If he him-
self is to be the judge, he will not declare himself
in the wrong and decide in favor of his opponent,
the plaintiff. But upon such a course as this the
Pope and his parasites — these honorable men ! —
strenuously insist. Yea and more, when a Coun-
cil is held he takes public part in it, while we,
previously condemned by him, obtain neither vote
nor seat. This is a wanton, unjust and grievous
procedure.

But here we have the proof that the world does
not desire and is not able to deal otherwise with
Christ. We should, therefore, be resigned, and,
with the Lord Jesus, bear such injustice until the
appointed time; for what else can we do? Caia-
phas, who, as judge, sat in the judgment seat, him-
self accuses the Lord Jesus and then even decides
against Him. This is the first act of injustice in
the trial before the priests.

Another atrocious feature of this trial we h'nd in
their absolutely demanding the death of the Lord
Jesus, while they cannot find sufficient cause for
this, but must call to their assistance falsehood and
false witnesses, until finally Caiaphas, the judge,
himself arises and brinsrs forth an accusation
possessing some semblance of foundation. Among
other false testimony submitted, was that of "two-
false witnesses,' , who came "and said : This fellow
said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and
to build it in three days."



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80 FOURTH PASSION-SERMON.

The correct history of this latter charge we find
iii the 2. chapter of John. When our Lord Jesus,
in Jerusalem, at the first passover after His baptism,
had with a scourge driven out of the temple the
changers of money and the merchants, together
with their oxen, sheep, doves, and whatever else
they had, and poured out the changers' money, and
overthrown the tables, the Jews gathered together
and said : Thou venturest to exercise special vio-
lence here; hast Thou authority to do this? What
sign shewest Thou unto us, seeing that Thou doest
these things? Then the Lord answered them thus:
"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise
it up." By this He meant to say the same as by
the sign of the Prophet Jonah, Matt. 12., namely
this : You desire a sign and shall have it. You
shall kill me; but on the third day I will raise my-
self from the dead. He for whom such sign does
not suffice is past all help. This is the narrative.

But see, how wantonly they pervert His words !
He says : "Destroy this temple ;" and then they
charge Him with having said : "I am able to destroy
the temple," thus to make Him appear guilty ot
having spoken against the temple of God. And
even if we accept the Jews' interpretation of Christ's
words, admitting that they were spoken with refer-
ence to the temple at Jerusalem, would a man be
guilty of death on account of using such words?
In short, he who would make charges against
Christ, must first become "a base liar; our Papists
also are a living proof of this. What they cry out
against the Gospel is bare falsehood. They are
dead to every sense of shame, daub their notions
into other men's books and belie us, saying that the



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81



holy sacrauieut receives scandalous treatment at
our hands, that we throw against the wall what
remains of the cup, and that we tramp with our
feet what is left of the consecrated bread. Are
these not gross, palpable lies? Why, common
bread and wine is not treated so, but is preserved.
How much more would we then not keep decently
that, of which we confess and teach, in opposition
to the Sacramentarians, that it is not mere bread
and not mere wine, but the true body and blood of
Christ, given for us upon the cross and shed for our
sins ! But we need not wonder at the Papists' lies.
He who deals in falsehoods can speak no truth, and
he who acts contrary to truth cannot help himself
except with lies. On this principle the world, as
we here see, dealt with Christ, and will continue so
to deal with the Christians and the Holy Gospel ;
for it cannot do otherwise.

But when their witness agreed not together and
was powerless in itself, Caiaphas, the judge or high
priest, rushed to the rescue, and, according to John,
asked Jesus of His disciples, and of His doctrine, as
though he would say: What is this new doctrine
Thou bringest? Art Thou dissatisfied with Moses?
Must Thou have something extra? Art Thou alone
wise and are all we fools? Where are they now
who regarded Thv doctrine right and divine? It
may be such a good doctrine that we too would be
pleased with it and receive it. But it is merely the
rabble, which knows nothing about the law, that
Thou attachest to thyself; the honest and upright
desire not thy preaching. To such question the
Lord answered : "I ever taught in the synagogue,
and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort;



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FOURTH PASSION-SERMON,



and in secret have I said nothing. Why askest
thou me? ask them which heard me, what I have
said unto them; behold, they know what I said."
The Lord does not desire His doctrine to be despised,
and says that He had not feared the light, but had
preached it openly to the world, that it should,
therefore, not be reviled as a thing done in a corner.

When He had thus spoken, a scoundrel standing
by dealt the Lord a severe blow with the palm of
his hand, as though it were intolerable that the
high priest should be thus answered and not more
reverently treated. Even to-day we see such priests'
slaves, who are ready to defend with the sword the
sacrilegious doctrines and shameful, sodomitical
life of the Pope and his shaved and shorn train.
And then we also find those vain prattlers, jesters,
mountebanks, and the like, who would serve them
faithfully, and whose only object in blaspheming
and reviling the holy Gospel is, to receive the favor
of their bishops and of the idol at Rome. This we
must suffer, indeed, as Christ also suffered it, but
dare not connive at it, nor forbear rebuking and
publishing such vice. We must do as Christ here
does : He addresses the servant, and tells him that
he had smitten Him unjustly, but does nothing
further. .

When they now found themselves without any
cause of action, Caiaphas, the high priest, comes to
the main point, saying: "I adjure Thee by the liv-
ing God, that Thou tell us whether Thou be the
Christ, the Son of God." Knave Caiaphas thinks
thus to hit the nail on the head, and to seize the
Lord Jesus by the throat. Observe here, first of
all, that it is no*, the intention of Caiaphas that he



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS. 8tt

or the rest should believe in the Lord, in case He
should say that He is the Christ. By no means !
But this is the very confession they desire to hear
Him make, thinking that then they could convict
Him without difficulty. And Christ understands
them well enough ; but this does not induce Him
to deny who He is. He answers : "Thou hast said,"
that is, just as thou hast said, I am the Christ And
what is still more, it shall only be a little while yet
and ye shall "see the Son of man sitting on the
right hand of power that is, after these days I
shall not need to suffer any more, but, in my glori-
fied body, shall show that I am not only a man, as
you regard me, but also the almighty Son of God,
who rules over all, and on the judgment day I shall
come in the clouds of heaven and judge the quick
, and the dead.

Behold, now the high priest has heard the glori-
ous, excellent confession which tells him what he
should believe concerning this man, whom he and
others had prepared themselves to entrap, and
whom they were resolved on killing. Let us see
what use the high priest makes of this confession.
Matthew tells us that he "rent his clothes, saying,
He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need
have we of witnesses ? Behold, now ye have heard
Hi8 blasphemy. What think ye?'*

In this, the first trial of our blessed Lord Jesus,
which took place in the house of Caiaphas, He was
declared a heretic and blasphemer. This gluts the
high priestly maw; and now it only remains to
have some worldly accusation brought against
Christ before Pilate, so that His death might be
decreed. While each one privately deliberates on



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84 FOURTH PASSION-SERMON.

this, our innocent Lord Jesus is made to submit to
their scorn; He must suffer them to spit in His
holy face, and Himself to be buffeted, derided,
smitten and mocked. For they regard such treat-
ment altogether just, because Christ has been pro-
nounced a heretic and blasphemer. They make a
jest of His saying that He is the Christ. One strikes
Him on this side, another on that. "Aha! You
are the Christ, are you," they say, "then, pray,
prophesy unto us, who is he that smote Thee?"

But let us diligently mark whether the Gospel
does not fare iu the same way to-day. The Papists
question us, aud desire to know our doctrine. And
then, when we with the greatest simplicity and
honesty confess our doctrine, as was done at Augs-
burg, at Ratisbon, and at imperial diets in other
places, the mighty clamor rises : Heretics, heretics ! #
All are busy then at heaping upon the poor Chris-
tians whatever ignominy, contempt, mockery and
injury they can rally. They cry : It is Evangelical
you are, is it ? Is this your Gospel ? J ust wait, we
will give you a little of the Gospel ? And so they
have gone to work and inflicted a most atrocious
reproduction of the Passion-History upon the pious
Christians of Germany, Italy, France and England.

It is, therefore, important that we carefully study
this priestly Processum Juris. For then, in case
we are brought before a similar tribunal, we can
follow the example of our Lord Jesus, learning of
Him patience, and deriving from Him true consola-
tion. And, should we be compelled to suffer with
Him for the sake of His Word, we can hope also to
live with Him, and with Him to be lifted to glory.
May God grant this to us all. Amen.



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FIFTH PASSION-SERMON.



Peter Thrice Denies the Lord Jesus in the
House op Caiaphas.

Matt. 26, 69-75. Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a
damsel came unto him, saying. Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee.
But he denied before them all, saving, I know not what thou sayest.
And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him,
and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus
of Nazareth. And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the
man. And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said
to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them ; for thy speech bewraycth
thee. Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the
man. And immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the
word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt
deny me thrice. And he weut out, and wept bitterly.

is a useful narrative, for which reason it



e^isRs! is related by each of the four Evangelists.
It is useful chiefly in two respects. First, it teaches
us to cherish humility and avoid presumption ; for
see how easily Peter, who would previously have
gladly imperiled his body and his life for the Lord
Jesus, is brought to Ruch a terrible fall. And
secondly, it teaches us how we may regain grace,
after we have fallen into sin ; for Peter furnishes us
with a pleasing example of Christian repentance,
showing what repentance really is, and how we
must be freed from sin. But let us first relate the
history.

When Jesus was taken captive in the garden and
led away, first to Annas, father-in-law to Caiaphas,
and from Annas to the high priest Caiaphas, John,
as he himself writes, followed from afar and entered




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FIFTH PASSION-SERMON



the house of Caiaphas, iu which he was acquainted,
• bringing Peter iu with him. The latter sat down
with the servants in the house and warmed himself
at the fire. Then a damsel asked him whether he
was a disciple of the captive Jesus. He vehemently
denied that he was. The cock then crew for the
first time. Upon this, as Matthew and Mark relate,
Peter went away from the fire, out into the porch,
where he was encountered in a similar way by a
maid, who began to say to them that stood by,
This is one of them. Luke tells us that it was a
man who said this of Peter. It needs merely be
remembered here that, after the maid had begun to
speak about Peter, the rest also expressed their
opinions and chimed in with the maid. Peter then
a second time denied. And finally, about the space
of one hour after, as we are informed by Luke, he
was met by one of the servants of the high priest,
who, according to John, was a kinsman to him
whose ear Peter cut off. He attacks Peter a little
more severely than the rest, publicly saying that he
had seen him in the garden with Jesus. Peter
would not keep silent to this accusation, for he
feared that it would endanger his life. Then began
he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the
man, of whom ye speak. Now the Lord turns and
casts upon Peter a look which so penetrates his
soul, that he now perceives what he has done; and
he goes out of Caiaphas' palace and weeps bitterly.
This is about the whole of the occurrence in order,
as related by the four Evangelists.

Here we should, iu the first place, as stated in the
beginning, learn from the example of pious Peter to
recognize our weakness, so that we may refrain



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS. 87

from putting absolute coufidence in other people or
in ourselves. For our hearts are so entirely faint
and fickle that they change every hour, as the Lord
says in the 2. chapter of John. Who in the world
would have expected such instability and feebleuess
in Peter! When the Lord, Luke 22., cautioned
him, saying, Satan hath desired to have you, that
he may sift you as wheat, how courageous was he
not, how bold and undismayed ! "Lord," said he,
"I am ready to go with Thee, both into prison, and
to death." And when the Lord continued to ad-
monish him, telling him not to be so foolhardy,
and that before the cock would crow twice he should
have denied Him thrice, we see that Peter thought
it all a fable. He imagined this impossible, and
intended to adhere to and defend the Lord at the
risk of his own life. And his actions, indeed, show
this to have been his intention. For in the hour of
greatest peril, when the Jews were taking captive
the Lord in the garden, Peter was the first to draw
his sword, and he slashed into the mob, notwith-
standing that he and only one other armed person
opposed so many who were well equipped. Now
who would have believed that one so valiant, who
so faithfully stands by his Master, would so soon
afterwards shamefully betray Him? In the garden
no one attempted to hurt Peter and his fellow disci-
ples, for the Lord's "Let these go" protected them.
And especially here in the house' of Caiaphas no
one desires to injure them. But wheu, altogether
incidentally, and perhaps through sympathy, the
damsel that kept the door said unto Peter : "Art
not thou also one of this man's disciples?" his
courage failed him, and he feared that lie would



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8S FIFTH PASSION-SERMON.

have to share his Master's fate if he should answer
yes, and, therefore, he denies that he is a disciple.
And when he was accosted on this point the second
time and the third, he began to curse and to swear,
calling upon God to visit upon him His wrath if he
had ever known or seen the man.

Let us pay due attention to the conduct of Peter,
so that we may learn properly to know ourselves
and other people, and to beware of presumptuous-
ness. For if such a denial of faith can proceed
from Peter, who, above all the other disciples, had
a heart filled with loyalty and love for the Lord
Jesus, yea, who was so enlightened by the grace of
God that even Christ said unto him : "Blessed art
thou, Simon, for flesh and blood hath not revealed
it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven,"
and that He gave to him the name Cephas, "a
stone," how much more easily can not such denial
come from us poor mortals, who are much inferior
to Peter in point of gifts, and, in all other respects,
much more faint and frail? Be on thy guard,
therefore ; be not irreverently bold ; think not that
thou hast climbed the mountain and art out of
danger ; remember that thy flesh is totally corrupt !
Neither doth Satan slumber, but walketh about as
a roaring lion, seeking whose heart he may trouble,
and whom he may cast down or even devour.
Therefore, be vigilant; live in the fear of God;
build upon His grace alone, and in Him repose thy
trust and confidence! And let that which Jesus
spake in the garden to Peter, James and John,
i: Watch and pray, that ye enter not into tempta-
tion," be spoken also unto thee, that thou may est
neither snore nor be falsely secure, as though there



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS



were no danger and no need for fear from hence-
forth, but that thou mayest watch and be sober, not
doubting that thy arch-enemy is close at hand, yea,
that thou bearest him in thy bosom! Thou wouldst,
therefore, be lost, should God not stand by thee
with His Holy Spirit. Thou canst neither govern
nor restrain thyself one single hour. Therefore,
say : I will pray God to give me His Holy Spirit,
that He may rule and rightly lead me, and either
ward oft* disturbance and temptation, or else gra-
ciouslv succor me and suffer me not to fall! This
is the first point presented by our narrative. Under
this head, however, appropriately comes'the solemn
admonition of the Lord, given in the 21. chapter of
Luke : "Take heed to yourselves, lest at auy time
your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and
drunkenness ;" for we are just as ill-bred as the
brute, which, when well fed, shows its insolence.
He who has plenty and to spare, readily forgets
God and His Word, or else cares very little for
them ; and then, before he knows it, he is entan-
gled in the devil's net. Therefore, wouldst thou be
out of danger, observe these three things: fear God,
be watchful and sober, and pray without ceasing!
For, although we must still feel temptation's thrusts,
and sometimes fall because of weakness, God,
through His Holy Spirit, will lift us up again, and
not suffer us to remain victims of temptation.

In the second place, we find consolation in this
narrative. Here we clearly see the fruit of our
Lord Jesus' sufferings; and Peter's conduct plainly
pictures to us not only the grace and mercy of God,
but also the way in which grace may be regained
by us when lost in unrighteousness and sin. Terri-



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90



FIFTH PASSION-SERMON.



ble and heinous is the fall of Peter; as such he
feels it most forcibly, and, therefore, he cannot
longer bear to mingle with men, but steals away
and weops bitterly.

But here we find that the Lord not only foretold
to him his fall, but afterwards also received him
into favor without punishing him as his sin had
deserved. For on Easter, before the Lord Jesus
had shown Himself, the angel who was at the grave
commanded the women to announce to His disci-
ples, and to Peter especially, that the Lord had
risen. And the Lord Himself, soon after He had
appeared to Magdalene and the other women,
appeared to Peter and comforted him. This all
works tog-ether for our consolation, teaching us not
to banish from our hearts confidence in God's grace,
though we may have fallen, but, seeing how the
Lord deals with Peter, to be assured that He has
died on our account, and that His sufferings shall
bring us consolation and assistance, although we
are poor sinners. For if sinners are not to have
the benefit of the sufferings of Christ, then would
He have rejected His disciples, and particularly
Peter, first of all, and nevermore have interested
Himself for them, because they were all offended
because of Him, fled from Him, and so shamefully
denied Him. But the merciful Lord does not so ;
they are still His dear disciples, notwithstanding
that they disgraced their calling. Let us mark this
and apply it to our hearts for consolation ; for thus
will our gracious God also deal with us.

But, say you, what becomes of poor Judas? Do
we not see him cut off from all grace? Although



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we shall come to speak of this hereafter, it is still
necessary for us, in this connection, to know what
it was that furthered and preserved Peter, and what
it was that subjected Judas to impediments and
despair, so that Peter's case may teach us how to
take care of ourselves and how to beware of that
which befell Judas. Now we must make a distinc-
tion between Peter and Judas with reference to the
heinou8ness of their crimes. For, while both trans-
gress the will of God and subject themselves to
everlasting condemnation, Judas' sin is greater than
that of Peter. Judas surrenders to sin voluntarily
and with premeditation, and, notwithstanding the
Lord's frequent and fervent warnings, prefers his
sins above Christ's love. This is not the case with
Peter; his sin was accidental, not deliberate and
malicious; his denial of Christ was the result of
casual diffidence or weakness. Had he apprehended
this result, he would not have entered the house of
. Caiaphas. Then, there is this further distinction
between Peter and Judas, that the former, unlike
the latter, is not the enemy of Christ and does not
hate Him; that he does not run counter to the
Lord, like the latter, with such wanton scorn,
hatred and obstinacy that no exhortation to peni-
tence and no favor of the Lord can influence him
to repent; but that, before he considers and per-
ceives what he is doing, through fear and weakness
he is so overcome that he denies his dear Lord and
begins to curse and to swear.

Let us mark well the aforenamed distinction in
regard to sins, viz.: that, although both Peter and
Judas do sin, and thus subject themselves to the
judgment of God, the sin of Judas is more enormous



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thau the sin of Peter. For the Lord subsequently
makes the difference between Pilate and the Jews,
saying, Jno. 19., "He that hath delivered me unto
thee hath the greater sin." This is the reason why
the conscience of Judas is more painfully wounded
than Peter's, and his sufferings are more severe;
the burden borne by Judas is by far the heavier and
the more oppressive. Nevertheless, Peter's sin had
deserved death, as well as that of Judas.

This distinction is justified also by St. Paul, who
says of his persecuting Christ and His believers
that he had done this in ignorance, and that,
although his work of persecution was a damnable,
mortal sin, it was still not at all to be compared
with the persecutions carried on by the chief priests
and Pharisees. This difference deserves to be dili-
gently regarded, so that we may beware of such
wanton and malicious sins as of a most grievous
burden, and therefore watch that we do not obsti-
nately persevere in impenitence. Now, although
sins may be classified according to the degree of
their criminality, and although no doubt exists
that the greater the sin, the greater the consequent
torment of conscience; still, when a man has ob-
tained knowledge of his sins and is terrified by the
wrath of God, he must not judge the measure of
forgiveness and grace by the enormity or number
of his sins. All sins, even the least, are so great
and serious that we are not able to estimate their
heinousness ; yea, so great that we could not endure
one of them, were it adequately seen and felt by us.
Besides, Satan can so magnify a sin, though it be
not the greatest, that the timid, fearful soul which
is guilty of it supposes that no one else on earth



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS. D3

has ever committed so grievous a crime. Therefore,
we must know and hold fast the Gospel doctrine ot
the grace and kindness of the Son of God ; for this
tells us that grace is mightier than all sin. It is
the great object of God's Word and promises that
no one may despond or despair on account of sin
but that all may trust in the grace of God through
His only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus.

On this point Judas and Peter differ. Judas
looks only at the enormity of his sins, falls into
despair, thinks that all eternity can afford him
neither counsel nor aid, and then the poor fellow
goes and hangs himself. And why? Simply be-
cause he had despised God's Word and had not
been bettered by it. When he now stood in need
of consolation, but did not have the Word and
-desired not to turn to the Lord Jesus in faith, he
was beyond all reach of help. Peter also wept
bitterly, and feared and trembled on account of his
sins, but he had more diligently heard and better
remembered the Word of the Lord Jesus. There-
fore, when he now finds himself in distress, he
makes use of the Word, thinks of that which Christ
has told him, clings to this, consoles himself with
it, and hopes that God will be merciful to him. In
such misery this is the true relief, which poor Judas
lacked. But that this was really the course Peter
took, and that he did abide by God's Word and
grace, the Lord testifies in the 22. chapter of Luke,
saying: "I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail
not." While he was denying Christ, we do not see
that there was a spark of faith in his heart; but *
afterwards, when his conscience was aroused and he
was tortured by it, his faith returned, preserving to



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<)4 FIFTH PASSION-SERMON.

him this Word of Christ, and preventing him from
falling into despair.

Let us then learn here what true repentance is.
Peter "wept bitterly." In this way repentance
begins ; the heart must truly perceive sin and be
sincerely sorry for it, so that our delight in it, our
love for it, and our living in it may cease. Our
having disobeyed God's will and sinned, must be
for us a source of heartfelt affliction.

Our might, however, cannot bring this about;
but the Lord calls us to repent and makes His face
to shine again upon us, just as He here calls and
admonishes Peter by the crowing of the cock, of
which He had told him before, and by turning and
looking upon him. For we are by nature so dis-
posed that we delight in sin and take pleasure in
committing it continually. We see this in the case
of Peter; for, after he had denied Christ once, he
still keeps on until he has denied Him thrice, and
cursed and sworn : "I do not know the man,"
being concerned about nothiug. But when the
cock crows and the Lord turns to look upon him,
Peter immediately pauses and considers what he
has done. JSow, according to our nature and to
the nature of sin, sin cannot help but terrify us,
threaten us with God's wrath, and fill our hearts
with anguish, as was the case with both Peter aud
Judas. Judas, when he perceived his sin, became
so uneasy that he did not know what to do with
himself. And Peter's agony was so great that it
compelled him to flee from his fellow-men and give
vent to his grief in tears, of which he could not
shed enough.



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When we feel such terror and anguish our best
course is, first, to humble ourselves before God and
freely confess our sins : 0 God, I am indeed a poor,
miserable sinner, and, shouldst Thou depart from
me with Thy grace, am able only to sin ; and then,
to abide God's Word and promises, adding : "But
be merciful to me for the sake of Thy Son, Jesus
Christ !" When the soul thus seeks to console
itself with God's Word, and sincerely trusts that
God, for His Son's sake, will be merciful, then
must the anguish abate and comfort surely follow.
True and complete repentance, then, is this : to be
terrified and humbled by sin, and to find comfort
in the Lord Jesus and His sufferings through faith.

Thus, no doubt, Peter consoled himself with the
word spoken to him by the Lord at the passover :
"Satan hath desired to have you, but I have prayed
for thee, that thy faith fail not," Luke 22. For,
although his heart was filled with anxiety and sor-
row, he did not despair like Judas. True, at first
this consolation was as small as a grain of mustard-
seed. But since the ground, on which this little
consolation rested, was God's own Word and prom-
ises, it increased wonderfully, and when Peter met
Christ again, on holy Easter-day, it had grown so
great that all terrors and all doubts had fled, and
nothing remained except heart-felt humility, with
which to confess his weakness and cheerfully to
acknowledge himself a sinner. Sin was not able to
leave aught in Peter's heart except this weakness
and this confession. This consolation, like a mighty
deluge, suffocated, yea, quenched the fire that had
threatened to consume his heart. Since, therefore,
we cannot live without temptation, we should pre-



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FIFTH PASSION-SERMON.



pare for it in time, and especially with diligence
hear God's Word, and practice and remember it, so
that consolation, like Peter's, may be ours in time
of sorrow.

Thus we fiud that this example of St. Peter is
»ivei) us for instruction aud for consolation. We
should learn from it, first, to flee false security and
to live in the fear of God; for it is an easy matter
we must also learn from this example to cling to
God's Word, and to draw comfort from it, even
when we have fallen, so that we may not, like
Judas, despair on account of sin. For God does
not wish any one to exalt himself on account of his
endowments, for which reason we all should fear,
watch and pray ; neither does He, on the other
hand, wish any one to be driven into despair by his
sins. The Son of God became man and died upon
the cross for the very purpose of banishing such
^vils. Therefore, if thou wouldst be a true Chris-
tian, fear God and confide in His grace and "Word,
and thou shalt always find consolation, deliverance
and help. May our dear Father in Heaven, through
His Holy Spirit, grant this to us all, for the sake of
our blessed Lord and Saviour. Amen.



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SIXTH PASSION-SERMON.

Christ is Delivered to Pilate. — Judas Hangs Him-
self. — The Potter's Field.

Matt. 27, 1-10 When the morning was come, all the chief priests
and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put Him to
death : and when they had hound Ilim, they led Him away, and
delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor. Then Judas, which
had betrayed Him. when he saw that He* was condemned, repented
himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief
priests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the
innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.
And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed,
and went and hanged himself. And the chief priests took the silver
pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury,
because it is the price of blood. And they took counsel, and bought
with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore that
field was called, The field of blood, unto this, day. Then was fulfilled
that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took
the thirty pieces of silver, the price of Him that was valued, whom
they of the childreu of Israel did value; and gave them for the pot-
ter's field, as the Lord appointed me.

^jl^fou have heard, my friends, how the Lord
5j§Pj|! Jesus was first led to Annas, who then sent
Him bound to Caiaphas, where the chief priests
and scribes were assembled, and where these latter
and the entire council sought false witness against
Him, and finally falsely accused Ilim of blasphemy,
for which, they said, Me ought to die. We expect
to speak further on this hereafter.

Next we find Him brought before Pilate; we
shall see what happened there. But before we
speak of this, we ought to know what was, after all,
the reason why the chief spiritual and temporal
rulers at Jerusalem were so highly incensed and



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SIXTH PASSIOX-SERMOX



imbittered against the Lord that they flock together
by night, make inquisition concerning Him at an
unseasonable hour, and are in such uneasy haste to
have Him destroyed, at the same time being unable
to allege aught against Him except invented lies.
It would be too lengthy, however, to relate all this
now ; each one can read it for himself in the history
written by the four Evangelists, or learn it during
the year from the preaching of the Word at Church.
The Lord Jesus excuses neither the doctrine nor
the life of these men, but censures both severely.
Thus He calls them "an evil and adulterous genera-
tion," a "generation of vipers," and not the children
of God, which they boast themselves to be, but "the
children of the devil," because they can neither
speak, teach, nor do that which is good. And
shortly previous to this time, before He was taken,
He gave them a final rebuke, calling down upon
them, Matt. 23., the eight times uttered "woe!"
And this it was that enkindled their hatred into
such consuming flames, that lent cruelty to their
enmity, and that made them so impetuous in the
pursuit of their object, that Christ, being now in
their power, had no opportunity to escape. Still,
in order to give their savage, murderous hatred a
plausible appearance, that is, to make it seem that
their law fully authorized them to kill Christ, the
high priest, as the Evangelists write, when he heard
Christ say : "Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man *
sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in
the clouds of heaven," rent his clothes and said :
"He hath spoken blasphemy ; what further need
have we of witnesses ? behold, now ye have heard
His blasphemy. What think ye?" And all the



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99



others who were present said: "He is guilty of
death." Soon after this they began to treat the
dear Lord Jesus most miserably, not one among
them having compassion on Him, but all of them
enraged against Him like raving lions. The 22.
and other Psalms tell us about this.

One thing, however, was still in their way. They
knew^ very well that Pilate would care very little
for that which they deemed sufficient cause for
death ; for He was a Gentile and had not received
command of the Roman Emperor to execute the
Jews because of their faith, — else he would have
had to destroy all of them. For this reason they
assembled when the morning was come, and, as
Matthew writes, "took counsel against Jesus to put
Him to death," that is, they considered what accusa-
tion they would bring against Him before Pilate.
For they knew well enough that Pilate would not
slay Christ on account of His having blasphemed in
the judgment of the Jews. They found it necessary,
therefore, to devise some specious, civil charge to
be presented to Pilate, who was a temporal judge.
For, by saying that Christ was a blasphemer, they
could not have broken His neck.

Let us here see and learn how quick and venom-
ous Satan is when men stand in need of advice how
to kill Christ ! The first word spoken by Pilate to
Christ is his question : "Art Thou the king of the
Jews?" This question clearly shows that, in this
consultation of the Jews, they had agreed, as stated,
to accuse the Lord Jesus before Pilate of desiring to
excite sedition and to set Himself up for the king
of the Jews. But what ground have they for such
it charge? Where has Christ ever called Himself a



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100 SrXTII PASSION-SERMON.

king? Where has He attempted to pass Himself
oft' as a lord ? If they had been willing they might,
on the other hand, have testified how He refused,
departed and hid Himself, when the people at-
tempted to take Him by force to make Him a king.
They might have told too that He had commanded
them not to keep back from Csesar that which be-
longed to him, but to render to him his due. Now,
we must also consider that Pilate could hardly have
been satisfied with bare accusations, but must cer-
tainly have demanded proofs. And how were these
furnished ? No doubt, as follows. They had heard
Christ confess to the chief priest that He was the
Christ. Then they took the evidence of the Scrip-
tures, showing from the Prophets how Christ should
be a king. For Zechariah says : "Behold thy King
cometh unto thee; He is just and having salvation,
&c. ;" and Hosea, in his 3. chapter, "They shall
seek David their king ;" and many other passages
express the same. Therefore, since the Lord
acknowledges Himself to be the Christ, He thereby
acknowledges Himself to be also the king of the
Jews. Behold, how accurate the researches of the
devil !

But concerning that which goes against them
and might serve the Lord Jesus, they are silent.
'Where Zechariah says : "Behold thy King cometh
unto thee; He is just, and having salvation," he
immediately adds, "lowly," that is, He shall be a
spiritual King, who shall justify His own that
believe in Him, and deliver them from death and
all evil, that they might have consolation through
Him against sin and God's wrath, — not a temporal

king having business with money and possessions.

G*



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101



He implies that God has ordained other kings who
should control nations and individuals and possess
opulence and power; but that these kings should
not impart righteousness and salvation, which- gifts
are brought and bestowed alone by this King, of
whom the Prophet says, "Behold thy King cometh,"
this, but the naked idea that Christ had made Him-
self the king of the Jews is what they dress up for
Pilate's sight. Thus Pilate, who would not have
assisted them had their charge not exceeded what
it was at first, viz., heresy and blasphemy, was
beguiled into participating in their work.

Just so it goes to-day ; for civil governments, at
any rate, usually have the fault that they care very
little for the kingdom of God and for religion.
When kings and princes enjoy allegiance, tribute
and royal glory, they are careless about everything
else, and thus are satisfied that Pilate's throne
should be the only one before which Christ appears.
But the chief priests and elders of the people, i. e.,
the blood-thirsty mob composed of Pope, cardinal,
bishops, monks and priests, come and accuse Christ
before Pilate ; they instigate the temporal author-
ities, such as emperors, kings and princes against
the Gospel, as the Jews incited Pilate against Christ, .
saying that it teaches insurrection and that, unless
its influence is checked in time, every subject will
become a rebel. They urge the authorities to
oppose the Gospel with zeal, if they would not
have prosperity and happiness to forsake their
scepter. Yea, these bloody, papal asses preach to
the princes that it is the Gospel's fault that the
Turk assails us and that we are not more successful



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SIXTH PASSION-SERMON.



in repelling him, — that the Gospel must be blamed
for the great failures in our crops and for our being
surrounded by misfortunes. By this means they
arouse Pilate, who otherwise is not at all concerned
about Christ and His preaching, to expose the
Lord, and finally to command Him to be nailed to
the cross.

Now, it cannot be helped that such falsehoods
and virulent slander bring about painful results.
But for this very reason have the Evangelists left
us this history, so that, when like things come upon
us, we may patiently bear them, saying, My Lord
Jesus had to suffer the same. The servant is not
better than his lord. Pilate would have permitted
Christ to preach and perform miracles all His life,
and would never have thought of interfering ; but
the high priests, the heartless horde, bring it to
pass that Pilate as judge and Christ as criminal are
brought together.

And so it is still; the Lord Jesus' greatest enemies
are Pope, cardinal, bishops, monks and priests.
When they have branded as heresy that which does
not please them, or that which opposes them, they
seek to hunt down the Gospel through worldly
potentates ; these latter must be their executioners
and must, like Pilate, bedaub themselves with inno-
cent blood, on the accusation and at the solicitation
of these enemies. Pious Christian, bear it all !
With thy Lord Jesus too they sported thus.
Therefore, give thanks to God that thou art counted
worthy to suffer for His name, as Luke tells us, in
the 5. chapter of Acts, that the Apostles did ! So
much for the first part of our text.



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urn



The second part relates the terrible example of
Judas. This the Evangelists so diligently portray
that we may, as in a picture, recognize the peculiar
character and nature of sin, and learn to shun it.
For in Judas' case we see both how silently sin at
lirst creeps in, but also how it afterwards causes
such a horrible end.

We have heard, on a former occasion, what a
seemingly small beginning this monstrous sin of
Judas had, viz., that it began with his natural
avarice and love of money. But its real fountain-
head we find in Judas' being such a godless hpyo-
crite and such a wicked, desperate despiser of God.
Thus, when the opportunity, to make money out of
the Lord Jesus presented itself, he regarded it a
• trifling matter to betray his innocent Lord and
Master. Besides, he thinks it quite a prize that he
can so soon possess himself of such an amount of
money. At the Last Supper the Lord admonishes
, Judas so pointedly and so often, that he could not
have misunderstood Him. But let the Lord preach
to him and warn him ever so faithfull}*, it is all in
vain; Judas does not lose sight of his object; his
heart is riveted to the thirty pieces of silver !
What a faithful, stern and earnest warning was not
that which the Lord Jesus gave him, saying: u He
that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same
shall betray me ;" again : "The Son of man goeth
as it is written of Him ; but woe unto that man by
whom the Son of man is betrayed! It had been
good for that man if he had not been born !"
Should not Judas have taken these words to heart ?
Should he not have repented, saying: Great God,
what have I not suffered the devil to put into my



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SIXTH PASSION-SERMON



soul, miserable fellow that I am ! But he does
nothing of the kind ; on the contrary, when he is
so faithfully warned, he even asks whether his in-
tentions are known. He puts the question : "Mas-
ter, is it I?" The Lord answers him: "Thou hast
said," i. e., yes, thou art he. But this matter, as
already said, gave him no care nor trouble,' because
it was the means by which he could obtain so much
money.

This should be remembered; for if we wish a
correct picture of sin it must be painted as seeming
at first sight an indifferent, simple thing, which is
not at all dangerous. In committing sin men do
not concern themselves about God's wrath : they
fear no misfortune and they regard sin not as a
burden, but as a little feather which a breath can
balance in the air or drive away. Therefore, when
sin assails us we do not fear it; yea, we rejoice in it
and love it, and we even think that the more we
can sin in doing our work, the better our work •
shall be done. Suppose we illustrate this by the
case of an avaricious usurer, an adulterer or a
drunkard. Upon such Paul passes an appalling
judgment, when he says, 1 Cor. 6 : "Be not deceived ; "
neither fornicators, nor idol at ere, nor adulterers,
nor covetous, nor drunkards shall inherit the king-
dom of God." This terrible decree is written here,
is preached too, and the very ones who are subject
to such vices get to hear it ; but they accept it no
more than Judas accepted it. Could they only
dispose of their property so as to make it yield them
twenty or thirty percent; could only their evil
desires be satisfied ; could they only have gay com-
panions every day and be jolly and drunk every



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night, — then would they think themselves very
fortunate and, neither caring for nor grieving over
the judgment pronounced upon them, be in good
spirits and perfectly merry.

This is spoken for the common people who
grossly tread in Judas' footsteps. But exceedingly
dreadful it is that to-day the Pope and his minions
persecute and condemn God's Word, the acknowl-
edged truth, invent many base and blasphemous
lies against this Word, and induce worldly potent-
ates to use their power against it and to exterminate
the truth of God and all who hold it, so that Judas'
trade may be made to flourish as formerly. And
then they are so utterly blind and obdurate that
their conscience does not trouble them, and that
they think it would be an excellent thing to over-
flow this land with blood. What blindness, — what
diabolical enmity against Christ's Word and the
true Church ! But more of this hereafter.

Adam preached the same thing to Cain, his sou,
and warned him against sin, when he perceived
what hatred there was in his heart toward his
brother Abel. He says to him, Gen. 4: "If thou
doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou
doest not well, sin lieth at the door." Bv this he
meant to say: Make thyself well acquainted with
sin; for when it attacks a man it always is as a
wild, rapacious beast, which pretends to be asleep
and lets men handle and stroke it ; no one fears
and no one is hurt. Even as innocent as this does
sin seem. It is a smooth, pretty kitten, which per-
mits itself to be played with and caressed. But be
tareful, saith Adam ; it sleeps, indeed, but will not



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SIXTH PASSION-SERMON.



sleep forever. Why not? Because it "lieth at the
door," in a. public place, where every one comes
and goes; nothing easier, therefore, than that it
should awake. And then it will be a furious lion,
an angry bear, tearing to pieces and destroying all
in its way. Now, as Adam had foretold to Cain,
so it came. Adam commanded him to conquer sin,
and uot let sin rule and lead him. But Cain gave
no heed; he let sin have its own way; he slew his
brother. Sin did uot rest long fiere; its sleep was
soon over, and then it tortured Cain until he did
not know where to stay. He dared not remain with
his father and mother, and besides, had fears for
body and his life..

Let us mark well this second characteristic of
sin ! At first it sleeps and seems a trifling, harmless
thing. But it sleeps not long, and when it awakes
it becomes a grievous burden which we cannot bear
without God's special help. This we see in the
case of the traitor Judas. While sin rested, it was
impossible for him to fear; the glossy fur deceived
him so, that he did not perceive the sharp, poison-
ous claws. But its rest could not last a great while,
for it lay at the door where it could be easily waked.
Where all pleadiug and all admonition failed before,
now a single moment comes and drives such terror
to his soul that he knows not what to do. For
when lie sees the Lord led to Pilate he fears that
the Lord's life is imperiled, is sorry, and now per-
ceives, for the first time, what he has done. Now
Bin awakes and, according to its natural way, acts
with such fury and horror that he cannot bear it.
Before, he so loved the thirty pieces of silver that,
for the sake of having them, he could betray and



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107



sell the Lord Jesus without a pang ; now, the mat-
ter stands reversed. If he now had the money and
wealth of all the world, he would give it all to save
the Lord Jesus' life. Since it was love of money
that made him so miserable, and his purpose to
possess it that brought this sin upon him, he now
hates money so, that he has neither rest nor peace
in its possession, but runs after the high priests
into the temple, confesses that he has done wrong,
aud otters to give them back the money if they will
only liberate Jesus. And when the chief priests
will not do this, to get rid of the money at all
events he casts it down at their feet. ]N~ow, this is
the peculiar character of sin ; when it awakes it so
violently attacks conscience and preaches a sermon
of such horrors that the frightened heart knows not
what to do and what not to do. And sin inflicts
the further calamity, that, as little as is the consola-
tion which the poor creature finds in himself, so
little too is the comfort he derives from others.
Judas honestly tells the chief priests his troubles.
Alas, he says, "I have sinned, — I have betrayed the
innocent blood !" But how do they console him?
"What is that to us? see thou to that," they tell
him. They shove everything over to the shoulders
of Judas, and let the intolerable load lie there,
unwilling in the least to help the poor, frightened
soul with words of consolation or of counsel.

Now follows the third and last calamity. For
when it so happens that sin persists in castigating
conscience, the devil does not loiter, but pokes and
blows the fire until the red flames rage within, and
all attempts at rescue seem vain. In such fear
and agony Judas is urged on by Satan until he



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108 SIXTH PASSION-SERMON



goes out quickly, and in his misery hangs himself.
Now, this is the end which Satan from the begin-
ning sought to bring about by sin. He who could,
at the beginning, consider and credit this end,
would surely pray and guard against it. But it is
hidden; sin is very quiet, and does not disclose in
the start what its final object is. So much for the
history of poor, unhappy Judas, who for a trifle
sold the Lord Jesus, and who not only did not enjoy
this money, but also lost on its account bod}', life,
soul and salvation.

Therefore, study well this example, and let its
memory nevermore depart; for it is to help me and
you and all. of us to an accurate knowledge of sin,
and to serve us as a shield against it. If we do not
mark this example and learn from it to know sin,
we are liable to be deceived by sin and are exposed
to the damage which it does. For, in the first
place, it is the nature of sin so to flatter and please
the old Adam that he delights in it and loves it ;
but this lasts only until sin awakes. Then, in the
second place, follow trouble, toil, fear, danger, ter-
rors, tremblings, despair and, finally, eternal death.
Let us recognize these two features of siu from the
case of Judas, and not suffer ourselves to be deluded
like the world, which accepts neither instruction
nor reproof, being deceived by sin's beautiful, fair
and cheerful countenance ! Many a citizen, peasant
and nobleman knows how to make an easy liviug.
If he has anything for sale, he tries to get the
highest price. Wheu he buys, he tries to buy as
cheap as possible. He is not content with what his
houses have brought him hitherto, but raises the
rent. And When he disposes of money, wheat or



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS. l ( >->

other commodities, he lias an eye to his best in-
terests. Such a course soothes and pleases our
Adam's nature. Every one thinks his shrewdness
to have been admirable when he, by some means or
other, has obtained and laid by iu one year, say one,
„ two or three hundred dollars, according to the
nature of his business. Hence we see every one
pursuing his daily bread, and this with all manner
of haste.

This is the very sin of which Judas was guilty in
the beginning of his career. The world to-day
docs just as Judas did; it does not fear this sin and
thinks there is no danger in it. But why? Simply
because sin rests and sleeps and rarely shows its
nature in the start. Sin paints and adorns itself; it
puts on the mask of beauty and of youth ; in this
way it hides its hideousness. But if we could at
once unmask it and wash off its paint with strong
lye, we would run away from it as from the devil.
No one would consent to extortion and addict him-
self to avarice, if he knew what the consequence
will be when sin begins to rack the conscience and
• when remorse comes. For the numerous examples
which we have, prove that people who pursue only
money and possessions, cannot in the hist hour
abandon their accustomed course of thought. In
that hour their hearts are closed to all consolation
from God's Word, for their thoughts are even then
rambling through the counting-room, the market
and the warehouse, and engaged with this or that
debt not yet collected. In short, thorns have so
enclosed them that they cannot flee; or else their
consciences are so molested as to make them totally
unfit for taking comfort



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110 SIXTH PASSION-SERMON.



What has been said applies not only to the bag
of Judas, i. e., avarice, but to all sins. For, no
matter where it sleeps, sin finally must awake, and
it always then creates such wretchedness as was
that of Judas. Still, this is done especially in the
true disciples of Judas, who, for the sake of money
and possessions, oppose the Word of God, persecute
the Gospel, and give occasion for false doctrine and
idolatry. Such disciples are the Pope, his cardinals,
bishops, worthless lords, priests, monks, doctors
and the like, who crowd around Judas' bag and
fight for it. j^o wonder, for this bag is not prickly
and thorny, but its touch is very soft and velvety ;
in other words, the world loudly applauds those
who have succeeded in securing sufficient means for
living at ease and in splendor. Besides, it seems a
trifle to violate the Word of God in this respect or
that, thus sinning against the acknowledged truth,
and to act contrary to one's convictions; yea, it
seems an easy thing for the prebendary who occu-
pies the cathedral, and for the minister who moder-
ates himself, to justify their unwillingness to speak
the truth openly. For the world and the devil pay
big wages for such work. But when sin awakes,
the little, black, rabid dog, Remorse, will surely
come, and touch and terrify thy conscience so, that
thou shalt find consolation nowhere, and thus be
hurled into despair by the machinations of the devil.
Then shalt thou have received the same reward with
Judas.

It were well, therefore, to consider this danger in
time, to forego bishoprics, canonries, Epicureanism
and the like, to resolve to be a Christian, to further
and confess God's Word, and to walk before God



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with a clear conscience. Even if we had no super-
abundance of bread, God would still give us our
daily bread and not suffer us to starve, for He says :
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these
things shall be added unto you."

The following, therefore, is what this history
teaches. Since sin, at first, is quiet aud sleeps, but
afterward awakes and fills conscience with all
misery, by which Satan then drives his victims into
despair, we should beware of sin, do nothing against
our better knowledge and, besides, ask God daily,
yea, every moment, for His Holy Spirit, that He
may not lead us into temptation, but mercifully
save us from falling and shield us from sin. It has
already been stated that we are not apprehensive of
the evil results of sin, because sin is not awake in
the beginning, but sleeps, and that deception and
ruin, therefore, are very near us. For this reason
we ought to pray without ceasing, and be very
careful everywhere, so that sin may not steal upon
us unawares.

But when the fall has occurred and we have been
deceived, and when sin, which slept at first, now
awakes, appears to us and upbraids us, we must be
prepared for this encounter, and from the example
of Judas we can learn how to be prepared. For
how clearly do we not see what was the matter
with Judas ! Satan converted his sin into a mount-
ain so huge and lofty that it shut out from his sight
God, together with His Word, His promises and His
mercy ; hence, he simply despairs. Now, when we
trace this confusion back to its origin, can we deny
that Judas could have consoled himself even in
such great distress, had he not set at naught God's



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1 12 . SIXTH PASSION-SERMON.

Word, but more eagerly studied and obeyed it?
Having always despised and neglected the Word, is
it to be wondered at that now, when he stands in
need of its comfort and aid he must do without them?
Therefore, as we must, on the one hand, guard our-
selves, with godliness and constant prayer, against
sleeping sin, so that we may not be deceived and
seduced ; so also, on the other hand, when sin
awakes, and chastises and disturbs us, we must
defend and support ourselves with the Holy Gospel.
This Gospel shows us Christ as Him who suffered
and made satisfaction for the sins of the whole
world. And in this Gospel we find that God, the
Almighty Creator and Father, desires not the death
of a sinner; but that He does desire the sinner to
return and live, that is, to acknowledge and lament
his sins and to hope for forgiveness through the
Lord Jesus. But Judas had not these Gospel gifts ;
hence he despaired.

Again, Peter also fell shamefully, and experienced
such pangs as those of Judas. Sin slept at first ; in
other words, his denying Christ did not seem spe-
cially dangerous to Peter ; but it finally awakes and
so torments his heart that he cannot sufficiently
bewail his fall, or, as the Evangelists have it, "He
went out and wept bitterly." But why is it that
Peter does not hang himself like Judas ? Simply
because Peter, no doubt, remembered the Word of
the Lord Jesus; this saved him. He must have
remembered that the Lord had prophesied to him
that he should fall, and also that He had comforted
him, saying, as we read Luke 22., "Simon, Simon,
behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he
may sift you as wheat : but I have prayed for thee,



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS. 1 1 8



that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted,
strengthen thy brethren."

This sermon Peter heard and kept. This Word
was the staff that supported him; sin could not
now crush him to earth ; had it been otherwise, sin
would have done with him as it did with Judas.
God's Word saved him. 0, learn this well, and
thus be prepared for like emergencies ; hear God's
Word frequently ; never go to bed and never rise
from sleep without repeating one, two, three or
four of its beautiful passages !

Christ says, Matt. 9 : "I am not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance." Matt. 11 :
"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke
upon you, and learn of me ; for I am meek and
lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
Jno. 3 : "For God so loved the world, that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in
Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not His Son into the world to con-
demn the world; but that the world through Him
might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not
condemned." Again, Jno. 3 : "The Father loveth
the Son, and hath, given all things into His hand.
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life :
and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life :
but the wrath of God abideth on him." Jno. 5 :
"Verily, verily, I say unto you. he that heareth my
word and believeth on Him that sent me, hath ever-
lasting life, and shall not come into condemnation,
but is passed from death unto life." Jno. 11 : "I
am the resurrection, and the life : he that balievetl



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114 SIXTH l'ASSIOX-SEUMON.

on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."
1 Jno. 2: "If any man sin, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous : and
He is the propitiation for our sins : and not for
ours only, hut also for the sins of the whole world."
If we daily practice such and similar passages, and
by practicing familiarize ourselves with them, we
then possess the infallible remedy for all spiritual
ailments. But unhappy Judas had not this remedy
at hand.

We have more such examples. Dreadful was
the fall of David ; his was a more heinous sin than
were the sins which king Saul committed in the
beginning of his apostasy. How, then, are we to
account for it that Saul cuts his throat, while David
finds deliverance? Saul had not God's Word;
therefore, when sin raged and reproached him, he
could not defend himself; for he had nothing on
which to lay hold. Sin, when it awaked, reproached
David also, and with such severity that he himself
pronounced his judgment, sajung, that he had
deserved to die. But in this time of need he holds
to the word of the prophet Nathan, who tells him
that God is gracious, and that He will not impute
to him his sin. Let us, then, learn well this second
lesson taught us here, viz., not only to shun sin,
but also, when sin awakes, to be able to contend
with it and to protect ourselves. But during our
whole life we must prepare for such distress, equip-
ping ourselves with the Word of God, else we shall
have no aid nor counsel, as Judas' case shows
plainly. How Judas rejoiced at first over the thirty
pieces of silver! They were in his sight as a
meadow mown, for sin rested not. But when sin



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS. 115

awoke, these thirty pieces of silver became a burden
which he could not bear, and so, to relieve his con-
science of this load, he hanged himself. All he
effected by this means, however, was, that he had
to bear the burden in eternity. Of such an end
beware ; do not let sin creep in ; live in the fear of
God; keep conscience clear, and attentively hear
God's Word: then consolation shall be thine in
need of every kind I

The Evangelists further relate that the chief
priests took counsel about the thirty pieces of silver.
They would not put them into the treasury, but
bought with them the potter's field, of which they
made a burial-place for strangers. The prophecy,
of which this was the fulfillment, does not appear
remarkable. However, since the Evangelist takes
the pains to quote that which the prophet Zechariah
had predicted long before, the prophecy cannot be
meaningless, but must have its peculiar significa-
tion. The following is, no doubt, its proper expla-
nation.

The citizens of Jerusalem had their cemeteries,
while strangers, as we see here, had none. Now,
in the true Jerusalem, the Christian Church, we
find that the Jews, according to the 147. Psalm, are
God's people: "He showeth His Word unto Jacob."
But to us Gentiles, who are strangers, the kingdom
of God does not belong ; for the same Psalm con-
tinues to sing: "He hath not dealt 60 with any
nation," &c. But the thirty pieces of silver, for
which our dear Lord Jesus was sold, have bought
a burial-place for us pilgrims too ; that is, the inno-
cent sufferings and death of Christ have blessed us
Gentiles also with the hope of everlasting life. For



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110 SIXTH PASSION-SERMON.

the Lord had to bleed and die in consequence of
being sold for thirty pieces of silver. Therefore,
the Evangelist teaches us from the Prophets that
we should not forget for whom the Lord was sold,
for whom He suffered, and for whom He died. It
was not alone for His people, to whom He had been
promised, but also for us Gentiles, who before had
no final resting-place in the true Jerusalem. Those
thirty pieces of silver, which Judas received for
Christ, have bought us a share in the acre of our
God. Now we shall be laid into that glorious
grave, bed-chamber magnificent, from which our
Lord Jesus will call us forth on the judgment-day,
when He shall also give us everlasting joy. May
our dear Father in heaven grant us this through
His Holy Spirit. Amen.



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SEVENTH PASSION-SERMON.

Christ Accused before Pilate and Condemned

to Death.

Matt. 27, 11-31. And Jesus stood before the governor: and the
governor asked Him, saying, Art Thou the King of the Jews? And
Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest And when He was accused of the
chief priests and elders, He answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto
ilim, Hearest Thou not how many things they witness against Thee ?
And He answered him to never a word ; insomuch that the governor
marvelled greatly. Now at that feast the governor was wont to
release unto the people a prisoner, whom they would. And tbey had
then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas. Therefore when they were
gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I relcase^
unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ? For he knew
that for envy they had delivered Him. When he was set down on th«
judqjmynt seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to
do with that just man : for I have suffered many things this day in a
dream because of Him. But the chief priests and elders persuaded the
multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. The
governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye
that 1 release unto you? They said, Barabbas. Pilate saith unto
them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They
all say unto him, Let Him be crucified. And the governor said,
Why, what evil hath He done? But they cried out the more, saying,
Let Him be crucified. When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing,
but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his
hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this
just person : see ye to it. Then auswered all the people, and said,
His blood be on us, and on our children. Then released he Barabbas
unto them : and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be
crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the com-
mon hall, and gathered unto Him the whole band of soldiers. And
they stripped Him, and put on Him a scarlet robe. And when they
had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon His head, and a reed
in His right hand ; and they bowed the knee before Him, and mocked
Him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews ! And they spit upon Him, and
took the reed, and smote Him on the head. And after that they had
mocked Him, they took the robe off from Him, and put His own rai-
ment on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.



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118 , SEVENTH PASSIOX-SERMON.



u a recent sermon you heard, dear friends, how
the Lord Jesus was tried before the chief
priest. We are now ready to learn what happened
Him after He was delivered to Pilate. Each Evan-
gelist has his own way of relating these things and
does not go into all the details, but one states this,
another that, for which reason it is necessary to
compile the items stated by each, and then to relate
these items in their historical order.

The first item is furnished by the Evangelist
John, who says that when, early in the morning,
they led Jesus from the palace of Caiaphas unto
the hall of judgment, they themselves went not in,
lest they should be defiled and become disqualified
to eat the passover. Since they were required to
separate themselves from those as unclean who
accidentally entered a house in which some one
had died, they concluded that it might defile them
to go into the judgment hall, in which the sentence
of death was pronounced. It did not occur to these
blind people that it was a far greater sin to shed
innocent blood. Such holiness prevails among our
Papists too, who think that eating flesh on Friday
or eggs in the passion-week is a much greater sin
than to persecute and strangle poor Christians for
the Gospel's sake. They go about the latter with
hearts as light as though it were a trifle. But
about the former, which is no sin at all, but merely
a human prohibition, they are exceedingly con-
scientious. Since these holy people refuse to go
into the hall of judgment, Pilate was constrained to
go out to. them. He asked them: "What accusa-
tion bring ye against this man?" Impudently and




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11!)



with arrogance they reply : "If He were not a male-
factor, we would not have delivered Mini up unto
thee." Just as if they were so upright and pious
that we should not suppose them capable of under-
taking anything wrong! But Pilate meets them
nobly when he says: "Take ye Him, and judge
Him according to your law." This was as much as
saying: It is not customary with us Romans to
judge a man without first trying him; but if you
Jews think it is right to do so, why, you may take
and kill Him, but I will not. Thus we clearly see
that the Jews, after they had taken all necessary
counsel, still have no confidence in themselves;
they fear that their accusation will not stand the
test. Nevertheless, they are unwilling to accept
Pilate's decision without a reply, for it stung them
to the quick, and therefore they answer : "It is not
lawful for us to put any man to death." This
meant: If we had the authority to do this, we
should not have called on you ; but the Emperor
has taken criminal jurisdiction away from us and
confided it to you; therefore, act according to your
office.

John adds here : "That the saying of Jesus might
be fulfilled, which He spake, signifying what death
He should die." For, as we read Matthew 20. and
Luke 17., Christ had foretold to His disciples that
He should be delivered to the Gentiles. For the
sake, however, of having a charge to make, Ihey
accused Him, as Luke writes, in these words : "We
found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbid-
ding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that He Him-
self is Christ a king." Here we hear why they
delivered Him to Pilate. But the account suffi-



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1 20 SEVENTH PASSION-SERMON.

ciently shows how basely they belie our dear Lord.
Christ could, indeed, have strongly confuted them
by referring them to His words : "Render therefore
unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto
God the things that are God's;" but what good
would it have done ? He had to softer Himself to
be accused of being a rebel, of turning the nation
away from the Emperor, of forbidding the paying
of tribute, and of desiring to be a king.

Just so, at this day, the Pope, cardinals, bishops,
monks and priests calumniate the holy Gospel,
charging it with teaching sedition, and saying that
unless it is opposed the temporal power will come
into disrepute and no one will respect it. But let
this not offend thee; thank God that thou knowxst
that they, the desperate miscreants, most invidious
foes of the Lord Jesus and most malignant blas-
phemers of Christ's Gospel, lie ! For the Gospel
deals with other and loftier things : it teaches how
we can be freed from sin and attain to eternal life,
alone by believing in the Son of God. This is the
character of the instructions given us by the Gospel ;
it does not meddle with worldly things, leaves these
so to remain as God has already disposed of them
by means of the temporal government, and exhorts
to obedience to this government.

When Pilate now had heard the accusation, he
was in no haste to act upon it, but, as John says,
entered into the judgment hall again, ordered Jesus
to be brought before him and asked Him, saying :
"Art Thou the king of the Jews?" Jesus answered
him: "Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did
others tell it thee of me ?" As though He would
say : 0, if my enemies would acquit me, you would



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS.



121



soon do so too ; for I know that you do not iegard
me as a king nor as one who would be likely to
make an uproar.

"Pilate answered: Am I a Jew? Thine own
nation and the chief priests have delivered Thee
unto me; what hast Thou done? Jesus answered,
My kingdom is not of this world ; if my kingdom
were of this world, then would my servants light,
that I should not be delivered to the Jews ; but
now is my kingdom not from hence. Pilate there-
fore said unto Him, Art Thou a king then? Jesus
answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this
end was I born, and for this cause came I into the
world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.
Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
Pilate saith unto Him, what is truth?" As if he
would say : If Thou art a king sent to bear witness
unto the truth, we have no reason to fear Thee ;
for, with this as Thy object, Thou wilt not injure
the Emperor. The proud Gentile meant to say, in
other words : Truth is not the cause of a great deal
of strife. And this is only too true, and especially
in these evil and latter days does truth go begging.
It is deceitfulness, fraud, avarice, usury and the
like that elevate a man in these times. But what
is gained by these in the end will soon be seen.

When Pilate had sufficiently examined the Lord,
he went out again unto the Jews and said : "I find
in Him no fault at all," — "I have found no fault in
this man." But the Jews, as Luke relates, "were
the more fierce, saying, He stirreth up the people,
teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from
Galilee to this place. When Pilate heard of Galilee,
he asked whether the man were a Galilean. And



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SEVENTH PASSION-SERMON



.us soon as he knew that He belonged unto Herod's
jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who himself
also was at Jerusalem at that time. And when
Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad; for he
was desirous to see Him of a long season, because
lie had heard many things of Him ; and he hoped
to have seen some miracle done by Him. Then he
questioned with Him in many words; but He
answered him nothing. And the chief priests and
scribes stood and vehemently accused Him. And
Herod with his men of war set Him at naught, and
mocked Him, and arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe,
and sent Him again to Pilate. And the same day
Pilate and Herod were made friends together ; for
before they were at enmity between themselves."

Here some might wonder why the Lord converses
so with Pilate, giving him all information, but
refuses to speak one word with Herod, who, besides,
was king of Galilee. The true reason for this we
find in Herod's being a totally abandoned scoundrel
and, at the same time, a great hypocrite. He had
lately caused John the Baptist to be beheaded, and
lived a life of public scandal by having his brother
Philip's wife, and still pretended to be exceedingly
pious. For this reason the Lord, in the Gospel,
calls him a fox, — an animal of which the fur is the
only valuable part, — a ravenous, but still a very
cunning animal. Such people are not worthy of
intercourse with others ; they are hypocrites who
adopt holy faces and gentle speech, as it is written
of Herod in Mark 6., where it says that he "feared
John, knowing that he was a just man and a holy;
. . . . and when he heard him, he did many things,
and heard him gladly." But such people are not



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS. 12X

in earnest. Scoffers they are, who regard the Gos-
pel as a fable, and who look upon the Christian as
a great fool for offending great lords and endanger-
ing his possessions by his faith. Let every one,
therefore, avoid such people, and do as Christ here
did with Herod, have no communication with them.

This also is worthy of observation here that just
as Pilate and Herod, who before were enemies, now
become friends by their contact with Christ the
Lord, even so do we see men act in our day. Men
who could not be reconciled among themselves
before, are harmonious in their opposition to the
Gospel. One bishop cannot agree with another,
and one order cannot be friendly toward another
order. Princes are dissatisfied with each other.
Each one wishes to be the best, to have the prefer-
ence, and to oppress and silence all the rest. But
when Christ comes among them and His Gospel
shows its might, they all unite, are the best friends
in the world, and stand together with their goods
and lives, as David prophesied long ago in the 2.
Psalm.

After the Lord was brought again from Herod to
Pilate, "Pilate," so says Luke, "when he had called
together the chief priests and the rulers and the
people, said unto them, Ye have brought this man
unto me, as one that perverteth the people; and
behold, I, haviug examined Him before you, have'
found no fault in this man touching those things
whereof ye accuse Him ; no, nor yet Herod ; for I
sent you to him ; and lo, nothing worthy of death
is done unto Him. I will therefore chastise Him
and release Him. (For of necessity he must release
oue unto them at the feast.)"



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SEVENTH PASSION-SERMON



"And they had then," says Matthew, as we have
heard, "a notable prisoner, called Barabbas." Him
Pilate places before the Jews, together with Christ,
that the Jews might choose between the two,
hoping that no one would ask for Barabbas, as he
was a great rebel and murderer, well worthy of
death.

"But the chief priests and elders persuaded the
multitude that they should ask Barabbas." "And,"
so Luke proceeds, "they cried out all at once, say-
ing, Away with this man and release unto us Bar-
abbas ; (who for a certain sedition made in the city,
and for murder, was cast into prison.) Pilate,
therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake again to
them. But they cried, saying, Crucify Him, crucify
Him. And he said unto them the third time, Why,
what evil hath He done? I have found no cause
of death in Him; I will therefore chastise Him, and
let Him go. And they were instant with loud
voices, requiring that He might be crucified."

Matthew writes that when Pilate "was set down
on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, say-
ing, Have thou nothing to do with that just man;
for I have suffered many things this day in a dream
because of Him."

And this was, indeed, an excellent warning, sent
perhaps by some good angel, who, in a dream,
announced to Pilate's wife the misfortunes and
calamities which Pilate would bring upon himself
and his house in case he should listen to the Jews
and, at their command, destroy the innocent Jesus.
But as admonitions were useless and vain in Judas'
case, so did they at last avail nothing with Pilate.
Nevertheless, he resists the Jews for a while. The

7*



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12.",



Jews, to whom Christ was promised, wish the most
villainous murderer to live, but Him, the Prince ot
life, they are in haste to slay. Since in this way
Pilate's proposition to "let Him go" is discouraged,
Pilate makes still another effort: he takes Jesus
and scourges Him, as the Evangelists continue to
relate.

"Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus
into the common hall, and gathered unto Him the
whole band of soldiers. And they stripped Him,"
"and scourged Him," "and put on Him a scarlet
robe. And when they had platted a crown of
thorns, they put it upon His head, and a reed in
His right hand" instead of a scepter; "and they
bowed the knee before Him, and mocked Him,"
"and began to salute Him," "saying, Hail, King of
the Jews !" and smote Him in the face. "And
they spit upon Him, and took the reed, and smote
Him on the head," "and bowing their knees wor-
shiped Him."

Here and throughout the entire Passion-history
you will observe, dear Christian, how Satan poured
out all his poisonous, bitter, hellish hatred, rage
and fury upon our dear Lord in such a way that
surely no human being ever has endured such great
and dreadful suffering, torture, insult, abuse and
derision as the Son ot God; and this He bore for
the sake of my sin, thy sin and the sin of all the
w r orld. But now, since the suffering and death of
Christ are the only sacrifice that was able to expiate
sin, it is easy to calculate how immensely great and
terrible God's wrath against sin must be; and also,
how ineffably, yea, unfathomably great must be His
grace and mercy toward us condemned beings, —



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120 SEVENTH PASSION-SEKMON.

that grace aiid mercy whereby He gave His only
begotten Son to die an ignominious death upon the
cross for our sins.

Xow it was customary among the Romans to
beat malefactors before executing them ; for which
reason Pilate commanded Christ also to be scourged.
At the same time he still hopes and labors to
liberate the Lord. Therefore he led Jesus forth,
after the soldiers had scourged Him and put on
Him the purple robe and the crown of thorns, and
said to the Jews : "Behold, I bring Him forth to
you, that ye may know that I find no fault in Him."

"Then," says John, "came Jesus forth, wearing
the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And
Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man !" meaning
by this : You should be satisfied with such punish-
ment as this, seeing that your accusations are so
groundless and His innocence is so evident. But
neither did he succeed in this way.

As soon as the chief priests and their officers saw
Jesus, and perceived that Pilate still sought to
acquit Him, "they cried out, saying, Crucify Him,
crucify Him." Pilate was displeased with such
great injustice, "for," as we are informed by
Matthew, "he knew that for envy they had delivered
Him." Therefore he answers them bluntly : "Take
ye Him and crucify Him; for I find no fault in
Him. The Jews answered him, We have a law,
and by our law He ought to die, because He made
Himself the Son of God."

"When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he
was the more afraid; and went again into the
judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art
Thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. Then



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127



saith Pilate unto Him, Speakest Thou not unto me?
knowest Thou not that I have power to crucify
Thee, and have power to release Thee? Jesus-
answered, Thou couldest have no power at all
against me, except it were given thee from above ;
therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the
greater sin."

And this was also a powerful warning. For
Pilate here went too far, thinking that in virtue of
his authority Jesus' fate was in his hands, to be
decided for or against Him at his own pleasure, as
temporal authorities in such pride commit many
sins. No, Pilate, says Christ, you overdo this
matter ; keep within proper bounds. If you have
power, you have it not of yourself; power comes
from above. Therefore, use your power in such a
manner that you may know how to give an account
of its exercise. Pilate accepts this admonition, and
seeks the more how he might release Him. But
the Jews would not hear of such a thing and "cried
out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not
Caesar's friend ; whosoever maketh himself a king
speaketh against Caesar."

"When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he
brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment
seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in
the Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the prepara-
tion of the passover, and about the sixth hour," i. e.^
about noon. "And he saith unto the Jews, Behold
your King!" in other words, You still maintain
that He had made Himself a king. Alas, for the
king! You do Him great injustice. Does He look
like a king or like a seditious person ? But all waa
vain ; "They cried out, Away w r ith Him, away with



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128 SEVENTH PASSION-SERMON.

Him, crucify Him ! Pilate saith unto them, Shall
I crucify your King? The chief priests answered,
We have no king but Csesar."

"When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing,
but that rather a tumult was made," he was "will-
ing to content the people' 1 and "gave sentence that
it should be as they required,'* and "took water,
and washed his hands before the multitude, saying,
I am innocent of the blood of this just person ; see
ye to it. Then answered all the people, and said,
His blood be on us, and ou our children ;" that is,
if we do Him wrong, then may we and our children
be punished for it. "Then released he Barabbas
unto them," — "him that for sedition and murder
was cast into prison, whom they had desired ; but
he delivered Jesus," mocked and scourged, "to their
will," "to be crucified." These are the things that
happened the Lord Jesus before Pilate.



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EIGHTH PASSION-SERMON.

Explanation op Several Points in the History

just Given.

Jfjfj^his part of the history of our Lord Jesus
furnishes us with many excellent points of
Christian doctrine, laden with consolation. Since,
however, the material presented here is too much
for one sermon, and the narrative itself is sufR-
cieutly lengthy, we shall dwell only on three points.
The first is this : Pilate and others frequently testify
to the innocence of our dear Lord Jesus. The
second : Christ witnessed a good confession before
Pilate, — which is also highly extolled by St. Paul,
1 Tim. 6. The third: Both Pilate and the Jew's
treat the blood of the Lord as a trifle, but it after-
ward becomes an intolerable and everlasting bur-
den, which sinks them into temporal and eternal
misery.

With reference to the first point, you must have
noticed throughout that Pilate always insists upon
it that he finds no cause of death in Christ. His
wife also sent unto him, telling him to have nothing
to do with that just and innocent man. Pilate
moreover discovers, from all the actions of the Jews
and by diligent investigation, that the chief priests
and elders were moved against Christ by nothing
but malice and envy.„ Similar testimony, but in
greater measure and more powerful, was borne after
the death of Christ. Great and glorious miracles
then were wrought. The sun lost his lustre and



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»

EIGHTH PASSION-SERMON.



deep darkness reigned, the vail of the temple was
rent in twain, the earth did quake, the rocks rent,
the graves were opened, and many bodies of -the
saints arose. Then the centurion openly confessed:
"Certainly this was a righteous man." And all
the people present, beholding and taking to heart
the things which were done, smote their breasts, to
signify that the rash execution of the dear, innocent
Lord gave them pain.

But of what use is this testimony ? Why do the
Evangelists so carefully relate it ? Without a doubt,
their only object is to point us to the counsel and
will of God, and to admonish us to consider why
the Lord, being innocent and just, had to suffer so.
In other words, they wish, in view of the abundant
proof that Christ was innocent and did not deserve
to die, to make us firmer in our faith. They desire
to convince us that whatever our blessed Lord
Jesus suffered, He suffered for us; and that God
laid these afflictions upon Him, and, although He
was innocent, would not remove them, so that, by
His bearing them, sin might be removed from us
and we might be reconciled again to God.

Whenever, therefore, we read in any part of the
Passion history how unjustly the Jews and Gentiles
treated the Lord Jesus, how they smote Him before
the high priest, set Him at naught before Herod,
and mocked and scourged II im in the judgment
hall, — whenever, I say, we hear of such treatment,
no matter where it is recorded, our thoughts must
run thus: Behold, He is innocent; He does not
bear this for Himself; He has not merited this.
But I and you and all of us have deserved this
suffering ; death and every misfortune did rest upon



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131



us because of sin ; but bere the innocent and holy
Son of God appears, takes upon Himself my debts,
thy debts, and the debts of all of us, and discharges
them, so that we might be free. When these are
our thoughts we shall have such comfort that our
hearts'canuot despair on account of their sin, aud
that we shall not flee from God as though He were
a tyrant or an executioner; but that we shall turn
unto Him with heart-felt confidence and praise and
glorify His mercy, which, as Paul says in the 5.
uhap. of Romans, He commendeth toward us in
that He delivered His only begotten Son, our Lord
and Saviour, unto death, to die for us sinners.
Who could or would doubt that God's intentions
toward us are good and altogether gracious?

Sin had subjected all of us to the wrath of God
and to death, and had transferred us into Satan's
kingdom ; eternal life was lost, and in its place had
been inherited every calamity for time and for
eternity. But our Father, merciful and gracious,
comes to our relief, and, rather than permit us to
remain in such misery, sends His only begotten
Son, born of a virgin and made under the law, so
that the law, although flesh and blood were unable
to do God's will, might not have been given in
vain, but might be fulfilled by this Man for all other
men. Aud finally God suffers Him to die upon
the cross, by His innocent death to atone for our
sins, so that we, being released from eternal death
and from the kingdom of Satan, might receive
eternal life and be the children of God.

Believing that this was done on thy account and
for thy welfare, take it as thine own and let it
comfort thee. And well may we do this ; for here



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i;J2 EIGHTH PASSION-SERMON.

we hear not once, not twice, but many times, that
all that Jesus suffers He suffers innocently. But
why does God tolerate this, yea, why does He
ordain and bring it about? Simply that thou
mightest be comforted in Christ. He does not
suffer for Himself, but for thee and for all mankind,
even as John says: "He is the propitiation for our
sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of
the whole world." For this reason John the Bap-
tist calls Him "The Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world," that is, a divinely
appointed Sacrifice, who takes the sin of all the
world upon Himself, so that this sin may rest upon
the world no longer. This accounts for the seem-
ing inconsistency. He is the Son of God, perfectly
holy and altogether without sin, and therefore it
were but just that He should not be subject to the
curse and to death. We are sinners and under the
curse and wrath of God, and therefore it were but
just that we should suffer death and damnation.
But God has reversed this relation ; He who knows
no sin, who is altogether merciful, and in whom, as
John says, dwells the fullness of God's grace, was
made a curse for us and had to bear sin's punish-
ment, while we, through Him, have obtained mercy
and have become the children of God. We should,
therefore, cling to this consolation and take special
delight in such testimony for Christ's innocence.
For what Christ innocently suffered was caused by
our sins. Therefore His innocence comforts us
against all sin and suffering; for His innocence is a
sure and lasting evidence that His passion is for
our benefit, and that our dear Lord and merciful

Redeemer has suffered for us and paid our debts.
8



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS.



However, since we shall have occasiou to speak
further of this when we come to Christ's crucifixion
between the murderers, we shall now proceed to
the second point.

St. Paul, 1 Tim. 6., admonishes Timothy thus:
. "I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quick-
eneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who
before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession,
that thou keep this commandment," that is, doc-
trine, "without spot, unrebukable, until the appear-
ing of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Because this passage mentions so directly the
confession which our dear Lord Jesus made before
Pilate, and Paul makes use of it for earnestly ad-
monishing Timothy, we have reason to meditate
upon this confession and to inquire what it is and
what is its purpose. Now, the Gospels tell us
plainly what it was that Christ confessed. When
the Jews had accused Him of having said that He
was a king, and Pilate had taken Him to task on
this account, He did not deny, but confessed openly
before Pilate: "My kingdom is not of this world,"
i. e., my kingdom is no corporeal, earthly kingdom.
Then Pilate asked again, "Art Thou a king then?
Jesus answered, Thou sayestthat I am a king. To
this end was I born, and for this cause came I into
the world, that I should bear witness unto the
truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my
voice.*' Do you ask: But of what use was this
confession to Paul in admonishing Timothy to keep
the commandment, i. e. doctrine, pure and not to
adulterate it? Truly, of mucli use! Everything,
if we desire to be true ministers and Christians,
depends upon our believing what Christ confessed,



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134 EIGHTH PASSION-SERMON.

viz.: that He is a king; but that His kingdom is
not of this world; that His only work in this world
is to bear witness uuto the truth. And it follows
that His earthly subjects must be like Him, the
King. He is indeed called a king ; but when He is
compared with Herod, Pilate and other temporal
kings and rulers, he seems a poor, wretched man.
Herod was a great, shining lord, who courted
sensual deligbt, realized his heart's desires, and was
looked upon by all the world as glorious. So the
world regarded Pilate too and others. But poor,
innocent Christ bears no comparison with such as
they ; yea, men mock and scorn Him as they please;
they nail Him to the cross and murder Him.
Therefore He said : "My kingdom is not of this
world!"

"Why, then, is He called a king? Because He is
a king, — a king "just, and having salvation," as
Zechariah says, chapter 9. Therefore, whosoever
lives in His kingdom must not expect Him to give
money or possessions, to satisfy the body's wants,
or to do the other things which earthly kings are
wont to do. No, this King forgives sins; Hebe-
stows righteousness; He delivers from everlasting
death ; He bestows the Holy Spirit and eternal life.
Tbese are His gifts to all who hear His voice. This
kingdom He has established on earth, but only in
the Word and in faith.

We have, therefore, an eternal King omnipotent,
Christ Jesus, God's own Son, who rescues us from
Satan's power, from sin, from never-ending death.
Our King does not deliver from bodily death ; for
earth is the place for suffering and dying, and He



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS. 135

Himself had to suffer here and die. Those who
recognize this character of the King and His king-
dom bear the cross with resignation. For then
they know that our Lord Jesus, the everlasting
King, also had to bear the cross, and thus, remem-
bering that the servant cannot fare better than his
master, are made willing and ready to suffer. And,
besides, they take comfort in the knowledge that,
although they must suffer here, there in eternity
joy and glory shall be theirs. It is this that makes
Christians bold, even in the midst of temptation
and death ; while they who do not know these
things cannot do otherwise in days of adversity
than mourn, lament, murmur, show impatience,
and, in the end, even despair. For the latter think
that if God wished them well, He would not permit
so much misery to come upon them, or else would
soon help aud rescue them. Such thoughts unmis-
takably prove that Christ is held to be a king of
this world. Temporal kings must, according to
the duties of their office, protect the bodies, lives
and possessions of their subjects and defend them
against danger. But Christ, the King of glory,
permits body and property, life and all to be in
danger.

Do thou learn and firmly believe that these things
are so for the reason, simply, that His ''Kingdom is
not of this world." Thy Christian faith is not to
be used by thee on earth as the means for obtaining
all things in abundance, or for supplying all thy
desires. For behold thy King ! How does it fare
with Him, the Lord Jesus? With what docs He
make a display? Did He live a life of ease? Do
men regard Him as glorious? We see nothing



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EIGHTH PASSION-SERMON.



there except the suffering, mocked, reviled and
ignominiously slaughtered One.

True, He does sway a scepter, but only over a
very small number, even the testimony of truth,
that is, the holy Gospel. By means of this, as said
already, He sends the Holy Spirit into the souls of
men, forgives their sins, and gives them the hope
of everlasting life. But all these things take place
only in faith and in the Word; we cannot see
them ; we cannot touch them ; they are realized not
by reason, but by hope. However, when earth's
kingdom ends and we dwell no longer here, then
shall His kingdom and His glory be revealed to us,
yea, we shall live with Him and with Him rule all
things in heaven and on earth.

It was in this way that the Lord was recognized
on the cross by one of the malefactors, saying,
"Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy
kingdom.'' He saw Christ suspended on the tree
in the same misery, in which he found himself.
, The malefactor on the left was offended at Christ's
helplessness and helped the Jews to rail on Him :
Ah ! a very fine king, indeed ! He concluded that
since the dear Lord was so wretched and poor on
earth, it would, of course, be useless to expect help
from Him. But he on the right knew Him well ;
he knew Him not as a worldly, but as a spiritual
and an eternal King. For this reason he prays
that He would remember him in His kingdom when
His body should be lifeless there upon the cross.
In this way must we also believe in Him, and then
shall we find immutable comfort in Christ Jesus.

2Tow, all Christians need that consolation which
always, in all kinds of distress and disappointment.



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SERMONS ON TUE GOSPELS. 187

comes to them wheu they hold to Christ's confession
before Pilate. It makes them say to themselves:
Why shouldest thou weep? Why complain of this
or that misfortune ? Think what kind of a King
thou hast; what says He before Pilate? "My
kingdom is not of this world." Wouldst thou have
thy kingdom here? Xo, no; for here it would not
last ; this is altogether the laud of suffering! But
in the world to come glory and a joyful life shall
surely be found. If they could be found here, they
would afford only a short and transient joy, for in
this world there is nothing firm nor eternal. But
Jesus Christ, my King, is a King in the other
world, that is, an everlasting King; postpone thy
glorying and thy pleasures, therefore, till thou goest
thither, and be content with the treatment thou
receivest here. Thy King has not given thee orders
to remain here ; He will have nothing to do with
the world outside of the testimony of truth. — All
Christians, I say, need this consolation, but espe-
cially they who hold the ministerial oflice and ply
the Word.

For this reason St. Paul urges Timothy with
these words, referring to Christ's confession before
Pilate, to hold fast to the pure doctrine and not to
let it be falsified. The world and the devil cannot
bear the Word, and oppose it with all manner of
confusion. Every pastor should and must, there-
fore, cling to the testimony mentioned, and recog-
nize Christ as that King, in whom he finds comfort,
and whom he hopes to enjoy, — but not on earth.
He says, "But now i3 my kingdom not from hence."
And again, "I am a king .... for this cause came
I into the world, that I should bear witness unto



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138 EIGHTH PASSION-SERMON.

the truth." Whosoever, therefore, desires to have
this King Jesus, let him lay hold on the truth,
which is His Word, and know that he shall not on
account of His kingdom have greater abundance on
earth; yea, let him know that he shall have to bear
many a misfortune on account of the Word, even
as did Christ, the King, Himself. But when life
on earth is over, then shall come the full enjoyment
of the Lord Jesus' kingdom.

The Pope and bishops never knew this consola-
tion. They do not recognize as king one who does
no more than bear witness unto the truth, and cry
with Pilate : "What is truth ?" Had we nothing-
else we would, no doubt, have to go a begging.
Therefore will we have another king, — one who
can give us plenty of money, possessions, honor,
power and everything; as for this King and His
truth, they may in the meanwhile fare as they can.
But St. Paul cautions against such folly. And
every pious pastor should earnestly heed this ad-
monition, and depend upon it that we shall not be
glorified on earth, and that all our glory here shall
be to bear witness unto the truth. Earth's reward
for this service shall be in our case what it was in
the Lord Jesus' case, the gallows and the execu-
tioner. Learn to suffer and to hear such things,
and let it be your faith and hope, that, although
you must suffer here, still this suffering shall, in
the other world, be rewarded and made good by
the Lord Jesus, the eternal King! But this must
suffice for a brief consideration of the testimony
before Pilate.

We must now examine the third point also. It
is this: Pilate and the Jews greatly undervalue the



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS.



blood of our dear Lord Jesus, which, finally, falls
on them as a crushing and eternal burden.

Matthew mentions in particular that Pilate
washed his hands before the multitude, and said:
"I am innocent of the blood of this just person."
He thought he had done his whole duty in making
several attempts to liberate Christ, and that he
could not help it that the Jews resisted him in his
efforts. Still he delivered the Lord to be crucified.
Just as though his saying "I am innocent" would
make him innocent! Had he desired a warning,
his wife might have told him how innocent he
would be ; for she, as related above in the text, had
spent a whole night suffering many things in a
dream, from which she could judge the severity ot
the judgment which Pilate would bring upon him-
self and all belonging to him by consenting to the
death of "that just man." But so it always is with
the blood of the Lord Jesus and with that of His
Christians. Herod the elder slew all Bethlehem's
innocent infants. His son slew the holy John the
Baptist. Both dared to think themselves benefited
by their murder. Neither did Pilate here regard it
as much out of the way that he sentenced Christ to
die. He thought that his opinion would also be
God's opinion, and that God would, therefore, hold
him innocent. But without doubt God's wrath did
not tarry long till it utterly destroyed the house,
the tribe, the name of Pilate, and then thrust his
body and soul into hell and into the eternal fire.
There he discovered how innocent he was of this
blood!

But the Jews went about this murder with still
greater recklessness. When Pilate said, "Sec ye to



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EIGHTH PASSION-SERMON



it," they shamelessly burst out with the cry, "His
blood be on us, and on our children," that is, in
case He should be wronged, we are willing that we
and our children shall suffer for it. It was easily
said, and seemed to have been spoken with im-
punity. But before 'forty years had passed they
saw their imprecation about to be answered. And
then this "blood" began to flow down upon them
in such streams that Jerusalem and the whole
Jewish kingdom soon were desolate, the people
lamentably slain, and all things overthrown. But
even this sufficed not ; from that time till this, and
it is now nearly fifteen hundred years, they have
wandered about in misery, nowhere finding a con-
tinuing city.

This temporal punishment, so that they have no
cities nor government of their own, is truly severe,
but it shall come to an end. But this is truly terri-
ble that their hearts are so horribly imbittered
against Christ, the Son of God. Instead of seeking
and expecting forgiveness of sin and eternal life
and salvation, as they should, of Christ, their King
and God, they abuse and revile Him, thus taking
delight in falsehood and error, and diligently seek
means of darkening the Scriptures before their own
eyes and preventing their understanding it. There-
fore, when they fancy that they are calling upon
and serving God, they really serve the very devil.
Neither does God hear them. And since they
desire no freedom from sin through the Son of
God, there can be nothing surer to them than that
they must die in their sins and be forever ruined.
In the 8. chapter of John, Christ tells them thia



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS. 141

very thing: "If ye believe not that I am He, ye
shall die in your sins."

They did not, at that time, perceive this calamity,
and even thought that the sooner Christ could be
slain the better it would be for them. Without
any further thought, therefore, they said : If He is
wronged, may we and our children be punished !
But even as the thirty pieces of silver afforded
Judas a joy of only short duration, so also a change
soon came upon the Jews. From day to day failure
advanced upon all their affairs, until, in the end,
they went to utter ruin. This is, therefore, a tit
subject for the serious meditation especially of great
kings and princes; these should remember what an
easy, trifling thing it seemed for Pilate and the
Jews to shed innocent blood, and how this finally
forced them into the abyss of hell.

When our bishops and their idol, the Pope, have
succeeded in seizing a pious, faithful minister and
pastor, they hurry him off to the stake or to the
gallows, and dream they have done well ; they do
this, therefore, like Pilate and the Jews, with wan-
tonness. But their success is not made certain yet ;
alas, such au end as theirs shall be ! For it is
impossible that God should look long upon such
deeds in silence ; innocent blood cries so mightily
into His ears that He must rise and inflict punish-
ment.

Pilate was thrust so low that now, no doubt, not
a single person of his name or tribe remains. The
Jews to this day are laboring under the blood of
Jesus Christ, and it will finally press them down to
hell. The great and powerful emperors and the



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142 EIQHTH PASSION-SERMON.

mighty princes in the Romish and all other king-
doms, and every one else that has ever persecuted
Christians,— they all have been lamentably over-
thrown and slain.

And surely the same fate awaits the enemies of
Christ of our day, who act as tyrants and persecute
and murder Christians for the Gospel's sake. Let
no one fear that punishment shall fail to come I
They who meddle with the innocent blood of Chris-
tians, though they may be as mighty as the Emperor
Augustus, must still go down, together with all
their descendants. They may, indeed, be thinking
now that we are heretics and that they do right by
slaying us. So thought Pilate, and especially the
Jews, but it availed them nothing. Let every one,
therefore, take good care of himself and let alone
the blood of Christians ! At first it seems a little
tsin, — a trifle merely ; but in the end, everything
that is stained with Christians' blood shall be utterly
destroyed, as all history testifies.

May Almighty God resist all tyrants, mercifully
grant peace unto His Church, graciously keep us by
His Word and save us forever. Amen.



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Christ Led away to be Crucified. — Simon Bears
the Cross after Him. — The Women who Follow
Bewail and Lament Him.

Lues 23, 2G-31. And as they led Him away, they laid hold upon
one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they
laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus. And there followed
Him a great company of people, and of women, which also be vailed
and lamented Him. But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of
Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your
children. For, behold, the da\ s are coming, in the which they shall
say, Bussed are thte barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the
paps which never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the
mountains, Fall on us ; and to the hills, Cover us. For if they do
these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry ?

<§|Limon's bearing the cross and the women's
(f||| weeping occurred while Christ was being led
from Pilate to the place of execution. Matthew,
. Mark and Luke alike make mention of Simon, a
Cyrenian, to show, no doubt, that what is said of
him was no accident, as it might seem, but so or-
dained by God for a special purpose, viz. : that at
the very time when Christ should be led away to
suffer, all Christians might have an example set,
from which to learn how they should fare on earth,.
— that they must bear the cross after the Lord
Jesus, like Simon here. This good and pious man,
not knowing in what the Jews at Jerusalem were
engaged, went into the city according to his need
and opportunity, to attend to his business. And
now, as the Lord and the two murderers were led
toward him, and the Lord, on account of weakness,.



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could carry no further the cross which had been
placed on ilim, and which, since a strong, full-
grown man was to be nailed to it, must have been
pretty heavy, the soldiers ran up to good, pious
♦Simon and compelled him to take up the cross or
tree, to which Christ was to be nailed, and to bear
it after the Lord.

This looks as if it had happened incidentally.
But it is, as already said, a picture of all Christians,
which God wished to show to His Church just
when His dear Son, Jesus Christ, was Himself
fluttering, so as to check that common offence which
is so apt to lead us all astray. For as soon as God
comes to us with the cross, attacking our body or
property, giving us ill-bred children or sending -
some other misfortune or calamity, our courage
fails us. We then conclude that God does not wish
us well, and that if He loved us He would deal
more gently with us. We take the fact that He
permits us to be troubled, afflicted and tormented
as an indication that He is angry with us and •
refuses to be gracious.

Now, the picture in our text is to operate against
oftences of this kind. In the first place, we see the
Son of God bearing His cross Himself and finding
it so heavy that it nearly throws Him down and
that He can scarcely walk. Mark this well ! For
if such things happen to the green and fruitful tree,
about which we shall soon be told, it is easy to infer
that better things shall not and can not happen the
dry and unfruitful tree. In the second place, we
see pious Simon doing the work that others should
have done; had he not come near where Christ
was compelled to carry His cross, he would never



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have needed to bear a cross. But here he suffers
for the Lord Jesus ; because Christ carries the cross,
he also must suffer and help to carry it. Remember,
it shall never be different with Christians here;
they must all submit with Simon and bear the cross
after Christ.

Although God may bear with the wicked for a
while and permit them to receive everything that
their hearts wish and covet, still their punishment
shall not be delayed always. They too must suffer
here on earth, receiving now here a kick then there
a thrust, and never afterward enjoying uninterrupted
success, as the 32. Psalm tells us: "Many sorrows
shall be to the wicked ; but he that trusteth in the
Lord, mercy shall compass. him about," and as is
glaringly shown by examples.

Severe and violent were the sufferings of ungodly
Pharaoh and his Egyptians. And how much mis-
fortune, oppression and grief did not the Jews have
to bear in the desert and afterward in the land of
Canaan, until, finally, the Assyrian wasted the ten
tribes, and, some time after, even Judah's tribe was
flung into the whirlpool of woes and the entire land
conquered by the Babylonians! But it is not
necessary to cite many instances. Each one need
merely think of what he himself has seen and ex-
perienced in his own case and in that of others. It
is, therefore, impossible that punishment, distress,
wretchedness and tribulation should finally fail to
follow where God is not feared and where His Word
aud will are resisted.

But from the case of Simon here we must learn
to make a difference between the holy cross and
the well-deserved punishment and misery of the



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NINTH PASSION-SERMON.



wicked. Xo wonder if the knave fares badly ; for
lie rushes to his doom with open eyes. If the thief
would stop his stealing he would, no doubt, remain
secure against the gallows and the hangman. As
for men and women, if they would refrain from
debauchery, they might enjoy wealth, honor and
health. But since they do not desist, but continue
in sin, God punishes them with poverty, disgrace,
disease, or other misfortunes. These wicked ones
wish nothing else and nothing better ; for by their
sin and impenitent lives they themselves furnish
the cause for their misery and distress ; they urge
God, who would delight in being merciful and in
giving them all good things, yea, they compel Him
to make His anger burn at once, to heap destruction
on them and to stem the tide of sin. Peter there-
fore says, 1 Fet. 4, 15 : "But let none of you suffer
as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evil-doer, or
as a busybody in other men's matters." fle thus
makes this distinction, that not all sufYering is to
be called a "cross;" for that which the wicked
suffer is not their cross, but their punishment and
merited reward ; while that which Christians suffer,
like Simon here, is called and is in reality a "cross,"
because it is not merited, but the fault of others.
If Simon had not just happened to meet the Lord
Jesus, he would have been let alone ; but he has to
suffer for it that he came where Christ was being
led to the crucifixion.

In this way all Christians should suffer and bear
the cross; even as Peter says: Not "suffer as a
murderer, or as a thief, . . . yet ... as a Christian,"
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Word and confession. All Christians acknowledge
themselves to be poor sinners, and know that
through sin they have deserved all the calamities
God sends upon them on earth, and many more.
They are, indeed, the only ones who acknowledge
their short- comings, weakness and transgressions ;
for sin's peculiar punishment is eternal death, and
not this or that particular temporal misfortune.
Nevertheless, their suffering is not the punishment
for sin, but the real and holy "cross." His being a
sinner and his stumbling and falling occasionally,
is not the reason why the Christian is hated by the
evil adversary and the world. No, both the devil
and the world could well tolerate that, and would
be satisfied with the Christian as far as that is con-
cerned. But the Christian holds to the Word and
has faith ; he put his hope in Christ, the Son of
God, and is comforted in His death and resurrec-
tion ; he fears God and tries to live according to
His will; he labors hard, by means of his confession,
to persuade others to believe and to come to the
knowledge of Christ. This it is that neither the
devil nor his tender bride, the world, can endure ;
this it is that makes Satan rage so terribly against
all Christians; this it is that makes him always
pursue them, afflicting their bodies with disease
and sometimes their property with loss by storms,
or hail, or fire, as it was the case with Job. (Job 1.)
And sometimes he troubles them with great secret
torments of conscience, such as melancholy, sadness,
fear, trembling, doubts, dread of death, and like
fiery darts of the devil, about which the Psalms
lament so much. Of this kind was the temptation
of Paul which he mentions 2 Cor. 12 : "There was



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NINTH PASSION-SERMON



given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of
Satan to buffet me," &c. And what the world does
in this direction is easily seen, especially in times
like the present, when poor Christians receive such
wretched and horrible treatment.

This is bearing the Lord Jesus' cross as Simon
did. Simon was certainly also a poor sinner, but
what is that to these soldiers ? It is not for this
that they make him suffer, but they make him
suffer because Christ, who cannot get along with
His cross, is present and needs some one to help
Him bear the cross.

Therefore, although thou art a poor sinner, and
coufessest how thou hast in various ways sinned
against God; still, because thou belie vest in Christ,
thy sins are not the chief cause of all thy crosses
and afflictions, and thy sins are not that for which
the devil and the world punish thee. Nay, it
would be their joy and rejoicing if thou wouldst be
altogether on their side, and not on that of God
and His Word. It is chiefly on account of the
Lord Jesus, His Word and thy faith that thou must
suifer.

This, that Simon bears the Lord Jesus' cross, is
the first thing to be learned here. It is profitable
especially for consolation, giving us certainty that
we shall realize our hope of help and salvation, and
provoking us to prayer. For he who, when he lies
under the cross and in misery, thinks only of his
being a sinner and deserving such punishment, is,
by such thoughts, made too cold and too lazy to
pray. For it is the nature of sin always to terrify

8*



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the heart, to make it fearful and timid, and to
deprive it of the consolation and the hope that God
will bestow aught that is good. But if we consider
the real, chief reason why the devil and the world
are such bitter enemies of ours and heap all manner
of mischief on us, we shall have to confess that it is
not on account of our sins that they are so furious.
They would like, and this is their constant aim, to
plunge us into all sin and shame, to succeed in
which would be their pleasure and satisfaction.
They are opposed to us, they seek where they can
to do us harm and hate us, especially because we
heed the Word of God, confess the Lord Jesus,
place our confidence in the goodness and grace of
God and desire to live according to His will, in His
fear and love, and in faith and obedience. This is
the fountain and foundation of their hatred and
envy. Mark well, thou must therefore not deny
that thou art a poor sinner, and that thou hast by
thy sins deserved every calamity. For God punishes
also His own for their sins, as Peter says, "Judg-
ment must begin at the house of God." But Satan
and the world, so say to thyself, are not angry with
me on this account ; they would be satisfied with
me if I, like a hog in the mire, remained impenitent
in my sins. But why, then, do they hate me?
Simply because I believe and confess that the Man
who here bears the cross is my God and Saviour.

Now, if this is true, what shall we do next?
Shall we despair ? No, as you prize your soul, no !
Firm hope must be ours. And though we are
miserable sinners, it is still most sure that the Lord
Jesus will not let us perish as long as we suffer for



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Sis sake. He can help us mercifully, and He will
do so. And as we suffer and die with Him, so
shall we also be exalted with Him into glory and
live with Him forever. But let us boldly open our
mouth and cry, saying: 0 Lord, we are, indeed,
poor sinners, and by our disobedience have deserved
infinitely severer chastisement than we are now
bearing ; but look, O Lord, at the wicked enemy's
intentions. The enemy hates Thee and Thy name,
and hates us too because we hold fast to Thee and
Thy name, find comfort in Thy Word, and hope
for mercy through Thy death and merits. There-
fore, dear Lord Jesus Christ, be Thou avenged on
them, and help us for Thy name's sake. — Such
thoughts make the heart cheerful and give it confi-
dence and boldness to pour itself out in prayer.
For this reason the holy Prophets also prayed in
this way, constantly pleading the name of God, as
David does in the 44. Psalm : "Yea, for Thy sake
are we killed all the day long ; we are counted as
sheep for the slaughter." Let the preceding, about
Simon's being compelled by the soldiers to suffer
for the sake of the Lord Jesus by bearing His cross,
be said, then, for the special purpose of teaching
the distinction between the Christian's cross and
the wicked man's punishment for sin.

The second thins: to be learned here is that Simon
not only bears the cross, but also bears it because
he is compelled to do so. For if he would have
had his own will in the matter, he would have gone
his way and cared very little what was becoming ot
Christ and His cross. But the soldiers seize him
against his will, and compel him to carry the cross.



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151



This subject teaches us also very nicely what
really is and what is not a cross. Monks and nuns
who are in earnest, lead an austere life and oppress
themselves with the most difficult labor. But this
is not the cross of Christ which Simon bears.
Why ? Because they have placed it on themselves
from their own free choice and without the com-
mand of God. And just so the Anabaptists do.
But the proverb, "what is done from choice is done
with ease," might be applied to such suffering;
since it is self-imposed, and might be avoided, it
cannot hurt very badly. But when one is compelled
to bear the cross and does it reluctantly, then it
becomes heavy and oppressive. It is this idea that
Christ expresses when He says, John 21, to Peter:
"When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and
walkedst whither thou wouldest; but when thou
shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and
another shall gird thee, and carry, thee whither
thou wouldest not." Let Christians be ever so
perfect, flesh and blood cannot help but shudder at,
fear and shun the cross.

For this reason this man is called Simon or
Simeon, which, in his language, means one who
takes advice and obeys. For that is true obedience
which, though it prefers to be exempt from this or
that suffering, still yields to it willingly, following
and letting itself be led, simply because it sees that
God desires it so. All true Christians can be called
by this name Simon. For although their flesh and
blood would like to rest and be excused from pain,
they still obey, heed the Word, are submissive to
to the will of God, and help the Lord Jesus bear
His cross.



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NINTH PASSION-SERMON.



The third thing to be J earned here is to distin-
guish between Simon and the Lord Jesus. Simon
bears the cross after the Lord Jesus as far as the
place of execution and then goes away; while
Christ allows Himself to be nailed to the cross and
dies on it. This is the true difference between the
suffering of Christ and our suffering. Our suffering
does not earn the forgiveness of sins. This is accom-
plished alone by the sufferings of our Lord Jesus.
He alone is the true Sacrifice and Lamb of God
which pays and atones for the sins of all the world
and, for this reason, hangs upon the cross. But
Simon merely carries the cross ; that is, our bearing
the cross does nothing more with the old Adam
than molest him, and nothing more with sin than
oppose it. But it is the work and merit of our
Lord Jesus alone that forgives our sins.

Thus, beloved, you perceive that this Simon is a
pattern for all Christians, for they must bear the
cross of the Lord Jesus ; and that it is not, however,
on account of this bearing that their sins are for-
given. The bearing of the cross serves to restrain
the old Adam, lest he become too wild. But when
the cross is to be the means of the forgiveness of
sins, it will not do for Simon to bear it, but then
Christ must hang and die on it. This is the reason
why Simon is set free. By Christ's death we are
set free from death and receive eternal life, as this
is clearly pointed out in that part of our text which
we are about to treat.

St. Luke tells us that as the Lord was led out of
Jerusalem, some women followed, bewailing and
lamenting Him. The Lord turned to them and



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158



told them not to weep for Him, but for themselves
and for their children, because the time was coming
when the woman without child would be called
blessed, and when, as Hosea says, men would desire
the mountains to fall upon and cover them. But
the reason of such calamity and woe was, that since
Christ, the green tree, was so badly treated, they,
the dry and barren tree, would be treated still
worse.

Although these things referred especially to the
Jews of that day, they still show us how to make
proper use of our Lord Jesus' sufferings ; first, by
revealing sin as a terrible burden, — the Son of God
Himself being compelled to die on account of our
sin ; and then, by consoling us against sin by
means of Christ's sufferings, — the Son of God hav-
ing rendered satisfaction and atoned for sin upon
the cross.

Notice, first, the difference which the Lord makes
between Himself and the Jews, for on this difference
a great deal depends. Himself He compares to a
young tree, so beautiful and fruitful that it should
be bought for a garden, and by no means cut down
and cast into the fire. Nevertheless, the latter is
done. God lets Him be cut down, that is, He lets
Him now be led out to the cross, where He is to be
slain as the greatest malefactor, notwithstanding
that He is such a fine, sappy, beautiful and fruitful
tree. He is without all sin and walks before God
in perfect obedience, and all things He says and
does are purely noble and precious fruits, every one
of which is a joy to God and a blessing to us. In
short, we find nothing about the Lord Jesus that is
not grace, life and salvation. The Jews on the



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other hand, He compares to an old, barren, dry aud
rotten tree, which is altogether out of place in the
garden, and only fit to be felled and burned. For
they did not heed God's Word. John's preaching
brought no fruit; they said John had a devil.
Christ, the Son of God, Himself and His Apostles
preached. Neither did they pay any attention to
Him, but called Him a wine-bibber, said He had a
devil, and hated and envied Him so bitterly that
they had no peace until they had brought Him
from life to death. Nevertheless, since thcv had
Moses, the law, and the external worship of God in
the temple at Jerusalem, they dared to think that
they were God's people, that they were living
saints, indeed, and that they rested in God's bosom.
Now, it is easy to imagine, if the Son of God, who
is a fine, fruitful tree, is visited by so severe a judg-
ment of God, how infinitely severe shall be the fate
of the terribly great sinners, the dry trees. It was
the Lord's desire that the Jews should understand
this now and not continue in their sin ; that, by
seeing Him, who, though innocent, was crucified
and killed, they might learn to fear the wrath of
God and to flee from it by true repentance. Little,
however, did this warning avail. The dry tree
could yield no fruit, and so was cast into the fire.
History shows this, where it tells us that about
forty years after Christ's death a most terrible
judgment came upon the Jews for their sin, the
Romans desolating their whole land. For them-
selves, therefore, even as the Lord here counsels
and exhorts them to do, and not for Christ, should
they have wept, acknowledging their sins and
repenting.



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We too, however, should take this advice to
heart. For we all must confess that we have many
and great sins aud, therefore, are dry and unfruitful
trees, — trees which do not aud can not yield any-
thing good. What, then, shall we do ? Nothing-
except weep and cry to God for pardon, and earn-
estly resist and curb our evil, sinful nature and
inordinate desires. For we are admonished here,
that since the fruitful tree receives such shameful
treatment, God permitting His dear Son to suffer
so severely, we should not feel secure, nor laugh,
nor skip carelessly along, like the world, which
neither hears nor knows this warning of the Lord.
But we should weep, we should discern our sins,
we should heartily lament that we have been so
corrupted by sin and that we have become unfruitful
trees; we should fear the wrath of God on this
account and pray for mercy and forgiveness.

The first thing tor us specially to learn from the
sufferings of Christ is to fear God and His anger on
account of our sins, and not to give the reins to
sin. This we must do for ourselves, for we are a
dry, unfruitful tree, which is fit only for the fire.

But the Lord teaches us still another thing here.
We should weep for ourselves and for our children ;
but for Him we should not weep, but laugh, rejoice
and be of good cheer. For why does He suffer?
He is a genuine, good and fruitful tree, and has not
deserved such a cruel fate, but bears it for our sin's
sake. And as He now proceeds to the cross it is
His only aim to perform the work of His priestly
office, and not only to pray for sinners, but also to
sacrifice His body and His life upon the altar of the



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NINTH PASSION-SEHMON.



cross for them, so that this offering may reconcile

7 O if

God, liberate poor sinners from His wrath, and
make them heirs of everlasting life. The Lord,
therefore, does not want us to think of His suffer-
ings as of something for which we should weep.
He wants us to rejoice, to glorify God, to thank
Him for His mercy, to praise, to extol and to con-
fess Him, because His going to the cross has brought
to us the grace of God, freed us from sin and death ,
and made us God's dear children.

But the first of these lessons goes down as hard
with us as the second, and the second as hard as
the first. We prefer the ways of the world to the
warning and advice of the Lord Jesus. We should
weep for ourselves, because sin has polluted us so,
and because so terrible a judgment awaits us. But
where is the man to be found who weeps? The
deeper men sink into the slime of sin, the more
secure and joyful they grow. Man deems his joy,
glory and life perfect, as we have said several times
before, when he has numerous occasions for sinning.
Xo sum of money can satiate the miser's maw.
The more advantage the greedy man can take aud
the freer access to gain he has, the happier he
becomes, and he verily imagines that he has done
his work well. Just so it is with other sins, such
as auger, lewdness, envy, pride. Who cares for
them? Who weeps for them? They are loved by
every one and every one yields to them.

How the Jews succeeded with such work we
clearly see. It behooves us, therefore, to repent
and, as the Lord now so faithfully exhorts wheu He
is about to die, to be concerned and grieved for

9



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a



157



ourselves. And it is certain, once for all, that our
sins shall be punished with eternal death unless we
are freed from them.

Even as we are disobedient with reference to the
first lesson, for no one weeps and none lament their
sins; so do we disobey in regard to the second, for
no cue wishes heartily to rejoice over the dear
Lord Jesus. Money, possessions, honor and the
like, mean and little though they be, rejoice the
heart ; while that which is exclusively grace and
life and salvation finds the heart almost chilled and
-dead, and void of all longing and desire and heart-
felt eagerness to possess this treasure.

These lessons, when attention is paid merely to
their words, are, indeed, easily and quickly learned ;
but when, on the other hand, they are to be mas-
tered in their relation to our heart and sinful
nature, the task is most difiicult and even impossible.
Our determination to invert these lessons is heredi-
tary. Instead of weeping for our sins, we laugh
about them. lustead of laughing and exulting
with all our heart that Christ has died for us, we
weep. Kow, we either regard this rejoicing on
account of Jesus as not superior to the more popular
joys of the world ; or else sin and the wrath of God
have seized our souls and banished from them the
desire and the ability to be comforted. Christ's
"Weep not for me" hardly penetrates the heart.
We weep and lament and despair as though Christ
had not died, not paid for our sins, not averted
God's anger, and not delivered us from death.

Before either lesson can be learned, therefore,
prayer is necessary. We must pray, first, that God,



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NINTH PASSION-SERMON



by His Holy Spirit, would move our hearts, disgust
us with and dissuade us from sin, and shield us
from false security. We must pray, again, that He
would kindle in our souls the flame of consolation
against sin, and seal there the confidence in the
sacrifice and satisfaction of Christ Jesus; so that
we may truly worship God, like poor sinners fear
Him, abide in repentance and trust in His goodness
with all our heart; for He does not wish us harm,
seeing that for the forgiveness of our sins He deliv-
ered His Only Begotten into death, even the death
of the cross. May our dear Lord Jesus grant ub
this. Amen.



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TENTH PASSIOJST-SERMON.

Christ Nailed to the Cross. — His Deeds,
Sufferings and Words on the Cross.

Matt 27, 33-56. And when they were come unto a place called
Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, they gave Him vinegar to
drink mingled with gall : and when He had tasted thereof, He would
not drink. And they crucified Him, and parted His garments, cast-
ing lots : that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet,
They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did
they cast lots. And sitting down they watched Him there; and set
up over His head His accusation written, This is Jesus the King of
the Jews. Then were there two thieves crucified with Him ; one on
the right hand, and another on the left. And they that passed by
reviled Him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest
the temple, and buildest it in three days, save Thyself. If Thou be
the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief
priests mocking Him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved
others ; Himself He cannot save. If He be the King of Israel, let Him
now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted
in God ; let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him : for He said,
I am the Son of God. The thieves also, which were crucified with
Him, cast the same in His teeth. Now from the sixth hour there was
darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth
hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?
that is to say, My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? Some
of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth
for Elias. And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and
filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave Him to drink.
The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save Him.
Jesos, when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the
ghost. And, behold, the vail of the temple was rent in twain from
the top to the bottom ; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
and the graves were opened ; and many bodies of the saints which
slept arose, and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and
went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now when the
centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the
earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly,
saying, Truly this was the Son of God. And many women were
there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, minister-
iug onto Him : among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the
mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children.



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160 TENTII PASSION-SERMON.

^j&ach of the four Evangelists makes a record of
(fjgg the things that occurred on the cross. Still,
sometimes one of them mentions a thing that the
rest of them omit. Before treating, therefore, on
the true doctrine taught in our text, we propose to
recite the history of the cross in its details as
furnished by all four Evangelists.

When the soldiers had brought the Lord Jesus
to Golgotha, the place for executing public male-
factors, "they gave Him," as Matthew relates',
"vinegar to drink mingled with gall." This gall
was not the gall of a live beast, but a compound of
all sorts of bitter herbs. This drink, as some sup-
pose, was given to dying criminals, to hasten their
departure. But the Lord would not drink of it,
for He had willingly yielded to this death. The
word gall is used in this sense in Deut. 29, Ps. 69,
Jer. 8, and in other places. Immediately after this,
the soldiers nailed Him to the cross and two male-
factors with Ilim, one on His right and one on His
left. The Lord Jesus, however, as the true priest
who must now attend to His priestly office, prayed
for those who crucified Him and for all poor sinners,
saying: "Father, forgive them; for they know not
what they do." We shall have occasion to see the
fruit of this prayer when we come to speak of the
malefactor on the right of Christ ; for to him it was
that Gospel and sermon, from which he learned to
know Christ as the Son of God, that He hanged
upon the cross as the atonement for the sins of the
whole world, and that after His bodily death He
would live and reign with God, His Father, in
eternity.



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161



The Evangelists announce that Pilate placed the
superscription.. "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the
Jews," written in three languages, over the head of
the Lord Jesus. It was customary to do this, sc
that every one might know why people wer«
executed, and take warning. Tht) superscription
over the head of the Lord Jesus was to serve the
special purpose of admonishing the Jews, even
while He was hanging miserably on the cross, not
to be offended in Him, but to take liim for their
Kiug. But it was in vain ! The title made them
so indignant that they accosted Pilate thus : " Write
not, The King of the Jews ; but that He said, I am
the King of the Jews." But Pilate was much dis-
pleased with them and would not alter the super-
scription, which remains an eternal testimony
against the Jews, that they could not rest until they
had crucified their King.

Hereupon the soldiers, four in number, took the
Lord Jesus' garments, separating them into four
parts. His coat, however, which was without seam,
being woven, they did not rend, but cast lots for it.
And John says that this had been prophesied in the
Scriptures. He would have us understand by this
that the taking of the Lord's garments was no
accident, but done by God's special counsel, that it
might serve the Church as an emblem ; for it shows,
first, that the world is not satisfied even when it
has put Christians to death, but takes what little
property Christians may have and plunders them.
This we can see in our old histories, where Julian
and other blood-hounds and tyrants drove poor
Christians away from their possessions and took
from them what they had. We see it not there



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102 TENTH PASSION-SERMON.

only, but we have living instances of tyrants and
bishops who are well enough pleased w T hen their
subjects, contrary to their command, eat meat, hear
Lutheran (as they call them) sermons, receive both
bread and wine in the Sacrament, and the like; for
then they have plausible reasons to oppress their
subjects, to sell or trespass upon their property, or
to tax them as they please. But we can also see
how much richer such money makes them. Money
thus unrighteously extorted devours all they have,
so that afterward they are neither blest nor pros-
perous.

The soldiers' casting lots upon the vesture of the
Lord can, no doubt, be applied to sects and heretics.
The Holy Scriptures is the coat which our Lord
Jesus puts on, and in which He can be seen and
found. This coat is woven throughout, and all its
threads are so interlocked that it cannot be cut nor
divided. But the soldiers who crucify Christ, that
is, heretics and sects, interest themselves in this
coat. Their chief fault is that they want the whole
coat, that is, that they try to convince every one
that all Scripture harmonizes with them and their
opinions. She Sacramentarians of our day serve as
an illustration. They regard the words, "This is
my body," "This is my blood/' as insignificant,
saying that they are only a single passage, while
the Bible, as they boast, is full of passages which
prove Christ to be no longer on earth, but in heaven.

The manner of all sects is to adopt a special
opinion without consulting the Word; this opiuion
then hangs continually before their eyes, like blue
glasses, and everything they see is blue, that is,
according to their own opinion. But they are



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163



knaves, as St. Paul calls them, Eph. 4, where he
admonishes us to be no more "carried about with
every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and
cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to
deceive.'' The Greek word here translated "sleight"
is kybia, which means, in English, playing at dice,
or trickery. Now, as the knave masters the die so
that it must fall to suit him, so sects and fanatics
master the Word. Every one wants the whole of
it,- and makes use of the die. But let us proceed
with the history.

As the Lord was hanging on the cross He saw
His mother and His mother's sister and John with
them, and "He saith unto His mother, Woman,
behold thy Son ! Then saith He to the disciple,
Behold thy mother !"

After this, men of every station began the most
heartless scoffing. The chief priests, scribes and
elders, as Matthew writes, said, "He saved others;
let Him save Himself, if He be Christ, the chosen
„ of God." With such pointed, poisonous words
they wished not only to insult the Lord, but also
to alienate from Him the people, so that they would
not respect Him, so that they would slight and
despise all the miracles they had seen and all the
sermons they had heard, and so that they would
regard Him as a blasphemer. The soldiers, who as
Gentiles cared not about God, mocked Him in a
different way, giving Him vinegar to drink, "and
saying, If Thou be the King of the Jews, save
Thyself."

Finally, even one of the malefactors "railed on
Him, saying, If Thou be Christ, save Thyself and
us." But the other rebuked him for this, saying:



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TENTH PASSION-SKRMOX,



And dost even thou not fear God ? There thou
hangest and in less than an hour or two all will be
over with thee. Thou hast all thy life been a
scoundrel, like myself, and hast well deserved this
punishment. Is it not high time to think of thy
salvation and to leave such foolish words unspoken?
After giving this reproof he turned to the Lord
and said, "Remember me when Thou comest into
Thy kingdom." And Jesus answered, "Verily. I
say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in
paradise.' ,

In the mean time came deep darkness, most
unnatural and terrible. The agony of death pressed
from the Lord the cry : "My God, my God, why
hast Thou forsaken me ?" The Jews well enough
understood the meaning of this cry; still their
bitterness and their fierceness urged them to pervert
Christ's word and say : "This man calleth for Elias.
. . . . Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to
save Him !"

"Jesus knowing that all things were now accom- ,
plished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saith,
I thirst." Then the soldiers took a sponge filled
"with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it
to His mouth. When Jesus therefore had received
the vinegar, He said, It is finished." By these
words He meant to say: The world and the devil
have now done all that lies in their power, and
therefore I have now done all that the redemption
of mankind demands, and all that the Prophets
have foretold in Holy Writ; the work is done!
Then He "cried with a loud voice, .... Father,
into Thy hands I commend my spirit; and having
said thus, He gave up the ghost.' '



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1G5



Immediately after, "the vail of the temple was
rent in twain from the top to the bottom," as a
testimony that the proper offering had been made
to God at last, and that now the law and its sacri-
fices, which were merely a type of the sacrifice just
made, were forever abrogated. The temple was so
constructed that the people stood to hear the Word
of God and to sing and pray in the apartment
nearest the entrance. This was separated from
another apartment, which was similar to the chan-
cels in some of our churches, into which were
admitted only the priests, who there offered sacri-
fices and did the other things belonging to the
service of God, and which, because none except the
holy priests dared enter there, was called the holy
place. Beyond this was still another apartment,
called the holy of holies, in which stood the mercy-
seat. This was separated from the holy place b}
means of a vail, beyond which no one was allowed
to go except the high priest, and he only once
every year, when he offered for his sins and for the
sins of all the people. It is this vail that the
Evangelists tell us was rent. They mention this to
testify to -us that God's services, as they were con-
ducted in the holy of holies, are ended and abolished,
and this because the highest priest, God's Son, has
offered now unto God, His Father, for the sins of
the whole world, not the blood of goats and calves,
but His own body and blood.

This rending of the vail took place while the
earth quaked so violently that the rocks rent and
that the graves of numerous saints were opened.
Out of these graves, after the resurrection of Christ,
arose many bodies of the saints, who appeared unto



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1G6



TENTH PASSION-SERMON.



many in Jerusalem, who preached concerning the
Lord Jesus and who testified that He was Christ,
the true Messiah. These ascended to heaven with
the Lord Jesus to live there forever, like Enoch
and Elias, whom God took into heaven alive, the
former before the flood .and the latter three thousand
years after the creation of the world. God desired
to preserve to His Church in every age a sure
testimony of the resurrection from the dead. The
number was greater, however, in the case before us
than it had ever been in any other case.

Now when the centurion, who had to remain at
the cross, and others, saw the earthquake aud the
other unusual "things that were done, they feared
greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God."
"And all the people that came together to that
sight, beholding the things which were done, smote
their breasts, and- returned."

All this, according to the Evangelists, took place
at the cross before Christ expired. But we cannot
consider the whole of it in one sermon. For the
present, therefore, we shall confine ourselves to two
points. First, why the Evangelists quote more
Scripture when they give the history of the passion
than on any other subject. Secondly, why God
destined His Son to die upon the cross.

The Evangelists cite so many Scripture passages
for every part of the history of Christ's sufferings,
in order to combat the offence occasioned at sight
of these sufferings, which must have sorely tried
the disciples in particular. Not only the unbeliev-
ing Jews, hut even the disciples of Jesus were
oft'ended at Christ's dying such a miserable and
ignominious death. Both the Jews and the disci-



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K>7



pies thought that if this were Christ He would
surely build up again the poor, oppressed and
ruined kingdom. Why, even after Christ's resur-
rection the disciples continued to think in this way,
for they lamented that the Lord was about to
ascend to heaven and depart from the earth, and at
the mount of Olives they asked Him, "Lord, wilt
Thou al. this time restore a^ain the kingdom to
Israel P

When the Lord had now fallen into the hands of
His enemies and had suffered Himself to be slain
on the cross, all the hopes which the disciples had
entertained for His glory vanished. The two disci-
ples who went to Emmaus freely confessed this,
saying: "We trusted that it had been He which
should have redeemed Israel," as if they would say:
It is all over now ; we hoped for things different
from those which we have realized. The Jews
were offended still more seriously ; for, because the
Lord was dying so shamefully and would not save
Himself, they regarded Him, in spite of His miracles
and sermons, as an impostor, and tauntingly de-
manded that He should come down from the cross
if He were the Son of God, so that they might
believe in Him. The Jews hated Jesus, the disciples
loved Him; the Jews rejoiced in His misfortune,
the disciples were saddened and discouraged by it.
Notwithstanding that they were thus differently
disposed toward Christ, they all, both disciples and
Jews, thought that it was all over with Him now
and that He was not the true Messiah.

But how must we account for this opinion and
for such offence? Simply thus: they left the
Scriptures out of sight and had not diligently



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K5.S



TENTH PASSION-SERMON



studied the Prophets. For it is. written in the
Prophets, Isa. 53, that the Messiah must suffer and
die. The Scriptures, Isa. 53, declare that He should
he "numbered with the transgressors." In the 41.
Ps. and in the 11. chap, of Zech. we are told that
His "own familiar friend" should betray Him and
sell Him for "thirty pieces of silver." The 22. Ps.
plainly tells us that the soldiers should part His
garments among them, and cast lots upon His
vesture, while the 69. declares that when He shall
thirst in His agony upon the cross they shall give
Him vinegar to drink. It had been prophesied
that there should not a bone of Him be broken and
that a spear should pierce His side, Ex. 12, Zech.
12, &c. Now, if the disciples and the Jews had
carefully studied the writings of the Prophets, in-
stead of finding cause for offence in Christ's suffer-
ings and scandalous death, they would have found
comfort therein. If they had studied the Scrip-
tures, the fact that it came to pass just as the Holy
Spirit, who cannot lie nor err, through the Prophets
and in the Psalms, had predicted concerning Christ,
would have led them to the firm conclusion that
this was the Messiah indeed. But they gave no
heed to the Scriptures, and therefore could not
resist the offence which, like a flood, swept them
away, so that they eutirely lost Christ.

The Apostles personally experienced the disad-
vantage of departing from the Scriptures and not
following them, and therefore continually quote
the Scriptures as they write the history of the pas-
sion. By so doing they would say : It seems ridic-
ulous that the crucified Jesus, who hangs there so
miserably upon the cross, and who was treated so



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1G1>



unmercifully and with such excessive wantonness
by the soldiers, should be the Son of God and the
true Messiah. But let us not be offended in Him !
If we notice what the Holy Spirit had predicted
long before through the Prophets concerning the
Messiah, we shall find that this Jesus is the true
Messiah, and that He bore what had been appointed
for the Messiah to bear. It is most certainly true
that if we do not hold to the Word we shall not be
able to defend ourselves against the least offence.
We are lost unless we take refuge in the Word.

Every one should, for this reason, flee, as if the
devil himself were in pursuit, from sects and fanatics,
like the Pope, the Sacramentariaus and others, who
try to substitute human notions for the written
Word. If we yield to such as these, we step, as it
were, from the rock into the quicksand, where, the
more we try to gain a foot-hold, the more we sink,
and where it is impossible to save ourselves. God's
Word alone is the true and enduring rock that
affords a sure foundation. Let him, therefore, who
would walk in the right way, see that he has God's
Word. When Christ says, "This is my body,"
"this is my blood," let him believe and not follow
the deceivers who say, It is mere bread, it is mere
wine. When Christ says, "He that believeth on
me shall never see death," let him believe it and
not obey the Pope, who points him to the sacrifice
of the mass, to the intercession of saints and to
good works. Then he may be sure that he is right,
and that he has escaped the offence.

We now propose briefly to consider also the
second point, viz. : why it was decreed in God's
especial counsel that God's Son, our Lord and



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TENTH PASSION-SERMON.



Saviour, should die just as He did ; for the Jews
held the death upon the cross as the most offensive
and disgraceful, and as far more detestable than we
hold the death upon the gallows or the wheel. We
find the reason for this written Dent. 21 : u And if
a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and
he be to be put to death, and thou haug him on a
tree, his body shall not remain all night upon the
tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day;
(tor lie that is hanged is accursed of God ;) that
thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God
giveth thee for an inheritance."

Now, it is indifferent whether God pronouuces
this severe judgment upon those hanged in view of
the future calamity that His Son Himself should be
thus slain, or in view of the past calamity that
disobedient man fell in Paradise and ate of the
forbidden fruit. The chief and most important
consideration here is, that we should learn and
remember well that God calls all those accursed
who die on the tree. For from this it immediately
follows that, since Christ also died on a tree, He
too became a curse and was called accursed. Hence
the devil and the world took particular delight in
bringing upon Him that very death which God
Himself had called accursed. Paul, however,
teaches us how we must understand this passage in
Deut., and whether its contents ought to be a sub-
ject for joy or for offence ; for in speaking of it he
says, Gal. 3 :

"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the
law, being made a curse for us ; for it is written,
Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree; that
the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gen-



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS. 171

tiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive
the promise of the Spirit through faith."

We should, by all means, consider this passage
carefully. Paul very nicely brings the two little
words, "curse" and "blessing," side by side, and
leads us back to the promise made to Abraham
when God said, "In thy seed shall all the nations
of the earth be blessed." For it follows that, if in
Abraham's seed all the nations of the earth were to
be blessed, all the nations of the earth must have
been under the curse ; else they would not have
needed a promise of blessing. Again, this seed, in
which the blessing was to come, must have been
that only blessed seed, with which God is not
wroth, but which He accompanies with pure grace
and blessing. It is plain, however, who this seed
of Abraham is ; namely, Jesus Christ, born of the
virgin Mary, the Only Begotten of the Father, and
the only one full of grace and truth. All others,
counting from Adam to the very last man, are not
children of grace by nature, but God is angry with
them and hostile to them, and they are not blessed,
but cursed. And why ? Because they all are sinners.

But behold the result! The blessed seed of Abra-
ham is nailed to that tree, or cross, to which God
refers wheu He says, "Cursed is every one that
hangeth on a tree ;" and it is therefore no longer
called the blessed seed, but the accursed. Paul
comes out boldly with this, saying, Christ was
"made a curse." Let us hear the reason for this.

It is we who, on account of our sins, are a curse,
and under the wrath of God. Christ, the only
begotten Son of God, is full of grace and truth.
How, then, dees He come to he nailed to the tree?



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172 TENTH PASSION-SERMON.

Why does He thrust Himself under the wrath of
God? It was for our sake, Paul tells us ; "He was
made a curse for us f He desired to bear God's
wrath and atone for our sins, that we might be
made blessed, that is, receive the Holy Spirit, be
freed from sin, and become the children of God.
This may be illustrated by the case of a poor beggar
who has many debts, but is unable to pay them ;
another man, who is able to pay these debts, comes
to his assistance, becomes his surety, thus making
himself a debtor, and pays the poor man's debts.
Paul expresses this very nicely, Rom. 8 : "The law
could not" deliver us from sin and death, and so
God Himself helped us. He sent "His own Son in
the likeness of sinful flesh," that is, His Son became
man, assuming our flesh and blood. And God "for
sin, condemned sin in the flesh," that is, God has
made us free from sin through His only begotten
Son, who became a sin-offering and had to atone
for sin, thus bringing the blessing of Abraham
upon us who were under the curse. In 2 Cor. 5,
Paul himself interprets this latter: God "hath made
Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin ; that we
might be made the righteousness of God in Him."

Christ, therefore, became both "a curse," and
afterward also "sin," that is, a sin-offering, upon
which rest the sins of all men, and hence also the
wrath of God and a miserable death. Since these
things rest upon this offering, we are relieved, for
they rest on us no longer. This is the reason why
John the Baptist calls Him a Lamb, meaning a
sheep for the slaughter, a Sacrifice, appointed by
. God to take away the sins of the whole world.

And the Lord Himself says, John 12 : "And I, if I

9*



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS. lT^i

be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto
me." And again, John 3: "As Moses lifted up
the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son
of man be lifted up ; that whosoever believeth in
Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Paul says that he did not know anything and
was "determined not to know anything," "save
Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." Christ was
■crucified so that He might sanctify, deliver and
justify us, who, had we been left to ourselves,
would have eternally remained and perished under
sin and death, and under the tyranny of Satan.

And should we now be offended at the cross?
Was it, after all, an ignominious death ? We should
heartily thank God that His Son hangs upon the
cross, bearing the curse under which we should
still be on account of our sins. There He hangs as
one condemned, and as one whom God hates and
visits now with shame and want and agony. This
is so, .Paul says, for thy sake and for my sake, that
the blessing might come on us. For if the curse
had continued to rest on us, we would never have
received the blessing. But lo, the blessed Seed
draws near and takes the curse, which rests on us,
upon Himself, and the blessing, which rests on
Him, He gives to us. Since He would and should
become a curse for us, no other death except this
death on the cross was suitable, for this is the
death which God's Word had declared accursed.

Let us, then, thoroughly learn here to judge, not
according to what the eye perceives, but according
to what the Word of God declares. According to
appearances the Lord Jesus' death is a shameful
death and, as God Himself calls it, an accursed



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TENTH PASSION-SERMON.



death ; and the tree on which He dies, an execrable
tree, — a cursed cross, and this because all our sins
hang on it. For sin and the curse, or God's anger,
and every misfortune, — all these belong together.
Therefore Isaiah says: "Many were astonished at
Thee; His visage was so marred more than any
man, and His form more than the sons of men."
Again : "When we shall see Him, there is no
beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised
and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and
acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our
faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed
Him not." This is the way these things appear,
and it is impossible for human reason to see them
in a different light, because God calls every one
accursed who dies on a tree. The cross is cursed;
He who hangs on it. is cursed; the cause of His
hanging there is also cursed, for sin demands the
curse ; and the greater the number of sins that lie
on the Lord Jesus, the greater also the curse.

But let us look a little further and find what
follows from this that Christ, the blessed Seed, dies
such an accursed death and becomes a curse for us
Himself. Paul, in very appropriate words, states
this as the result : "That the blessing of Abraham
might come on the Gentiles," and that thus "we
might receive the Holy Spirit." This we find to be
altogether different from that which we can see
with the bodily eye. This disgraceful death which
God has cursed is an offence to the eye, but to us it
is a blessed death, for it takes the curse away from
us and brings God's blessing to us. The tree which
in itself is an accursed tree, is for us a blissful tree.
It is that precious altar, upon which God's Son



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS. 175

•

offers Himself to God, His Father, for our sins. It
is that glorious altar, at which He appears as the
true and eternal priest. For He is brought to the
tree, and He makes it a blessed altar, that we might
be released from sin, and receive God's grace and
be God's children.

No wonder, then, that the old teachers enter-
tained such excellent thoughts about the cross and
the accursed tree. There in Paradise, they say, a
beautiful tree occasioned our falling into sin and
death ; here, however, an old, dry, yes accursed tree
occasioned our deliverance from sin and our receiv-
ing everlasting life. Here hangs God's Son with
arms extended as a testimonv that He will cast no-
one out, but gladly receive everv one and draw all
unto Him, as He savs He will, John 12. His head
is lifted toward heaven, pointing out to us the way
of life eternal. His feet reach toward the ground
where they bruise the head of Satan, that old ser-
pent creeping on the earth, forcing from him all
his power. That power over us which Satan
received because of our sins he surely loses now, in
virtue of the clear Lord Jesus' hanging on the cross,
where He atones for our sins with His death and
becomes a curse in our stead.

Therefore, let us here learn to acknowledge and
to praise our merciful heavenly Father's gracious
will toward us. For He spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up to die, yea, to die upon the
cross, and suffered Him to be made a curse ; so that
we might obtain the blessing, be set free from sin,
receive the Holy Spirit, and through Him become
God's children and be eternally saved. God grant
this to us all. Amen.



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ELEVENTH PASSION-SERMON.

Christ's Prayer on the Cross.— The Malefactor

on the Right.

Luke 23, 32-43. And there were also two others, malefactors, led
with Him to be put to death. And when they were come to the place
which is called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the malefactors,
one on the right hand, and the other on the left. Then said Jesus,
Father, forgive them ; for they know not what they do. And they
parted His raiment, and cast lots. And the people stood beholding.
And the rulers also with them derided Him, saying, He saved others;
let Him save Himself, if He be Christ, the chosen of God And the
soldiers also mocked Him, coming to Him, and offering Him vinegar,
and saying. If Thou be the King of the Jews, save Thyself. And a
superscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, and
Latin, and Hebrew, This is the King of the Jews. And one of the
malefactors which were hanged railed on Him, saying, If Thou be
Christ, save Thyself and us. But the other answering, rebuked him,
saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condem-
nation ? and we indeed justly ; for we receive the due reward of our
deeds : but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto
Jesus, Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou
be with me in paradise.

he holy Evangelist here mentions two things
that are very consolatory. Therefore, al-
though the other Evangelists have omitted them in
their record of Christ's sufferings, we shall treat of
them here, so that this record may be before us in
its completeness. The first of these things is, that
Christ, immediately after the cross, to which He
had been nailed, was erected, began to pray, saying,
"Father, forgive them; for they know not what
they do." The other thing we wish to notice is,
that the malefactor on the right of Christ, hearing
this prayer, learned from it that Jesus was the Son




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of God aud the very Christ, and therefore desired
to be remembered by Him when He should have
come into His kingdom.

Let us now consider these two things, for they
are full of consolation and we can never sufficiently
meditate upon them nor explain them. And,
besides all this, it is necessary for us, not only to
behold the works and sufferings of this Man, but
also most carefully to heed the words proclaimed
by Him ; for these declare the reason of His deeds
and sufferings, and their consequence.

It is of the greatest importance, however, to dis-
tinguish between the suffering of our Lord Jesus
and that of all other men. This distinction is
momentous, not only because Jesus Christ is eternal
God, who created heaven and earth and all things,
but also because His suffering had a peculiar cause,
and because the benefit, or fruit, of His suffering is
such that it could not have been produced by the
suffering of any other man, or of an angel, or of
any creature. He suffered, as you lately heard, not
for Himself, but for us, that we might be delivered
from sin and death. This we also learn from the
words He here speaks in our text, which words it
behooves every Christian to observe and to entwine
in his soul as his most precious treasure and com-
fort.

The words He spoke upon the cross, "Father,
forgive them; for they know not what they do,"
clearly show, that He was attending to His true
priestly office even while suspended in the air upon
the cross; and that He was fulfilling the work
which brought Him to earth, not only with His
suffering, in that He sacrificed Himself, but also



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with prayer, both sacrifice and prayer belonging to
the office of the priest. Christ tells us that the
sacrifice consisted chiefly in His sanctifying Himself
for our sakes, so that we "also might be sanctified
through the truth," John 17; or, according to
John 10, in His laying down His u life for the
sheep." There are many more passages of this
kind, all of which show that His sufferings were
not to be for Himself, but for us. The zeal with
which He here performed this work and offered
this sacrifice was such that He even prayed that
the Father would forgive those who crucified Him,
— that He would pardon and not punish their sin.
He prayed thus that all might know why He was
brought to the cross, and that they might receive
comfort from this knowledge.

This prayer, therefore, should teach us, first of
all, that our dear Lord Jesus is a priest, and that
He fulfilled the duties of His priestly office there
upon the cross. To pray for sinners is, indeed, one
of the proper employments of the priesthood.
Now, Aaron, serving under the law, was invested
with peculiar priestly apparel made for glory and
for beauty. But would we know with what priestly
robes Christ was clad and what the altar was at
which He served, we need merely look at the cross.
There we see Him entirely naked, full of wounds
and void of every trace of sacerdotal splendor.
Still He attended to His priestly duties most per-
fectly and carefully, even praying for His foes. Let-
us not be offended at His unpriestly appearance,
for the work of this Priest has a significance en-
tirely different from that of Moses' priests. This
difference we learn even from the superscription



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written over Him, which declares Him to be "The
King of the Jews," the correctness of which title
He had Himself publicly and clearly confessed
before Pilate.

Neither does this title harmonize with His
appearance. Instead of wearing a scarlet robe, His
body is covered with blood and wounds and bruises.
Instead of a golden crown. He wears a crown of
thorns. There upon the cross we see a Priest and
King, of whom the world is ashamed, whom the
world despises, and whom it regards as neither
King nor Priest. This is just what Isaiah says :
"When we shall see Him, there is no beauty that
we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected
of men ; a man of sorrows and acquainted with
grief: and, we hid as it were our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we esteemed Him not." This
Priest offers us His own body and blood upon the
cross in a place that was dishonored, desecrated,
yea, accursed. This shall ever be our dearest,
loveliest and most graceful garment, no matter how
it is regarded by the world and the natural eye.
Bulls, heifers and calves were sacrificed in the tem-
ple upon a consecrated altar, but Christ sacrifices
Himself upon an altar that was not consecrated.
Gallows and places of execution are to this day
horrid and dishonorable, and Moses writes: "He
that is hanged is accursed of God." Now, the
world thinks it disgraceful and dishonorable that
this Priest was not permitted to bring His offering
even to the place where heifers and calves were
sacrificed. But this was for us and for our good,
that we might learn that He has brought a fully
satisfactory offering for our sins, as it was stated



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already in the preceding sermon. Since our sins
could not be atoned for and removed by any other
than this Priest who is the eternal Son of God, it is
our fault that He could not have a more honorable
altar and a more precious garment. This is no
hindrance, however, to the discharge of His office.
He not only does offer His body and blood, but also
prays for poor, ignorant sinners.

We should, therefore, be heartily comforted
because of this Priest and His office. Even as He
suffers not alone for those who were present at His
crucifixion, took hold of Him and nailed Him to
the cross, so neither does He pray for them alone,
but also for us, otherwise the prayer of Christ
would receive too limited an interpretation. Those
present then were merely our servants, and minis-
ters. Had it not been my sin aud thy sin that
nailed the Lord Jesus to the cross, these men would
surely not have been able to molest Him.

He now comes forward as the true High Priest
and Lamb of God, by the sacrifice of Himself to
atone for the sins of all the world and to conquer
death for men, and this is the only reason why the
Jews and Gentiles receive power to harm Him.
Thus we see that when He prays for those who
crucify Ilim, He prays for us and all men, who by
our sins had furnished the cause for His crucifixion
and death. For this reason we should not regard
the gallows, or the cross, on which Christ suffered,
as anything else than that altar, upon which He
offers up His life and at which He discharges the
priestly duty of prayer, to the end that we might
be free from sin and everlasting death. For who-
ever takes sin away, takes away death also, because
10



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when sin is gone then death has lost its power, and
therefore hell also.

Christ, our only and eternal High Priest, is the
One who has done this for us on the cross. He has
reconciled us to God, without the intervention of
our works, by His own sufferings, haviug been
made a curse for us, having died upon the cross for
our sins, and having finally prayed for sinners.
Let us, therefore, not forget heartily to thank Him
for this.

True, even popery preaches on this theme. But,
although the text tells us so clearly and the history
relates to us so plainly that Christ sacrificed Him-
self upon the cross for our benefit, and that He
suffered in our stead, popery uses many words to
make the populace believe that men mast be their
own priests, that they themselves must sacrifice for
sin, and that their own works must merit life
eternal. Therefore, when we now teach, and God
be praised that we do teach it, that the Evangelists
plainly write that Christ, the true and eternal High
Priest, has delivered us from death and obtained
everlasting life for us by the sacrifice of Himself,
the blind and wretched hirelings of the Pope curse
and condemn the divine truth and call it scandalous
heresy. Terrible and woeful auger, blindness and
punishment has surely been poured out upon the
ungrateful world in that the blasphemers, these
Papists, themselves confess and preach that Christ
offered Himself on the cross for us, and, at the
same time, rage against us and shed innocent blood
because we teach this doctrine and point the people
to this sure and everlasting consolation. Truly,
this is a realization of Isaiah's denunciation against



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the despisers of God's Word : "Hear ye indeed, but
understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive
not," and receive ye a hardened and foolish heart.
If this were not the ease it would be inexplicable
why they so lightly esteem this Sacrifice and place
all their confidence in their own, man-appointed
works, such as cities, garments and food, "which
all," Paul says, "are to perish with the using." 0,
why will men not take the consolation offered here,
viz., that Christ sacrificed His body and His life
and, praying for us, said : Father, here am I, a
Mediator between Thee and poor sinners; I die
for them ; I give myself for them ; be gracious unto
them.

Notwithstanding that our adversaries themselves
read, confess and preach this, they will continue to
yell and foam at it and to condemn us as heretics.
Well, this is the visitation of God's dreadful wrath
upon them. May the Lord in mercy shield us
against such visitation. But should He ever suffer
us to fall, I pray that He would let us fall into a
sin which we may feel and ackn6wledge, and not
into one that bids direct defiance to His grace and
that is looked upon as holiness, whose outward
features it assumes.

Let us, therefore, open our hearts and behold
Christ, our High Priest, in His proper priestly gar-
ment and at His proper priestly work. The eye
does not see Him arrayed in beauty or in wealth,
but finds Him ignominiously hanging there in
misery and wretchedness. But if we look into His
heart we shall discover ornaments so bright and
treasures so rich that we can never thank Him for



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them sufficiently. He is adorned, in the first place,
with that most sincere obedience in which He
glorifies His Father by permitting Himself to be
spit upon, scourged and tortured. In this life we
cannot fully comprehend the glory of this orna-
ment; still we can understand enough of it to
know that all pearls and purple and gold are
nothing beside it. His other ornament is that
great love He has for us which makes Him care so
little about His life and His sufferings, almost for-
getting them in the heart-felt interest He takes in
our condition and in our need, and praying for us
rather than for Himself. We cannot sufficiently
understand such love as this ; for in the heart of
the Lord there is burning such a flame of love for
us, that He does not seem to see or to feel His own
most severe suffering, torture and disgrace, but only
considers and perceives and cares for thy and my
misery, distress and affliction.

We cannot help acknowledging that the love of
the Lord, who is so concerned about us that He
entirely overlooks Hi6 own danger, injury and
pain, is indeed a mighty, burning love. Father
and mother, when their dear child is in danger or
want, rush through the fire to save it, caring not
for their own safety, but only for that of their
child. The love of our Lord Jesus is also such that
He passes through affliction as through a fire, to
grasp us with the hand of mercy and affection.
Now, this is the fitting garment with which our
eternal High Priest is arrayed. This is not an outer
vestment for the eye of reason to behold; but the
eye of faith perceives it in Jesus within, as His
words also sufficiently testify.



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The chief thing in the entire history of the pas-
sion is that Christ gave Himself for us and, caring
for nothing as much as for our deliverance, reached
toward us, and pursued us through all manner of
affliction as through a fire. To this main point we
should pay especial attention, and cling to it so
closely that it cannot be wrested from our hands.

We have need of this doctrine not only as a
source of comfort, but also as a source of strength,
with which to counteract the poison prescribed to
the people by the Pope, who would lift them into
heaven by their own righteousness and work and
merit. If our works could have done this, why
was it necessary for Christ, the Son of God, to suffer?
But here we find Him obediently and patiently
bringing His offering, His own body and life, and
beseeching His Father to have mercy and to for-
give. This is proof sufficient that nothing of the
kind could have been accomplished with our works ;
for it is not as easy a thing to obtain forgiveness of
sins as the Papists dream. True, it is easy enough
to put on a cowl and to fast, keep vigils and sing a
great deal ; but to come into possession of pardon
for sin requires something quite different from our
filthy works, and something far greater. If we rely
on our fasts and vigils and prayers, we will have to
wait quite a while indeed to receive help of God !
But Isaiah states the plan : "He was wounded for
our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniqui-
ties;" "He hath borne our griefs." The Papists
themselves are constrained to confess that the suf-
ferings and death of the Lord Jesus are far exalted
above our prayers, our good works, our sufferings,
our charity, our fasting. He, therefore, who tries



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to atone for sin with such things as these, shall
surely not succeed. To succeed in this requires, as
Isaiah clearly says, a different man and different
works and merits. Therefore, he who would apply
his own merits to the removing of sin, blasphemes
the death and sacrifice and prayer of Christ, because
he makes his own prayer and offering equal, nay,
superior, to the offering and prayer of Christ.
Against this abomination we must diligently guard.

The Lord does not however, pray at random, but
makes a distinction between those for whom He
prays and others, saying, "Father, forgive them;
for they know not what they do." He thus desig-
nates two classes of sinners. Some know that they
do wrong, and still do so without fear, prompted by
pure malice and hatred against the acknowledged
divine truth. These commit the "sin unto death,"
as it is called 1 John 5, that is, the sin against the
Holy Ghost, if they continue in such willful sin
and do not confess, abstain from and ask forgiveness
for it, but remain impenitent to the end, and besides
blaspheme the Word of God and the truth which
cannot be gainsaid, as most of the Papists now are
doing.

The Papists know that our doctrine is true and
divine; they know that Christ commanded us to
receive the whole Sacrament, that He did not forbid
matrimony, that He gave no command concerning
the sacrifice of the mass, and that He died for our
sins. Still, they condemn us, who hold these doc-
trines, as heretics, and punish those of their subjects
whom they discover believing our doctrine and
using the Sacrament as it was instituted by Christ.
This is wailful persecution of the truth, and there-



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fore not a sin of ignorance. They commit this sin
in such a way that it cannot be forgiven them; for
it is a sin that is in direct conflict with forgiveness,
because it is neither abandoned nor confessed.
Forgiveness of sin demands that sin be both con-
fessed and renounced.

Other sinners sin ignorantly. But we must
understand their case correctly. David, for in-
stance, knew well enough that he was doing wrong
and sinning against God in taking the wife of
Uriah and then having him slain. But his carnal
lust and the devil so impetuously impelled him to
the deed that he committed it before rightly con-
sidering what he was doing. Afterward, however,
he confessed his sin, was grieved by it, wished that
he had not committed it, and prayed for mercy.

We all are encumbered with this sin and are
easily and unawares led astray. Sometimes we fall
through fear, sometimes through carelessness and
weakness, like Peter, and sometimes through pre-
sumptuousness. Such sins Christ bore with Him
to the cross and for such He prayed ; for these are
bare and naked sins, which are not inconsistent
with grace, being recognized and confessed and
their forgiveness being sought. Thus we often find
that harlots, villains, murderers, and other wicked
people, who know that they have done wrong and
make no attempt at justifying themselves, find
mercy. To the believer God does not impute such
acknowledged sins, because the sacrifice of Christ
is interposed between them and God. But they
who knowingly and willfully persist in sin and
even excuse their sins, sin against the Holy Ghost
and deny the grace of God. For them Christ does



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not pray here, but only for those who kuow not
what they do, and who, as said before, fall through
fear, weakness and the like. The latter can rely
upon the offering and prayer of Christ and can be
assured that their sins are forgiven, for Christ here
prays for them, and His prayer was surely accepted.
We must not doubt this, but find in it consolation
and joy.

So much it was meet briefly to say concerning
Christ's prayer on the cross, with which He declares
why He is suffering there, namely, that they who
sin ignorantly and then repent might, for His sake,
have a merciful God, who does not impute to them,
but graciously forgives, their sin.

Let us now look a little also at the historv of the
malefactor on the right of Christ. We can nowhere
find an incident of more remarkable beauty than
here. The poor fellow cannot deny his sins; he
knows that he has sinned, and that he must now
die for his sins. He cannot, therefore, boast before
God of any good works, or of any merit of his own.
He even reproves his comrade, who, railing on the
Lord Jesus, said, "If Thou be Christ, save Thyself
and us," by answering him thus : We are indeed
justly punished, "for we receive the due reward of
our deeds : but this Man hath done nothing amiss."
He thus confesses that he had well deserved that
dreadful death. It is a matter of astonishment,
therefore, in the first place, that, having every
reason to fear God on account of his sins, the male-
factor still was confident, as we shall hear, that the
Lord Jesus would take him with Him into His
kingdom.



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It is a matter of great astonishment, in the second
place, that this one man did not stumble at the
huge stumbling-stone laid in his way by the entire
council of Jerusalem, including the temporal and
spiritual government, which mocked and reviled
the Lord Jesus. The chief spiritual rulers said:
"He saved others, let Him save Himself, if He be
Christ, the Chosen of God." The soldiers also
mocked Him, saying, "If Thou be the King of the
Jews, save Thyself ;" for the superscription written
over Him declared that He was "Jesus of Nazareth,
the King of the Jews." The malefactor crucified
on the left of Christ said : "If Thou be Christ, save
Thyself and us." This he said, not because he
desired help, but because he wanted to insult and
ridicule the Lord. In short, the whole world is
offended in Christ, who hangs on the cross, and it
does not esteem Him. Even the disciples, although
a part of them stood by the cross, had lost all hope.

The poor malefactor on the right alone steps
over the rock of offence and dares to call Christ,
who hangs on the cross at his side, a Lord and
King. He gives the lie to all the world, cares not
what others think of him, and proclaims Christ to
be an everlasting King. These are his words:
"Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thv
kingdom." He calls Christ a Lord, savs He has a
kingdom, and desires Him, when He shall have
entered His kingdom, to remember him. Now,
the time rendered it certain, that neither of them
c ould live till evening. Therefore he believes that
Christ is the Lord of another and an eternal life.
This faith and this confession, found, as it was, in



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181)



the midst of a world that despaired of Christ and
hated Him, must have been indeed a great and
exquisite faith, —a glorious confession.

The question may occur to us, whence could the
malefactor have obtained this abundant and accurate
knowledge, by which he was able to recognize and
proclaim Christ as the Lord of eternal life, or who
could have been his instructor ? Without a doubt,
he learned this alone from Christ's prayer on the
cross. The prophet Isaiah, chap. 53, declares that
the Messiah should suffer and be "numbered with
the transgressors," and also that He should bear
"the sins of many and make intercession for the
transgressors." This prophecy was fulfilled on the
cross. The innocent Lord, who had done no evil,
hangs there between two murderers. And as He
begins to pray, and says, "Father, forgive them ;
for they know not what they do," the malefactor
catches the little word "Father." People were not
in the habit of conversing with God in this way.
Christ is the only One who can speak thus to God,
and He it is who has taught us thus to speak. The
malefactor hence concludes that Christ must be
<^od's Son, and recognizes Him, by His praying for
-sinners, as the true Messiah, or Christ. The quoted
passages from Isaiah, and similar passages from
other prophets which he had heard, either in the
temple at Jerusalem, or elsewhere in some syna-
gogue, but which he had not understood, now, no
doubt, occurred to him. He takes these passages
together, and the Holy Spirit makes these prophe-
cies so bright and clear to his soul that he can con-
tain himself no longer, but confesses with his lips



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190 ELEVENTH PASSION-SERMON.

what he believes in his heart, and says, <\Lord r
remember me when Thou comest into Thy king-
dom."

He would say : Thou art the Son of God. For
our sins Thou sutfer£st on earth this dreadful death
upon the cross. But Thou shalt afterward ascend
into an everlasting kingdom and be Lord over alL
There, 0 Lord, remember me ! I am willing now
to die, for I have well deserved death. But do
Thou not forget me when Thou comest into Thy
kingdom. — Behold, what a deep knowledge of
Christ Jesus this man derived from Christ's short
prayer ! This prayer was the sermon that taught
him true wisdom.

The knowledge and confession of Christ which
proceeded from the malefactor on the cross, is the
very same knowledge and confession by which God
preserves the Christian Church to-day. Though
everything else should fail, and emperors, kings,
popes and bishops cease to be, God will still retain
a small company that shall have His Spirit and
that shall confess His name before the world.
When the disciples, and others who are closely
allied to the Lord Jesus, refuse to confess and
believe, and deny the Lord through fear, and are
offended in Him and desert Him, then some male-
factor or murderer must appear, to confess this
Christ, to preach concerning Him, and to teach
others what they should think of Him and why
they should be comforted in Him. The Lord our
God is determined not to leave Christ without
followers who confess Him, even if He must have
recourse to the thief upon the gallows, or the
murderer upon the wheel.



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191



This is, therefore, a consoling history; for it
teaches us, first of all, that they who follow Christ
and receive all mercy from Him, are none other
than those sinners who confess their sins and
heartily pray for grace; these shall receive grace
and mercy. With His previous prayer, "Father,
forgive them," &c, His present action corresponds;
He suffers now, that sin may be forgiven. And
then, upon the cross, before He dies, the dear Lord
soon proves, in the case of the malefactor, or mur-
derer,' how beneficial and powerful His sufferings
are and what they avail. He there proves that His
sufferings benefit all poor sinners who, with the
malefactor, believe and confess that Christ is an
eternal King; that by His agony, death and resur-
rection He has acquired for them the forgiveness of
their sins and their deliverance from everlasting
death ; and that He will take them into His eternal
kingdom.

Hence we can conclude with such certainty as
not to entertain the vestige of a doubt, that Christ
did not offer Himself on the cross for saints, for no
mortal, let him be who he may, is holy of himself;
but that He offered Himself for sinners, for He
came to call sinners to repentance and not the
righteous, as He Himself says, Matt. 9. Therefore,
he who tries to get to heaven by means of a holy
life, good works, and personal merits, deceives
himself. He who does not confess himself a sinner,,
can find no access to the Lord Jesus; for Christ did
not die for His own, but for the sinner's sake.

Christ converted the malefactor on the cross into
a saint, not suffering him to remain and to perish
in his sins. We should therefore regard this his-



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ELEVENTH PASSION-SERMON.



tory as an example showing by very deed what the
Redeemer sought and acquired by His sufferings,
and what He accomplished by the priestly sacrifice
and prayer which He ottered on the cross. He took
sin upon Himself, not because He delights in sin,
neither because He would have us remain under
sin and continue in iniquity. No, He suffers for
sinners so that they need not go on in sin, and so
that they may become converted and be pious and
holy. This His purpose was accomplished in the
case of the malefactor, who, being converted,
accused himself of sin, but still trusted in the Lord
Jesus, believing that God, through Him and for
His sake, would forgive his sins and give him life
-eternal.

The malefactor is thus made an entirely different
man. His shameful and justly merited death now
becomes a real act of divine service. He sutlers no
longer as a murderer, but as a saint. He dies in
the true confession and in heart-felt confidence in
for his sins. He now begins to obey God and to
do many good works. With his sufferings lie
honors and praises God. Publicly, before all the
world, he glorifies the crucified Jesus, exhorting
and admonishing every one to repent and to believe
in this Lord. In short, his faith in Christ does not
only cause him to be a saint, but it even bears him
into paradise and into everlasting life, according to
Christ's promise: "To-day shalt thou be with me,
in paradise."

Let us follow this example and not act like the
rude and ungodly, who say: I will sin so that
Christ may have a chance to save me and to show



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me mercy. No, no ; but let us say : I am born in
sin and am full of filth and evil lusts. It is, there-
fore, not necessary for me first to sin in order to be
able to confess myself a sinner. I have, alas, been
only too great a sinner from the very beginning !
I am already under the curse of God and condemned
to eternal death. Therefore, since God in infinite
compassion calls me to repentance, will I now turn
myself unto Him and take refuge in this Lord,
whose sulferiug has ransomed sinners, and whose
innocent death has delivered me from the death so
well deserved and long since merited, and who has
reconciled me unto God !

He, however, who abuses this sermon of mercy,
and refuses to forsake and confess and repent of his
sins, may look upon the murderer on the left of
Christ and upon the rulers of the Jews and upon
the soldiers, and consider how they fared in their
wickedness and what they merited with their im-
penitent lives. If we would be benefited by the
Lord Jesus and by His agony and prayer, we must
follow the example of the malefactor who confessed
his sins and prayed for grace, and acknowledged
that Christ was the Lord and the King of everlast-
ing life. May the dear Lord Jesus, our eternal
King, grant us this. Amen.



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Christ Commits His Mother to the Care of John. —
The Soldiers do not Break the Legs of Christ,
but with a Spear Pierce His Side, from
which Blood and Water "Flow.

John 19, 25-37. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother,
and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magda-
lene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple standing
by, whom He loved, He saith unto His mother, Woman, behold thy
Son 1 Then saith He to the disciple, Behold thy mother ! And from
that hour that disciple took her unto his own home. After this,
Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scrip-
ture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel
full of vinegar : and tbey filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it
upon hyssop, and put it to His mouth, When Jesus therefore had
received the vinegar, He said, It is finished : and He bowed His bead,
and gave up the ghost. The Jews therefore, because it was the prep-
aration, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the
Babbath day, (for that sabbath day was a high day,) besought Pilate
that their legs might be broken, and that they might tie taken away.
Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the
other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus,
and saw that He was dead already, they brake not His legs : but one
of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came there
out blood and water. And he that saw it bare record, and his record
is true; and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.
For these things were done, that the Scripture should be fulfilled, A
bone of Him shall not be broken. And again another Scripture saith.
They shall look on Him whom they pierced.

( §!%t. John, toward the end of the passion history,
relates three things, about which the other
Evangelists do not write, but which are, neverthe-
less, very important in point of doctrine and con-
solation. These also must be considered, that we
may have the whole of this history before us.



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195



The first of these things is, that Christ, virile on
the cross, commends His mother to John, and also
John to His mother, so that they might be inclined
toward each other as are a mother and her son, and
that they might love and in every way assist each
other. John tells us too that he immediately took
the mother of Jesus into his care and treated her
as if she had been his own mother.

This narrative is generally regarded as an illus-
tration of the fourth commandment, which says :
"Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days
may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God
giveth thee." With this accords the fact that John
lived longer than the rest of the Apostles, namely,
sixty-eight years after the resurrection. Although
this explanation is not improper as far as it goes, it
is still too narrow ; for that which the Lord does
and says here upon the cross dare not be regarded
as done and said for only a few individuals. Christ
intended His works and words to embrace the
whole world, but especially the Christian Church.

That, therefore, which Christ here says to Mary
and John alone, we must regard as a command for
all Christians and for the entire Church. Since
Christ hangs upon the cross and, by His death,
saves us all from sin and death, we must be toward
each other like a mother and her son, who in all
things sincerely love, aid and advise each other.
This is the meaning also of the command which
the Lord so often repeats during the last Supper :
"This is my commandment, that ye love one an-
other, as I have loved you ;" "A new commandment
I give unto you, That ye love one another, as I
have loved you." The love between a mother and



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her children is the deepest and most sincere that
can be found.

The Lord uses the words "mother" and "son"
with special reference to both parts of the Church,
viz., to those who teach the Word and to those who
hear. Even as a mother nourishes her infant and
diligently cares for it till it is grown up and has
become strong, so honest pastors also labor and
take pains to teach the people and render them
good Christians. Thus Paul calls his disciples,
whom he had reared as with a mother's trouble
and toil, children, 1 Cor. 4; Gal. 4; 1 Thess. 2.
The Church cannot be properly conducted unless
they who exercise the office of the ministry have
for her the affection of a mother. If they have not
this love, the result will be indolence, indifference
and unwillingness to suffer. The Lord very ex-
plicitly teaches this in the 21. chapter of John. He
there commands Peter to preach, but not until He
had three times asked him: "Simon, son of Jonas,
lovest thou me?" By this question He meant to
say: Unless thou lovest the lambs as a mother
loves her children, whom she tries to rescue from
the flames even at the peril of her own life, thou
wilt never be fit for a preacher. In thy office as
pastor, trouble, toil, ingratitude, hatred, envy and
many a cross will be thy lot. Now, if the pastors
have no motherly heart, no fervent love for the
flock, these shall receive poor care indeed.

On the other haud, again, they who have not
received the command to preach, but stand in need
of information and instruction, must deport them-
selves like sons, suffering themselves to be taught,

led, nourished, and cared for in other ways, thus
10*



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• SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS. 197

conducting themselves toward their teachers as a
pious child conducts itself toward its mother.
True, children's love for their mother is not as
great as the mother's love for her children, even as
the proverb says: Amor descendit, non ascendit.
that is, love moves downward, not upward. Still,
nature prompts pious children to honor their
parents, and to serve them and yield to them in
everything that they desire and need. When this
is the relation between mother and son, between
pastor and congregation, then all is well.

If, however, the ministers of the Church are
lacking in motherly affection, or if the hearers are
void of childlike fidelity, it is out of the question
that things should go right and that God should be
pleased. This we have sadly experienced in the
case of the Pope, the bishops and the whole priestly
rabble, for they have no such motherly love. They
think that the office was given them merely that
they might be great lords and live at their ease.
Therefore, they not only take poor care of the
sheep, but they even, to their heart's content, skin
and butcher the lambs in life, property and soul, as
we only too well see. Again, we frequently find
the deficiency in the hearers, that they, like ill-bred
children, do not properly provide for their pastors.
This is the case, among us, with peasants, with
citizens, and especially with the nobility, who deal
so closely, stingily and niggardly with their pastors,
that seldom one is found who willingly gives to the
ministry as much as he should. And this is done
in spite of St. Paul's pointed and earnest admoni-
tiou, not to communicate sparingly of our carnal
things unto them that communicate unto us spirit-



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108 TWELFTH PASSION-SERMON. '

ual things. Such ingratitude cannot fail to injure
the cause of the Gospel, neither can God's punish-
ment fail to come upon such perverse children.

We should, therefore, carefully observe and take
to heart this command of our Lord Jesus, who,
upon the cross, shows such tender solicitude both
for the teacher and the disciple, that is, for the
whole Church. Teachers and pastors He exhorts
to motherly love, and pulpits and congregations to
childlike faithfulness, gratitude and obedience. If
both parties obey these blessed instructions of our
dear Lord Jesus, all will be well and God will
bless and give success. So much for the first point.

The other two points, that no bone of Christ was
broken and that His side was pierced with a spear,
do not appear to be of much importance. Since,
however, the Evangelist John adduces the clear
testimony of the Scriptures, that Moses and Zecha-
riah had prophesied these things many centuries
before they took place, and since the Holy Spirit
speaks nothing that is useless or vain, we are bound
to confess that these two facts are of great moment,
however much they may have the appearance of
trifles. The holy Evangelist John, according to
true apostolic custom, confers on us a special bless-
ing by everywhere quoting and interpreting Scrip-
ture so appropriately.

Moses, as we have already heard, wrote the clear
command that no one should "remain all night
upon the tree," for God had said that this would
defile the land. As this was the day for the prep-
aration, and as the Sabbath would begin with the
setting of the sun, the Jews besought Pilate to
have the bodies removed from the cross, so that



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS. 10?)

they might be buried yet by day, before the begin-
ning of the festival. Pilate gave his consent. But
as they found the two malefactors yet living, the
soldiers, as John says, hastened their departure, at
the command of the Jews, by breaking their arms
and legs, as they were hanging on the cross. They
intended to do the same with the Lord Jesus, but
He gave up the ghost before they had finished with
the two malefactors, and therefore "they brake not
His legs. But one of the soldiers with a spear
pierced His side," from which, to the astonishment
of all, both blood and water flowed. These two
things, as I have said, seem of little importance,
but John testifies that they were not mere accidents,
but that both of them had been foretold, the one by
Moses, "Neither shall ye break a bone," the other
by Zechariah, "They shall look upon me whom
they have pierced."

Now, it is true, indeed, that what Moses saye,
Ex. 12 and Num. 9, refers to the passover. How,
then, could it occur to the Evangelist John to say :
"These things were done that the Scripture should
be fulfilled, A bone of Him shall not be broken,"
and what does he mean by this? He would simply
teach us to look upon the Lord Jesus on the cross
as the true Passover, of which the old passover in
the law is merely the type or symbol.

When God desired with violence to weaken the
might of Pharaoh in Egypt and to frustrate his
obstinate wantonness and design, and to save His
people Israel, He commanded His people, the Jews,
in each house, in the appointed night, to slay a
lamb of the first year and roast and eat it, but to



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TWELFTH PASSION-SERMON.



strike its blood on the door-posts. The destroying
angel was to pass over that house on whose doors
he should see the token of the blood and smite none
of its inmates. But where the token of the lamb's
blood on the door was wanting, there the angel
was in that night to smite throughout all Egypt
the first-born both of man and beast. As Moses
had told the people at God's command, so it came
to pass. In the morning dead men and beasts were
found in the houses of all the Egyptians, the
destroyer having spared the Jews alone, because
their doors were marked and protected by the blood
of the lamb.

Let us now turn to our Paschal Lamb, Christ
Jesus. He desires to punish Pharaoh and all Egypt,
that is, sin, death and Satan, and to rescue His
Christian Church from tyranny. Therefore He
suffers Himself to be slain like the lamb of old, and
to be sacrificed upon the cross, so that He might
sprinkle us with His blood, and so that the destroy-
ing angel, who, on account of our sins, had brought
death upon us, and had received power over us,
might pass over us and do us no harm. Paul, 1
Cor. 5, refers to this so beautifully: "For even
Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us," that we
might be partakers of His blood, and that Satan,
death and sin might have no authority over us and
no power to do us hurt. This it is that John wishes
us to learn here from his statement that Christ,
like the paschal lamb, had no bone broken.

We would, however, consider here also the other
particulars which the Jews had to observe with
reference to the passover, so that when we see how
perfectly the passover harmonizes with Christ, we



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may find more consolation in this sacrifice made
for us, and take greater interest in the Lord Jesus.

The lamb was required to be without blemish, a
male of the first year, healthy and strong ; no other
lamb would have answered the purposes of the
passover. Now, as lambs one year old are very
prolific, so this Lamb, the Lord Jesus, brought
forth and built up His Church. The Lord Jesus is
also without all blemish and deficiency, for He is
the Son of God, and His flesh and blood is not sin-
ful like ours, but He is holy altogether.

The Jews were directed to take the lamb from
the sheep, or from the goats, on the tenth day of
the month, and to keep it by itself until the four-
teenth day of the month. In this way Christ was
taken from the fold of God, that is, from the Jews,
who were God's people, and for this reason He is
called the Son of Abraham, or of David. He was
separated for the special office of preaching God's
kingdom among His people, the Jews, during the
four years preceding His passion.

That the lamb had to be eaten in the evening,,
indicates that Christ should come in the latter
times, when the Jews were no longer to be the
people of God, and when the law and ceremonies
of Moses were to cease. It is for this reason that
the Lord sometimes compared His Gospel to a
supper, and that the Apostles called the days of
the New Testament "the latter times" and "the last
days."

The lamb dared not to be eaten sodden or raw,
but roasted. Throughout all Scripture, fire is an
emblem of suffering and affliction. The lamb
roasted with fire is, therefore, a type of Christ, who



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TWELFTH PASSION-SERMON.



suffered death upon the cross. We dare not par-
take of Him raw, that is, he who would receive
Him at all, dare not be careless, secure and profane
as our Epicureans are, who think that they can
believe and do as they please, and still be good
Christians. These do not partake of the lamb
properly, and cannot do so any more than they can
who eat it sodden with water, that is, they who do
not keep the doctrine pure, but adulterate it with
human teachings and traditions, as the Pope does.

Unleavened bread and bitter herbs had to be
eaten with the lamb. Thus Paul says: "Let us
keep the feast, not with old leaven," refusing to
check sin and to amend our conduct; "neither
with the leaven of malice and wickedness," dealing
in hypocrisy and not heartily repenting; "but with
the unleavened bread of sincerity,' , keeping a clear
conscience and living in the fear of God; "and
truth," sincerely, not hypocritically, asking God's
blessing and earnestly desiring to regulate ourselves
according to His Word. This is the unleavened
bread.

The herbs signify the holy cross ; for, as Paul
says: "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution."

No part of the lamb was allowed to remain, but
the whole of it had to be eateu, or else that which
remained was to be burned with fire. Neither
should a bone of it be broken. Just so it is with
Christ. He who would be a true Christiau dares
not eat one part and leave another part uneaten.
He must accept and believe everything that Christ
says, and must not, like the fanatics and sects, eat
His words piecemeal. Arius was satisfied with



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS. 203

everything else, only he would not believe that
Christ was eternal God. The Anabaptists reject
the baptism of children, despise this, the original
institution, and fancy that they have found a better.
The Sacramentarians of the present day accept
everything Christ says, and think themselves excel-
lent Christians. But it is not to their liking that
Christ said, when He took the bread, "Take, eat;
this is my body," and when He took the cup,
"Drink ye all of it ; for this is my blood of the New
Testament," and this they do not want to believe.
They do not like the taste of this and so they leave
it uneaten, in spite of God's command that the
whole of this Paschal Lamb should be eaten, or else
the remainder burned with fire. And more than
this, they even break the bones, that is, torture,
crucify and mangle at pleasure the Word of the
Lord Jesus, only so that they may give their scan-
dalous error some plausibility. Thus we find that
the Pope, the Anabaptists, the Sacramentarians
and, in short, all the sects, eat only that part of the
lamb that suits their taste, and let the parts that
they do not relish remain, and break them to
pieces.

What must be done with the blood has already
been related, viz., the blood of the Lamb is to pre
vent sin, death and hell from hurting us, and, for
all time to come, to hinder Pharaoh and the Egyp-
tians, that is, Satan and the world, from oppressing
and subduing us. Christ was sacrificed that He
might make us free, John 8, and undo and destroy
the work of Satan.

Of all this John would remind us when he says :
"These things were done that the Scripture should



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204 TWELFTH PASSION-SERMON.

be fulfilled, A bone of Him shall not be broken."
He wishes us to regard the passover as the faithful
picture of the entire benefit and of the real fruit of
our Lord Jesus' sufferings. He wishes us to see
that Christ was sacrificed for us and that His blood
is to deliver us from sin, death and the devil, which
constantly oppress, alarm and coerce us in the same
way in which Pharaoh retained and vexed the
children of Israel in Egypt. The blood of our
Paschal Lamb, Christ Jesus, has abolished this
servitude. We now have peace, and, fully free
from every burden, we shall pass from dangerous
Egypt over to the land of promise and to life
eternal.

We shall now consider the third point, which

the Evangelist evidently regarded as very important.

He not only introduces the testimony of the Prophet

Zechariah, who had prophesied concerning this

piercing of Christ's side ; but he also uses many

and solemn words to affirm the miracle, that blood

and water flowed from the dead body. This was

unnatural, because when a man is dead his blood is

cold and does not flow; and it was still more

unnatural for both blood and water to flow from a

corpse. Therefore John says : "lie that saw it

bare record, .... and he knoweth that he saith

true, that ye might believe." He thus calls our

attention to this miracle as one of great importance,

so that we might diligently study it and finally

learn from it to believe; that is, that we might

through Christ and His death, as was said above

when speaking of the passover, have the hope of

the forgiveness of sins and of everlasting life. This

is the chief design of this narrative as given by the
11



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Evangelist, with whom, as we shall soon see, the
prophet completely corresponds.

First of all, however, let us rid ourselves of the
idea that it was merely a casual circumstance that
one of the soldiers thrust his spear into the corpse's
side. The soldier, of course, did this iu ignorance
of any exalted signification the act might have.
Still it was done by God's special arrangement, else
the Holy Spirit would not have prophesied concern-
ing it through Zechariah so many centuries before.
We see that the Lord retained the wounds in His
body after the resurrection, and that He showed
them to His disciples in particular as a mark by
which they might recognize Him. This piercing
of Christ's side and this gushing forth of blood and
water were not, therefore, mere accidents, but they
were intended to mean and to accomplish some-
thing.

We must here be on our guard, lest we imitate
the example commonly set by rude people, who
say : It is none of my business what flowed from
the Lord Jesus' side ; it is enough for me to know
that He died on the cross. Let us not think in this
way, but let us honor the Holy Ghost and contrib-
ute to our own comfort by carefully learning what
was accomplished by this piercing of Christ's side
with the spear, which John so faithfully relates and
which Zechariah had foretold so long before.

In the first place, it is certain beyond all dispute,
that it is unnatural for a deceased body to sweat or
bleed. As soon as blood grows cold it no longer
flows, but it stagnates. The dead body before us
now, however, is different foom all other dead



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TWELFTH PASSION-SEHMON.



bodies, and hence things take place in it that do
not take place in any other body. True, Christ's
body was flesh and blood like our own, and it died
as ours must die. Yet, His flesh and blood were
sinless, and therefore He died in such a way that
even in His death a sign of lite remained. The
blood in all other bodies is soon cold and stagnant,
but in the body of the Lord Jesus it remains so
warm and active that, as soon as His side is pierced,
it rushes forth as from a living body's opened vein.
John wishes us to observe this carefully, and to
learn from it that it is the true nature of the blood
of our dear Lord Jesus to flow and live and be
efficacious even after He has died. Neither was
the blood of the paschal lamb used while the lamb
lived, but after it was dead and had been eaten.
The angel went by night through Egypt and smote
all the first-born, but the houses of the Jews which
were marked with the blood of the lamb he spared,
and in them smote none. And thus the blood of
our dear Lord Jesus continues still to live and flow,
having neither become stagnant nor grown cold.
It flows and gushes after He is dead, and all who*
are sprinkled with it have the forgiveness of sin
and are children of eternal life.

We should mark this well, for this unnatural
flowing shows that the blood of our dear Lord
Jesus, as that of the true Paschal Lamb, retained
its influence and power and virtue even after Christ's
death ; that it should flow upon, sprinkle and mark
the faithful standing by the cross ; and that Satan,
death and sin should let alone all upon whom they
find this mark, and not have power to hurt them.
Such is the true nature, power and virtue of the



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207



blood of our dear Lord Jesus Christ, and such it
forever remains in His Church even after His death.

Besides the blood, however, water also came out
of Christ's side. This, no doubt, was to serve as an
indication that the blood of Christ would sprinkle
only those who were baptized in His name. Our
Lord Jesus Himself says : "He that believeth and
is baptized shall be saved ; but he that believeth
not shall be damned." Blood and water go to-
gether. Where Christ's blood is and operates,,
there the water of blessed Baptism also is; but
where the water does not flow, that is, where there
is no holy Baptism, there the blood of Christ is
also wanting, nor does it flow there nor sprinkle
any one, as it is the case among the Turks and
Jews and heathen. Evermore must blood and
water flow on together, and neither be separated
from the other.

We must mark this well, for it has great value.
It is not of great import for those who died under
the Old Testament and who did not live to see
Baptism; for they had their own Baptism and
were saved by faith in the blessed Seed. Nor is it
so important on account of infants who die in their
mother's womb before they can be brought to
Baptism ; for their parents and the Christian assist-
ants of those in travail bring to Christ the offering
of fervent prayer in the hour of danger, and they
are, without a doubt, accepted graciously. But the
value of this token of mercy is our own, and we
should not despise it and uot prevent ourselves nor
our families from accepting it. Where the water
of this Baptism is, there too must be the blood of
Christ, for water and blood come from His side



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together; and we have already seen the value of
this blood, viz., it defends us against the destroying
angel, cleanses us from sin, and causes us to live
forever. The prophet, in such perfect harmony
with the Evangelist, beautifully indicates this in
Zech. 12, where he says: "I will pour upon the
house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jeru-
salem, the Spirit of grace and of supplications : and
they shall look upon me whom they have pierced,
and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth
for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him,
as one that is in bitterness for his first-born."

It cannot be denied, in the first place, that the
prophet here speaks of the time of the New Testa-
ment and of the grace which should come upon us
through the death of Christ. This grace, moreover,
consists in God's pouring upon us "the Spirit of
grace and of supplication," that is, God, through
His Holy Spirit, brings comfort to our souls, so
that we trust in His mercy and compassion through
Christ, and call upon Him in every time of need,
and seek help from Him, as children seek help from
their father.

In the second place, John here throws upon us
the light of his true apostolic spirit, when he says
that the piercing, of which the prophet proceeds to
speak, was done on the occasion of the crucifixion.
The prophet tells us what shall be the result of this
piercing, in these words : "They," mark you, they
who have the Spirit of grace and of supplications,
— "They shall look upon me whom they have
pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one
mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitter-
ness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his



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first-born. This mourning and this bitterness mean
nothing else than the thorough recognition of the
sins for whose sake Christ suffered on the cross.
Our looking upon Him who is pierced and our
mourning for Him and our being sorrowful, indi-
cates that He is innocent and that He suffered all
lor us.

His suffering thus, however, causes us to perceive
our danger and distress, to desist from carelessly
participating with the world in sin, to deplore our
sinful heart and wicked life, to ask God for forgive-
ness, and to cling to the sufferings of Christ and
console ourselves with them because He, being
holy and obedient, did not deserve to die, but still
took upon Himself and suffered death because He
loved us so unspeakably.

It is necessary for us that we should pity, mourn
and lament in the way stated above, and it is neces-
sary for Christ to have our sympathy, grief and
tears, or else He can have no Christian Church.
The Church alone, as Zechariah says, looks upon
the wounded Christ and weeps for Him, but not
like the women at Jerusalem, for they wept for
Christ in such a way as to overlook themselves.
The tears of the believers, of the Christian Church,
flow because the sins are seen within them, for
which Christ suffered death. Thus the prophet
plainly points out to us the fruits of Christ's suffer-
ings. And soon after, in the 13. chapter, he says :
•'In that day there shall be a fountain opened to
the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jeru-
salem for sin and for uncleanness."

How closely the prophet unites the spear-thrust
and the fountain, that is, the blood and the water,



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or holy Baptism. Now, if we would interpret this
narrative correctly, we must say : Blood flows from
the Lord Jesus* side for the washing away and
forgiveness of my sins. The Lord Himself testifies
to this when He takes the cup in the Holy Supper.
But water also comes forth to show that His body
is an open fountain. But why is it such? "For
sin and for uncleanness." Baptism applies to us
the blood of our Lord Jesus, for which reason Paul
expresses this by saying, we are baptized into
Christ's death, that is, we are baptized that the
death of Christ might be our own and for our good,
so that, being delivered from sin and death, we
might live forever.

The holy fathers say some beautiful things about
this. Augustine says that John uses the word
"pierced," — "One of the soldiers with a spear pierced
His side," — to show that the door of life was thus
thrown open as it were, through which door came
to us the holy Sacraments of the Church, without
which Sacraments it is impossible to enter into that
life which is the real life. He speaks of Sacraments,
in the plural, because he refers not only to Baptism,
which is represented by the water, but also to the
Holy Supper, in which we drink Christ's blood.
Chrysostom speaks after the same manner, saying :
Whereas the sacred Mysteries here take their
origin, thou must approach the holy Cup as if thou
wast about to drink from the Lord Jesus' side.

The Sacramentarians dare not quote this passage
of Chrysostom, for they boast that the whole of the
old Church believed as they do, viz., that in the •
Lord's Supper there are only bread and wine, and
not the body and blood of Christ. Now, how does



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this boast harmonize with the words of Chrysostom?
They surely cannot be so blind and frantic as to
say that wine flowed from Christ's side, and yet
they say that in the Holy Supper we do not drink
the blood of Christ, but merely wine. They must
admit, on the testimony of Chrysostom, who says,
thou must approach the holy Cup as if thou wast
about to drink from Christ's side, that the ancient
Church discerned not ouly wine, but also blood, in
the Sacrament of the altar.

It is this flowing of both water and blood from
Christ's side, that is said to have given rise to the
custom of mixing the wine used in the Supper of
the Lord with water. Cyprian vigorously defends
this custom as a special ordinance of Christ, and
the Armenians were condemned as heretics for not
complying with it. Since Christ, however, did not
command this to be done, and since the words of
the institution tell us merely that Christ took the
cup and gave it to His disciples, it is not necessary
to hold this custom as essential.

We therefore let this matter rest and confine
ourselves to the doctrine taught us by the holy
Evangelist, which is, that the blood of our dear
Lord Jesus Christ shall forever retain its power and
efficacy after Christ's death, and shall preserve us
from death and sin, provided we are baptized with
water as Christ commanded. In Baptism we find
the blood of Christ in reality, even as blood and
water flow together here. Where the blood is,
there is the water also, and wher6 the water is,
there also is the blood, and it accomplishes its pur-
pose, which is to wash away our sins and to make
us perfectly cleau, even as Zechariah says when he



212



TWELFTH PASSION-SERMON



prophesies concerning the open fountain "for sin
and for uncleanness."

We should, therefore, thank God for the ineffable
mercy and compassion, by which He has led us to
this fountain, to be baptized in the name of His
Son, and thus to be cleansed from our sins in the
blood of Jesus Christ. We may now hope, through
the Spirit of grace, to receive from God all good
things, and can now call upon God in every hour
of need, through the Spirit of supplications. And
the final blessing of Christ's death shall come upon
us in the end, when we leave this world of sorrows
and enter life eternal. May God bestow this upon
every one of us. Amen.



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THIRTEENTH PASSION- SERMON.



Christ's Body Taken down from the Cross and
Laid in a Tomb. — The Soldiers Guard the Tomb.

Matt. 27, 57-66. When the even was come, there came a rich man
of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus disciple:
he went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate com-
manded the body *o be delivered. And when Joseph had taken the
body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new
tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock : and he rolled a great
ptone to the d^or of the sepulchre, and departed. And theie was
Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepul-
chre. Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation,
the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, saying, Sir,
we remember that that deceiver said, while He was yet alive, After
three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre
be made sure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night,
and steal Him away, and say unto the people, He is risen roui the
dead : so the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said
unto them, Ye have a watch : go your way, make it as sure as ye
can. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone,
and setting a watch.

he concluding events related in the history of
the sufferings of our Lord Jesus are His
removal from the cross, His being laid in a new
tomb, and the guarding of the tomb by the soldiers.
And a most appropriate conclusion this is; for it
shows how the death of our dear Lord Jesus influ-
ences both His friends and His enemies. His eue-
mies become uneasy and apprehensive, and they
perceptibly sink deeper into sin. They, however,
who honestly love the Lord J esus, are made confident
and bold by the death of Christ, notwithstanding
their weakness and timidity, and now venture to
do what before they would not have thought of




214 THIRTEENTH PASSION-SERMON.

doing. The death of our dear Lord Jesus has just
the same effect on men in our day, as we shall soon
hear.

The shameful death of Christ upon the cross was
indeed a most severe offence. Heuce His foes
blaspheme Him to the utmost, while His disciples,
who had been about Him, did not dare to show
themselves, and had no other thought than that all
was over with Him now. His mother, the dear
Virgin Mary, stood there distressed and full of
sorrow, and other women with her. Now, although
she closely kept in her heart the saying of the
angel, and pondered the prophecies spoken by pious
and holy people, such as the aged Simeon and
Anna, a prophetess, when Jesus was yet a child,
Luke 2, her affliction still overwhelmed her so and
the offence so wounded her heart, that she could
not speak. Thus the small assembly that had
hitherto adhered to Christ and kept Him company
is perfectly mute. The condemned malefactor is
the only one who moves or speaks. Christ's
enemies carry the day and are full of hope and
gladness. The clamor made is all their own, the
rest must hold their peace.

The weakness and timidity of these pious people
serves, as said above, to teach us not to be rash and
not to place too much reliance in ourselves. If
these almost lose sight of comfort and are swallowed
up, as it were, by grief and misery, how much more
shall not we be subject to such weakness when
called upon to expose ourselves or to suffer for the
Gospel's sake. How very necessary, therefore, that
we should abide in the fear of God and pray for
the Holy Spirit, that He may enlighten and comfort



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS. 215



our hearts, and make us bold enough to dare and
to bear something for the glory* of God and for the
sake of His Word.

When the offence was at its very height, and
when they who had been the best Christians and
had fearlessly clung to the Lord Jesus began to
falter and to shrink, and, on account of fear, sorrow
and gloom, knew not what to do nor whither to go,
the first to approach was Joseph of Arimathea, a
city which is also called Arumah, Joshua 15 and
Judges 9. Joseph was not a plain and common
citizen, like the Apostles, who were simply common
people, but he was a member of the council of
Jerusalem and verv rich. He it was who ventured
to go to Pilate and beg for the dead body, that ho
might take it down from the cross and bury it.
And then came also Nicodemus, who, although he
loved the Lord and His Word, had been so timorous
that he came to Him only by night. lie brought
about a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes, so
that the Lord might not be buried meanly, but with
honor. It was customary among the Jews, as John
relates, because they had derived from the Word of
God the hope of the resurrection and of everlasting
life, to give the bodies of the deceased a decent
burial by preparing them with myrrh and aloes, so
that they would not only be preserved for a long
time and decay slowly, but also that they would
have an agreeable odor.

Mark and Luke specially mention that Joseph
was a disciple of Christ, that is, he attentively and
approvingly heard Christ preach, and waited for
the kingdom of God. We must carefully bear this
in mind, for from this wo learn what prompted him



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210 THIRTEENTH PASSION-SERMON.

to have the boldness to go to Pilate, which was not
a trifling matter.

The chief priests and the entire council at Jeru-
salem had accused the Lord Jesus as a perverter of
the nation, as a deceiver and blasphemer, and on
this accusation Pilate based his judgment. Now,
Joseph, who had taken no part in any of the pro-
ceedings against the Lord Jesus and did not want
to be present at His trial, did a very dangerous
thing when he sought Christ's body for a decent
burial. He was thus likely to incur the fury of the
whole council and of Pilate himself, who had con-
demned the Lord, and he thus gave them to under-
stand that in his opinion Christ had been a pious
and a good Man, who had been wronged in the
sight of God and the world.

What moved him so boldly to expose himself?
Only this, he was waiting for the kingdom of God.
That is, he still believed that God's kingdom would
not fail to come, and that Christ, although He had
so miserably hung and died upon the cross, would
be raised from the dead by God, aud that He would
accomplish and furnish everything necessary to
fulfill the prophesies concerning the Messiah and
his kingdom. If the centurion who stood over
against Him and saw Christ die when He had cried
with a loud voice, learned so much from various
occurrences, such as the darkness and the earth-
quake, that he openly confessed : "Truly this Man
was the Son of God," how much more would not
this Joseph and pious Nicodemus also have had
such thoughts! Without a doubt, the preaching
of the prophets, and the words of Christ which
they had repeatedly heard and which they had



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS. 217



now, through the admonition of the Holy Spirit,
taken to heart for the first time, conveyed to them
the hope that Christ had not been finally disposed
of, but that God would establish His kingdom now
when men least looked for it. Christ had, for
instance, preached to Nicodemus a powerful sermon
on this hope, telling him, John 3, that as the serpent
was lifted up in the wilderness so He also would be
lifted up on the cross.

The Holy Spirit, at that time, kindled such
thoughts in their weak and timid hearts, which
soon influenced them so that Joseph goes to Pilate
and asks for the body of Him whom Pilate had
condemned as a disturber and blasphemer. Nico-
demus brings myrrh and aloes, with which to give
the Lord a costly and decent burial, as their testi-
mony before all the world that they yet hoped that
God's kingdom still would come, although defied
by Jerusalem's haughtiest boast that Christ was
gone and things would soon be changed.

Such is the fruit of our dear Lord Jesus' death.
The weakest and most diffideut distinguish them-
selves by boldly and fearlessly confessing Christ
and by asking for His body, which hangs in the
greatest diegrace, that they might bury it with the
greatest honor. They thus testify that they, in
spite of Jews, chief priests, Pilate, and all foes of
Christ, regard and glorify Christ as the Son of
God, hope for His kingdom, and find comfort in
Him even now when He is dead and when every
body thinks that He is gone forever. This is ex-
actly as Mark and Luke say : Joseph "waited for
the kingdom of God," that is, he hoped that God,
through this Man, would found a new kingdom on



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218



THIRTEENTH PASSION-SERMON.



the earth, forgive sins, and impart the Holy Spirit
and eternal life. For, according to the prophets,
the great, essential feature of God's kingdom is,
that Christ, or the Messiah, must establish it.

Isaiah's prophecy concerning Christ, "A bruised
reed shall He not break, and the smoking flax shall
He not quench," is here fulfilled in the case of
Joseph and Nicodemus. Hitherto they were weak
and timid Christians. They suffered much jrom
their fear, which prevented them from making an
open confession. It is for this reason that John
speaks of Nicodemus, who came to Jesus by night,
as a secret disciple. Christ forgave them this fear,
and did not cast them away on account of it. Now,
however, when the danger is greatest and when
they who usually were such strong and bold Chris-
tians are overcome by the offence, and fear to let
themselves be seen, the Holy Spirit, through the
death of Christ, fans the smoking and nearly
smothered flax until it makes a blaze as bright as
the beautiful sun. What Joseph had so far been
thinking and believing of Christ in secret, he now
makes known to all, fearing neither the Jews nor
Pilate. He cares more for Christ, who died in the
deepest disgrace, than for all the world. Let us
not regard this as insignificant, or as a mere result
of Christ's sufferings. These things are written as
examples for us all, that we should imitate Joseph
and Nicodemus. When Christ hangs on the cross,
that is, when the Gospel is persecuted and poor
Christians are tortured for its sake, we should
stand forth, and, not heeding the tyrant's wrath,
glorify God's Son and His Word, and honor it by
publicly confessing it until Christ who died shall



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS. 211)

appear in His glorious resurrection, when faint-
hearted, timid, and fearful- Christians also shall
receive comfort and return to the confession.

Such changes shall always occur in the Church.
Some are offended and fall back, and generally the
strongest grow weak when affliction comes, while
the weakest advance and let their joyful confession
be heard, so that there are always some who
acknowledge and confess Christ. Whether it is
unwillingness or inability that keeps the strong
from doing this, on account of the offence, the very
weakest, who make no display at all, must do it
for them, and the former then learn and experience
the utter nothingness of men when God removes
His Spirit from them. God, as a rich House-holder,
wants all kinds of servants in His house: not only
such as are strong and full grown, but also such as
are weak and small. That the strong may not
despise the rest, they have occasion given them to
see weakness in themselves ; and that no one may
judge his fellow, God's Spirit comes upon the weak,
admonishing, comforting and strengthening them
in such measure that all must see and praise God's
power in them. The sufferings of our dear Lord
Jesus operate thus in His Church forever, in order
that it may not go to ruin, but stand and grow and
expand.

What, however, is the effect on those who hate
the Lord Jesus, and who have no peace until they
have crucified Him ? Just the reverse. The effect
of Christ's death can be compared to the effect of
the sun, which is different on different materials.
Wax is softened and melted by the sun, while mud
is made hard and dry. Pious hearts are made so



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220 THIRTEENTH PASSION-SERMON



cheerful and bold by the sufferings of Christ, that
they venture to do what they would by no means
have attempted while Christ yet lived.

The godless Jews hurried Christ off to death in
the hope that, when He should have been silenced,
their cares would forever be gone. But when their
malice was gratified in seeing that Christ had died
upon the cross and was laid into a new tomb, they
begin to be uneasy, and they all go to Pilate and
say :

"Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while
He was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.
Command therefore that the sepulchre be made
sure until the third day, lest His disciples come by
night, and steal Him away, and say unto the people,
He is risen from the dead : so the last error shall be
worse than the first."

If we carefully notice these words we shall find
what kind of hearts these people had. They re-
membered Christ's sayings well enough and under-
stood them too, but what fruit did His sayings
bring forth in them ? Joseph and Nicodemus, who,
no doubt, also remembered these words and com-
forted themselves with them at the time they were
spoken, are now made courageous and joyful by
them, and hope for every blessing. But these
knaves grow restless, and begin to get scared at the
dead Man, however natural it may otherwise be
for men not to fear an enemy after they know him
to be dead. The wicked Jews enjoy no such com-
posure, but, as we see, they fear the departed Christ,
who is lying in the tomb.

Before Pilate they pretended that His disciples
might steal Him away and say that He is risen ;



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS. 221

but in their hearts the words of the Lord Jesus are
such a pricking and piercing thorn that they anxi-
ously ask themselves : What if they were true after
all ? What if He should be the Messiah and rise
again from the dead? What would become of us
then? — This disturbs and disheartens them. But
they are none the better for these thoughts. They
do not argue thus : Alas, what have we done ! Let
us yet creep to the cross and not despise the excel-
lent admonitions and miracles which came to light
at His death. — No, they do not want to think in
this way. They persist in that hatred and enmity
w r ith which they persecuted the Lord Jesus. They
perceptibly grow worse and more wicked still.
They devise all possible means and ways for annihi-
lating the Lord Jesus and for diminishing His glory.

This too was written as an example and warning
for us, that, when we see similar things done by
the enemies of the Word, we may not become
frightened. God's inevitable rule is this : the longer
a man willfully opposes the Word, the deeper he
must sink into sin, and the longer he seeks rest,
the greater shall grow his restlessness and fear. It
was just so too in the case of the blood of the Lord
Jesus, of which we heard above. The Jews thought
it a very little thing that they nailed Christ to the
cross and slew Him. In a deliberate, careless and
trifling spirit they say : "His blood be on us, and
on our children." They afterward found what a
little thing it was, alas, for Jerusalem and the whole
land to be ruined on account of this. Here the
case is exactly as it was there. They thought : If
only this Jesus were out of the way once, we should
i lot be troubled any more. Now, in the 2. chapter



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4



222 THIRTEENTH PASSION-SERMON.

of Acts it is written that Christ was "delivered by
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God"
into the shameful death upon the cross. This only
increased the fears of the Jews, so that they had
less peace than before. The words of Christ,
although they did not believe them, still lay in
their hearts like a burning fire, or a gnawing worm.
While they could not believe them, they still could
not altogether set them aside. So it must always
be with the foes of the Word. The more they
seek peace by means of tyranny, the deeper they
fall, not only into trouble, but also into sin.

Although their plans may be laid in the greatest
wisdom, they shall find in the end that they have
only injured their cause, and aided the Gospel in
spite of themselves, just as it was with the Jews.
These demanded guards of Pilate, who should make
the sepulchre sure until the third day. "Pilate
said unto them, Ye have a watch : go your way,
make it as sure as ye can." Matthew says, "They
went and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the
stone, and setting a watch." This they did to pre-
vent the disciples from stealing the body of the
Lord Jesus and from telling the people that Christ
was risen from the dead. It was very wisely
schemed, but how did it succeed ? Their very fears
were realized. When, early on Easter morning,
Christ had risen from the dead, and the angel
descended from heaven and came to the sepulchre
and rolled back the stone from the door, and a
great earthquake came, the keepers did shake, and
became as dead men. As soon as they had recov-
ered from the shock, they gathered themselves up,
one ran this way, another that, and came to Jeru-



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SERMONS ON THE GOSPELS.



salem, where they told the chief priests all the
things that were done. What, think you, must
then have been the thoughts of these priests? How
must their hearts not have quaked and trembled !
They could not look on it as a jest, for there stood
their own witnesses, the soldiers of Pilate, whom
Pilate himself had sent to guard the tomb. These
not only told them, but also showed in their entire
conduct, what had happened. So severe a fright as
theirs had been, is not so easily concealed. The
speech betrays it; the countenance shows it; the
whole body is so affected by it, as to make it known.
It is, therefore, easily seen that this message must
have terribly frightened the chief priests and elders.

Instead, however, of being bettered by this mes-
sage, they only rushed deeper into sin and made
their evil conscience worse. They held a council
on that very Sabbath day, and gave much money
to the soldiers that they might help them lie, and
instructed them to say, "His disciples came by
night, and stole Him away while we slept." In
this way these poor fellows sought to console and
help themselves. They believed in their hearts
that Christ, whom they had delivered to die,
though innocent, had risen from the dead. Each
one can imagine for himself how this must have
troubled them ; for, under such circumstances, their
hearts could never have been calm. And yet, they
gave much money to have their lies spread, and to
have people persuaded to believe what they them-
selves did not believe. They who thus willfully
resist the truth, and adorn and comfort themselves
with known falsehoods, are surely spiteful and
desperate wretches. We should learn this, so that



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224 THIRTEENTH PASSION-SERMON.

we may know how to look upon the foes of the
Word. He who resists the truth, as has been said
already, has only falsehood left to shield him.

In the meanwhile our dear Lord Jesus comforts
His few scattered followers, and shows Himself to
them, and proves to them by very deed that He is
not dead, but living, and living as the Conqueror of
death forever. The lies of those who hate the
Word only help so much the more to spread the
tidings and to give them notoriety. Had the Jews
not guarded the tomb themselves, the falsehood,
that Christ's body had been stolen, would have
been more plausible; but it does not serve ifs pur-
pose ; for the guards had been stationed around the
tomb, and the door of the sepulchre had been care-
fully sealed. The very fact of their fleeing suffi-
ciently shows that a higher and greater power than
that of Pilate and his guards was present.

So it always is with the enemies of the Gospel.
They must resort to base and blasphemous lies,
which, however, do not harm the Word, but further
it in spite of them. This should move every one to
learn to know and to flee from lies, and to abide by
the Word and by the truth. God be praised that
some in our day have learned this, and that the
Papists only advanced the cause of the Gospel with
their lying and clamoring and scribbling! Their
lies are published in such clumsy shape that men
are driven to the truth by them. The longer the
enemies of the truth attack it, the more violent
they become; but the suffering of our dear Lord
Jesus has brought it about that they must thus,
against their will, further the truth.



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Sermons on the Passion L97.5
of Christ. 1871/