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The Fifth Commandment ExplainedSixth Sunday after Trinity; Matthew 5:20-26A
Sermon by Martin Luther; Taken from His Church Postil, 1523
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In this Gospel the Lord takes in hand the office of extolling
and explaining the law of Moves, for It would not have been becoming
for him to have insisted in an unfriendly manner to make the
people pious. He in not a lawgiver, but a Savior, who never takes
aught from anyone, but always gives. So he also in this instance
proves his kindness in explaining the law and gently instructing;
as there is need and want, he does not sternly insist, as did
Moses, who without much ado wished that people were either pious
or dead. For this reason Christ's action on this occasion is
to be considered one of great benefit to us, in that he teaches
us where we fail and come short. Here he particularly treats
of the failings due to wrath, which causes so much havoc among
men, as is seen on every side, yea, nearly the whole world is
under its sway. 2.
Now let us examine the command, "Thou shalt not kill,"
in the sense the Jews took it, and how we should take it. The
Jews considered those only murderers who committed the act of
murder with their hands; while those who abstained from the outward
act were considered by them as pious. In like manner they treated
Christ. Having de livered him to Pontius Pilate for trial, they
remained without, thus fancying to be innocent of his blood,
and to have perfectly kept the law, John 18:28. Again, Saul acted
the same way toward David; he believed himself to be godly so
long as he only did not kill David with his hand, 1 Sam. 19.
Thus they have interpreted the law, failing to see that its roots
run into the heart. In view of this Christ here says to his Christians: "I
say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the
righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise
enter into the kingdom of heaven." 3.
This is a strong, yea, a dreadful sentence, whereby all false
saints and hypocrites, who go about with their own external works,
are condemned. 4.
But how have we interpreted this commandment? A little better,
that is to say, doubly worse is our interpretation. On this wise:
it is indeed a matter of the heart that we are to be free from
hatred. But a man, according to our conception, may conduct himself
friendly and thus banish hatred from his heart. So we have made
it a question of free will going from bad to worse. The Jews
have made it a matter of deceptive appearance; we placed the
issue with free will. Thus the hypocrisy of the Jews rests in
their works; ours in our thoughts. For we argue thus: Well, I
will forgive him, will be good to him, and thus lay hold of the
doing in the strength of our free will, then it shall be accomplished. 5.
Well, how then are we to do? We are to take the fol lowing position:
There is not a man on earth, unless he be born again, who does
not become angry, and give forth evil words and evil deeds; nature
cannot do otherwise. For there stands the law and says: Thou
shalt be a fine, sweet-tempered man in heart, in words and in
works; and no evil fiber shall be found in thee. Well, where
am I to find such a man? My mother does not give him to me; he
must come down from heaven. For there is not a man on earth,
so far as he is flesh and blood, that can help becoming angry
and giving forth evil words and actions. But if I abstain, it
certainly is because I fear the sword or I seek a selfish end.
If I do not curse, if I do not calumniate, either the sword or
hell deters me, the fear of death or of the devil; these I have
in my mind and abstain, otherwise, I could not abstain. Not alone
this, but I would actually murder and massacre, wherever and
whenever I could. By nature I cannot produce a single kind word
or action. If I do, It certainly is hypocrisy, since the heart
at least always remains full of poison. This you now hear from
Christ, who so explains the law as to cause you to feel ashamed
in your inner heart. He would say: Thou art not sweet in heart,
thine heart is full of hatred, full of murder and blood, and
so thy hands and eyes would also gladly be full of the same;
nor canst thou prevent it, any more than thou canst prevent the
fire from burning, for it is its nature to burn. 6.
A person might here say, What then am I to do? I feel all that
within me, but I cannot change conditions. I reply, Flee to the
Lord, thy God, lay thy complaint before him and say: Behold,
Lord, my neighbor has injured me a little, has spoken a few words
touching my honor, has caused some damage to my property, this
I cannot suffer, therefore, I would cheerfully see him killed.
Oh my God, how gladly would I be amiable to him, but, alas, I
cannot! See how wholly cold, yea, dead I am! O Lord, I cannot
help myself, I must stand back. Make thou me different, then
I will be godly; if not, I will remain like I have been. Here
you must seek your help and at no other place; if you seek it
in yourself, you will never find it. Your heart perpetually bubbles
and bolls with anger, you cannot prevent it. 7.
Now, this is the sum of the law: You are to be kind, amiable
and benignant in heart, word and deed; and even though they take
your life, still you are to suffer all in love, and render thanks
to your Lord. Behold, thus a great deal is included in the short
sentence, "Thou shalt not kill," Christ lived up to
this; do the same, and you are a good Christian. When nailed
to the cross, his name, which was above every name, and his honor
were profaned by the Jews, while they reviled him by words of
the following and similar import: Well, what a nice God he has!
If he be God's son, let him come down! Let his God come now,
in whom he banked and boasted so much, and help him! Mat. 27:43,
Mark 15:32, Luke 23:35. Such words pierced his very heart, hurting
him more than all his other sufferings; still, he suffered all
this with patience; he wept over his enemies, because they would
have no part in the great benefit to be derived from his death,
yea, he prayed for their sin. And in the face of this we are
ready to snarl and growl over the least trifle, when asked to
yield even a little to our neighbor. 8.
Here you see how far we are still from Christ. It is indeed necessary
to suffer with Christ, if we would enter with him into glory.
He has gone before, so we should follow, as St. Peter says, 1
Epistle 2:21f.: "For hereunto were ye called: because Christ
also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should
follow his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in
his mouth: who when he suffered, threatened not; but committed
himself to him that judgeth righteously." Now see what kind
of an example St. Peter places before us; truly we should emulate
it, endeavoring to be and to act like him. But this we cannot
do by nature, it follows that we without exception are the devil's
own, there being not a man on earth that is found not guilty.
Hence the sentence holds good: You must be likewise skillful,
namely, good at heart, or you belong to perdition. 9.
What then must we do? You must do as follows: You must acknowledge
that you are condemned by the law, and the devil's own property
and that you are unable to rescue yourself by any power of your
own. Therefore you must flee to God, pray him to change you,
or all is lost and ruined. This was well understood and observed
by those highly learned, but they argued thus: If we preach that
the whole world is condemned and the devil's own, what is to
become of the sanctimonious priests and monks, for then they
too would be condemned? God forbid! Wait, wait, we will sharpen
our tongues, bore a hole into the paper for our God, make a comment
and say thus: Why, God never meant it in that sense, for who
could keep it? He did not command it, but merely suggested it
to such as wished to be perfect. Again, the perfect are not under
obligations to be so, it suffices if they strive after perfection.
Many large books, called Formas conscientiarum, treatises to
comfort and acquit the consciences, have been written on this
subject. Thomas Aquinas was about the leading heretic in this
line. Later the same doctrine was confirmed by the Pope, and
diffused throughout the world; this explains the later origin
of the Orders, which aimed at perfection. Well, God be praised
that we have understood the error, so that we can avoid it. 10.
We comfort consciences in a manner quite different, namely thus:
Dear brother all this is addressed not to the monks and priests
only; Christ is not trifling with his words; it is a direct command,
you must conform to it, or you are the devil's property. This
Is our way of comforting. Alas! exclaims our nature, Do you call
that comforting? It is rather a transfer of souls to the devil.
True, friend, but I must first take you down to hell before taking
you up to heaven, you must despair in the first place, then come
to Christ, behold his example, how he conducted himself: toward
his enemies, in that he wept over them. But the bare example
alone moves you; yet, it does not help you to any extent. 11.
In view of this lay hold of his word and promise, that he will
change you; this only will help you. Pray thus: Oh my God, thou
hast placed Christ, thine only beloved Son, before me as an example,
so that I might lead a like life; but I am not able to do this.
O my God, change me, grant me thy grace! God then comes and says:
Behold, since you know yourself and seek grace from me, I will
change you and do as you desire. And though you are not so perfect
as Christ, as indeed thou should be, I shall nevertheless have
my Son's life and perfection cover your imperfections. So you
see we must always have something to keep us in the right humility
and fear. 12.
This is true comfort that does not rest on our ability, but on
the fact that we have a gracious God, who forgives our sins;
on the fact that we believe in Christ and not in our own worthiness,
he cleansing us from day to day; on the fact that whenever we
fall short we should always place our hope and trust in Christ.
See, this is the main drift of our Gospel. Now let us briefly
run over the text and consider the contents. Concerning
the Four Grades of Anger. 13.
The Lord here notes four grades or degrees of anger or wrath.
The first is the anger of the heart; and that is the main grade;
it should be so pure that you are not sensible of it. But this
cannot be in our present state. Hence when you are sensible of
it, come direct to Christ and ask him graciously to change you;
ask him to extinguish the fire where it starts to burn; you cannot
work a way out by your own efforts. 14.
The other grade is "Raca," which means an angry, unfriendly
expression with the eyes, with the neck and with the whole countenance,
and in whatever other way it may be made. This too should by
no means be. So you should at all times know when and how to
obtain help. 15.
The third grade consists in saying, "Thou fool." This
implies the use of all kinds of scolding and profane words, by
which our neighbor is degraded. This should also be laid aside;
but we should defend and protect our neighbor with the utmost
zeal, wherever we can. 16.
The fourth grade consists in gross murder with our hands. The
meaning is that we are to help our neighbor with our hands, give
and advance to him, so that he way be sustained. For if I behold
a poor person lying in distress and fail to help, protect and
give, so that he be sustained, I murder him with my own hand. 17.
Now if you want to see and know who you are, you must not judge
yourselves by those whom you love. Nature teaches that we do
not want those we love to meet with any ill. But judge yourself
by your enemies, and you will soon see who you are. Do you find
that you are not in your heart kindly disposed toward them, nor
kind in con duct, but speak evil of them, failing to help them
with your hands, you are a murderer. 18.
But in that our Lord says: "Everyone who is angry with his
brother shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall
say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council;
and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the
hell of fire," he uses the language in vogue in the civil
courts, when the accused is brought before the court, the question
of guilty or not guilty is first discussed; afterwards the deliberations
are on the penalty to be imposed; and lastly, the culprit is
delivered over for punishment. The same holds true with these
grades of wrath; that is to say, as they advance, the one is
punished more severely than the preceding. There is indeed but
one hell, but there is a variety of penalties and punishments,
and of these the one is always nearer infliction than the other:
just as he is nearer death concerning whom the question is being
debated what death he is to die, than the man just cited before
the court. The
Lord himself further explains his words when he says: "If
therefore thou art offering thy gift at the altar, and there
rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee, leave there
thy gift before the altar and go thy way, first be reconciled
to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with
thine adversary quickly, whilst thou art with him on the way;
lest haply the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge
deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily
I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till
thou has paid the last farthing." 19.
Here you see what God demands of us, that he does not want anything
done even for himself unless it be done in love, after the proper
relation has been established with one's neighbor. So you see,
anger cancels all good deeds that might be done, for instance
fastings, self-mortification, giving of alms, and other like
deeds. And God in the first place, wants those to be reconciled
who live in discord, they, asking the pardon of the ones they
have offended, as indeed is proper. This is the meaning he would
convey when he says: "If therefore thou art offering thy
gift at the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath
aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and
go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother," that is,
ask his forgiveness. Again: "Agree with thine adversary
quickly;" and even though he does not come at once to you
and beg pardon, be kindly disposed toward him nevertheless and
forgive him. See how God has balanced both sides: on the one
hand, offended, we are to be kind and forgiving, on the other
hand, the
offender is to beg pardon, so all things, may go well. 20. Now one might ask: You tell us not to say, "Thou fool," but how about Christ often calling his disciples "fools" and "unbelievers," Mark 16:14, a great and strong slander for a Christian? Reply: We must judge according to the condition of the heart: that determines the nature of our actions. Christ and Paul rebuke and reprove harshly, but they have the best of intentions, hence their words are to be counted good deeds. Even as a father ofttimes calls his son a fool, yea, and adds bodily correction, yet he does all this out of love, int hat he is always kind in his heart to his son; so Christ and the Apostles and all the faithful act; whatever they do, they do from a paternal and maternal heart, hence they are truly good deeds. Therefore we must judge such questions according to the heart and the person. This may suffice for the present on this Gospel. |