98 The Works of Huldreich Zwingli pious. They are impious who embrace the word of man as God’s. It is, therefore, madness and utter impiety to put the enactments and decrees of certain men or certain councils upon an equality with the word of God. For if their dicta are like God’s word, it is the word that must be embraced, not the authority of men; if they are unlike it, they are to be rejected and shunned, as the Children of Isrel avoided marriage with the women of the Moabites and other Gentiles [cf. Ezra 10: 2-4]. The objection, which could be made here, that the Church should be listened to, I shall treat later.
[6]. Tug Christian Religion
This age has many scholars who spring up everywhere as if out of the Trojan Horse, and still more who set themselves up as censors of all things. These because of their impiety are unwilling to accept the renascent word,] yet make a pretense of piety and fill the ears of the pious with groundless and fictitious suspicions. Some, when we teach vigorously that all our confidence is to be placed in God our Father, spring up with the impudent suggestion that we must be guarded against for in all our teaching, they say, our aim is that we may do away with Christ, and, after the manner of the Jews, induce all to believe in only one Person, as we believe in only one God. Others, when we show an inclination to attribute all things to Christ, say they are afraid that we too rashly attribute too much to Him. Yet both make their pronouncements in such a way that you can see of yourself that they are either recklessly ignorant or knowingly impious. For they are so ignorant as to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in their essence, substance, divinity, power, that they do not know what you mean when you speak of one and understand all three; and their lack of knowledge is accompanied by such recklessness that what they are extremely ignorant of they all the more violently drag under suspicion. Or they are so willingly and knowingly impious that they assail with the depravity of a perverted heart what they see is done rightly and piously, and since they despair of accomplishing anything in open warfare,
[See below, Section [13], The Church. ti. e., the Reformation.]
they make an underground attack, alleging a fear that we are too much inclined sometimes towards the Father, sometimes towards the Son. To all such I say, κλαίειν; “fare ill.” For I teach that God is to be acknowledged and embraced in^ such wise that whether you call Him Father, or Son, or Holy Spirit, you always conceive of Him who is alone good, righteous, holy, kind, and all the rest. On the other hand, when I attribute all things to the Son, I attribute them to Him who is what the Father is, what the Holy Spirit is, and whose are the kingdom and the power just as truly as they are the Father’s and the Holy Spirits. For He is Himself that very thing which the Father is and the Holy Spirit, though seen from a different point of view, as they say. What, therefore, these emulous persons are sure to say, namely, that in discussing piety so far I have made no reference to salvation through Christ and to grace, will be groundless croaking: first, because I eannot say everything at once and in the same place; secondly, because all that I have said of the marriage of the soul to God applies to Christ just as much as to God (for Christ is God and Man); finally, because knowledge of God in the nature of the case precedes knowledge of Christ. Therefore, just as grace is first rightly known when sin has been effected through the law, as Paul says, Rom. 7:25, that is, when sin has been weighed and known through the law, so also Christ, who is the pledge of grace, nay, is grace itself, is first rightly taught and known when from close observation of sin we have learned that by its interposition the way to heaven has been elosed to us. For as he that is in sound health lays no store by the physician, but he that is in a desperate condition looks upon him as a god, so Christ is not especially welcome to the whole, but to the sick he is eds ἀπὸ μηχανῆς; that is, unexpected safety sent from above. To this He Himself testifies, saying: They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick,” Luke 5:31; and, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to change their former life.” In order, therefore, rightly to know Christ, we must first rightly know ourselves; for they that think themselves righteous receive not Christ, as is clear from His own words; and he that feels no sickness wants not the help of a physician.
Christ, then, is the certainty and pledge of the grace of God [cf. Eph. 1: 14]. This can be shown in this way: I said before in considering man that his condition is so pitiable that he is dead, the slave of sin, and of such a nature as to care for nothing so much as for himself. For this is what happened to him when he turned away from the good and to himself, for we know that in us is no good thing, Rom. 7:18. Hence arose endless despair of ever coming to God; for how could he ever hope to be received above who by daily evils felt himself exposed to bodily death, and from a guilty conscience felt himself so removed from God that he avoided coming into His sight? But God was better, and pitied His work, and devised a plan to repair so serious a misfortune. Since His justice, being inviolably sacred, had to remain as intact and unshaken as His mercy, and since man was indeed in need of mercy but wholly amenable to God’s justice, divine goodness found a way to satisfy justice and yet to be allowed to open wide the arms of mercy without detriment to justice. Not that He thus took precautions against the Adversary or that the potter may not out of moistened clay make or remake any vessel He chooses [cf. Rom. 9: 21], but that by this example of justice He might remove drowsiness and sloth from us and show us what sort of being He was—just, good, merciful; or, not to presume to say too much of His purposes, because it so pleased Him. For “righteous [justus] is the Lord and upright are his judgments, Ps. 119: 137, but, on the other hand, “He is patient and merciful, good to all; and his tender mercies are over all his works,” Ps. 145:8-9. For David sings unto Him of mercy and judgment, Ps. 101: 1. For He “visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the fourth generation of them that hate him, and sheweth mercy unto thousands of them that love him,” Exod. 20:5-6. While, therefore, God is — alike just and merciful, though with a leaning towards mercy (for His tender mercies are over all the rest of His works), yet His justice has to be satisfied that His wrath may be appeased. “That, then, God’s justice has to be satisfied, the theologians have rightly taught, even those of the new school. For, “if thou wouldst enter into life, keep the commandments,” Matt. 19: 17. But how shall man satisfy the
justice of God? It is so pure, so high, so far removed from any stain, while, on the contrary, any one of us is so truly nothing but sin and blemish that no one would venture to hope to reach the measure that could satisfy divine justice. For who can attain to that purity which David says ascends into the holy mountain of the Lord? In Psalm 15:1 he asks: “Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? or who shall dwell in thy holy hill?” And he answers his own question thus: “He that walketh without blemish, and worketh righteousness [justiciam], and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbors. In his eyes a reprobate is despised, but he honoreth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to his neighbor and deceiveth not. He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh bribes against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.” Who, pray, can shine with such purity as to walk without blemish and to work righteousness, when we are nothing but sin and blemish and flesh? Or who among mortals is so singlehearted that neither his heart nor his tongue has ever practiced deceit? Who has done no evil to his neighbor or not suffered others to do it unpunished? In whose eyes have the evil always been despised and the good held in high esteem? Who has not been stained with usury, perjury, and the taking of bribes against the innocent? Who on hearing these words would not tremble, despair, and make ready to flee? But God is such a pure and consuming fire that if any one is troubled with the aforesaid defects he cannot stand in His sight. This is what Isaiah had in mind, 33: 14: “Who among us can dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?” Like David, he answers: “He that walketh righteously, and speaketh truth; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from taking a bribe, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from looking on evil; he shall dwell on high, ete.” Since, then, this fire demands such soundness and innocence, in order, of course, that there may be no moist or earthly ingredient which must be ejected with hissing and roaring, who is there that would venture, at least if he have any sort of knowledge
of himself, to aspire to the companionship of God? Thus it becomes manifest that wherever in the Scriptures the way to heaven is shown, we are driven to despair. For who in this polluted path below can so order his life as to be able to think himself even in his own opinion worthy of dwelling with and enjoying so pure a light, especially when we have all strayed and become so unprofitable that not even one of us does good, when every man is a liar [cf. Ps. 116: 11; Rom. 3:4], and we are all hypocrites and have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God [cf. Rom. 3:23]?
But since hypocrisy is such a mighty evil that, like certain foolish sufferers who try to hide their ailment, it ventures to deny itself and tries, though in vain, to clear itself of all suspicion, it is necessary for us, after the fashion of skilful physicians, who wrest out the truth by means of various attendant circumstances and symptoms, in the same way to probe and to examine man until we turn his bold concealment into shame and frank confession. For certain clever sick persons, in order to try the skill of the physician, refuse to tell the nature of their disease until the physician pronounces them to be suffering from the very ailment of which they are themselves perfectly aware. Then they entrust themselves more securely to his care, convinced that as he knows the disease so well he will know the cure also. But those who are a prey to obstinate hypoerisy can never be persuaded by the most skilful argument to confess what they really feel and have in their hearts. Yet the more persistently they refuse, the more certainly are they understood by the spiritual physician. For “he that is spiritual judgeth all things” [I Cor. 2: 15]. For in order to make them confess what is discovered by the principles of spiritual medicine, there 1s need of another than a man, however expert. For man looks on the outward appearance, and God alone on the heart [I Sam. 16: 7]. Unless He excites shame in the human heart, so that it ceases to deny that of which it is conscious, and unless He so humbles it that it recognizes its eagerness for glory, it will never confess that it is such as it really is. For no one tries to descend into his secret self, no one. We come again, therefore, to the conclusion that man has as much need of God for the knowledge of himself as for the recognition of
God. For no man “knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man, which is in him” [I Cor. 2: 11], as was made plain above.
But now I turn to tests by which to wrest from man the admission that he has in him what I assert is in him. 1 ask, therefore, first: “O thou who art justified by thy works, is almsgiving a good work or not?” The self-righteous answers, “It is.” “In whatever way and manner it is done?” The selfrighteous: “Not at all, but only when a man does as is in him” (for that is the way these people talk). “Tell me, please, what you understand by the expression as is in him’.” The selfrighteous: “According to his powers.” I answer that we beg the question in this way. For whatever the amount given and on whatever account, a man always does as is in him and always does aecording to his ability. “Therefore all almsgiving will be a good work which will justify us. The self-righteous: “Yes.” “If I give to be seen of men [cf. Mt. 6: 1]?” The self-righteous: “I do not say that.” “What, then?” The self-righteous: “I will not argue the point.” ‘There you see what this as is in him” is. It is a figment that makes Christ quite superfluous. For in this way anybody could be justified by works done according to his powers; for anybody can do as is in him, even if in the case of many of his good deeds that be the merest trifle. But I eome back to the main point. As many maladies can befall almsgiving to vitiate it as befall vineyards to destroy them. First, if the giving is not in the name of God. Those, therefore, who give only for the purpose of redeeming themselves from the punishments of hell, give in their own name, not in the name of Christ. Second, if people give with ostentation, that they may obtain glory among men, they have received their reward, Matt. 6:2. Furthermore, if they give grudgingly and dislike to give, and would not give unless they were afraid of malicious comment, they vitiate their almsgiving; “for God loveth a cheerful giver,” II Cor. 9: 7. If they do not give in the measure they would want given to them if they were in need, they do not give rightly; for “all things that ye would that men should do unto you, do ye the same to them,” Matt. 7: 12. Nor if they give scornfully or negligently; for “cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord negligently,” Jer. 48: 10. Nor
if they give because overcome by the wretchedness and misfortunes of the recipient and not from the love of God and their neighbor; for whoso hath this world’s goods, and seeth his brother have need, we know that the love of God is not in him,” I John 3:17. In short, so many vices are wont to attend this quite unquestionable work, that we must not expect any one to be able worthily to perform it. For who does not give in such fashion as to keep the greater portion for himself? Who does not give either to be seen to have given or not to be seen not to have given, etc.? How, then, shall we satisfy God’s justice if so pious a work is done by none in such a way that it can be reckoned worthy of reward by an impartial and pious judge? Run through in this way all the things we do, and you will see that they are subject to as great, aye, to greater, vices. Many of us pray, that we may be seen to pray, as the hypocrites do, Matt. 6: 5. We pray that the Lord will give us riches, pleasures, a wife with a large dowry, honors, office, power; aye, that we may be deemed saints and even gods by all men; and, in fact, “we know not what we should pray for,” Rom. 8:26. We fast in the same way, either that our frugality may be heralded [cf. Mt. 6:16-18], or that our thin, pale faces may indicate sanctity; or that dainties and delicacies may be brought to us fasting; or to bring back within an old garment a belly that makes too shameless a show of itself; or to save a penny, as is the case with some who are meaner than Chremes and Euclio; or that we may reckon as a good work the fasting which ought to be done simply for the purpose of calling us away from the flesh to the better hearing of the voice and bidding of the Spirit. Thus, I say, we measure all things with “reference to ourselves, not to Him of whom and in whom we wholly are [cf. Acts 17:28]. By what sacrifices or offerings, then, shall we be justified, when in our actual works we are so feeble and cold and ineffective; and this so evidently and truly that all the faithful know in their hearts it is just as I have said? For they see that this kind of disease has come to us from Adam, the original cause of this state of death; and they not only see it in the word, but in their hearts feel it true.
Here, I say, the theologians have wandered from the
[Two misers, well known characters in Roman comedy.]
straight way, as I began to say a little while ago. For, weighing the justice of God accurately, as they thought, they were forced to see that it must be satisfied, but in regard to the satisfaction they failed to reckon the works of the crowd accurately, although they set a high value upon their own. For they did not rightly know man through and through and see how he is nothing but impurity and corruption and filth, so that even what he learns in its purity he puts forth corrupted. For even when through the heavenly Spirit we reach the point of delighttng in that which the law commands, yet the flesh is so rebellious that we accomplish no good thing, Rom. 7:18. Hence, though the justice of God is so inviolable and holy that our impurity can do nothing towards winning it, these theologians have been unwilling to learn to despair (despair of ourselves, I mean, not of the mercy of God). And this vice also came from too high an estimate of self, for it is hard for man to condemn self and to withdraw from self to such an extent as to have no sense at all of self. And here we have a strange and shameless arrogance. Though they had proclaimed that heaven must be won by our own merits, they offered themselves as ministers and workers to earn merit for others; and on receiving pay they strenuously acquired merit, but with works which they had themselves invented, of which I shall have more to say below. In general, therefore, they have not attained a right knowledge either of God’s justice or of man’s unjustice, and have had such an ignorant and scornful idea of Christ that they have attributed to Him little more than did the Jews. But this is not strange. For if people in general had begun to rely on Christ—that is, on the grace of God, which is obtained and confirmed through Christ—who would any longer have paid them so much for looking after his salvation? So, not without reason are they raging today; for though they have advertised themselves as agents for securing salvation, nobody hires them, and they sit all the day idle.
But enough has been said about our powerlessness and about our own desperate state of mind. Now I will pass to more cheerful themes, to the gospel, namely, in which a merciful God has not only proclaimed salvation but also sent it, after it had been long foretold and promised. Since this mystery is
to be treated with the greatest reverence, the greatest humility and awe, we must prostrate ourselves before the Fount of all grace, that He may so guide, so illumine, our discourse that we shall say nothing unworthy of Him. And since by human discourse, however rich, the untaught mind cannot be persuaded in the things of faith unless the Lord so teach and draw the heart that it delights to follow, we must also appeal to Him who justifieth and who calleth the things that are not as though they were [Rom. 4:17], so to illumine the minds of those to whom we would communicate His gospel that they shall be able to grasp the meaning of the gospel, so to draw and to soften their hearts that they shall be able to follow. For there is nothing that He will not grant to earnest prayer [cf. Mt. 21: 22]; and there is nothing that we ought to venture or to undertake to do without prayer. May the Lord put right words into my mouth!
Wishing at length, then, to help this desperate case of ours, our Creator sent one to satisfy His justice by offering Himself for us—not an angel, nor a man, but His own Son, «and clothed in flesh, in order that neither His majesty might deter us from intercourse with Him, nor His lowliness deprive us of hope. For, being God and the Son of God, He that was sent as deputy and mediator gives support to hope. For what cannot He do or have who is God? Moreover, being man, He promises friendship and intimacy—aye, the common bond of relationship; what, then, can He refuse who is a brother and the sharer of our weakness? Furthermore, this thing so strange and so unprecedented was conceived and prepared from the beginning of human misery. For as God created man through His Son, so He determined through Him to restore man when he had fallen into death, that the Son might be at once his creator and his restorer. For “all things were made through him,” John 1:3 and Colos. 1:16-20. “All things have been created through him, and unto him; and he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For εὐδόκησε, it was his good pleasure, that in him should all the fulness dwell; and through him to reconcile all things unto
himself, having through the blood of the cross made peace for all things, whether they be in heaven or on earth.” Ephes. 2:18: ‘“Through him we both” (Jews and Gentiles) “have access in one Spirit unto the Father.” God, then—to go back to the beginning—took pity upon man right after his fall, and when He promulgated the decision of His just judgment He took off something from the hardness of the sentence, that man might not be in utter misery forever. For when He appointed the punishment of the serpent, He made this qualifieation, in the interest of man: He foretold that there should sometime be seed of the woman that should bruise the head of the real serpent, the Devil, saying: “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” For this is the real meaning of the Hebrew, as can easily be perceived from the two pronouns, “it” and “his,” which in the Hebrew are both masculine and refer to “seed,” which likewise is masculine. Hence the Septuagint rendered the statement thus: Odium sive inimicitiam ponam inter te et inter mulierem, et inter te et inter semen tuum et inter semen eius. Ipse tuum eaput observabit, et tu observabis ealeaneum eius [Hatred or enmity will I put between thee and the woman, and between thee and thy seed and her seed. He shall mark thy head, and thou shalt mark his heel]. Here we see plainly that the holy men understood that there was a mystery underlying these words, and therefore refused to change the gender of the words, though they might properly have done so. For ‘zaera” [va], that is, “semen” [seed], is masculine in Hebrew; so also are “hu” [wsz], ὃ. e. “ipse” [he], and u” [t], i. e., “eius” [his]. Not so in Greek; for there σπέρμα [seed] is neuter, like the Latin “semen”; but αὐτὸς and αὐτοῦ; i. e., ipse” and “eius,” are masculine. Hence they might have said: “Ipsum (referring, of course, to “semen”) observabit caput tuum, et tu observabis, etc.” But, as I said, seeing that there was a mystery concealed here, they refused to change the ’ gender in the pronouns, though they had to change it in σπέρμα. The Latin translator, however, is everywhere so bold
[The translator of the Vulgate, which reads: Inimicitias ponam inter]
[te et mulierem, et semen tuum et semen illius; ipsa conteret caput tuum,]
[et tu insidiaberis calcaneo ejus.]
that I often wonder whether his learning or his boldness was the greater. I come back to the meaning. We see it openly foretold in these words of God that from the woman should sometime proceed the seed which should bruise the head of the serpent, ὁ. e., the Devil; and that, on the other hand, the Devil would try to hurt his heel. Let us, therefore, consider briefly both prophecies. Divine Providence preserved striet verbal propriety. Having first said, “The seed shall bruise thy head,” He always uses the same word, “seed.” For when He said to Abraham, “In thy seed shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed,” Gen. 15, He used the old word for him who was to be born of Abraham according to the flesh and was to enroll all the race of men among the heirs of God. His calling him “a branch” in Jeremiah 23: 5 amounts to the same thing. And Paul, speaking of the same promise, says plainly: “And to thy seed, which is Christ,” Gal. 3: 16, bearing witness that the seed of which so much is said throughout the Old Testament is Christ. Therefore this seed, Christ, crushed the head of the Devil. But the Devil himself tried so hard to hurt His heel, i. e., his humanity, from vexation that it was not subject to the fall, like ours, which is conceived in sin, that he never let an opportunity slip. When Christ had marvelously sustained a fast for forty days and nights, even in the desert, the Devil demanded that he turn the stones into bread, hoping that his teeth and throat would lure him to this. Then he tempted him through the desire for power and wealth, and finally for glory [cf. Mt. 4:1-11]. When he accomplished nothing, he armed all his forees and marched out against Him. He roused the hatred of the scribes and priests against him to such a piteh that, in the words of Paul, Rom. 1:31, they were absolutely ἄστοργοι ἄσπονδοι ἀνελεήμονες; that is, without any human kindness, friendliness, fellow-feeling, or mercifulness towards Him. And, not satisfied with having put such a load of hatred upon Him, he determined to destroy Him utterly; for he feared for his own kingdom more and more each day, seeing His unwavering devotion to the truth in His teachings and His unfailing power in healing disease. Daily he added fuel to the fire of malice, until he drove his aforementioned minions, the
[An error for Gen. 22: 18.]
seribes and priests and Pharisees, to the point of forming the plan of slaying Him in any possible way. Christ was by no means unaware of this and often reproached them for their wiekedness of purpose. And in the very tumult at the time of His arrest He proclaimed the wiles of the Serpent and the malignity and hatred of the priests, saying [Lk. 22:53]: “This is your hour, and the power of darkness.” The Devil laid a trap for Him even when dead, demanding through his minions that the tomb be watehed [Mt. 27: 64-66].
We must, further, consider all the things done by the two Adams, that is, our parent in the flesh and Christ (for so Paul ealls them both, Rom. 5: 12 and I Cor. 15: 22), that it may become clearly apparent how Christ by means of the proper + antidotes restored man by satisfying the divine justice. I will compare the two in certain respects, as far as the Lord will give it me to do. [1]. Adam was placed in a garden of delights, and then because of transgressions was thrust out of his happy abode into a wild country, with whieh he had to struggle with spade and hoe and plough. Christ did not arrogate too much to Himself when He made Himself equal with the Father [Phil. 2:6-8], but coming down from heaven He deigned to take on our form, and in it to break with His word, as with a rod of iron, Ps. 2:9, them that were nothing but rebellious clay and flesh, that we, who through Adam were in an exile merited by his sin and our own, might through Him return to the place whence He came. [2]. The first Adam wished by knowing good and evil to become God; the second Adam deigned to put on the form and habit of ignorant man, in order to bring him back into the knowledge and favor of Him who alone is good and alone knows what good and evil are. [3]. Adam was prevailed upon by the blandishments of his wife to eat of the forbidden fruit. In Christ human weakness sometimes resisted, not knowing how to suffer, but it always came off worsted. “Let this cup pass from me!” [Mt. 26: 39] eried infirmity, but the divine in Him conquered and subdued the unwilling flesh to the will of the Father. [4]. Adam stretched out his hand towards the forbidden tree, expecting to become happy and wise, yea God. Christ stretehed out all His limbs upon the ignominious eross, that we might be made
happy through His sorrows, wise through His foolishness (“for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness,” I Cor. 1:18), gods through His poverty. [5]. The author of death reached forth his hand to the deadly apple; the author of life reached forth His hand to the saving wood of the cross. [6]. The sweetness tasted by the one brought death; the bitterness tasted by the other brought life. [7]. The one fled in the hope of hiding himself, for he was afraid to come into the sight of God. The other displayed Himself to the whole world, and submitted to the judgment and the violence of the vilest, in order to recover the lost heritage. He suffered Himself to seem a malefactor in all men’s eyes, that through Him we might appear justified unto the Father. [8]. Through a tree we were bound over to slavery, because Adam was not willing to stay his hand; through a tree we were given to liberty, because Christ was willing to suffer anything rather than permit our ruin. For one of the ancient writers says: “He marked the tree at that time as the thing to do away with the damage of the tree”; showing that God at the very moment of death’s origin had in view the healing by means of a tree of the disease resulting from a tree. [9]. God laughed at the transgression of Adam, and clothed him and his wife with the skins of brutes. Christ’s obedience turned us from brutes into sons of Godand enwrapped us in a mantle of blessed immortality. So far are we from being scorned in the sight of God that we have even been made His heirs, and joint-heirs with Christ [Rom. 8:17]. [10]. In short, the recklessness of our first parent elosed the gates of paradise; the humility of Christ opened the door of heaven. I pass over St. Paul’s comparisons in Rom. 5: 15-21, which all aim to make us see how our ills have been healed by corresponding remedies, and how the divine justice has been appeased for us by the righteousness of Christ alone. For His innocence, given to us, has become as much ours as the life which also we derived from Him. For “in him was life,” John 1:4. He is “the way, the truth, and the life,” John 14: 6, and “in him we live, and move, and have our being,” Acts 17: 28. As life, 1 say, was given to us from Him, so also was righteousness, which has been made ours from Him and through Him; for from Him we are all that we are. He put on flesh that He
might become ours. He had no need of it, but we had the greatest need of Him. To become one of us, therefore, He, great God that He is, just, holy, merciful, Creator, became man, that we through His fellowship might be raised to gods.
There are also countless other prophecies in the Old Testament which so perfectly set forth His coming, career, death, and in fact His whole life and activity, that no one can deny that He is thus foreshadowed in the Scriptures, His whole activity and teaching correspond so completely with them. But since these prophecies are familiar to all, such as Isa. 11: 1-2; Jer. 23: 5-6, I will refrain from citing them here and content myself with citing a few figures or types. Jacob went into Mesopotamia [Gen. 288], and found there two wives, the elder of whom was dull-eyed, the younger of glad and beautiful countenance [Gen. 29:17]. The elder bore many children, while the younger was persistently barren. By and by the misfortune of her barrenness was changed, and the younger also began to be a mother. What could this presage but that which we see fulfilled in Christ and the Church? The synagogue of the Jews was for a long time fruitful before Christ was clothed with flesh; but after the time foreordained of God was fulfilled, the synagogue became barren and the young church of the Gentiles became fruitful. Jacob returned from Mesopotamia [Gen. 31ff], taking with him much substance, two wives, many children. Christ came down into this world, God became man, so that in Him you recognize Mesopotamia between its rivers, i. e., the two natures, according to which He wrought and suffered all things, ever keeping the boundaries of each intact, faithfully performed the work of His Father, and at length, victorious over death, brought back the whole race of men to heaven. Why should I speak of the selling of Joseph into Egypt? He is such a shining example among the clearest foreshadowings that he needs no painter’s brush. And why speak of his great-grandfather, Abraham, whose faith is so proclaimed by God [Gen. 22: 16-18] that he is easily seen to be happier than any Alexander or Achilles? For who ever had God as herald? Why, I say, should I speak of his rearing a son by his free wife when he was a hundred years old, seeing that Paul in writing to the Galatians, 3 and 4, paints him as prototype in such
lights and shadows that you can fairly touch him? Perez and Zerah, born of Tamar [Gen. 38:12-28], intimated the same thing. It would be tedious to enumerate all the prefigurations, since Paul says that all things happened unto them by way of example, I Cor. 10: 6.
He, then, through whom we were all created [I Cor. 8: 6], and through whom it pleased God to recreate and renew the world, was, when the time seemed to Him ripe, conceived in the womb of a spotless virgin without any male aid, by the fructification of the Holy Spirit (for He who was to be born thence was sent to make spiritual beings out of fleshly), and began His human life. Read Luke Chaps. 1 and 2, and Matthew 1, and John 1, that I may not have to busy myself here with.~ such well-known facts. Christ had to be born of a virgin on two accounts: first, because His divine nature could not suffer that any stain of sin attach to it, as has been said above. For God is so thoroughly light, purity, innocence, goodness, that He cannot endure any thing that is in any respect dark, impure, defiled, or evil. Therefore the birth had to be absolutely pure of every stain, because He that was born was also God. Second, on account of the nature of the sacrificial vietim. For that had to be free from all blemish, as the law of Moses required, though that applied only to purity of flesh, Heb. 9: 9. How much more had that victim to be absolutely spotless which made atonement for the sins not only of all who had been, but of all who were yet to come! And this could not have been unless He had been born of a virgin, and without male intervention. For if the virgin had conceived from the seed of a man, would not the birth have been thereby polluted? And if a woman who had before known a man had conceived Him, even from the Holy Spirit, who would ever have believed that the child that was born was of the Holy Spirit? For nature knows no birth that is not besmirched with stain. For, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me,” Ps. 51:5. Virgin, therefore, she had to be, and ever ^ virgin, too, who should bear Him in whom there could be not even the least suspicion of a blemish, much less any real blemish. Now I add evidence of these things. That He is a
[Cf. Zwingli’s Eine Predigt von der Ewig reinen Magd Maria.]
vietim who expiates every blemish and defect is prefigured in the lamb, “phase” [npg], i. 6., of “transitio” [passing over], or rather preteritio” [passing by], lest in consequence of the ambiguity in the word any one should understand by ‘“transitio” a going forth. For the Hebrew term ‘“paesa” [!] [noz] signifies a leap or a passing by; for the angel of the Lord leaped over without injury when he saw the door posts smeared with the blood [ef. Exod. 12:23]. Of this figure I shall say nothing more, since it is perfectly clear in itself and through the notiees of all who have spoken of it. Furthermore, the John who baptized the Son of God, as soon as he saw Christ coming towards him, pointed Him out to his disciples with the words: “Behold, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world!” John 1:29. He taketh away, therefore, the sins of the world (for sin is used here for “offence and defect Ι of mankind”)—not the original defect only, as false religion teaches, does He atone for, nor the sins of those only who were before Him, but of the world; and not those only which the Popes direct are to be remitted by their crowd of priests, but of the world; and He takes away not only those sins which you redeem with money, but the sins of the world independently of any bargain. The sin against the Holy Ghost requires especial consideration, and I shall not go into it here. That He was born of a virgin, Matthew and Luke bear witness, as I have shown; but, lest one miss Old Testament proofs, we have Isa. 7:14 and Ezek. 44:2. Since, however, there are persons who, in stout defense of the decrees of the Roman Pontiff, say that not all the facts of our belief are set forth in the Holy Seriptures—inasmuch as the perpetual virginity of the ϑεοτόκου [God-bearing] and thrice blessed Virgin Mary cannot be established from the Holy Seriptures—it is worth while to oppose to them the invincible shield of the truth, that their eyes may be blinded by its brightness so completely that they shall learn not to blaspheme. Isaiah [7: 14] says that a virgin shall eonceive and bear. What is there to wonder at, pray, if a virgin conceives? Did any woman ever conceive who had not once been a virgin, quite apart from our virgin? But the uncommon thing is that she who conceives and bears should ^ remain a virgin. Our virgin, then, remains a virgin, and
remaining a virgin is ever virgin; otherwise she would not remain a virgin. And this Ezekiel finely indicates, saying [44:2]: “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, neither shall any man enter in by it; because the Lord, the God of Isrzl, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut for the prince.” The objections that could be raised here as to the meaning because of the circumstances can be so easily removed that one aiming at brevity must not delay over them; for “all things happened unto them by way of example, ete.” False religion slips up, therefore, when she snarls out that the perpetual virginity does not hold unless it be confirmed by the decrees of the Popes. For, as they cannot by their decrees make her that is defiled undefiled, so they could not with these suspicious dicta of theirs remedy the Virgin’s reproach by decreeing that she is ever virgin. For unless she were virgin in her own quality, they could not make her virgin by their deerees. Her virginity is based on the fact, not on the decrees of men.
The ever virgin, then, brought forth Christ, God’s Son and hers, while on a journey to Bethlehem, according to the predictions of the prophets, Mic. 5:2, Matt. 2:6, Luke 2:7, and laid her babe in a manger, because there was no room in the inn on account of the crowd of people who had then gathered there to be taxed. Thus Divine Providence ordained that as Adam by sinning had made himself naked and exposed himself to need, so Christ, that the divine justice might be appeased, should experience want, cold, and all the ills that had been brought upon man for his sin. For this was required by justice, that He through whom we were all ereated, in whom there is no sin, and from whom we had gone astray, should, though innocent, bear what we had deserved through sinning, but bear it for us. For “he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth” [I Pet. 2: 22]. What He bore, He bore for us. He needed nothing, but was made needy for us, that we might enjoy His riches. In like manner, He who was to be the food of the soul was laid where the cattle fed, that we might in the very beginning see that He was to be our food who without the knowledge of God are nothing but beasts—the food by which we should be made of the Spirit. He is exposed to the harshness of winter who clothes the flowers of the field more
richly than any Solomon [Lk. 12:27]; who feedeth the ravens [Lk. 12:24] and giveth sustenance to the beasts [Ps. 147:9]. And He is born in a place where a multitude of people had assembled. For He is to belong to all; and He is born in a manger, while we snore on downy couches. For He is the true shepherd, who ever watcheth over His flock. He is circumcised on the eighth day, though unless circumcision had looked forward to Him it would have profited nothing. And He is given a name whieh is above every name [Phil. 2:9], and which fully signifies just what Christ is. For He is the Savior, and is called Jesus [Lk. 2: 21] for the very reason that He is nothing else than Savior, for He saves the people from their sins. He grows in years and knowledge [Lk. 2:52], that we may recognize His true humanity. He is accepted by Simeon and Anna [Lk. 2: 25-38] and is proclaimed to be the light of salvation unto all nations, that His divinity also may be seen. At twelve years of age, unto the same end he sits in the midst of the doctors, talks with them, vanquishes and confutes them [Lk. 2:42-47]. And straightway, that we may not doubt His true humanity, He goes down with His mother and foster father to Nazareth and is subject to them [Lk. 2:51]. And He is so entirely subject that, following the trade of his foster father, He at length wins for Himself so famous a name in it that men say [Mk. 6:3]: οὐχ οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ τέκτων, “ls not this the carpenter?” And when He has reached the fulness of His time, so that He is presently to be taken up from the earth, He so proves Himself in every way the Son of God, both by His teaching and by doing wonderful miracles, that not only men but even demons against their will are forced to confess that He is the Son of God [Mk. 1:24]. Now He feeds hungry crowds on a few loaves [Mk. 6: 34-44]; again, He gives as drink water turned into wine [Jn. 2: 1-11], cleanses leprosy, drives away disease, quenches fever; endows the blind with sight, the lame with power to walk, the palsied with movement; straightens the crooked, restores the dead to life with a word [Mt. 11: 4-6]; and there are no ills at all of body or mind so deep-set that He does not take them away. But when He boldly uncovers the deceits and schemes of the hypocrites, then wickedness, which like an owl cannot endure coming into the light,
resists, as is its nature, and finds a way to save its reputation though at the loss of its soul. They determine, therefore, to slay Christ the innocent Son of God and the Virgin, caring nothing how much hurt they did their consciences, provided they could make the simple believe that they were just persons, and that Christ was the wicked one, in that He had unjustly heaped abuse upon the just. And since the power of trial had been taken from them, they found a way of bringing accusation against Him before the governor. But, lest something should intervene to prevent His being taken, or He should escape when taken, they made it their business to take Him themselves, thinking His destruction more certain if they brought Him in person than if they made information against Him in His absence. Having, therefore, taken Him they brought Him before the governor, and accused Him of lese majesté, declaring that He had forbidden the giving of tribute to Caesar [Lk. 23: 2]. And in order to arouse the enmity of the rabble also against Him, they suborned false witnesses to allege that He had said He had power to destroy the Temple and to build it up again in three days [Mt. 26: 60f.]. In this way they hoped that, even if they found the magistrate pretty firm, His death could, nevertheless, be accomplished through the uproar and shoutings of the degraded rabble. And this is what happened. For the magistrate, as he repeatedly confessed, found no cause of condemnation in Him [Lk. 23: 4, 14, 22], though he made many attempts; yet, not daring to acquit Him, gave Him over to the madness of His accusers. Therefore did wickedness maltreat innocence, iniquity righteousness, the limbs of Satan God, traitors the champion of peace, ingratitude its benefactor, murderers the incarnation of life, parricides their deliverer; and did so spit upon, bruise, and buffet Him, so tear Him with thorns and scourges from the top of His head to the soles of His feet, and so utterly trample upon Him, that pitying children and women could not restrain their tears at His woe [Lk. 23:27]. But He, no way crushed by these ills, no way angered, yet warned His murderers of the ills they were calling down upon themselves by a wrong so atrocious. They, therefore, inflicted the most ignoble punishment upon Him, nailing to the cross along with murderers
[Mt. 27:38] Him through whom they had life, and against whom they could have done nothing unless through Him they had received the breath of life. Never untrue to Himself when thus miserably exposed to the elements, the stars, and the derision of man, He prayed for His enemies [Lk. 23: 34] that the Heavenly Father would not lay this madness to their charge; for such was their barbarity that when He thirsted amid His tortures they gave Him vinegar mixed with gall to drink [Mt. 27:34]. And when He saw that the things committed to Him by the Father were accomplished, He gave a sign, saying, “It is finished” [John 19: 30]—His own work, namely, by which through His own innocence He had removed from us the claims of the Devil and of death over us. His task performed, as He was about to give up the ghost, He commended Himself to the Father thus [Lk. 23: 46]: “Into thy hands I commend my spirit” With these words He expired. Then suddenly all things begin to be troubled on account of the wrong to their Maker. The sun hides its brightness, that it may be apparent to the eruel murderers, as in an uprising by night, how atrocious the deed was. The veil of the Temple is rent with pain on account of the vast insult to God. The rocks split asunder from impatience, that we might see that the perverseness of the Jews was harder than the hardness of stone. The earth, scorning to bear such savage brutes, quakes, threatening destruction. The dead creep forth from their tombs at the commotion [Mt. 27: 51-53; Lk. 23:45]. But the hearts of the impious hypocrites are unmoved. They go to the magistrate, ask him to station a watch to keep guard over the dead body, obtain their request [Mt. 27:64-66]. When the third dawn was breaking, in spite of the soldiers He came to life again through the glory of the Father. When they saw what had happened, they reported it to the priests. Bribed by them for a large sum to lie, they agreed to spread the report that the disciples had secretly taken away the body while they were asleep [Mt. 27:11-15]. Such is the course of insane madness; and hatred, ever blind, refuses to yield to the truth, and fancies that it hides itself well; nay, when it has become very deeply rooted, it has no shame, nor cares whether it is seen or not. This Solomon taught finely in Proverbs 18: 3, saying: “The wicked
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